It's now been about a week since i've moved to pokhara, and so far so good.
A daily routine in the life of caro:
-wake up 6:30am
-breakfast (tea & crackers) 7:00 am
-walk to the orphanage, arrive 7:30 am
-homework with the kids untill 8:30 am
-breakfast with the kids (dal vat aka rice & curry & this wierd lentil soup that goes ontop of everything) 8:30am
-help the children get dressed for school
-walk them to school 10:00 am
-back to the orphanage to sweep & mop the place
-lunch (dal vat) 11:30 am
-free time/ random jobs untill the kids are back at 3:30 pm
-playtime /art time for me!
-snack 4:30 pm
-homework (again) from 5 on
we leave to go back to our house around 5:30 pm
-dinner at home (dal vat) 7 pm
-free time
usually in bed by 9 or 9:30
crazzyy days.
we can take up to two days off a week if we want, i took sat & sunday.
Saturday me, raph, julia & ramona hiked up to Sarangkot, a village at the very top of this mountain. it took us mabey 2 & 1/2 hrs up, & 1 hour to walk to the mountain from the road.
sooo beautiful! we stoped at this yoga place along to way just to check it out & we got free homemade tea! the view was unbelivable. from the top we could see on one side the lake & pokhara, and the other side the himalayas and a big valley with a tibetan refugee camp.
we took a local bus down the hill. haha oh man... what an experience. it was ridiculously packed and a couple times i thought we might tip over. I was trying to focus really hard on the road through mabey 20 heads standing infront of me, ( and i was at the front of the bus) so that i wouldnt get car sick and puke on everyone. a lady sitting 2 rows down from me was throwing up out the window. wonderful
& today, sunday, me and 6 other volunteers rented boats (they look like big canoes painted in all these bright colours) and had a picnic out on the water while we sunbathed... just to rub it in, Im in shorts today!
so our days off have been really fun. we always try to plan an adventure or something to do!
oh btw, in the news paper today, they said they're extending the power cut to 16hrs a day.
& a downside about nepal, it is super poluted. there are no garbage cans anywhere along the roads so the streets & much of the water is filled with garbage. they have no "garbage pick up days" so everyone burns the garbage in their fields. it smells terrible and is so bad for the environment, it sucks.
ps. i had a dream last night that i went home for the weekend just to see everyone & then came right back
sending you all love
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Phase: 2 NEPAL!!!
Namaste! (translation: hello, it also means the light inside of me bows down to the light inside of you)
you ALL need to come to Nepal!
so I got here jan 2nd, the airport is a big joke. I spent 2 days in Kathmandu, more specificaly Thamel, which is the tourist ghetto. Shops like you've never seen, all selling the same things. Jewlery, pashminas, knitted clothing, trekking clothes etc. restaurants everywhere! the smallest streets ever packed with taxis, rickshaws and motorcycles. Motorcycles in Nepal is like Bikes in montreal. There are millions and they're everywhere! I met a bunch of backapackers, most heading for the mountains to trek. I then took a bus to Pokhara, the next biggest city & its closer to the mountains. The bus ride was like nothing ive ever been on before, its a 5 hr trip, you are in these sketchy old school buses & you drive through the mountains to get there. There are so many little villages on the way that are beautiful!
Im staying at the handicraft center/guest house. its super nice, and has electricity! its a 30 min walk from the orphanage, but it only takes 15 by bike. there are 72 children!!! they are sooo cute & nice. I met them all for the first time today, and im trying to learn all the names by the end of the week. (trust me its hard, the names are Nepalise and i cant pronounce half of them)
The orphanage reminds me of camp, its such a happy place and if i was any other child who lived near by I would be jealous to not be a part of it.
they call me auntie! and they call the boy volunteers uncle. there are 8 volunteers here right now, but people come and go at different times. I live in Damside, and Lakeside which is where all the tourist are is 15 mins away. Lakeside is full of stores and restaurants and bars, (its like thamel by the water) so the volunteers can hang out there, and we can spend our days off there aswell.
theres so much to do here! I want to do a 5 day trek in the mountains, and go paragliding, and go to the national park and wash elephants!
in the morning out the window from my room i can see the himalayas. they are right there! during the day they're covered in clouds though.
oh also! theres 14 hr cuts of electricity per day!! so ive stoked up on candles.
and the time difference from here to montreal is 10 hours and 45 mins. so im living life 10hrs & 45 mins before you! haha. this also means its very hard for me to call home ever, seeing as when I possibly could there is usually no electricity.
I hope you are all well & send me e-mails I love hearing from home!
bisoux
you ALL need to come to Nepal!
so I got here jan 2nd, the airport is a big joke. I spent 2 days in Kathmandu, more specificaly Thamel, which is the tourist ghetto. Shops like you've never seen, all selling the same things. Jewlery, pashminas, knitted clothing, trekking clothes etc. restaurants everywhere! the smallest streets ever packed with taxis, rickshaws and motorcycles. Motorcycles in Nepal is like Bikes in montreal. There are millions and they're everywhere! I met a bunch of backapackers, most heading for the mountains to trek. I then took a bus to Pokhara, the next biggest city & its closer to the mountains. The bus ride was like nothing ive ever been on before, its a 5 hr trip, you are in these sketchy old school buses & you drive through the mountains to get there. There are so many little villages on the way that are beautiful!
Im staying at the handicraft center/guest house. its super nice, and has electricity! its a 30 min walk from the orphanage, but it only takes 15 by bike. there are 72 children!!! they are sooo cute & nice. I met them all for the first time today, and im trying to learn all the names by the end of the week. (trust me its hard, the names are Nepalise and i cant pronounce half of them)
The orphanage reminds me of camp, its such a happy place and if i was any other child who lived near by I would be jealous to not be a part of it.
they call me auntie! and they call the boy volunteers uncle. there are 8 volunteers here right now, but people come and go at different times. I live in Damside, and Lakeside which is where all the tourist are is 15 mins away. Lakeside is full of stores and restaurants and bars, (its like thamel by the water) so the volunteers can hang out there, and we can spend our days off there aswell.
theres so much to do here! I want to do a 5 day trek in the mountains, and go paragliding, and go to the national park and wash elephants!
in the morning out the window from my room i can see the himalayas. they are right there! during the day they're covered in clouds though.
oh also! theres 14 hr cuts of electricity per day!! so ive stoked up on candles.
and the time difference from here to montreal is 10 hours and 45 mins. so im living life 10hrs & 45 mins before you! haha. this also means its very hard for me to call home ever, seeing as when I possibly could there is usually no electricity.
I hope you are all well & send me e-mails I love hearing from home!
bisoux
Friday, January 2, 2009
Phase 1: Lebanon
Ahhh okay,
lebanon. My 10 day trip in and around Beirut:
highlights
It's a beautiful country, one side the mountains, the other the mediteranian. its nice yes, and has amazing food, but i got very sick. I think it was from the water or something I ate, but I spend 2 days in bed and the rest eating bread and rice & im still feeling the effects.
New years: wonderful! best part of my trip there. I spent the day with charlie prince, & we went to a market and there were all these little stores one just selling buttons, all kinds of buttons. one selling eggs; brown, white, light & dark one. boys selling fireworks on the street, which we later bought a bag full of from. and fireworks being set off sparaticaly!
we took a city bus & ate the best falafel i have ever had! (sorry dad)
at midnight, we went onto the rooftop to set off the fireworks, it was amazing.
such a thrill being on the rooftops in beirut just like everyone else, setting off fireworks in the sky.
lebanon. My 10 day trip in and around Beirut:
highlights
It's a beautiful country, one side the mountains, the other the mediteranian. its nice yes, and has amazing food, but i got very sick. I think it was from the water or something I ate, but I spend 2 days in bed and the rest eating bread and rice & im still feeling the effects.
New years: wonderful! best part of my trip there. I spent the day with charlie prince, & we went to a market and there were all these little stores one just selling buttons, all kinds of buttons. one selling eggs; brown, white, light & dark one. boys selling fireworks on the street, which we later bought a bag full of from. and fireworks being set off sparaticaly!
we took a city bus & ate the best falafel i have ever had! (sorry dad)
at midnight, we went onto the rooftop to set off the fireworks, it was amazing.
such a thrill being on the rooftops in beirut just like everyone else, setting off fireworks in the sky.
Introduction
hey!
okay, so ive resorted to writting a blog to keep people updated because im having troule keeping track of who & who doesn't want to be receiving e-mails!
I have tried writting long detailed messages about my adventures so far, but internet wherever i go is not so great, and tends to either shut down or run out as im in the middle or finishing my message. this is why none of you have heard from me yet!
when i can, I will come on and update in a couple phrases and pictures, what im up to!
I do think of home often even as i travel, and I hope you are all well and enjoying the new year!
i love you guys!
okay, so ive resorted to writting a blog to keep people updated because im having troule keeping track of who & who doesn't want to be receiving e-mails!
I have tried writting long detailed messages about my adventures so far, but internet wherever i go is not so great, and tends to either shut down or run out as im in the middle or finishing my message. this is why none of you have heard from me yet!
when i can, I will come on and update in a couple phrases and pictures, what im up to!
I do think of home often even as i travel, and I hope you are all well and enjoying the new year!
i love you guys!
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