Ida painting the downhouse blue in Chisapani, Tanahu
So here I am, in Nepal, thinking I'm as far away from home as I could possibly get, and then my mother comes by for a visit:). Although to some people that might seem like a horrible situation, I was actually the one who invited her to come---so I can't complain (also, she's reading this blog so my lips are sealed).
Anyway, as now I'm officially my mother's tour guide, I decided to show her the places I know best---the Maya schools:). So after only one day of acclimatizing in Kathmandu at uncle's place I put her in a bus, and off we went, to school No.1: the Maya school in Chisapani,
Tanahu (the east school is also in Chisapani, but then in Udayapur-it's a very common village name). You get no rest when your daughter is the tour guide (and your daughter really wants to get out of Kathmandu to spend some time with the kids).
So anyway, to give her the full Nepali bus experience I described a few blogposts ago, I of course put her on the local bus from Damauli to Chisapani -which was loaded. I happily sat on top of the bus (I encouraged her to do so as well-but she declined) with the wind in my hair as my mother was slowly suffocating inside the bus while trying to balance on one leg for the duration of the ride because there wasn't enough space for both legs on the floor anymore:). Needless to say, she was very happy when we arrived at the school, and so was I.
So here I am, in Nepal, thinking I'm as far away from home as I could possibly get, and then my mother comes by for a visit:). Although to some people that might seem like a horrible situation, I was actually the one who invited her to come---so I can't complain (also, she's reading this blog so my lips are sealed).
Anyway, as now I'm officially my mother's tour guide, I decided to show her the places I know best---the Maya schools:). So after only one day of acclimatizing in Kathmandu at uncle's place I put her in a bus, and off we went, to school No.1: the Maya school in Chisapani,
Tanahu (the east school is also in Chisapani, but then in Udayapur-it's a very common village name). You get no rest when your daughter is the tour guide (and your daughter really wants to get out of Kathmandu to spend some time with the kids).
So anyway, to give her the full Nepali bus experience I described a few blogposts ago, I of course put her on the local bus from Damauli to Chisapani -which was loaded. I happily sat on top of the bus (I encouraged her to do so as well-but she declined) with the wind in my hair as my mother was slowly suffocating inside the bus while trying to balance on one leg for the duration of the ride because there wasn't enough space for both legs on the floor anymore:). Needless to say, she was very happy when we arrived at the school, and so was I.
So seeing that I have only three weeks to show Ida (my mum) around, we decided to only stay at this school for one week. Now Manjil would never say no to having a professional teacher teach his kids (my mum has been a teacher for ---eternity), so he let me and my mum teach as a team. What to teach, though, we asked ourselves, if we are only staying for one week. You can make three guesses. French? Nope. Art? Nope. Computer programming---eh. Nope.
We decided to teach the kids the marvelous skill of sign language. My mum worked with deaf people for some 6 years, and she taught me sign language as well, and why not pass on those skills? So now, after one week of teaching, I think I might be right to say that Maya Universe Academy is the only 'normal' school in Nepal where the kids know the sign language ABC.
Here is a small video of Korina and Susmita doing the ABC in front of the art work that my mum and I also managed to finish during that week. (There's some strange sounds on the background but that's because it's right next to the toilet and the tap).
We decided to teach the kids the marvelous skill of sign language. My mum worked with deaf people for some 6 years, and she taught me sign language as well, and why not pass on those skills? So now, after one week of teaching, I think I might be right to say that Maya Universe Academy is the only 'normal' school in Nepal where the kids know the sign language ABC.
Here is a small video of Korina and Susmita doing the ABC in front of the art work that my mum and I also managed to finish during that week. (There's some strange sounds on the background but that's because it's right next to the toilet and the tap).
Saphal drawing down the hand alphabet
I'm very critical about my own teachings, usually, but about this week I have to say that it was absolutely brilliant. The kids were very enthusiastic to learn this new skill and after one 45 minute class most of them actually already got the hang of most of the letters of the alphabet, which is really really fast:).
Because they were so fast, the second class we made them say: hi, my name is ... and the entire class had to answer hi, (name). It was a perfect class for someone who has had screaming children's voices all around herself for the last four months---thirty minutes of complete silence and utter concentration- the only sound detectable was the buzzing of the mosquitoes in the jungle. I didn't think it would be possible! But it was, and I have to say, I am very proud of what the children learned in this week.
Because they were so fast, the second class we made them say: hi, my name is ... and the entire class had to answer hi, (name). It was a perfect class for someone who has had screaming children's voices all around herself for the last four months---thirty minutes of complete silence and utter concentration- the only sound detectable was the buzzing of the mosquitoes in the jungle. I didn't think it would be possible! But it was, and I have to say, I am very proud of what the children learned in this week.
Muskan trying to write down aeronautical engineer which me and my mum just spelled out with our hands as a matter of a test:)
Anyway, it was a very busy week but also a very happy one. One other exiting thing that happened was the harvesting of the rice! I really was hoping I would be able to experience the full circle of rice planting, and fortunately I could. So one day, while my mother was painting the downhouse blue, we went down to harvest those nutritious little plants. (pictures will come later, they are lost now).
Basically we had to cut it and get out the rice on the same day, else wise the plants would get too dry and the rice grains would fall out while trying to transport them. So on the muddy field we placed one big piece of tarp, and in the middle of the tarp we put a big stone. And as the rice was being cut and bundled by some people, the others went on to smack the rice plants against the stones, so that the grains would get loose. It was a very exhausting method to get the grains out, but fun at the same time. The hygiene of it is questionable, as we were basically standing in the freshly harvested rice grains with our muddy feet, (and later we let the grains to dry under one of the beds in the school) but hell, we harvested and for me, the circle was finally round.
Anyway, it was a very busy week but also a very happy one. One other exiting thing that happened was the harvesting of the rice! I really was hoping I would be able to experience the full circle of rice planting, and fortunately I could. So one day, while my mother was painting the downhouse blue, we went down to harvest those nutritious little plants. (pictures will come later, they are lost now).
Basically we had to cut it and get out the rice on the same day, else wise the plants would get too dry and the rice grains would fall out while trying to transport them. So on the muddy field we placed one big piece of tarp, and in the middle of the tarp we put a big stone. And as the rice was being cut and bundled by some people, the others went on to smack the rice plants against the stones, so that the grains would get loose. It was a very exhausting method to get the grains out, but fun at the same time. The hygiene of it is questionable, as we were basically standing in the freshly harvested rice grains with our muddy feet, (and later we let the grains to dry under one of the beds in the school) but hell, we harvested and for me, the circle was finally round.
Dipa Miss -a new teacher at the school (hopefully) and her baby
And of course I also showed my mother around the village, wich was a bit of a strange experience because suddenly she was the 'helpless' one, because she couldn't express herself. So I had to translate for her all the time, which was fun. It must have been kind of strange for her, because all those people knew me for a long time, so she was automatically referred to as 'Weike ko ama'-Weike's mother. It was fun for me, though, pointing at my mum all the time saying 'yo mero ama ho' -this is my mother-while my mother couldn't understand most the things we were gossiping about:P
We walked around the village on the last day, having tea here, corn there, local pear at another house, and some honey tastings at the down shop- life is lovely in Chisapani if you actually are starting to know the people.
Which, sadly, is also the moment I had to leave again.
So now I am writing to you from Pokhara (which is also why i managed to upload the video-yay to good internet) and tomorrow me and my mum will head to Udayapur again for a short visit.
Lots of love,
Weike
And of course I also showed my mother around the village, wich was a bit of a strange experience because suddenly she was the 'helpless' one, because she couldn't express herself. So I had to translate for her all the time, which was fun. It must have been kind of strange for her, because all those people knew me for a long time, so she was automatically referred to as 'Weike ko ama'-Weike's mother. It was fun for me, though, pointing at my mum all the time saying 'yo mero ama ho' -this is my mother-while my mother couldn't understand most the things we were gossiping about:P
We walked around the village on the last day, having tea here, corn there, local pear at another house, and some honey tastings at the down shop- life is lovely in Chisapani if you actually are starting to know the people.
Which, sadly, is also the moment I had to leave again.
So now I am writing to you from Pokhara (which is also why i managed to upload the video-yay to good internet) and tomorrow me and my mum will head to Udayapur again for a short visit.
Lots of love,
Weike