A day in the life; ceiling fan

Many years before joining the Peace Corps, I read the book Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle by Moritz Thomsen. His accounts of having only bananas to eat while trying to clear jungle land by hand painted a starved picture of Peace Corps.

I was not sure what to expect from my living conditions in Nepal, but I didn’t expect to have to fight generous people off from feeding me until I’m sick. I didn’t expect my house and room to be enormous. And I certainly didn’t expect to have a ceiling fan, the crown jewel of my bright pink room. Granted, the power is constantly out, so I’m living the rugged Peace Corps experience about 40% of the time.

Ceiling fans are not the norm for my neighborhood, and the cost my family has been willing to pay for this large house on a hill is humbling. My didi’s husband has been working in Dubai and Qatar or the past 14 years. He used to only come back every 2 years to make sure his kids didn’t grow up without him, but now his company pays for him to come back for a 15 day visit twice a year.

(My dhai back home from Dubai for 15 days)

Every year, thousands of Nepalis pour into Dubai, Malaysia, Qatar, India, Sweden, Ireland, the USA, and many other countries searching for work. Nepal’s currency is so low that any construction, taxi driving, or retail job out of country can put kids through college, pay for an operation, or buy an iPhone.

As much as I love my sweet pink room with its walls covered in soil posters, artwork, and photos of Idaho and my family, I do have to leave sometimes to talk with people and work. The first three months at permanent site are designated to integrating with our community and we are advised to actually not do any project work. Our job is to wander about for 12 weeks; make as many friends as possible, explain Peace Corps a million times, and drink what seems like gallons of super sweet tea.

Here is a day in the life of Nadi trying to integrate in Lamjung, Nepal.

5:30am-wake up to the sound of my didi feeding the goats outside of my window

5:45am-do yoga go for a run along the irrigation canal or up into the hills

7:00ish-eat a yummy but also random breakfast of fried and spiced chickpeas with a hardboiled egg. No one else in my family eats breakfast, and when I asked my didi why she chose chickpeas and eggs to feed me, she said someone told her that is what foreigners eat! My toothbrush has now taken on a lovely orange color from my early morning turmeric.

7:30-9:30 computer or garden work time. I am not ready to wander around and talk to people yet.

9:30 Dal Bhaat time. Most people’s first meal, but my second. I am not actually hungry and it will mostly likely be a two-year long struggle to eat two hot and spice meals in the morning.

10:00-4:00 Random integration and wandering activities: I will write a few examples

*hike up a mountain to crash Female Health Volunteer meetings that I wasn’t invited too in secluded villages

*walk to the bazaar and talk to every single neighbor on the way

*jump into a muddy rice paddy and help plant rice

*crawl on my hands and knees through the same rice when it is tall, weeding

(Rice weeding time!)

*go to a teej festival in a pink sari and dance in front of everyone

*Go to my 18 year old best friend’s house and have her pluck my eyebrows

*Teach my neighbors how to make compost

(Bindu and Kolpana make compost)

*Bring neighbor a cutting from my sweet potato plant, teach them how to plant it, and then just hang out

*Conduct a community assessment activity to find out what my community needs.

(Friends and neighbors telling me what needs to happen in village.)

*Cut bamboo with my brothers** my second favorite type of day

*Putter in my garden with my didi*** my number one favorite type of day

(My didi!)

*Go to a mother’s group meeting and pretend I understand anything they people are saying 30 women laugh, shout, and argue.

*Wander down a new path, get invited to someone’s house, drink tea, and make a new friend

*Wade down the stream near my house to a secret spot on the bank, read my book, and let it sink in that I am here, in Nepal, living my dream.

4:00-report back to my didi all that I have done that day, putter in my garden

5:00-computer work, an occasional Game of Thrones Episode after a really long day, sometimes helping with or making dinner for my family.

7:30-eat dinner and talk for a long time with my didi about everything under the sun

8:00-8:30 brush teeth, WASH FEET (to keep the fungal infections away), write in journal

9:30-turn on ceiling fan, collapse.