Gongabu, Kathmandu, Nepal

Namaste from the tiny town of Gongabu. Charlotte and I arrived at the Light for Nepal's Children orphanage on Tuesday but I think "thrown into" is a more accurate description. We were taken by Taxi from our hostel in Kalinki through the crazy traffic of Kathmandu to the village of Gongabu. Gongabu is right on the main river that runs through kathmandu and it is sad how polluted it is here. We're definitely in a poorer part of the city, but they people are nice and friendly nonetheless.
Charlotte and I have our own room in the orphanage which is nice. There is one man and one woman, Masess and Isswara (pronounced "mass-ees" and "ees-war-ee", who run the orphanage. The building itself is the epitome of simple. There is one bedroom for the boys (where all 6 of them sleep in 3 beds) and there is one for the girls (where all 5 of them sleep in 2). The boys bedroom actually has 5 beds but I think they only use three because they don't have enough blankets or linens to have each kid have their own bed. Like most of Nepal, the shower and the toilet are in the same room. But here it is evident no cleaning occurs. There is a constant smell to the orphanage that we are VERY VERY gradually getting accustomed to. The kids also wear the same clothes every day AND to bed (although they wear uniforms at school).

The kids were SO excited to see us. We were greeted with so many little "namaste"'s (hands together in a prayer position). There are two 5 year old boys, two 9 year old boys, one 13 year old boy, and one 18 year old boy. The boys are absolutely adorable. The older ones have quite good english and the little ones are catching on. Although, they still insist on calling both Charlotte and I "Miss". Yesterday we were showing them pictures from home, and C had some pictures of her and Colin and they would point to the picture and say "Miss and Colin!". It's also pretty funny because they pronounce miss "meeese". So cute.

It is absolutely incredible how independent these children are. The 5 years olds initiate their own homework, get dressed, play, walk themselves to school, do their own hair...and the two older girls do ALL the cooking and cleaning. One man we met at the Fair Trade clothing store in Thamel explained to us that foreigners in Nepal are considered guests by Nepalis. We are definitely treated like guests in this orphanage. We get served food first, we get huge slices of cucumber (the rare veggie we get) when 6 kids have to split one slice. I've started sharing my portions with the kids.

Our diet? Rice, rice and more rice. OH! ALSO! Nepali people eat with their hands! It's incredible to watch these people mush, scoop and deliver the food into their mouths without spilling anything! Luckily, C and I are given spoons. I can't eat rice with chopsticks let alone fingers.

Charlotte and I spend our mornings (7-10) and afternoons (4-8) playing with the kids and helping them with their homework. The first day we introduced duck duck goose and freeze tag which they LOVED. Although the lack of medical care was very evident because these kids couldn't play 10 minutes of tag without their hacking coughs acting up. We also brought out the crayons and colouring books that C brought. They LOVED THIS. The little boys focused SO MUCH on every detail. We also brought out the Winnie the Pooh puzzle that Jenn Meeker gave me. They LOVE this and can do it over and over again. Although, it's astonishing to watch them try and solve it. They don't really understand the concept, and again, the difference in 3rd world vs western world upbringing becomes clear. Who knew those silly little fischer price games were so pivitol to child development?

There is so so much to write, I'm going to leave it for another day. Lets just say C and I ventured into Kathmandu to visit the "Monkey" temple. MONKEYS EVERYWHERE.

Dutifully clogged with rice,
J & C

p.s. i'm going to try and upload some pictures, lets hope it works!