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Daily life in Nepal 2008
This page contains daily life snippets which were originally in the section This Week but have become "old news". I choose to keep them here since these stories really reflect our experience of living and working as a volunteer in Nepal. Hopefully, some of you will find these interesting in some ways and perhaps even relate to them...
June 24, 2008
Life in Nepal
We are very lucky to have friends here still, so we had Karen meet us at the airport and are now staying at her apartment. We have our own room, and two weeks to find our own place. Whatsmore, Karen left yesterday to the field for one week, so we have her place to ourselves. It is the rainy season so it is cloudy and it rains on and off every day, not like monsoon in Chitwan where we would get heavy rain storms for just an hour or so per day. And, a transport strike has now been called indefinitely to protest fuel price rise, and this is the Nepal we know with its endless strikes for one cause or another. Still, life here is easy just like I remember, with good food and friendly people. Already we hit the road with agents looking for an apartment, and found 2 promising place - both with 2 bedrooms, but one of them is unfurnished and brand new while the other one is furnished. I can't fathom at this point going furniture shopping (fridge, stove, bed, table, dresser, bookcases) and I will go the easy way and take the furnished place(250$ per month). Already today we go to sign the lease and we should be able to move in right away. Karen has lent me her electrical motorcycle which is great and has me convinced that I will also buy one. I will have to commute far to work, and I do not feel like doing it by bicycle anymore! The new place is next to the French school which Rémi will attend in September. I went to the Alliance Française and met with a woman who might be interested in taking care of Rémi for the months of July and August. I hope so... because it breaks my heart hearing Rémi speak to everyone in French and say "Bonjour" and people not understanding him...
June 30, 2008
Back in business!
Yes sir! After a hectic 10 days, things are settled here. We now have a nice 2 bedroom apartment, furnished and now also equipped with all the necessary things (water filter, dishes, pots and pans, garbage bin, cleaning stuff, a phone, cable, etc. It is nice to have a place to call home once again. We live on the 2nd floor of a 3 story building, with a nice Indian family on the first floor. The husband works at the Indian Embassy and they have 2 boys, 12 and 16, who speak great English. And we now have a caretaker for Rémi who speaks a little bit of French and she comes every day. But Rémi was bored at home, so now he goes to an English school for 2 months with his caretaker who translates for him. Not an ideal situation but it's the best we can do for now. Comes September, he will attend the French school. And today was the last big hurdle - providing a means of transportation. I have cycled for many years and enjoyed it but now I want a break and the easy life. So today I bought a nice electric motorcycle for around 600$!
On Saturday Rémi went with his caretaker, Upriti, to her home to play for the day with her children. Meanwhile, I got to participate in the CECI City Tour for the newly arrived volunteers. Of course I had done this sightseeing 2 years ago, but I wanted to see those places again - the ancient palace of Patan, the crematorium by the river in Pashupatinat and the Tibetan pagoda Bouddhanath. And this, in company of Craig and Benoit, 2 new volunteers. CECI had also organized a nice welcoming lunch at a restaurant last week, so I had the chance to meet all the volunteers who are all very dynamic and friendly - Anne, John, Monica, Jenna, Charles, Barbara and Pamela. A nice bunch of people so I think we are in for a fun year and great friendships!
On Sunday we celebrated Canada Day in advance since this year it falls on a Tuesday. So it was held at the huge American Club compound by the pool, all decorated in Red Maple Leaves and flags. We had 2 free drinks, courtesy of the Canadian Embassy, and they had prepared poutine and beaver tails! Plus they had burgers, chicken, hot dogs, salads and desserts. What a feast! It was cloudy tho but thank God it didn't rain. Still, Rémi swam for over 2 hours and got his papa in the pool as well. We played a new game where I was a mountain, and he would climb and stand on my shoulders, then jump. We did this countless times... And it was a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and Canadians, have a beer and chat.
July 7, 2008
Tandori, dancing and new caretaker..
Last night we went near our house to a Kebab restaurant that makes spicy Tandori Chicken. I got a half-chicken and bryani rice for take-out. It was soooo yummy! And slowly, Rémi has to get used to spicier foods. On Saturday there was a fund-raiser dinner for an orphanage, with some of our volunteers who helped to organize this event, and I could not find a babysitter for Rémi. So I took him along, and he had fun running around, dancing and eating. There was a great show with singing and dancing by the orphanage's kids and Rémi liked that a lot. All the volunteers are so nice with him and he has won the hearts of many. What an easy kid! Oh, I let go of his caretaker who spoke too little French when I got a call from a Nepali who speaks it really well. She charges 4 times the price at 250$ per month, but it will do until Rémi starts school in September. For that price, I ask her to do the laundry and the cleaning of the house. But she can't cook, so I will for the time being. The priority tho is Rémi, so she does about 2-3 hours of house work then takes him to her house to play with neighbourhood kids. I have not officially started working for my partner yet, so for now I go to CECI office and do some reading. Yesterday, I met for lunch my ex-colleagues from my last time in Nepal, so it was nice to catch up on news and talk.
July 11, 2008
"Écoute-moi papa, d'accord?"
"Listen to me daddy, ok?" is the latest cute sentence from Rémi which he throws before telling me about his day, trucks or colorings he has done. If I want to tease him, I respond with "No, listen to me Remi, ok?" and that gets him laughing. It's a game of who will tell the other something. I am trying to get his nanny to do ABC with him, exercises in his books and coloring but she's a bit lazy. I had to put my foot down when I found out that they spend hours watching cartoons in English during the afternoon ! The good thing now is that I can ask Rémi what he did during the day and he tells everything to me. So I know...I have also found a babysitter for evenings, a guy named Suman, so I can have the occasional night off to spend with friends. He only speaks English (and not French) but I am sure that Remi can handle it. We went to a new volunteer's house for his housewarming party, and had a good laughs playing Globe-trotter Trivial Pursuit.
The petrol shortage here is phenomenal with 3-4 hours line-up at petrol stations which are often closed or open for only a few hours. Thank God for the electric bike! I have only used it a bit since CECI office is near my house. But starting Monday, I will go to my partner organization , Fair-Trade Group Nepal which is at the other end of town, so I will use it much more. We don't have a TV but I got a TV-card which I connect to my lap-top computer, and plug in the cable. And it works! We even have a remote and can watch TV on my computer. We are happy to get TV-5 Monde for the French programming and cartoons for Rémi.
If you want to see our new house and its rooms, check out the new Nepal Photo album.
Si vous voulez voir notre nouvelle maison avec les pièces, jetez un coup d'oeil au nouvel album photo pour Nepal 2008!
July 15, 2008
Pipi, télé, travail...
Well, the good news is that Rémi is growing into a nice little boy and out of the baby stage - he now no longer wets his diaper at night so this week I stopped using them. He goes to bed with his night clothes only, and so far so good. On the other hand, he has been watching too much TV with his babysitter and with me, between 2 to 3 hours per day. When we try to stop it, he whines and cries. I tried to put a limit with his babysitter to 30 min. per day, but it didn't work - she can't say no to him. So today is a no TV day to try to get him to stop whining. We'll see.
It's raining a lot these days, so we need to always carry an umbrella and a rain coat for the scooter to get around. Also it takes forever for laundry to dry. I just started at work this week and it is going quite well. People are friendly and speak English. I now have to get used to rigid work hours from 9 to 5, something I have never done in my past 3 postings. Rémi's babysitter cleans the house but cannot cook, so I have to do all the shopping and cooking but I don't have time to do it now. We'll find a way...
July18, 2008
Driving here is like a deadly video game!
Yep, when you drive here, you really have to be so careful because your life literally lies in your hands. The dangers are multiple and one needs to compose with all them at once:
- Car drivers, bicycles and motorcycle alike only look ahead and merge or change lanes without ever looking sideways;
- Buses of all sizes stop in the middle of the road to let on and off passengers, blocking the roads;
- Sacred cows either lie or stand in the middle of busy roads like Sherbrooke St as if it was the most natural place in the world for them to be, with traffic wizing by and around them;
- Dust and black smoke come at you from every direction making eyes sting and water;
- People constantly spit out the windows and it can land on passing motorcyclists;
- Unexpected holes on the road can easily swallow a whole motorcycle;
- Constant horn blaring from all vehicles makes for a noisy driving experience;
- There are very few traffic lights so all traffic merge towards each other and you must find a way around incoming vehicles - at your own risk;
Today there are few vehicles (cars, buses) on the road because of fuel shortages. This is a problem for people trying to get around town to work. So yet again, the electric motorcycle seems to be a pretty good solution to this situation.
July 21, 2008
Monkey business!
On Saturday we waited a bit for the rain to stop, then we met up with Karen and her friend Kelsey to go out for a walk. Remi was pretty excited about this outing and we took a white taxi to the base of Swayambu temple which sits on top of a small mountain in Kathmandu. There are many monkeys hanging around and it must have been mating season not to long ago because we saw many tiny babies hanging on to their mums. But these monkeys are used to visitors and once I made the mistake to buy fruit. Well, they all ganged up around us, shrieking and not letting us get by without giving them food. Pretty scary scene really. We saw many other victims, Nepali alike, falling prey to the merciless pirates! There were many steps to reach the top so it was not easy for any of us. On a clear day, we can really see the KTM valley well, but not today. We walked around the temple then made it back down. Then we went for Korean food in Thamel, and finally we headed home.
That same evening, I got Suman to come to babysit Remi since I had plans with other volunteers to go bowling. There were 8 of us and we had such a great time, laughing when we hit the gutter and cheering when we hit some. The gang is so much fun that we laugh a lot and have great times together. We then went to a nice restaurant called Fire & Ice for great pizza, then I headed home early and they went on to go dancing. I came home at 10 pm and found Rémi still up, his shoes and the broom outside in the rain, my city map ripped to shreds, my back-pack in his room and money from Susan's petty cash all over the house. I was mad... and unless Suman can get his act together, I will need to find someone else for next week !
July 28, 2008
Rafting with the gang!
Last Saturday, a few of the volunteers got an agency to organize a rafting activity on the Trisule river, 2 hours away from KTM. Being the rainy season, it is a good time to go with the water level high and the current strong. There were 5 of us joining a much bigger group and we all met up at 6:30 am in downtown Thamel. We boarded a bus, stopped along the way for Nepali breakfast and arrived on location at 9 am. We then found out that a group from the ritzy Hyatt hotel were joining us, and we had to wait for them. But they did not want to get up early, dear oh dear, so they showed up 2 hours late! By the time they arrived, we were fuming, eager and ready to hit the river. We had a great time and out of the 4 boats, we were the ones laughing the most. In the calmer areas, we jumped in the river which was cool and refreshing, keeping in mind tho that sewer and junk all wash into this main stream so we tried not to swallow water. Halfway down the river, we stopped for lunch which the team prepared - tuna sandwiches with coleslaw salad. Then we hit the real rapids and that was exciting. But I was foolish and jumped in the water at the wrong time, hit a big rock, the boat went over me and then I was caught in big waves. I got pretty scared and this was a good reality check. But it all turned out fine. The Nepali guys in charge were very professional with 4 guides, one for each boat, and 4 more guys on river kayaks for rescue if necessary. When we got to the finished point, the Hyatt people left in their air conditioned bus while the lowly people like us had to wait over an hour for all the equipment to be deflated and packed on the bus. It took us awhile to get back to KTM so I got really stressed. I had told the baby sitter that I would be home at 6 pm, so she kept calling on my mobile and asking when I would arrive but I had no idea. Finally I got home at 9 pm ! Rémi was fine but the mosquito net had been torn down... for more pictures, see the photo album!
August 1, 2008
Nepal News Update !
Nepal is rarely in the news home and abroad since it is a small country but so much has happened here in the past few years, and recently. Some of you may know that Nepal has a Royal Family but they were all murdered in 2001 by the Prince who then committed suicide. Even the children were killed. Only one uncle survived because on that day he was away from the palace. Some say he was behind the murders but in the end, he inherited the crown and power. After some time, he declared an absolute monarchy and dissolved parliament. Then in April of 2006, just when I was ready to come to Nepal for my first posting, the population held demonstrations in the streets and the King was overthrown. An interim government was formed with democrats and also maoîst rebels. It took them 2 years to try and work out way to co-govern the country and just recently, elections were held and the maoïsts won. And now Nepal has changed from being a monarchy to being a Republic (like France). Which also mean that they nominated a President, the first one for Nepal. And this just happened last week. So you see, this country is shaping its future and changing a lot and we are witness to this transition...
August 3, 2008
Going to the zoo...
On Saturday we decided to head for the zoo and met up with another volunteer Charles who lives near the place. I expected a pretty lame setting with cages, and there were some, but also a few nice surprises. The tigers had by far the best "pen", very large space with trees, rocks and hills. The hippos were also pretty good with a pond and a reasonable roaming area. Idem for the 2 rhinoceros. There is a big "pond" in the middle of the zoo, and many trees around so it is nice to stroll and relax. Birds and monkeys in cages always look pretty sad tho. Rémi had the best view most of the time since Charles took him on his shoulders, and he's a pretty tall fellow. There were even a few rides for kids, so Rémi went around on the train once.
Saturday night I left Remi with our neighbor who has a 2 year old son. There was a party at Charles and Barbara's house and all the volunteers came. We ate, drank and some played ping-pong while I cheered, booed and placed my bets! A fun night for sure. I am still trying to find a regular babysitter for Saturdays. And I fired the daytime nanny this week. I just was not happy with how things were going. I hired another girl who speaks good French and seemed promising... but after the first day she was ready to quit ! She found Rémi difficult and said that he didn't listen to her. She agreed to continue, so I hope it goes ok next week. This situation has me really worried. I need help with the house and Rémi and must find trustworthy people...
August 11, 2008
Let's brunch!
Wow, it really is the rainy season and it comes down every day. Saturday we saw blue sky for the first time in ages, so that was nice. Rémi and I were invited to a colleague's house to meet her family and share lunch. They live in a huge house, 3 floors, all 3 brothers with their wives, children and parents under one roof. Each has a large section of the house but it is still very communal living. A very happy and friendly bunch who didn't hesitate to include us in the puja (blessing ceremony) to celebrate the relationship between husband and wife. There were many kids running around yet it took Rémi a few hours to warm up to them. Just when it was time to go, he was starting to have fun. Saturday night Rémi went to the babysitter next door while I met up with some friends at a Mexican restaurant in Thamel. We had a great dinner with fajitas, cocktails and many laughs. Of course I left early and let them carry on to party the night away while I went home to put Rémi to bed.
Sunday was a big day... I was having all the volunteers over for brunch at my house - about 10 people. So in the early morning I started cooking - fried potatoes with paneer, German sausages, ham quiche, and corn bread. Of course people brought things which added on to make a great feast. Rémi went off with his nanny before people arrived and since the sun had come out a bit, I suggested they go to the nearby hotel pool - Rémi was pretty excited about this. All in all a great day eating and talking with friends...
August 14, 2008
Olympic craze!
Most of you know that I am not much of a sports fan, and rarely have you heard me say I was "unavailable" because I had to catch a game on TV. Some of you may know that Olympics are the exception for me - I just love them! It may have started years ago when I went to the Nagano Olympics in 1998 but for sure, there are many sports that I LOVE to watch. With the winter games, it is usually the downhill skiing that I enjoy and with the summer games, like most people, I love diving, synchronized diving, synchronized swimming and gymnastics. However this time around, all I seem to get on TV are sports I loath - boxing, soccer, weight lifting, shooting, swimming, etc. Until last night - I finally saw some diving and synchronized diving so I was content. And of course, I saw the incredible opening ceremony last Friday. For us it was easy because we only have 2 hours time difference with China, so it started at 6 pm. But one hour into it, just as the athletes were coming into the stadium, cable went out. I cried, wondering if it was just me. Then I could see clearly from my living room window into my neighbor's house and she was watching the ceremony! I made a few calls and realized that one cable company was out due to a power cut, so I ran to my neighbor's house and begged to see the ceremony, just in time for the 9 athletes of the Nepal team to come in, quickly followed by Canada, then later Vietnam. A bit sad that yet to this day, Canada still has not won any medals. Now, if I can see some gymnastics and synchronized swimming, then I will be satisfied until the next summer games in London in 2112...
August 18, 2008
Zig-Zag-Zoo in Kathmandu !
Unbelievable but true. When we were in Canada, I went with Rémi to Ottawa and we went to an indoor playing area with gigantic climbing structure called Cosmic Adventure. Rémi had a blast running around the tunnels, going down slides and climbing - tho it was a bit pricy at 16$ a pop (13$ for him and 3$ for adults). We also went to a similar place in Vaudreuil outside Montreal called Zig-Zag-Zoo. And here in Nepal, a friend showed me that we have one indoor playground much the same, tho a bit smaller. So I went with Rémi on Saturday and he had a blast for 2 hours non-stop. The staff even goes with the children to play with them and help them along. Parents here are not allowed to go with the kids so we can either sit and relax or leave to do some shopping! Rémi even got initiated to video games with the help of the staff! And the price - 4$ for 2 hours. Not bad. So this will most likely become our regular Saturday activity...
I am in the process of completely redoing the design of my web site. I am very excited about this since the current one reflects my web design skill of 2 years ago, when I was just beginning. So what you are seeing now is one page of the new site which will be online within a week...
August 29, 2008
Rémi goes to the dentist...
Rémi had a funny bubble blister on his front gums, but it didn't seem to hurt him. I waited a week from the time I noticed it to see if it would go away, but it didn't. So on Sunday I sent him with his nounou (the woman who looks after him) to the doctor who then referred them to a dentist. Once there, he would not open his mouth and screamed bloody murder. Nounou called me and asked that I come to the clinic, which I did. It turns out that it is much more serious than I thought - his tooth root has an infection which is bubbling out. This is why one of his front teeth has started to turn gray, and if this is not dealt with, his baby and adult teeth will die. So we have to do 2 root canals, and I cannot comprehend that we can do this with the tooth in place, but it seems that it is so. And the dentist swears that it won't hurt and that he won't need local anesthesia. Well, we had to come back for this "treatment" and I was worried that Rémi would not cooperate. God bless him, he was an angel and let the dentist do his job. I had promised him the moon if he was good - chocolate, ice cream and Scooby-Doo - and he got it all. We must now go back twice as he drilled a small hole at the base of the 2 teeth to insert antibiotic liquid to kill the infection.
I was thrilled to watch the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games and truly enjoyed watching some of the sports. I saw lots of diving which I love, some syncronized swimming, and track and field. I was sad that I had missed all of the gymnastics, but that's life. I thought the London skit was pretty lame and hope they get their act together in time for 2012. Being funky turned out pretty tacky, and having David Beckham as a celebrity show was a cheap shot. The logo also is atrocious and needs rescuing. Anyhow, the next Games will be in Vancouver in the Winter of 2010, so we'll see how we do then. I do look forward to those Games with downhill skiing and of course figure skating as my favorite sports.
You may have heard that we have had major floods in India and rural parts of Nepal. This has displaced thousands of people, and affected the whole country. Now we cannot get Nepali butter or cheese which comes from these areas, and electricity output has gone down so starting this week, we will have power cuts 3 hours per day - they call this load shedding as they rotate which districts/sectors get cuts.
September 8, 2008
It's back to school for little Rémi...
The French School of Kathmandu finally reopened its doors after the 2 month vacation on September 3rd. So Rémi and I were ready and eager for him to start school, make new friends and learn things. His classroom has 3 levels of kindergarten with kids from ages 3 to 6. He's in the middle group tho they are all together. They have 2 teachers who look after them, Céline and M. Ram. The school is small and has all levels of elementary with few students in each group and I like this better than a huge school.
The sun has finally started shining from time to time after months of rain, so this also feels good to see blue skies. The climate is still very nice hovering around 25 C, a welcome change of the highs of 45 C of Burkina. We had the visit of a crazy gardener at our house who cut the bougainvillieas and rose bushes down to the stump, pulled out all the flowers and cutting other bushes down to the ground. This way they only have to do this butcher-gardening once or twice a year! I asked that they cut the grass in front of our house so we can more easily come out with our motorcycle - well, he just pulled out all the grass by the roots, so now we have a muddy alley. Not much else to report. Life is good.
September 16, 2008
The cat is out of the bag!
Some of you may know that I applied last February for a salaried position for a Belgian NGO as Chain Development Advisor in Vietnam. It took some time before I was informed in May that I had been shortlisted and asked for a phone interview in June. Following this, I was one of 3 candidates asked for a final interview in August. And finally, I was recently informed that I had been selected. This is for me a great opportunity and honor so I am thrilled about this. The salary and benefits are excellent, so this will help me meet my new financial responsibilities such as French Schools fees for Rémi, plus allow me to save a bit and plan for our eventual return to Québec. So last Friday I gave CECI my 2-month notice, and I was pleasantly surprised that my partner organizations with whom I work as well as the office staff all took this news very well. I now have 2 months to try to finish as many of the communications tools I have started working on, mainly brochures and web sites. I will go to Belgium on November 17 for 2 weeks for orientation and a workshop, then back to Nepal on November 30. Rémi will stay behind with a babysitter and continue to go to school. Then on December 3rd, we all move to Hanoi with our hockey bags and Roxy. This will be a 2 year contract so I look forward to staying put and settling down for some time. Just like I have done over the past years, I will still be able to come home to Canada in the summer for 4-6 weeks to visit family and friends. But you can already start to plan to come see us in Vietnam....
September 22, 2008
Visit from Canada...
We were very happy to get a visit from a friend from home, Gyslaine and her husband Pierre. I met her through our Buddhist practice when I I was living in the Laurentians. However, we never really got to know each other that well, much less her husband. But now, we spent some nice time together and Rémi bonded with both of them very quickly. There were staying at the nearby Shangrila Hotel and while I was waiting in the lobby, Gyslaine had to go to her room. Rémi ran behind her as she was heading for the elevator yelling "attend-moi Gyslaine!", much to our surprise. And Pierre having a white trimmed beard and being older, Rémi quickly got to call him Grand'Pa and jump in his arms. We visited some tourist sights such as the ancient palaces, a buddhist temple and even sat for some nice Nepali music from the group Kotumba. We ate out, walked around Thamel and talked and talked. Unfortunately I was a poor guide - they kept asking me about Nepal, its political situation, the history of buildings, etc. And everytime, I kept saying "sorry guys, I don't know". I just live here and go humpty-dumpty, living the simple life. We even had some Nepali Buddhist Soka Gakkai members come by my house on Sunday night to chant together... They came from Beijing, then went to Tibet, flew into Kathmandu, then off to visit parts of Nepal, then Shikkim, Bouthan, Bangkok and finally back to Canada. A pretty amazing journey if you ask me !
September 26, 2008
Trekking to the Everest area...
Yes Sir! When I was last in Nepal, I did a short 5-day trek in the Pokhara area from Naya Pull to Poon Hill. I loved every minute of it but on day 3 and 4, I was in extreme pain from all the climbing so I could not walk anymore. Since then, I have not gotten in better shape so I am a little worried. I will fly to Lukla on October 4th and trek for 13 days at very high altitude. So for the past few weekends, I have gone north of Kathmandu to Shivapuri park to hike and try to get this potato bag into shape. October for Nepal is like Xmas for us - it is a big holiday called Dassain for over one week and I have taken one week of annual leave as well. Once in Lukla, I will get a porter and do this trek solo. Rémi will stay behind in Kathmandu but his school will be closed for 2 weeks. So he'll have his French nanny Krishna for daytime and my friend Santosh who babysits him Saturday nights now will look after him evenings, nights and early mornings. Still, 13 days away from Rémi will be so hard for me but I just have to do this for myself. I just hope that all goes well... but like 2 years ago, I will be away for his birthday which falls on October 7th tho I will call everyday whenever possible. If you want to read more about Mt Everest and the itinerary I will go for, click here - Mount Everest Trek.
September 29, 2008
"Please floss after you use the toilet !"
This is the strange notice which was posted on the dentist's bathroom wall. I commented to the reception that they probably meant "flush" instead of "floss" and she agreed that this was the case. The next time I came for my appointment, she had changed it. I decided after we were done with Rémi's tooth infection that I would be the next one up for bat, and the dentist repaired a few cavities. He also cleaned my teeth and did a porcelain partial cap for one molar - all this for a fraction of the cost from a Canadian dentist. So now I should be ok for awhile...
Rémi started pottery lessons after school on Tuesdays, the only activity that was available for kindergarten. And he was pretty proud to bring home his works of art. You may be able to guess what he made but just in case, here is a little help! The red one is a cookie, the white one is an elephant and the yellow piece is... of course, a hippopotamus ! They are only 11 kids in the kindergarten level so they get lots of attention from the teacher and this should be good for Rémi. More works of art to come soon !
October 1, 2008
Que fait Perlimpimpin ?
L'École de Rémi a une activité spéciale pour les enfants de la maternelle. Chaque enfant à tour de rôle doit amener à la maison la marionnette Perlimpimpin. Il doit s'en occuper puis avec l'aide de ses parents, écrire dans un journal les activités qu'ils ont fait ensemble. On a reçu le petit lapin vendredi, donc on l'a eu pour toute la fin de semaine! On l'a amener au parc, au resto et en promenade et on a aussi chanté la chanson du lapin que Rémi adore:
Le petit lapin, s'est caché dans le jardin,
Cherchez-moi coucou, coucou, je suis caché sous un chou !
Remuant son nez, il se moque du fermier
Cherchez-moi coucou, coucou, je suis caché sous un chou !
Tirant ses moustaches, le fermier passe et repasse
Mais il ne voit rien du tout, le lapin mangea le chou !
October 3, 2008
Happy Birthday Rémi !
Rémi will turn 5 next Tuesday October 7th, but I will be away trekking to Everest. So to ease my guilt, I prefer to celebrate it before going, then when I return. So last night while he was asleep I decorated the house with colorful streamers and balloons. When he got up, we put on the party hats, blew the birthday whirling whistles and sang Happy Birthday. Then he opened his presents and played with his new toys - a miniature car, helicopter and airplane, plus a cartoon DVD which he will watch tonight. Then he was off to school with his party hat, and I had already given a huge bag of treats for the kids. All his new friends wished him happy birthday and he is the star for today. Tonight, we will celebrate yet again with cake and we might go out to a restaurant. Maybe somewhere in Vietnam, his biological mother is also thinking about him....
October 19, 2008
Rémi's caretakers bite the dust !
I got home last Tuesday from Lukla after our 10-day trek to the foot of Mt. Everest. A reminder yet again that I did NOT summit this giant (only experts can accomplish this!) but I simply walked to its base which is quite a feat at high altitude. Now that I am back, it is much warmer in KTM then in the "North", but it is also great finding the comforts of the big city and home. Great food, clean bathroom, Rémi, Roxy, and a quiet house. Rémi started school again on Wednesday after the 10-day national holiday. I took the rest of the week off and enjoyed this vacation time to unwind and get a few things done before the crazy sprint coming with the end of my contract. I managed to get a few quotes on sending our personal belongings by air cargo, so we should be all set. During my absence, the babysitters worked out ok, tho the nighttime one, Santosh, found it hard dealing with Rémi and won't do it again. And Krishna, our regular nanny, just told me that she has to quit because her sister is visiting from France for 2 months. So today I am interviewing a new nanny, and hopefully this will work out so that I can leave her with Rémi for 2 weeks from November 17, while I go to Belgium for training and a workshop.
October 27, 2008
A new nanny for Rémi...
I hope that I can say that this is the last one! In the past 4 months since we've been here, we've changed nanny 5 times. This new one speaks only English, but she seems very friendly and eager to work. This has to work out because in 2 weeks I will be leave Rémi in her care when I go to Belgium for training and workshop. So let's keep our fingers crossed... Next week he will start cooking lessons as an extra-curricular activity at the French School as well as pottery which he seems to like. This week is a big holiday in Nepal called Tihar, so offices will be closed. We will brave the crowds to try to make it to Chitwan to visit friends there for 3 days while our little Roxy will stay behind with the downstairs neighbors. The weather is getting quite chilly especially at night, we have put away our fans and summer clothes, and have now taken out our sweaters, light jackets and bed comforters. I love this weather and it will be much the same in Hanoi when we get there.
November 1, 2008
Going to Chitwan...
Since my return to Nepal, I still had not made it to Chitwan to visit friends there. The main reason other then time was to wait until the heat had receded a little. So with the October festival, this seemed like an ideal time to make it there for 3 days. I had to arrange to leave Roxy behind in KTM and have the neighbors look after her. Public transport is never a joy for me in Nepal... we got to the Kalanki bus park, found a bus that was going to Chitwan, got a good window seat and then had to wait one hour before it filled up and was ready to go. We were sitting at the very back, squeezed in tight. Low and behold, as we hit the mountains with the winding and bumpy roads, Rémi goes green and throws up. I congratulated myself on getting him to the open window in time, but I was not so lucky a little later as he threw up all over himself. With no room to maneuver or the possibility of getting to my bag and spare clothes, I managed only to get his clothes off and keep him in his underwear until we reached destination. Not fun.
It was nice seeing friends again, and now his nanny Maya has a one-year old son. They had baby goats only 3 days old so that always impresses Rémi. We sat and talked, and promised to return the next day. Then we went to Krishna Kala and had amazing Nepali Dhal Bhat (lentil soup with rice and curried vegetables) in the company of her 2 sons (17 and 15 years old). I also met up with my computer guru, Subash. And just walking down the street, everyone recognized us and said hello. Back to Maya's for dinner and the end of a full day. To my surprise, it was still very hot in Chitwan and I was sorry not to have brought shorts and sandals. We even slept in our undies with the fan on all night. In KTM, we now wear sweaters, socks and pants and we sleep with a thick comforter because the nights are getting very chilly. Again, I was surprised at how much variation there is between the climate of Chitwan and the cooler one of KTM.
The return journey proved to be just as challenging. Because it was a holiday, there were fewer buses on the road and the only one at 8 am was asking double the price - 7$ per person instead of 3$. What Nepali always do which infuriates me is that they won't buy a seat for their children, even if they are 14 years old! Then they squeeze them in between seats and everyone suffers. The row in front which normally would seat 4 people had 3 grown up kids for a total of 7. I bought a seat for Rémi and we had no clandestine kids on our row so we were really 4. As we got under way, the woman behind me with her 12 year old daughter (who had no seat of course) turned green and because he window would not open, she would lean on Rémi and throw up at his window. Then we got her some plastic bags and she threw up the whole way. And we got a special surprise when the kid in front of us woke up suddenly with a look of panic, looked at me and threw up my way. I managed to move just in time, but there was vomit all around us. We had to stop the minibus and they tried to clean up with leaves but the stench was there and I had to breathe through the mouth the rest of the way. Rémi sat on a folding seat and the sick woman behind kept leaning on it and it would close on poor Rémi when we hit bumps. So I had to keep pushing on his seat's back to keep in open. Needless to say, I was relieved when we arrived and glad that on top of all this Rémi had not thrown up this time. It was great getting back to the cooler climate and the comfort of home as well...
November 9, 2008
End of mandate sprint...
Last weekend we had a great time at a volunteer's place for a Halloween party and most people came dressed up. It was a fun evening hanging out on a terrace and chatting away. Then the next day a bunch of volunteers headed off to the mountains about one hour from KTM to Nagarkot (with a few of us hung-over from the party!). It has a great view of the Himalayas and is quite popular with tourist and expats as a weekend or one-night quiet get-away. The food was good and we were 9 Canadian volunteers. The road up to the resort was bumpy with many sharp curves, so most of us were green and on the verge of throwing up by the time we reached the resort but we managed to hold it in. Ouff.
This week was really nuts trying to finish a web site for one partner including an extensive online catalogue with prices. Many pictures to edit, pages to link and uploading of all this to a server. If you are curious to see, check it out at www.manushinepal.org where it now posted as the official web site. I also had to get all the training material ready for next week - a 2-day web programming training with Dreamweaver and a one-day graphic design workshop with Photoshop/Fireworks. I worked evenings until 10 pm every night but by Friday, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm ready now to hit the final week of my mandate. Then next Monday, November 17th, I leave for Belgium for 2 weeks.
Yesterday we met up with a school friend of Rémi, Axel, and his 2 siblings and parents. We went for lunch for pizza and managed to survive 45 minutes with our 4 kids running around scaring the staff. Then we went to a small park called the Garden of Dreams where they could run around, look at the fish ponds and fight for the one and only swing. We then went shopping for some warm clothes as we have now put away T-Shirts and need long sleeve shirts. I really enjoy the climate in Nepal at this time of year when it is sunny every day, just warm enough, and with nice and cool nights. Nepal get a lot of power cuts tho in winter, and they rotate from one district to another on a schedule which they call load-shedding. Now most districts are up to 30 hours of cuts per week, which is no fun. BUT, my district is the same as the Prime Minister's house, and so far we get 0 power cuts, much to the envy of everyone in KTM. I can't imagine that this will last, but for now it is a blessing...
November 16, 2008
End of the road...
It has been a mad week with a 2-day training on web programming and a one-day workshop on graphic design. But it all went very well and the participants appreciated the practical sessions. I am pleased that I managed to "get it all done" so I leave knowing that within the 5 months here, I achieved a lot. And this is where my days as a volunteer end, and also my stint in the communication field. I will be happy to return to marketing and chain development, which is more my expertise and area of interest. So off I go now to Belgium on Monday for 2 weeks, one week of orientation with the new NGO and the second with a workshop. It will be a chance to meet my future work colleagues and put on the new hat of Chain Development Coordinator for the Vietnam program. It will be a first also for me in Belgium, so I look forward to eating great chocolate and toasting with lovely Belgian beer.
On Monday there was a nice event at Rémi's school - a small food fair. The kids from the different classes had all prepared various dishes representing the different health food groups. Parents were all invited to go around the tents and look at the charts they had made, many with funny recipes like "witches' soup", "ogre stew" etc. And then we all feasted on food and chatted among parents. Rémi's kindergarten group had fruits and vegies, and they had all made a large fruit salad. A few days before, Rémi had come home saying - "papa, je dois amener 2 oranges à l'école" - and this was our contribution.
Last night was our farewell party organized by our friend Karen. All the volunteers came for this potluck event, and as always it was lovely to sit and talk with so many wonderful people. I can only hope that some of them will come to visit us in Vietnam and/or that we will meet again in Canada next summer. Rémi stayed home with the upstairs neighbor Sabina (from Austria) who will keep an eye on him while I am in Belgium (with Ferbi who will care for him).
December 3, 2008
A crazy week indeed...
On Monday I first had to finish filling our 5 hockey bags with our stuff to send by Air Cargo. Then I had to tackle the issue of how to get to Vietnam since the Bangkok airport was closed and we were supposed to transit thru. I went to Thai Airways office and took a number, but there were 650 people ahead of me! Imagine that! I went to my travel agent to try to book a plan B and C, and found that all flights going thru Hong Kong or Singapore were also booked. Plus there is the issue of traveling with our dog, and many airlines/airports will not allow it. That night, I didn't sleep wondering what would happen to us. On Tuesday my flight with Thai Air was officially cancelled so I returned to my travel agent and tried again to find an alternate route. Finally we got one with Korean Air going thru Seoul, but for Dec 8th, next Monday. The flight for tomorrow was fully booked. But at the end of the day, Korean Air office called and said that they had managed a miracle, to find me 2 seats for the Dec 4th flight! That was good timing because that evening, I had friends come over to my house for one final goodbye party. I had brought back from Belgium literally half a ton of cheese plus a huge box of Leonidas chocolate. All this with a few glasses of wine and we had a feast - I had a fabulous time and everyone ate till they burst! Today I was a little hung over for sure, but I had to go get a refund for the Thai flight and pay the huge surplus for the new flight (cost is double). Then off to the Air Cargo office to pay and give the final OK to send my things. Then back home to start packing our suitcases and do a zillion little things. So next time I write on this page, I will be in Hanoi so stay tuned for our next adventures!
