EIL Intercultural Learning

Namaste everyone - I've been in Nepal for over six weeks now so it's about time I finally posted something on the EIL Blog!
In that time I have hiked to Mount Everest, bungee jumped into a Himalayan river gorge, accidentally stumbled on to a Bollywood movie set, completed an Elephant jungle safari and white water rafted down the source river of the Ganges - just a handful of amazing experiences that come to mind. I have met volunteers from every corner of the globe, made great friends along the way and learned something new each and every day, so I think it's fair to say I'm having an amazing time :) 

So, I've been working at Asna Orphanage in Chitwan (Southern Nepali District) for almost three weeks now, and I've been busy right from the word go. The orphanage currently cares for 24 children ranging from seven to fifteen years old. 

When I initially arrived, the children were preparing for their annual summer exams, so I have been teaching them English, Maths and a variety of other subjects each day. The children completed their exams yesterday,  so to celebrate, we have been playing lots of football, carromboard (traditional Nepalese board game), story-telling and watching Hindi cartoons together. After study time in the morning, I help the kitchen staff to serve breakfast and we then go about the monstrous task of washing up dishes together - as you can imagine, 24 children create quite a mess! A few weeks ago I purchased an acoustic guitar in Kathmandu as a gift for the orphanage, so I've also been teaching the older children how to play in the evening time.

If you want to totally immerse yourself in Nepalese culture, then I definitely recommend staying with a host family. My host family are amazing people - especially my host mother, who cooks up a seemingly endless supply of tea and daal bhat for me every day. Daal bhat is a traditional dish eaten by Nepalese people twice daily, and it basically consists of rice served with lentil soup and various homegrown vegetables. Although I was initially unsure if I'd be able to eat the same old dish every day, I can't get enough of the stuff now!

My host family are farmers, so I've been helping them to pick and strip corn, plant rice and feed buffalos. As it is currently monsoon season in Nepal, the electricity usually cuts in the evening time, so we eat our dinner outside together, watching thunderstorms in the sky and conversing in broken English and Nepalese well into the night. In my free time, I go cycling with other volunteers to the local city Narayangat, where we can swim, eat mouth-watering Indian cuisine and explore local Hindu Temples and Buddhist Shrines.

Although I could fill pages and pages of the EIL website writing about my experiences, I'll leave it there for now. I look forward to keeping you updated over the next few weeks and letting you know what it's like to volunteer in this amazing country. 

Pheri Betaula (See you soon),

Karl