No wak-wak bags required

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09-NOV-2007
I am actually beginning to enjoy these daily heath checks at the children's home- the kids are so excited for them and I don't have to go hunting for them most of the time anymore. Makes everything so much easier and faster!

So I met Uncle today. Okay he creeps me out bigtime. He kept taking pictures/videos of me as well as with him and his family with his camcorder. He kept telling me that I was sweet every two minutes, calling me sweetie, his girlfriend, and that he liked/loved me... all in front of his family. I made the mistake of having tea back at his house with his family where he continued with the camcorder antics, because after all, it is a major faux pas to turn down an offer of tea. But yes, awkward. And we were all hanging out in this bedroom which made the whole thing even creepier. The tea was good, but even with his wife, daughter, mother, and children's home manager in the home, the incessant picture/video taking just made me feel weird. You can only put on a smile in a painfully awkward situation for so long until it starts hurting your face. Okay let's get out of here, good thing it's daal bhaat time.

Another tasty one! Usually there's a bit that I'm not too fond of, so I usually it the nasty bit first while I still have it in me to do so, saving the good stuff for last. So this makes a total of three consecutive daal bhaats that I didn't cringe at and actually kind of enjoyed (key words: kind of). Perhaps I am getting used to them (that would be fantastic)- that would be one less thing to worry about and would certainly make life easier.

Back to Charity for some quality time with the kids. Uncle Creepy invited me over to his house again but 1. I am here for the children and 2. You are creepy. End of story. I politely declined. The kids were super interactive today- playing with my hair, showing off their muscles, having me write on their hands, just so eager for attention! Aka even played a game with me for a while called "Guess which hand the rock is in". He's the cute little 5 year old one I caught smiling on the swingset- the youngest one of the bunch. So amazing seeing him giggle and smile. If I were to adopt any of them, I think it would be him. Seeing him in good spirits is so rewarding (Note: There will be no adopting this time around).

Okay so here comes Uncle Creepy and his posse, camcorder in hand. Apparently he'd not gotten his fill of footage and photos so he went on for an additional 15min while I had no choice but to put on a happy face. I did try putting my foot down on this one, "Okay, seriously...", but to no avail. I have really had enough of that thing.

So the home managers and all of the children have invited me out for the evening for a night full of dancing, singing and other Tihar festivities. (FYI: Tihar is the second big festival of the fall season, 4-5 days long in mid November.) This will apparently be taking place at a relative's home in which we would be taking a bus to get to. So two problems with this plan 1. It is 6-11pm tonight and we all know that my house gets boarded up around 8pm so I'd have to take one for the team and sleep on the street. 2. Perhaps the biggest strike against this not happening is that Uncle Creepy will be in attendance, camcorder and all. Um, no. As fun as this would honestly be, I really cannot deal with any more of him for the time being. I feel like I am being completely objectified, and in America this would not fly. I am only putting up with this because I do not want to offend anyone at the children's home. I love those kids.

The managers and all the kids keep asking when Steve's going to return from his trek, multiple times a day. Yes kids, he is STILL trekking, and there are STILL three days until he returns. Hope they'd be the same with me! Some of the kids are asking how long I'll be around. I do think that they're afraid of getting attached since volunteers are always coming and going. However, those who know that I'll be around for a while appear to have become more personal/interactive. There is absolutely no chance that I could switch orphanages during my time here- these kids are amazing. And the entire point of me staying in Nepal this long is to try to provide them with some sort of continuity.

Emma (the founder of VSN) tells me that if I need to move families, I have to move children's homes. And there is no way I'm going to allow that to happen. So I'll just have to duke it out with the fam. Just always eat the daal bhaat, and my, it is DELICIOUS. Done.

Headed back to Charity in the rain, and entertained the kids indoors for the first time. Many of them were preoccupied with getting dressed/made up for their evening performance. Aelbin (14 year old boy) is ridiculous. For one of the songs, he dresses up as an old man and Prakash (another boy, 13) dresses up as an old woman- nail polish, bracelets, skirt- the whole shebang. Aelbin had been trying on his costume this afternoon (complete with faux hunchback). I thought he was just being silly and had no idea there was actually a reason for his behavior. He is quite the ham.

So the girls and boys put on their jewelry and makeup, while I'm lying on the floor in the back room trying to explain to Aka that there is an 'H' between G and I. But no such luck. Just then, a few of the older kids rush the doorway and in unison mention something about brother Steve. No kids, still three more days until he returns from trekking. NO brother HERE, brother HERE! Convinced that there was something confused in translation, I then hear the familliar Scottish accent down the hall. What?! I was in complete shock, yet so excited that he was back early. I gave him a big hug and tried to contain my excitement as he chatted up the kids and showed him his photos from the trip. We discussed going out to see the performance that evening ans how I was much more inclined to go along now that he was back (protection from Uncle Creepy). So with this sudden change of events, the home manager had a chat with my family to let them know that I wouldn't be back home until late. And yes, please leave me with a way to get into Fort Knox. Done. Very much looking forward to what lay ahead.

Since Steve has been in out in the Wilderness for so long, he was craving a bit of Westernization, so we entertained ourselved with a super cheesy version of an Indian-Nepali Children's American Idol and ate lots of chocolate and biscuits. Hey it was as good as we could do at the time. We would be missing dinner for the children's performance, so I tried to load up on calories as much as possible.

We headed over to Charity to wait for the bus and found the children all dolled up in traditional Nepali costumes with lots and lots of makeup. Very cute. It was after dark and the rain had brought on the first hint of Autumn cripness. Here the girls are wearing dresses and I am all bundled up in two hoodies with my airplane blanket around my shoulders. Call me what you will. The sudden chill was a bit unexpected from the weather we'd experienced to that point.

All huddled around in front of the house, watching our breath condense in the air in front of us, it truly felt like Halloween night. I love that feeling. Meanwhile, the surrounding homes are all adorned with multicolor Christmas lights in the spirit of the festival. The electricity suddenly goes out as it does every other day, and we're left standing in the pitch black night in the middle of Nepal amongst 20 children in traditional costumes. Did we ever thing we were going to be in this situation? Not hardly.

So the 'party bus' arrives and everyone clamours aboard. The lights are on, Nepali music is blairing, and people are spasmically dancing up and down the aisle. If the electricity were still out, I'm sure we'd have attracted quite the amount of attention. But with all of the Tihar lights back on and the multitude of firecrackers going off every few seconds in the street, I doubt anyone gave us a second thought. We rock our way into town and park it in Durbar Square.

All around us in an overwhelming combination of 4th of July firecrackers, Halloween's elaborate costumes, Christmas lights and homemade treats, and New Year's heavy drinking. We makde our way out to a Hotel on Freak St. (apparently one of the must-sees in the city) where the managers apparently know someone. The children perform the 5 beautifully coreographed dances as the onlookers donate the Rupees.

We hop back on the now 'sleepy bus' only to find that we're doing the whole thing over again- this time at the managers' friend's ostentatious castle, where a treat tray is displayed in front of the performance area. Through all 5 songs, eyes wander over to the tray and fixate on it.

It's cold. I left my American Airlines blanket on the bus- bad decision. I am shivering my bum off, just as a freestyle number comes on. This time, Steve and I join in for the full song, warms us right up. So imagine a myriad of Nepali children all decked out in their fancy costumes dancing in a large group. They are joined by two Westerners in jeans and hooded sweatshirts, ridiculously taller than every one else. So I'm sure you can understand my reservations about joining in the first time around. But this time around it was cold and the children were pleading that we join them. Hey, it's a festival- screw it, we're in!

Once round two was over, we jumped back on the bus and nibbled on some of the treats from the treat tray to hold us over. After all that bussing around, we only had one puker. Recall the Shining Stars Vomit Bus from about a month ago? They only had one kid who DIDN'T puke. Our Charity kids are tough- I'm glad to be part of a group who aren't a bunch of wimps. No wak-wak bags required! (Translation: Wak-wak = vomit)

After arriving back at Charity at 1130pm, the managers ask if we're hungry. Were we ever?! I was tempted to head back home just then because it was so late, but Steve had quite the rumbly belly so we sat patiently as the children cut up the vegetables one by one and boiled the rice. It was then midnight and pretty freaking cold, but one hour later we're enjoying (in my opinion) the tastiest daal bhaat I've ever had. Cooked cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, onions with rice, daal, and to my very pleasant surprise, EGG! I LOVE EGGS! I even had a second helping on the veggies, but Steve wasn't feeling it so much. It was absolutely amazing- and at a children's home to boot. Not too shabby. However, we do suspect that they may have pulled out all the stops for us, but regardless, very impressive work. And as I had suspected all along, Fort Knox was locked, and hajuramma did not look pleased upon being woken to answer the side door. What can you do?

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