Birthdays to Bed-ridden

We have two Nepali birthdays this week! How exciting =)

I'll start at the beginning of the week with Sanzu's on Tuesday, and move on to Kuldeep's today.

Sanzu's host home is in Surya Pal, so it meant another trek up the mountain, plus then some. Meetum and I started walking around 9am because we wanted to avoid the heat as much as possible, because recently it is sure getting HOT.

Now I don't know whether I've got fitter over the last couple of weeks, or if I'm becoming more tolerant of having to walk up mountains, but this time it felt a lot easier walking up. Winning...!

Once we got to Sami, Meetum decided to wait for the others that started off a little after us, whereas I really wanted to get out of the heat, so decided to press on on my own.

This would've been wise if I actually knew where I was going. I must have walked back and forth three times, much to the hilarity of the local women, and within this time I was chased by a buffalo. Yes you read that correctly. I was only alerted to this fact by a woman shouting, me turning round out of curiosity and seeing a buffalo charging after me. It was honestly as if it straight out of a comedy movie. You can picture the movie scenario... bull chases after man. Man gets hit by bull. Man flies into air and lands in a heap of something. However this was real life and I had three options;

1) Keep walking and be killed.
2) Run off the cliff and be killed.
3) Run and be killed by sheer embarrassment. Yes those same ladies who find everything hilarious were round the corner and saw this whole debacle.

One of them finally took pity and led me to Lily and Sanzu's host home. It was a lovely afternoon and we even had a birthday cake! It tasted somewhat funky but a birthday cake in the middle of Nepal?!? Massively satisfied that day. 

I got a bit too much sun, but that is not the reason for the bed-ridden part of the blog post title.

Yesterday I was cleaning my ears when I noticed blood from my left ear. I tried putting some drops in and then proceeded to get muffled hearing (sorry to any doctors reading this that think I'm an idiot. I know ok?). That's when it was time to visit the doctor. Turns out I have an ear infection and I'll admit that I was a big baby and cried. I think it was 1) the shock that I had an infection because I just thought it was blocked and 2) being in a foreign country ill isn't ideal. They gave me antibiotics (which I'm not taking as they seem to give them for EVERY ailment here), some ear drops and painkillers. Hopefully I'll be on the mend in a few days! What does make me laugh is that (touch wood) this is my first illness in Nepal and it isn't even remotely linked to an upset stomach. Funny that...

So today I'm missing the second birthday of the week which is Kuldeep. Everyone has gone to Rambazar (the furthest town away) to celebrate with him and I'm stuck at home resting. Boo!

Anyway, that's pretty much all that's happened so far this week. Our Waste Management Workshop has moved to Monday and the Community Health Programme is next Saturday. I'm going to get some more shut eye, because as they say, "Sleep is the best medicine". I say chocolate but I'm in bed right now and the shop is up the road so it'll have to wait.

Alice x

PS: Tip: don't use cotton buds. Just don't. They were created by the devil.

Litter Picking Day in Duipiple

Our very first CAD (Community Action Day) and... it was mostly a success.

Our event was supposed to start at 8am, but people were already clearing way before this. Maybe in a bid for their part of the village to look clean? Who knows... but it kind of defeated the idea of separating all the rubbish and recycling what we could. They just ended up burning their piles of rubbish.

When we headed out, we had 60 gloves (kindly donated by the Health Post) and all 60 of those gloves disappeared. We even had the children getting involved, who then demolished the tea and biscuits provided afterwards. The police, shopowners, women's group members, health workers... they all came out to get involved!

The plan was to separate the cardboard/paper and plastic into the rice bags to dispose of them properly. That didn't really go to plan...

We encouraged people to get on board to clear the rubbish, but the disposing of it was the main issue. Like the rest of the community had done previously, it ended with burning all the rubbish, both plastic and paper, in a pile at the end of the village. That's not what we wanted at all, but this is the norm across the region.

We've decided that this should be our next step with combating the waste management problem in this area. We are going to come up with a strategic plan to ensure that the waste is disposed of correctly within the community, products are reused wherever possible, and that there's no unnecessary burning of plastic to ensure no further damage to the climate.

All in all though, our first CAD showed us how onboard the community gets with programmes and how keen they are to implement change. It's just going to be our job now to educate the community on how to make those changes and sustain them.

I'm pleased with today as it's given us something to learn from, and hopefully our workshop on Tuesday will inform people a lot more on a good environment for the community.

Alice x

The lady in red is the leader of the Women's group. 

"Tough times never last, but tough people do"

A quote there for you by Robert H. Schuller. Yes I didn't know who he was either. A retired American televangelist apparently. There you go...

Hello everyone!

I am very sorry it's been quite a while since my last post, however when I arrived in Duipiple (my home and community for the next 8ish weeks), there was no power. Just my luck...

Anyway it's been my first week in community, and I'm pretty happy to say, Meetum and I have some great plans under our belt. Meetum is my counterpart by the way, and she's absolutely lovely. She's really hard-working and I think she gets my humour... most of the time. Here she is...

Before I dive into what I've been up to this week, I'd like to firstly tell you about the training I went through beforehand. Don't worry... It's not a lecture. Just some really interesting topics, facts and relevant information about Nepal, the Lamjung district and the sort of things I will be doing in community.

Education and Livelihoods in Nepal
Day one was a session on the education programmes and the secure livelihoods programme that are implemented by VSO in different parts of Nepal.
Have a guess at to how many universities there are in Nepal and don't cheat by looking down. Don't cheat... You're cheating!!!

There are 9 unviersities in Nepal, but only 6 functional. I was pretty surprised as I actually thought it would be less. Compare this to the UK, who have 109 universities, and it puts into perspective how little a number Nepal's number is.
A national survey found that 65.5% of Nepal's population were literate but 65 years ago, only 2% were literate. It goes to show the steps this country has taken to develop their education, but there are still problems. Girls marrying young and dropping out of school. Children not attending because they are helping their parents to bring in an income. School being too far away for communities in very remote, rural areas. The list could go on.
VSO focus the programme around access to education and the quality of the education being taught. There is currently a mentoring programme in the Lamjung districts called Sisters for Sisters. It encourages older girls to be 'big sisters' to younger girls 'little sisters' to build their confidence and offer support through everything. These mentoring programmes specifically aimed at girls is really what's needed, as there is definite gender inequality in Nepal.

The secure livelihoods programme is about "supporting disadvantaged communities to become wealthier, more resilient and access their fundamental right to a livelihood". The focus is around:
* Environmental degradation and vulnerability to climate change
* Land unproductivity
* Food scarcity
* Lack of access to and control productive resources and services
* Youth unemployment
* Lack of access to market linkage

VSO in Nepal
In this session, we were lucky enough to meet the country director of Nepal for VSO, have a health talk AND learn some Nepali. It was pretty jam-packed.

The country director was telling us that VSO Nepal has a 5 year strategic plan which included changing development and how the organisation can play a unique role in development. She also said that VSO has a holistic view of poverty and that it's not just about monetary poverty. There are 3 main programmes with VSO Nepal:
* Education
> basic education - literacy, numeracy, young education
* Health
> sexual and reproductive health
* Livelihoods
> agricultural development
> enterprise development
> access to earning a livelihood

GENDER, YOUTH and ENVIRONMENT are cross-cutting themes for all these programmes.

VSO Nepal use long-term volunteers, ICS volunteers (that's me), national volunteers and interns to implement changes and develop the communities for the better.

Health in Nepal
Here's a few key things I learnt about health in Nepal.
* The fertility rate has been decreasing, however fertility is highest among the 20-24 age bracket. That's the equivalent to me! This would probbly be due to the amount of young girls that marry early and have children early too. Ok it's not uncommon in the UK for women to have a family from a young age, but I would say Nepal has a much more severe problem of girls marrying at a severely young age. My counterpart Meetum is reading a book at the moment where the girl married at 7. Yes you read that right folks. 7 years old.
* Family planning is lowest in poorer communities. Again, this doesn't surprise me as they don't have as much access to the health facilities and advice they need.
* 40% of maternal deaths are at home. 14% of maternal deaths are in transit to medical facilities. 41% of maternal deaths are at health centres. I dont know about you, but when I read these statistics, I was completely shocked. These are way too high and something needs to be done to bring them down considerably. This is probably not helped by the fact that 70% of births still take place at home unattended by healthcare professionals.

Pretty hard hitting facts there but it brings to light the reality of the reproductive healthcare issues prominent in Nepal's communities.

Cross-cultural information
Some cheery facts now from cross-cultural information we were given, including the language.
* There are approximately 850 species of birds in Nepal, which is almost a share of 10% of the world's bird species.
* There are 600 species of butterfly and 50 species of moths. Now I'm not claiming to have seen them all, but I saw a huge array of butterflies in the jungle the past 2 times I have visited it! Reminded me of walking through the butterfly house at Berkley Castle.
* There are 180 species of dragonfly. Again, I saw a lot in the jungle.
* However, although Nepal is a country rich of fauna and flora, it is 1 of the 12 poorest countries in the world categorised by the World Bank.

Language
Now... are you ready to learn some Nepali?

Namaste (Na-Ma-Stay) = Hello AND Goodbye - this is normally accompanied by bringing the hands together just underneath you chin, as if you were praying.
Namaskaar (Na-Mas-Car) = More formal Hello and Goodbye - again, the same hand movement as before.

Mero naam 'Alice' ho (Mero 'sounds like nero', Nam 'sounds like ham', Your name, Ho) = My name is Alice
Mero desh UK ho (Mero 'as above', Desh 'sounds like mesh', Your country, Ho) = My country is UK
Mero ghar Bristol ho (Mero 'as above', Gare 'sounds like stare', Your village/town/city, Ho) = My home is Bristol

Tapaaiku naam ke ho? (Ta-Pie-Co, Nam 'as above', Keh, Ho) = What is your name?
Tapaaiku ghar kaa ho? (Ta-Pie-Co, Gare 'as above', Ka, Ho) = Where is your home?

There's some basics for you, and here's a little bit of useful lingo I've had to use at some point or another...

Ali Ali = Little (I have been using this a LOT when it comes to rice portions!!!)
Chiyaa = Tea
Mahango bhayo = Very expensive (useful for haggling in Kathmandu)
Piro = Spicy (which a lot of the food is!)
Maile bujhina = I don't understand (that's a given...)
Man parchha = I like
Yo ke ho? = What is it?

Enough language for today I think...

Community Development
I think was a particularly important session as it really made us think about what work will be like in community. This is basically what was said in the session:

The same object can be seen by different people in a different way. This is because you will all be looking at it from a different angle - a different background - a different perception. If you are locked into this perception and don't acknowledge other perceptions, your view will be one dimensional. Communication between one another is vital to learn from one another. The need for change can be described by this diagram:

PROBLEM = Undesirable conditions: these conditions can be changed, they have a solution and are not imaginary

=======>>> TRANSFORMATION PROCESS = Community Development

SOLUTION = Desirable conditions: these conditions are realistic, sustainable, achievable and equitable

Plus, this process can be applied ANYWHERE in the world.

No matter how big or small, a change is a change and it's all the same. Arousing curiosity in a community builds the capacity for change. The community itself must make the change and take ownership if it.

There were other facts and figures in the training, but you get the general gist of what we had. Some pretty helpful stuff there too!

Now... onto my first week in community!

TUESDAY
We arrived in Duipiple around 2.30pm to a lovely home and host family. The family consists of my host Mother Didi (this isn't her name. In Nepali, you call a woman that isn't old enough to be your actual mother, Didi. My Didi is actually only 26), host father, host grandmother, host grandfather, 5 year old son and a 10 month old girl. They have quite a big house with a shop on the front, and the best thing... they have an indoor shower!!! Hallelujah!

Meetum and I decided that it would be a good idea to explore the village to get to grips with where everything is and what stuck out as needing a change. One thing we did notice immediately was the amount of rubbish just chucked anywhere and everywhere. This was one thing we thought we could definitely change!

Here's a little fun fact about Duipiple. If you cross the latitude and longitude of Nepal, Duipiple is smack bam in the middle. This is what they recognise it with...

Really tells you the story doesn't it?

Dinner was the usual. Rice. Lentils. Some kind of curry, usually potato. And then an early night!

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday breakfast consisted of rice. Lentils. Some kind of curry, usually potato. I honestly don't get the concept of rice for breakfast, but hey ho...

Wednesday was an extremely proactive day as we managed to interview lots of people. We started with the principal of the main school. Unfortunately, we've come at a very busy time for the schools, and they will be having exams until our 7th week of being here. As unfortunate as it is, that doesn't discourage us from the things we have planned from week 7 onwards. He seemed keen, so fingers crossed our plans will please.

Next was the hospital. Not the usual type of hospital we're used to, but they help people as much as they can, and that's the main thing. The hospital didn't have a great deal to say but told us they'd support us 100% on all the health programmes we want to implement in the community. On a similar health note, we visited the health post for a more generic overview of health in the community. I suppose these act as a kind of doctor's surgery really. He told us that if we wanted to be effective in the community, then we were probably best to head up into the hills to speak to the communities there. This was really reassuring, as I think Meetum and I were beginning to get a little worried about no work.

We decided to head up to the hills and find a community who needed our help, and horrah... we found one! Nepal has a caste system and one of the lower castes is the Dalit community. It just so happened that the people of this village were from the Dalit caste. We spoke to them about whether they had attended any VSO programmes before, and it would appear that VSO has never ventured up into the hills before. We spoke to them about any health concerns, and they had no knowledge on uterine prolapse, a specific problem to Nepalese women. Also, they were also saying that they rarely visited the health post in Duipiple, and if they needed medical assistance, they would travel to Pokhara instead (which would take over 19 hours to walk). This got us thinking about the potential for a health camp and also to build a better relationship between the health post and Dalit community. The men of the village, and there weren't many as a lot go to the Middle East or India for work, were keen to learn more about animal husbandry too. I remember we spoke to one elderly man who had 3 sons. All three of them are married. 1 son lives in Duipiple and works in agriculture. The other 2 sons are in Saudi Arabia, and have been for a number of years, to earn an income. It was deeply upsetting seeing this man well up because there are so many risks with Nepalese men working in the Middle East. They are basically treated like slaves whilst they work for a pittance on a construction site. What was even more upsetting was seeing 1 of his son's houses next door, all locked up.

After quite a long day, we headed down with lots of ideas whizzing around about how we can help the Dalit village. Again it was rice for dinner, but I don't think my bidy could handle it anymore. I felt really nauseous and had to leave the table to which I was ill. I felt super guilty as I had to leave food, but Didi has been really understanding. You'll see how in a sec...

THURSDAY
FRUIT! All I wanted was fruit. After awkwardly declining breakfast (as I was not even remotely ready for more rice), Meetum and I headed out for some fruit. After what seemed like a search for the lost ark, I managed to find some bananas. They definitely helped!!!

We then attended a community meeting which went in for hours. All in Nepali. I thought a 3 hour church service in Zambia was bad... it was still going on when we left after 4.5 hours. We met up with some of the other volunteers as they were in town, and then we headed home. Didi, knowing that the rice was getting to me a bit, made us noodles. Honestly, this was one of the nicest things she could've done for me as I was feeling so crappy.

An early bedtime so I could get back on form!

FRIDAY
Didi gave me bread and peanut cookies fo breakfast. She's an absolute star, but I definitely had to make an effort with rice that night. We spent most of Friday planning our first Community Action Day (CAD) and Active Citizen Day (ACD). We've decided to hold a Litter Picking Day, which takes place on Saturday 21st March. We're also holding an interactive workshop on Tuesday 24th March, whereby the community gets to use recycled products to make agricultural tools. I'll post more about this next week, along with some photos. We've also planned our ACD around Waste Management to show how beneficial this may or may not be to a community.

This was alo a good day, as Dai (the host father - not his name but much like Didi) let us have the WiFi password! Woohoo!

SATURDAY
Saturday was our day off and we met up with the rest of the volunteers in Sami Bhanjyang. Let me put where Sami is into perspective. I climbed Snowdon right? That was easy compared to climbing up to Sami!!! Jeez... it was absolutely boiling and after and hour and a half, it was a relief to see the other volunteer's faces. We went to a lookout point an the view was stunning.

It was really nice to just chill out and speak to the other UK volunteers.

I got noodles again for dinner. It sounds so ridiculous, but it is such a relief to have anything other than rice!

SUNDAY
We have decided to have our team meetings on Sunday's, so this was our first one. It was great to hear how similar and vastly different our ideas are for developing our communities. We spent the rest of the afternoon eating noodles and momo's, at what I think will be a regular jaunt for everyone. It's really annoying that we're so far apart, but at least we'll have our days off to see one another.

I spent the rest of the early evening just chilling. Meetum and I are so lucky to have WiFi as we can do research and keep in cotact with people via Skype and Whatsapp.

MONDAY
We spent Monday morning speaking with the mayor type person to finalise the details of our litter picking day. Hopefully a few people will turn up and make the event a success.

We also met the leader or the women's group and hopefully we'll get to conduct some programmes and workshops with them. We have a few ideas in mind, but it's running something that they'll actually want.

TUESDAY
Yesterday we met with the Health Assistant to plan our Community Health Programme in the Dalit village, which will be held on the Saturday 4th April. He seems really positive about the event and will be offering free medicines to the community. PROGRESS right there! Ha!

In the late afternoon, Meetum and I decided to go for a walk down to the river. We had to walk through the rice paddies which are not normally planted until June/July time (the rainy season). It was so beautiful and peaceful down there, and just reminded me of a walk I took through Snuff Mills last summer. The sounds or the river. The birds tweeting. Bliss!

On our way back, we came across women planting rice saplings in the field as the water had flooded that particular rice paddie. They even wanted us to join in... not today thank you. I may have had my jabs, but I don't know what's lurking in that water...

So... that's my first week right there. I'm not going to lie... it has been pretty tough adjusting to life in Nepal. I didn't think for a minute the food would be an issue, but I'm really struggling. However, I'm continuing with a positive mindset, getting on with the work and embracing every moment of this journey.

I promise I will keep this more up to date now so you can share in my adventure too! =)

Namaste everyone!

Alice x

Simple things

It really is the simple things that put a smile on your face, and today I had two moments when I really experienced that. 

Firstly, as I was desperately trying to get my blog post up about the last week and what I've been doing, I didn't get a chance to post anything for International Women's Day. I decided to go with a Facebook status this morning that recognised what woman I found an inspiration to myself. Quite simply, my Mother is my biggest inspiration as a woman. As I've got older, I've realised how strong she is as a woman, and how she's influenced me throughout my life. International Women's Day is recognising those women that fight for gender equality or an end to discrimination or FGM, but closer to home and more personally to me, my Mamma Mia (as I like to call her) is my female figure who I aspire to be like. Plus, I'm so far away from her and missing her that I felt it was only fair that she deserves the mention.

I posted this picture from 2008 when I was 17, but it never ceases to make me smile. Love you Mum!

And secondly, the past few days I've been feeling a bit "meh", but something seriously cheered me up today. I wrote in my previous post that in yoga I thought about the taste of strawberry ice cream, and hey presto, my strawberry ice cream needs were satisfied. Plus, we had momo's and chow mein for dinner. Today was definitely a good day.

Here's some words of wisdom (as I am clearly so wise): Take the time to appreciate the small things in life so that it brings a smile to your face. I promise you that you'll instantly feel better about yourself, and your good mood will reflect onto others. Happiness is like a disease - It really is infectious.
Can't belief I've just compared happiness to a disease, but you get the jist!

Happy International Women's Day for yesterday everyone!

Alice x

Training galore

So the last week has been pretty jam-packed with training so I haven't really had a chance to blog. However, there have been some exciting and adventurous things happening! So, let me get started =)

After we got back from training on Tuesday, the sky was (finally) clear enough that we had a view of the Himalayas from our guesthouse. It honestly is one of the most surreal sights that I don't think I'll get used to this whole trip.

They're quite far in this photo but we will eventually be very close to them! I even managed to do quite a good (if I say so myself) panoramic shot of the rooftop view, so you can see how busy Kathmandu is with the towering hills surrounding the city.

Unfortunately, one of our team members received some bad news from home and they will be leaving the programme and going back to the UK. It's such a shame because I know this person was super excited to get stuck into the work. They will be sorely missed but keeping this blog going will inform them of everything that's going on in the communities and all the work we've (hopefully) done. 

Wednesday was our last session of training in Kathmandu (there's still plenty more to come...), but luckily for us it was a half-day which gave us a chance to explore. Just after training, we headed to Patan Durbar Square. Nisha, one of the Nepalese counterparts, was telling me that the wooden carvings and the stone monument were carved out entirely by hand.

That REALLY must have taken some doing, as you can see the extent and size of them in the pictures.

We also went to the Garden of Dreams which looked quintessentially like a Victorian English garden. I would've felt right at home if it were only for a china tea set, finger sandwiches and scones. It really was peaceful in there despite the honks from the hoards of traffic outside. I also noticed that this place was the perfect for a little stroll with an admirer. So many giggling couples - it really was quite sweet and innocent. Unfortunately, my pictures of the garden were all taken on my camera so I have none to share. Maybe I'll try and upload them another time.

Rosie and I decided to head off into the shopping district, as there were a few things we wanted to get before we headed to Besishahar. I really wanted a cosy yaks wool scarf (which I got), but also ended up with a beautiful blue skirt. My shopping habits remain consistent wherever I am in the world, don't they...? We did get a bit lost, but actually it was great to have a bit of an explore. I find that you really get to see things properly if you get a bit lost now and again. Well that's my theory anyway...

Travelling on Thursday was an experience and a half! And boy was it a LONG journey... I was pretty gutted as well because we were travelling during the Holi festival but when we stopped in a couple of villages, the Nepalese were gracious enough to bless us with colour. I got a good amount of blessing as you can see here...

We arrived in Besishahar around 3.30pm and decided to have a bit of an explore of the town. There's a suspension bridge towards the end of the town which crosses to a very steep incline of steps. I presume this is how people living in the hills reach the town. I also found the people to be so friendly and smiley. Reassuring...

I woke up on Friday pretty early for 6am yoga. The views I have when I wake up are absolutely stunning. I mean look at this...

All my ideas of yoga went completely out the window when I had to majorly work out the abs... urghhh. Plus, when Steve Carrell (the yoga guy is literally Steve Carrell's Nepalese doppelganger) told us to relax our five senses, all I could think about was the taste of strawberry ice cream and smell of bacon and sausages. Not yoga, but torture!!!

Our training sessions have been great since we've been here, and it's really getting us to think about our time in community. I am REALLY looking forward to getting properly stuck in. Bring on the communities!!! 

I'll give you one last bizarre anecdote from yesterday before I head off to bed... we had coleslaw sandwiches and chips for breakfast. Yes, you read that right. Coleslaw sandwiches.
Coleslaw sandwiches.
Coleslaw sandwiches.
Nope. It doesn't get better no matter how many times I say it...

Namaste everyone!

Alice x

Kathmandu in style

Well... what a journey to Kathmandu. After a pretty rubbish flight to Doha in terms of trying to get comfortable, we had the most amazing experience in (wait for it...) BUSINESS CLASS! That's right... free upgrade! I won't make you all jealous too much, but you can live through my experience with photos. Sorry... =P

Arriving in Kathmandu was somewhat interesting as it involved a two hour wait for our bags. We did get to see the copious amounts of TVs the Nepalese purchased in Qatar and 'meat joint' bags (striped bags or blankets that were wrapped up with lots of rope). Our drive from the airport to the guesthouse just made being in Nepal very real. Lots of honking horns and dogs barking. Guess what I heard this morning...? I'm learning to get used to these sounds as they inevitably wake me up.

If you're wondering about food, breakfast this morning was absolutely delicious! Banana pancakes (immediately thought of the Jack Johnson song), mango juice and a really, really nice coffee. Ooooo I loved that pancake. Wonder what I'll be having tomorrow... =)

Today was all about exploring Kathmandu (basically being MASSIVE tourists). We headed to get Nepalese SIM cards first and I honestly thought I was signing my life away. They needed our fingerprints, photocopies of our passports and a passport photo. Not exactly the process at Carphone Warehouse is it?
It was then a long walk to Swayambhu aka the Monkey Temple! Long but really, really fascinating. It was very evident that Nepal is a developing country. There is rubbish in the streets, stray dogs and the roads are in complete disrepair. The city is also quite polluted with a smog layer covering up the views of the mountains in the distance. I could really feel it on my chest and in my eyes today. Nonetheless, the people are very friendly and a lot of children waved and said hello to us today. Even got to practice my 'Namaste' (hello AND goodbye in Nepali). We also witnessed a funeral procession on our way to the monkeys. Lizzie (our team leader) told us that when Hindu Nepalese people die, their body is transported (within a matter of hours) along the Bagmati river to the crematorium. Once there, their body is washed to cleanse their sins and then burned. The ashes are collected and then deposited into the river. Hindu monks and children under five don't need to be cleansed as they have no sins. Up until 1925, if a man died his wife would jump onto the fire with him. If the fire didn't kill her, she would then be beaten to death by relatives. Thankfully that doesn't happen now! It was interesting to witness the ritual of how Hindu Nepalese say goodbye to their dead.

We eventually made it to the steps of the temple, and boy were they STEEP! Monkeys were EVERYWHERE and I got some great shots of the cheeky little buggers. One nibbled on one of our bottles and tried grabbing the same girl's bag. Clearly she was the 'chosen' one! Towards the top of the steps, a very large amount of people were moving the deity between temples. It was so vibrant with colour. The women were dressed in red and the shrines has rich pinks, yellows and oranges. It was beautiful. I even managed to get a video of the men negotiating the really steep steps. I'll try and post it! The top of the temple had really amazing views of Kathmandu, slightly obscured by the smog, but beautiful nonetheless. Then... the rain hit. Slippery steep steps and water... you can imagine.

We decided to head back towards the guesthouse and eat out for lunch. At the 'Big Belly' restaurant I had the Nepalese menu called Thali. This consisted of a dried vegetable soup, rice, a lentil sauce, vegetable dhal, an assortment of greens, a spicy sauce and banana in yoghurt. It was delicious, and if this is what I have to get used to, then I'll be quite alright!

The rain didn't hold off so we headed back to the guesthouse and spent the afternoon chilling. There were two big storms today and the lightning and thunder was very exciting. Not so much when the windows shake... This will be really good for the smog though. Clear away some of the dust.

I got my first taste of momos at dinner, and I have a feeling I'll be eating lots of these little creations of heaven. Vegetable ones are my favourite so far!

Anyway, training starts tomorrow and I have to be up early so I better finish up for today. Looking forward to meeting the counterparts and getting to grips with all the information. I have a feeling I may be pretty tired tomorrow...

Namaste!

Alice x