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Lessons in Nepalese Cooking and Generosity
Thursday, 6 January 2011
I have arrived in Surkhet, my new home. The journey took a long time – plane, rickshaw, pick-up and local mini-bus through the hills, it was simply beautiful! I say “hills” even if we would consider them as mountains in Europe but after seeing the Himalayas from the plane everything seems small.
Everyone I meet insist on giving me their phone number so I can call them if I need any help. Following my request to learn how to cook Nepali food I have received many offers. Talking about food, I must mention that this experience will not be the fitness break I was looking for.
The rule here is simple: if food does not involve rice it is not a meal. You can eat the biggest plate of noodles, it is simply a snack, followed two hours later by a proper Dal-Bat (lentil and rice) meal. Early morning I have a big portion of bread but this is not breakfast. Breakfast – Dal Bat – comes at 10:00.
My days always start about 06:30am with the most beautiful sunrise and I enjoy my cup of tea in the sun rays. Just before work we have lunch, ie rice and lentils. I eat the evening leftover as I am too lazy to cook that early! From 10:00am to 04:00pm, Sunday through Fridays, I work with ISS. We are now doing some Excel training - yes, there are accountants not using spreadsheets! My colleagues at Airbus would not believe it! In the evening I cook. I am now well training in Nepali cooking. You might wonder why the picture below is so dark. There is usually a power cut at sunset, ie the time we start cooking. I am now quite used in cooking in the dark. It teaches you to use your smell instead of your sight to appreciate what you are doing. A whole new experience.
We usually eat around 07:00pm. I spend my evening with my host family, watching TV (ahhh, Indian series are awesome!) or chatting when a power cut switches the TV off. I am really enjoying my time here. Life is so peaceful (but for dogs madly barking in the middle of the night) and people are so welcoming!
17 January 2011
This Saturday was MagiSankrati - ie the official end of winter! The festival celebration started with family on Friday evening. As per all festivals, food was important and special dishes was cooked. We then spent the evening sitting around the fire, telling stories and generally having a good laugh. Some other family members were invited and it was great fun.
The following day the household gave blessings to each others with the application of Tikka on the forehead. In this festival it is traditionally women who give blessing to the rest of the family but here everyone took part. As Nepali are very generous I was invited by each house in the street to come to share their celebrations. I was given food each time...Yummy yummy but I never thought my stomach could stretch that much!
In the afternoon I went with some colleagues and friends to the hills surrounding Surkhet. The view was absolutely beautiful! It was great fun and I am very thankful to them all to take me out on their day off. I really don't have time to get bored here!
24 January 2011
The charity I am working with – ISS – is specialised in marginalised population empowerment – women, low castes, ethnic groups. Their biggest project is currently prevention and cure of Uterus Prolapse (UP). Last week I went with one of the field worker during her visit to two villages. It was very moving. The trip started with a bus journey. I stopped counting how many people we were in the 11 seater minivan when we reached 22 (inside – I could not see outside). Did you know you can have standing passengers in a minivan?
We then did the rest of the journey on foot. The countryside there is simple breathtaking. A bright blue river – Bheri – runs between hills covered with neon green terraced fields.
Villages were very welcoming. They seem very thankful for a foreigner to come from so far away to visit them. I was worried about imposing myself by coming like that into their lives; it was quite the opposite… I saw my first third degree UP. My European mind cannot picture how women can live with such suffering. They are in constant pain, walking is excruciating – so let’s not imagine what they go through when they do their house and field work, they are excluded from society because of constant bleeding.
In the evening I stayed in my colleague’s home. Her house is in the most beautiful setting. Her family was so welcoming – I know it’s a word which comes back often in my text but it is how I feel here. I feel so frustrated not to be able to talk to them as they always try to speak to me. I also would like to be able to thank them properly for their generosity but I can’t.
On Saturday I went with family and friends to the temple. There is a really nice atmosphere in the temple as it is the only place young people can meet and mix without family disapproval. However as it is seen as lazy to go late, we went at 7 o’clock in the morning. We didn’t have to shovel our way through snow but through fog. It was cold, really cold, but the usual chiya warmed us up afterwards!
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