Forest Gump had it right when he said “ Life’s like a box of
chocolates –you never know what you’re gonna get.”
Over the course of the last five weeks here in Gorkha, I
recognize a number of my Western habits that have become apparent. One of the
biggest realizations has been my dependence on a schedule, timetable, or some
sort of fixed “norm” around which I can plan my daily activities. I’ve spent considerable
time and energy trying to figure out who in my family does what and when to try
and fit into their routine as seamlessly as possible. However, this has been
near to impossible because life in Nepal has been full of surprises…
Sometimes its waking up to a parade outside your window –a
parade of hundreds of men dressed in white, marching single file down the
street, blowing horns, banging drums and leading a few dozen goats to their
sacrificial demise.
Sometimes it’s in the staffroom while you’re planning a
lesson. Suddenly the bell rings, the students race from the school (despite
there being two periods left) and voila! An unexpected half-day. The teachers
then proceed to dress you up in traditional costume and have a heated
discussion of finding you a suitable Nepali husband.
Sometimes it’s in the classroom when your back is turned.
One of my grade 6 troublemakers took the opportunity to steal my blue sticky
tack I was using for an activity, thinking it was chewing gum. (I found the
culprit pretty easily –despite his vehement head shaking, there was a trail of
blue string leading up to his mouth…) Other times you find yourself jumping off a desk in the front of the classroom trying to act out vocabulary in the story "The Greedy Fox." Never in my life did I think I'd be dressed in a hot pink kurta uniform, wearing a homemade fox mask, leaping from a wooden bench in front of 65 twelve year olds!
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| Thanks Lauren for these words of wisdom! |
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| Co-teaching in action |
Sometimes you don’t even make it to school. Although I’ve
reached the five week mark, I’m still waiting to log in a full week of
teaching. When I first found out that classes run from Sunday to Friday, I was
initially surprised to only get one day off. However, between exams, festivals,
and the bhundhs (political strikes that are a result of the upcoming November
Congressional elections), there seems to be one reason after another why
classes are cancelled. It’s kind of like getting snow days in the middle of
summer!
...And sometimes, if you’re my friend Jeanie, it’s at the dinner table when you find yourself staring at a steaming bowl of goat’s head soup!
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