Legs on Fire

April 8, 2014

If Nepal has malaria, I think I'm a good candidate for a test sample. Mosquito season has informally arrived and my legs are on fiiiiire! Mero kuttaharu mastai chilaiiyo. These little suckers are everywhere and so tiny they've made my legs all red and lumpy like the chicken pox.

On a brighter note, good morning everyone! Today is a beautiful day and the weather has been so very warm here in Dang. Because we are so far south and flat we are a lot warmer than the middle hills and mountain regions of the country. It's hot during the day but it's also that warm summer night feel when the sun goes down; truly one of the best experiences in the worrrrld.

Concerning care packages, I no longer need a guitar capo! A lovely friend here took the liberty to buy me one just yesterday. I'm extremery excited to get this guitar thing going. I'm getting my first song down and it sounds like poopy holaa but it's music: it's reviving and I love it. However, if any of you amazzzzing friends and family of mine are thinking about sending a care package, I would diiie of happiness (it's true). Because of all the moving and confusion with my postal address I haven't been able to receive packages since October (2013) and all the luxury Americano food from that package has been looong gone. I can send you cute cheap Nepali stuff and love in return!! :)

Things that have hit my face this week:

1. Tobacco/betal leaf(?) spit out from the window on a bus. It was one of those, “There he goes to spit... and there's the spit on my face,” moments.

2. Cow poop a.k.a. da gobar. My bhaauju, or sister-in-law, and I were making compost at my house yesterday and I had gathered a bunch of fresh green leaves with my mom to add to the pile. I saw my bhaauju coming in with the watery mixture of gobar and I asked (in Nepali), “Don't we have to cut up the green leaves into small pieces?”. She said yes and threw the gobar mix all over the green leaves. Then we started breaking them into smaller pieces. Basically, there was absolutely no science behind the method of adding cow poop before chopping the leaves because then we had to chop cow poopy leaves, which splashed cow poop everywhere, such as in my mouth, in my eyes, the facial works.

3. Vomit..... just kidding not yet but you know I'll let ya'll know when that happens! ;)

Man this post is RANDOM, which I know I'm infamous for so I'll just keeping being random.

Anywho, now on a more sentimental note, I met a beautiful Nepali girl a while ago when I first moved into Manpur, Dang (my permanent site), and I have been keeping in touch with her ever since. She lives in our district capital, which is a popping, urban bazaar area, to study at school there. Every time I make my way out to the district capital I make sure to give her a call and stop by and see her. Sometimes we go for loooong walks to see different nearby Hindu or Buddhist temples (this little girl can walk for days without water or complaint), and sometimes we go to her room and hang out and chat. She has a beautiful heart and is one of those people you can't help but be thankful to have met. The other day she took myself and a friend of mine on one of her long walks to a nearby (but far away) temple. It was during this walk that she said something very sweet that I had no idea about. When she was a young girl both her parents had passed away from HIV/AIDS (I'll try to develop on her story in another post). She told my friend about this fact of life and said on those days when she is down and really missing her parents, she calls me and talks to me over the phone and she feels better. When I overheard her say this, that slow, small, trickling tear started to fall down my face (I was in front of the group so I don't think anyone saw). I had no idea that she thought of me in that way, but it's been an amazing relationship we've been able to build. She's my little Nepali sister here, bringing meaning to my service in Nepal and in my life, while I'm her older American sister. I'm hopeful that I can be just as meaningful to her as she is to me.

Now, on to soccer! As some of you may know, I've been trying to build a local neighborhood soccer team in my village to give the boys a sense of leadership, responsibility, and belonging to a team. This dream to start this team doesn't end with the team itself, but will hopefully lead to a local soccer league where the boys can play other teams from nearby villages if those villages can develop their own teams as well. I wanted to find ways to get the boys a new soccer ball, goalie gloves, field lines, even uniforms if we could fund raise enough money or get enough support. I've already talked to the boys about having regular practices, but a new problem I've been facing is how do I ensure the boys will be responsible with the equipment if it is acquired? I want to know that the boys are benefiting from this soccer team farther beyond just the physical equipment. I want to know that they are building leadership skills, teamwork attitudes, and that this team is helping to foster a thoughtful group of youth who may one day lead this country (big hopes, but it can happen).

Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?? I'll take 'em all.

Lastly, I finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and I began noticing “tipping points” in my life and in my self. The idea of the book is that there are natural “tipping points” caused by certain people, certain environments, and certain ideas that can tip an event over into becoming an epidemic. After a lot of self-reflection, as Peace Corps service is often a time and place that provides many self-reflection opportunities, I've noticed circumstances and situations that may have the power to tip me over into taking action, however without that last little incident or push, I may have been comfortable staying in the safety of my comfort zone. This was a lot of abstract talk, but I can't think of a concrete example at the moment. I'll let you know when I do. Just a thought looming around in the hazy brain of Bora that wanted to get posted online for everyone to see.

Okie I'm done for this morning. Off to the garden to plant a few dying and a few lively cucumbers. Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

pheri bhetaula mi amors (trilingual wassup)

-Bora