a real blog post :O

It's been a while since I've posted a decent size post. Here's a (hopefully) fuller account of life, events and passing thoughts:

1. Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World): The volunteers in Dang district and I got together and put on a Camp GLOW project for a total of 25 girls ages 12-16 (5 girls from each volunteer's village).   The program was conducted in conjunction with a local NGO, WOREC (Women's Rehabilitation Center).  The camp was over five days and the themes of the days were Empowerment, Health, (Women's) Development, and Careers (but ended up being more like a Personal Development day).  The camp was held from April 6-10th, 2015, and was a great success. The sessions were taught by WOREC facilitators while many of the activities were conducted by Peace Corps Volunteers.  Thank you to all who donated financially to this project (as it was funded via a PCPP grant, which requires donations from friends and families).  Being a part of this process was one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had in Nepal, and perhaps in all my life, as I was a firsthand witness of the joy and change being created within our participants and the Nepalese staff we worked alongside with.  This project reminded me of the once in a lifetime opportunity I have here to directly work with people who are beyond deserving.  

2. Tibet:  On the morning of April 28th, I'll be headed out in a jeep (or microbus) up into the Himalayan mountains and over to Tibet!  I'll be going with a group of 10 other Peace Corps volunteers in my group and 2 persons from the States.  We'll be returning to Nepal on May 7th.  I just finished watching Seven Years in Tibet starring Brad Pitt and am re-invigorated to see the temples and bazaars of Tibet.  On the way back to Nepal our tour will make a trip to Mount Everest Base Camp (from the Tibetan side of the mountain).  I'm excited to get up and into the mountains! Wish me warmth and I'll try to take clear photos to share.  

3.  Village Life:  For the past 1-2 weeks, village life has been oddly different.  Not much has changed in terms of the way my host-family interacts with me, but I feel I've changed the way I interact with my host-family. I feel I've been more irritable, less patient and ultimately less kind.  I witness myself act this way and try to compel myself to act differently, but upon interaction I fall back into these automatic ways.  A part of me sees this as me becoming more integrated into the family, perhaps literally feeling comfortable enough with them to be me (flaws and all), but another part of me wishes I could regain the decency a guest has inside someone else's home.  Because, as much as I've been told I'm a daughter to this family, I will always be somewhat of a guest.  I come from a different country and I can't speak fluently with the family members as they can to each other.  Language barriers cause me to be suspicious of laughter and whispered words at times.  "Are they laughing at me or at something I said?".  I will be leaving for Tibet soon, but when I come back to village afterwards I hope my mental and emotional state becomes reawakened with more joy and less irritation.  

4.  A Farmer's Life:  It's the time of year when farmers must harvest their wheat, meaning there is a lot of work to be done.  The wheat must be cut and bundled meanwhile keeping the goats and other nearby livestock away from eating it and hoping that the rain doesn't pour to ruin the crops.  In my host-family, my host-mother did most of this work solo.  On Nepali Mother's Day, I spent an hour of my day cutting the wheat with my host-mother, and it was tough!  Together in that one hour we might have accomplished cutting about a half of a half of a half of a plot of land, and our home own four full plots of land full of wheat.  My host-mother woke up early the next morning to cut more wheat and finished all four plots of land in the next day and a half.  Afterwards, host-mama walked around the village (side note: it's in between 95-100 F nowadays) gathering cow poop and smoothed over a 20x20 ft area of land where the wheat will be harvested. The laborious life of a farmer caught my heart and attention.  I wanted to help her in some way, but I struggled with thinking, "How can I, someone who's grown up in a city in California all my life, help these farmers with the skill set that I possess?"  Perhaps to honor and respect each other is a first step.