Calm, rainy day

Today is a rainy Saturday in Manpur, Dang.  It is monsoon season, which I was told was going to entail rainy nights and sunny-ish days, however this season has been playing out differently than most years, the villagers have said.  The rain was expected to begin in June, yet most of June was very hot and dry.  Now that the rain has started to make its way through our part of the country, it is still less of a downpour than what was expected. However, today after 11am the rain has been consistent.  As it is my “weekend”, or one day off, it’s been very nice and calming hearing the rain outside my room while I relax and read my book.

Sweet segway Bora.  What book am I reading you ask? It’s a book I purchased while on vacation in Cambodia, and the title is “first they killed my father”.  It is a memoir of one child’s account of what happened to her and her family during the Khmer Rouge regime and genocide of the Cambodian people.  During this period of time, around 2 million people died, out of a total population of 8 million people. I’m almost finished with the book (plan on finishing it today), and I must say, it is quite the emotional ride. Her story is powerful and the events her and her family endured and survived through are beyond my imagination. If you are in need or curious of a reality check on genocide, I recommend this book strongly.

Now, back to Nepal. I heard word of a school settled just 1-2 kilometers behind my home that houses orphans of the People’s War that occurred in Nepal just a few years back.  This morning I decided to pay the school a visit and introduce myself to the staff and students there.  There are about 400 students residing at the school, and when I showed up there were kids playing soccer, doing, laundry cooking, eating, and farming.  They were scattered and running around busy all over the place.  I was very impressed and quite overwhelmed at all the work that needed to be done around the school in order for it to function effectively, but overall the children seemed quite settled in.  The school opened up 5 years ago and has a staff of 15 teachers.  I sat with a group of about 25-30 teenage girls and compared life in America to life in Nepal for them.  They asked me to sing America’s national anthem, but after my first attempt my voice cracked, I got shy, and bailed out. I ask them to sing me the Nepali national anthem.  This was quite a magical moment in my life as all 25-30 young ladies began singing their country’s anthem with pride and in unison.  It was amazing!! I applauded and gawked with astonishment at how beautiful they all sang.  They pressured me to sing America’s national anthem once more, and I made it through the song half way until I stumbled on a line and started laughing at myself.  They responded with warmth.  Then they told me to dance, and then I left haha.  However, I left on the promise that I would return and dance not FOR them, but WITH them.

Lastly, an update on the poop status.  Knock on wood, but everything has been going pretty well nowadays in that department of my life.  I think I’ve swallowed my fair share of bacteria finally and my body has adapted to most of the diarrhea-causing particles in the food and water I eat.  Still gotta be careful around the chowmein down the street and the goat meat at weddings though.

Additionally, today I have been a mosquito killing machine, thank you, thank you, yes, I am quite proud of myself.  The house, charpi (squat toilet), and bathroom are all densely populated with mosquitoes these days, but I think the house mosquitoes are tired of my blood and have gotten used to my company.  I don’t get eaten up as badly as I used to. Yippee!

<3 Everything is going well on my side of the world.  I hope everyone I know and love is taking care of themselves out there!

Sincerely,

Da stink aka bora 

Back at it

I’m back in Nepal now after my trip to Cambodia.

Highlights of Cambodia:

1.       Angkor (Wat, but as well as all the other temples that comprises this awesome, ancient civilization). Definitely one of the world’s great wonders. I don’t think I could talk it up enough. Something everyone should try to go see at some point in their lives. Only annoyances/downfalls were some of the sales children who walk you up to each temple trying to get you to buy something (but in my opinion some of their items were for prices better than the city) and the food I ate for lunch was my only “meh” meal of the whole trip.

2.       The tonle sap floating village near Siem Reap. We joined a tour group for $39 per person which provided a bike ride through a countryside village, a boat ride, lunch at a home in the floating village, a tour of the floating village, and local snacks along the way. It was a nice venture and a new perspective of how one’s life could be lived.

3.       The Killing Fields Memorial Site near Phnom Penh and the tuol sluong a.k.a. S-21 memorial site. It is strange to call this day a “highlight”, but learning about the genocide which occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime was necessary, and taught me a lot about the somewhat recent history of Cambodia. The country overall seems to be making a grand recovery from the tragedy, but nevertheless it was an honor to take part in remembering the lives that were lost.

Mishaps of the trip:

1.       We tried to make a trip to Sihanoukville, home to the tourist-y beachside of Cambodia, but hit major major traffic in Phnom Penh and made the choice to jump off the bus and not waste more time sweating our buns off in the stalled traffic. One day I shall meet you beach!

2.       Some jerk on a motorcycle tried to steal my purse while I was walking back to my hotel from dinner. Luckily my purse broke and the he only got away with the strap. Be careful while traveling, especially my ladies out there! If you can avoid it, don’t rock a handbag or purse but instead use pant pockets or a fannypack maybe.

That’s all for Cambodia. Overall a good trip in a beautiful country. The Khmer people we met in general were very pleasant.

Back to Nepal! J

thinking of you

Missing you all back at home.

<3 Bora

getting ready for vacation

After ten months of working and living in Nepal, I'll be taking my first out of country vacation to... Cambodia! I'm very excited and getting all my current commitments prepared for my departure.

If anyone has any experience, lessons learned, comments, questions, or advice to give about Cambodia please do share.

I'll be out of country from July 7th to July 17th. Praying for safe travels! :)

-Bora

aaayeeee namaste

Hi all,

How's everyone doing out there in your respective worlds? I'm hanging out in my village, chipping away at small doable projects to implement in my squeezy lil manpur gaou. I'm working on improved cookstoves (mud stoves that have a chimney so the smoke ain't hanging around inside no mo'), teaching health/ nutrition/ sanitation classes at my local e-school, and spreading word about da TREE OF LIFE aka moringa tree or shitalcheene in nepali. Also doing other peace corps duties by attending ngo/community orgs/districtlevel meetings and programs. The life. :)

I've been reading like a brain maniac. It's been real good. Here's a short booklist I recommend when y'all got freetime (or get yourselves off dem streets and go read a book!)

Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
-a firsthand account of the life of Shirley Chisholm, the first African American hot mama to run for presidency.

Buddha in the Attic
-the voices of hundreds of Japanese women sent to America as picture brides in the early 20th century, leading into the internment of Japanese Americans by the US government during World War II.  Short and good read :)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Beverly Tatum
-a psychologist's perspective of racial identity development in the USA. Iz berry interesting.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
-a biography that follows the work of American Dr. Paul Farmer into the slums of Haiti and other regions of the world. An interesting perspective on social inequality and what maybe should or can be done to be a positive addition to the world.


Shout out to my dope lil brother Antonio Lee!! For becoming the final college graduate of the Lee family. Again, as I was for Reynold, I'm there in spirit screaming your weird name and holding a sign with your big fat face on it. Have a safe "tour" up north with my baby (aka my car) and reyrey.

Congratulations to the UCSD class of 2014 for finishing out your last painful week of finals and moving on towards life after college. Do wonderful things for your communities, the world, and each other. I'm so proud of so many of you all and I absolutely wish I could see some specifics walk across the stage. You know who you are!! (ie. Bun sistaz and friends to name a few).

To the incoming group of new volunteers into Nepal, G201, I'm very excited to meet you all! Enjoy your last few months in the coffee-laden world of the US and make sure to eat all the burgers, mexican, thai, italian, greek cuisine you can stuff down. Go easy on the white rice while you have a chance ;). Shoot me a comment or message to say namaste if you'd like. I'm nice a good amount of the time.

Ta-ta for now mero maya lageko sathiharu ra pariwaar.
-Bora

La

My computer and iPad mini are of no more for now.  Will update with further information later. Or contact me via facebook message/email (namaste.bora@gmail.com) for info!

MUAH!!


love love love,
Bora

5/5/14 Happy Cinco de Mayo

“This one goes out to all my haters. Thanks for making me feel like the greatest- btch I'm about to blow up.”

Blow up- J.Cole

One thing I can never cease to be thankful for is the incredible view of the stars and the moon in the sky at night. It's a view unparalleled when growing up in light-polluted cities your whole life. Interestingly now I'm nostalgic for the rooftop of the first home I settled in after my move to Nepal- the beautiful village known as Chhaap.

I'm continuing my life along the tracks of the Peace Corps rollercoaster. I'm not one to butter stories up, so I must admit that some days/nights living here have been absolutely terrible- sometimes miserable physically (diarrhea, dehydration, mosquitoes, the heat, the cold, the physical labor), sometimes mentally (language, trainings, understanding policy, learning new skills), sometimes emotionally (loneliness, boredom, frustration, fear), but usually caused by the exhaustion of all of the above. Yet as with most lives lived on Earth, there is a balance, and I can't fail to recognize that there has been many days/nights here in Nepal that have presented to me opportunities for which I am terribly undeserving and very grateful. Life here as a foreigner, as a woman, as a volunteer, as a 23 year old, as an Asian-American, has presented challenges I never could have prepared for in the States, but I dare to never forget that this experience is an adventure I pursue willingly and joyfully, regardless of what happens.

In this life we must face the unique challenges set before us and find the means to make our way through life in the manner we each uniquely believe in.

I miss home, the Bay Area and the San Diego area, constantly, and most likely will be yearning for my hometown until the end of this tour, but I am looking up at the present and doing my best to embrace every minute of it while seeing the future on the horizon.

I'm doing my best. I'm learning everyday, breaking down to be put back together, and discovering new potential within myself and within others.

These mosquitoes bites are seriously fire though and I can't stop itching. FML.

MUAH!

-Bora