Can I tell a funny story? The first day that I arrived in my new home, I sat down for dinner and wanted to eat with my hand. Before arriving, I had decided that I wanted to continue doing so, but I didn’t expect to be the only one at the table eating with my hands. Ama (mom) and Gita (the helper) both eat with their hands, but they eat at different times, for whatever reason. So I sat down that night for dinner, looked around and saw spoons in everyone’s plates (including mine) and I almost lost my nerve. But then I decided, “No – I enjoy eating with my hands, so even if I am the only one, I will continue to do so.” The family remarked on this fact but did not mind. The next day at lunch, Robin began eating with my hands, and everyone remarked that he hadn’t done so in ages. The next meal, Aartee (the 13 year old daughter) began to eat with her hands. And last night, for dinner, even Sampada (Robin’s wife) and Jyoti (the 22 year old daughter) were all eating with their hands! I converted everyone!
Anyway, as I am beginning to learn, things in
(Just as an FYI, here is the reason for this strike: The Maoists killed some 16 year old boy in the Terai region (I don’t know why) so many people in the area were protesting the murder. They began burning tires and vandalizing public vehicles (which is also a common way for people to make their voices heard here) and so the people in charge of public transportation staged this strike until they received federal protection for their vehicles and drivers.)
Anyway, on Sunday Robin (my older brother) went to the school and picked up several books for me, but now I am more confused. He picked up the English books for grades, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7, as well as the Science books for grades 4-7!! Yikes – I hope I don’t have to teach science! The books are extremely poor – I don’t think I will use them at all. As a matter of fact, I still don’t know what the school is asking of me so looking at the books really didn’t help much at all.
It’s now Tuesday and the transportation strike is over. It is also scheduled holiday because there is a Hindu celebration to worship the Goddess of Books. Since my family is Hindu, we all got up early in the morning, everyone has taken a turn bathing (a requirement before a “puja” or worship session), and very soon we will worship the goddess and then spend the day studying and reading.
Speaking of my family, I think I am quite fortunate to have such a completely different family from Muna’s – it’s providing me with a broad view of Nepali culture. Muna’s family was Buddhist; this family is Hindu. Muna’s family was small; this family is large. The food at Muna’s house was as Nepali as it gets; and this food is very Indian-influenced. The only thing that seems to be the same so far is that this family seems to wake up as early as Muna’s. I think it’s a Nepali thing – in fact, sleeping in is frowned upon and children who sleep too late are scolded. The girls in this household have never slept in any later than 9am, but regularly wake up any time between 5-7am, even on weekends and holidays. Thus, I too have been waking up early so that I’m not seen as lazy.
