Back to School ..sort of
Trip Start
Sep 08, 2007
1
3
23
Trip End
Dec 30, 2008
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Kathmandu,
Nepal
Monday, October 15, 2007
Age: 45
Family status: Married. 2 children
Job: Language Teacher.
Religion: Hindu
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Spending few days in Kathmandu before my Everest Base Camp trek, I have to find a little something to do to keep myself busy. Kathmandu is a big, bustling city, but most of it is residential and not too exciting once you've done all the sightseeing. Most restaurants and shops with tourist appeal are concentrated in a bustling area called Thamel. What strikes me most about Thamel though are not the restaurants serving international food, or the gem stones, and not even the bakeries, although I do enjoy the pineapple croissants a lot. It is the fact that the unpaved streets of Thamel have no names and all addresses are pretty much the same - So-and-so, Thamel, Kathmandu. Mail, I hear, do gets delivered, but it takes a while.
Looking out the window of my $8/night room overlooking the main road in Thamel (which is a bad thing, for Nepalese wake up very early) l wonder if washing my hair with cold water was such a good idea on a chilly, rainy day like today. I know it's a long shot, but I run downstairs to the reception and ask hopeful if they have a blow-dryer. They don't. Why don't you go to a beauty parlor, the receptionist says flirtingly. Why not, I reply, I've got absolutely nothing to do any ways.
After half and hour random walk down the streets of Thamel, with hair half-dry, I spot a little Beauty Parlor sign on a second floor of a tree story building. I climb up the dark stairway and walk through the only open door, which leads to the makeshift reception of Skill Language Institute, a rather big name for a small language school, consisting of two small rooms with rickety desks and a blackboard.
Madhu Lama
Long story short, an hour later, I have a Gala worthy hair do for $4, and had arranged for a 20 hours worth of language lessons for $50. That's how I meet Madhu Lama, my language guru (teacher in Nepali).Now, my lack of talent for languages is undisputable. For the 20 hours I spend with Guru Lama I learn 2-3 fluent phrases tops, but I really enjoy having the occasional milk tea break and general conversations. His English is very good, so I use the opportunity to get the inside perspective on live in Nepal. Guru Lama is not really a full time language teacher. He is working full time as and Instructor at Ministry of Education Training center. He trains teachers how to teach English, a skill he learned from a very kind, in his own words, Danish people, who came to teach in Nepal couple of years ago as a part of a non-for-profit exchange program. He has a base salary that equals about $130 a month and gets an extra pay for the hours he teaches at $2 per hour. I guess that makes him a relatively well-off by Nepal standards, a nation where some people live below the poverty line.
I can't help but ask about the marriage situation. Is it true that most marriages here are arranged? Yes, he says, most are arranged, but nowadays some are people do love marriage as well. His marriage was arranged, but that doesn't mean he didn't have to put in an effort to make it a happy one. He shares his wisdom with me - you have to be polite with women, so they like you. He clearly knows his stuff.
As my lessons progress, I notice the huge difference in people's attitude when you approach them with a few words in their own language. Bargaining at the market becomes easier, service in the restaurants becomes more attentive and everyone in general is friendlier if that is at all possible in this nation of infinitely chilled and friendly people. At the end of my training, I'm good friends with guru Lama and he insists that I go to visit his family for a cup of tea. He is renting a small apartment on the top floor of the school building. It is much more expensive to live here in Thamel, but it is more convenient, especially for the kids - there is a school and a policlinic near by. He has two little girls - 5 and 13 years old. They both go to private school, for which he says he pays an arm and a leg. Both himself and his wife come from very large families, so I ask why they only have two children only. Because I'm educated, he replies, with a tone implying that the answer is pretty darn obvious.
As we take off our shoes to enter Guru Lama's residency, I take a peak inside and note in surprise how basic it looks. The whole of his apartment consist of a longish room separated in half by a plywood wall. There is a sink and a cooker next to the door and the floor is covered with rugs. We enter through a door-less doorway in the living/bedroom where his two daughters cuddled on a large bed are watching TV. His wife is sitting on the floor next to the bed, knitting a hat. Everyone is very excited to see me, but also very shy to engage in a conversation. I try some of the rehearsed phrases which is greeted with amusement and shy laughter. I look around while Mrs. Lama is preparing the tea. Apart from the only sofa-chair on which I'm sited, there is another bed, an old wooden cupboard and a large table covered with books and papers, and a TV in the corner. That's it. Everything is spotless clean, but old. I assume the whole family shares this one room. My teacher is an educated man with a full time job. I wonder how people without education and a respectable job live.
While we are sipping our sweet milk tea, Guru Lama is showing me some brochures of the NGO for which he volunteers as a social worker. It is quite striking that a man of limited wealth does actually spend some of his time to help others. It is actually very common in Nepal. Everyone of some wealth seems to have a charity project on their plates. It is hearth braking to witness the poverty, but it is hugely inspiring to see how people that would be considered poor in other countries strive to make a deferens on a grassroots basis. Help yourself and other will help you too. Many foreign travelers end up being involved with Nepal related charities long after that 2 week trip is over.
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WORLD CHANGE STARTS WITH EDUCATED CHILDREN! Give a girl the life long gift of education! Support my appeal 100 GIRLS BACK TO SCHOOL! Donate at: www.justgiving.com/100GirlsBackToSchool
Hugs & Kisses, Vik
