Goodbye's are always hard.

Highlights...

We FINISHED our Sports Field! And then we organized a giant Fun Day. Hundreds of people showed up to partake in our day of soccer games, relay races, carnival booths, and performances. Let's just say seeing Nepali kids have a Color War for the first time, or play Pin the Tail on the Goat was really special. Everyone was smiling.

And my child club performed marvelously (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes aka Tauko, Kant, Gorda, Aulla). And, my girls sang a song they composed- in front of everyone. Which was a huge deal for them. In fact, Bijay told me he didn't recognize them, at first he thought they were our city girls group because they stood with such confidence and pride.

Such nachas.

Saying goodbye to the Stone Quarry was really emotional- some of the women got up and gave speeches, in tears. "You showed us that we're worth something, and that we can change our lives," one woman said. Another:"Before, the Rai villagers used to beat our children on the way to school, they used to tease them and push them into the mud.Now, they don't do that anymore."

By the way, both communities- Rai and Stone Quarry participated in the Fun Day together. On mixed teams. They spoke, and laugh, and socialized- together.

The kids were the cutest. I worked with the Stone Quarry child club and they all brought heaps of flowers (aka weeds) to thank me at the closing ceremony. They just kept piling them on and on. The day after was our final child club meeting and they showed up with mischievous smiles,hands clasped behind their backs. Of course, they had brought even more flowers. Those bouquets might have been made up of weeds, leaves, and sticks but they were the most beautiful flowers I've ever gotten.

Our last night we had a goodbye dinner with CIRDS, our partner NGO in MB. Ram, the father of the girl I had worked with in school is on their board and he gave a speech thanking me- this time, I was the one in tears. (Then he told me to friend him on Facebook which made me laugh).

My last meeting with the Young Girls was amazing. Not only did we elect a board (President, Vice President, Secretary and Vice Secretary) but they came up with a song, slogan, and group symbol, all on their own.

We also did our usual Woman of the Week tradition. (On Wednesdays, me and Reut pick a famous woman and show her picture, give a brief bio and connect it to the topic at hand). This time though I didn't show them the picture. I told them the WW was a young girl, who grew up in a village in Nepal, was confident, educated, a role model to all etc, etc. Finally I opened the paper I'd been holding- on it I had taped a mirror. You're the Woman of the Week, I said.

SUPER corny, I know. But they loved it.

Then, we played the string/web game (have a big ball of string, tie it on your hand, say something you learned/enjoyed and throw it across the room- it eventually created a giant, interconnected web). After,we turned our threads into beaded bracelets. It's so funny how girls across the world are the same, the second they saw the beads they got so excited.

By the way, some of the things they said to me:

"I loved the story of Joseph. It showed me that I could make a difference here."

"I realized that it's important to know your husband before marriage."

"I learned what birth control was."

"My favorite part was the games that showed us self confidence and self esteem"

More nachas.

We also had a giant goodbye party with the whole village. More tikka, more flowers, A LOT of dancing. I don't know how these little kids can shake their hips so well, but they just can.

Being back in the city for good is strange. But it's really nice to know that I have running water and an indoor bathroom...

Tomorrow, Yotam and I are brining the Minister of Inclusive Education to AutismCares. I think this has the potential to be one of the most important things I've done- him seeing the place might enable them to get some support from the government. So, wish me luck!

Where to begin?

First, huge mazal tov to Eliah and Inbar, my two mud hut-mates who are now ENGAGED. (Yes, they got engaged IN NEPAL).

This is our last real week of work. As such, it's been crazy. My girls really stepped up their game and created a group name, slogan, symbol. Even a song. Not to mention we now have a President, Vice President, and Secretary. (By the way, can I just say- voting in Nepal- not so pashut...)

Our sports field is nearly ready to go. It took A LOT of work this week but everyone helped out- even the child clubs came to level and clear the field. (Awesome as their participation was, seeing 7 year olds working with serious tools isn't the most heartwarming sight...but is also totally normal here...) Monday, we're having a giant Fun Day to officially open our sports field- consisting of a relay race/carnival/performance thingamajing for all the different communities. It's taken a lot of planning but it's pretty amazing what carnival games you can think up when all you have is rocks and dirt to work with...

Also this week, I had an Australian physical therapist who is working for TBT come to the school to assess one of the students I work with. This girl, Sambreede has some very obvious delays, she can't read or write (the rest of her class can) and she has coordination and movement issues. After the assessment I wrote out a list of therapy suggestions for her family and had Prakash translate it into Nepali. Ram, her father, was so thankful when I gave it to him, there were nearly tears in his eyes. Hope it helps her...

I guess I'm nervous and excited for this week. I don't really know how to say goodbye...

One last story. This was one of my favorite moments so far.

Tu B'svat is a really meaningful time for me and I had planned in advance to have as many of the shivat haminim at our seder as possible (Not an easy thing to do in Nepal). But, I had already gotten a wheat plant special from our farm, olive oil and dates straight from Israel, and dried figs and fresh pomegranates after some searching around in the city.

I was walking around Madabesi on Tu B'shvat, thinking about what we were missing (barley and grapes). As I was walking around the bazaar what do I see in front of me?A fruit stand.

Selling green grapes.

I had only seen grapes once before in Nepal.

And I had never seen them in Mahadabesi.

But here they were, on Tu Bshvat, just waiting to be bought.

And they were delicious.

Less than two weeks left in the village...

This week we did a workshop on classroom discipline with some preschool teachers. We asked the following question Do you/how do you punish your students?

Want to hear the answers? (You might not actually want to )
1. Have them stand up and have the rest of the class laugh at them
2. Beat them

I'm not sure which one is worse....

This week we started working on our sports field...finally! It just seems like because we're leaving soon there's an explosion of things to do

Gotta get to it!


.

This one might be PG13...

So in keeping with our 'Relationship" theme, we had a talk with the young girls about sex this week. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say it went great. I was really nervous- Sabita told me they had tried to broach this topic before but it hadn't worked- the girls had been too shy and uninvolved. So we decided to structure the lesson a little differently- we hung up silk curtains, and served hot chiya (tea) with sweet biscuits. Then we eased them into things slowly- we started with some neutral pictures, moved on to informal discussions and eventually ended with some diagrams and factual information (with the help of a a super strange Nepali version of 'What's Happening to My Body.") Considering the delicacy of the subject, it was amazing how they all listened and participated. I was astounded-most of them didn't know about the things we discussed or had only heard 'from friends.'

After the session we spoke with Santi alone. Found out that she had only spoken to her husband for the first time three days before they got married. Also, that she had no knowledge of what sex was beforehand. We asked if she was using family planning and her response? "What is that?" So we explained it to her, and she told us that with her husband's permission, she would go to the health post and get some birth control pills. Score one for us helping there NOT be another 15 year old mother....

School was still in exams this week so things weren't so hectic. Beruria's mom came to visit MB for a couple of days and it was great. Not only did she give an amazing shiur (ps I miss learning Torah) she also brought Starbucks Holiday Blend with her. What more could I ask for?

The work week was also pretty short because of our extended seminar- all the groups met back at the Big House in Kathmandu on Tuesday night. The plan was to travel to Gorka for the weekend, but of course, on the way there there was a banda (strike) and the roads were closed. We ended up having to switch our plans on the fly and travel to the lovely Bandipur instead. Spent New Year's weekend there- that was interesting. It's funny how things work- looking back on where I was last year, I can't say that I ever thought I'd be in NEPAL.

Sunday we traveled back to Kathmandu but of course there had to be yet another banda. It took us around seven hours to get home....

Time for bed.

But one last story of course, courtesy of the Mishikers. As told by Dan:

" I was walking in Durbar Square when I saw a huge banner advertising a Chagall art exhibit. A real art exhibit? In Nepal? I couldn't believe it! I walked closer to the poster, but there it was, clear as day- "The Magic of Color: Marc Chagall." I was so excited, I'd been dying for a classical culture fix! But then, I looked at the poster again. And I noticed it didn't just say "The Magic of Colour: Marc Chagall." It said "The Magic of Colour: March Chagall. And in fine print, underneath-"Posters of Chagalls' work will be exhibited."

Did you get that?

This 'art exhibit' was showing POSTERS. That's like going to a concert in Carnegie Hall to hear a RECORDING.
Only in Nepal...