Written by Samantha and Kilani’s group member, Loulie
Hello everybody,
It’s my second day with my homestay family. My homestay mother is actually the cooking ISP mentor, which is awesome because the food she cooks is incredible! Yesterday, Belen joined my family for dinner which was a nice surprise and very comforting during my first night alone with my homestay family. We had dal bhat for dinner, a meal that the group has enjoyed daily during our time in Nepal so far.
Today when I got home from the program house, I did my laundry which was much needed! I also put more money on my burner phone, which I received yesterday, with the help of my homestay father. I discovered that calls to the states eat up my NCell money quickly.
I’m very eager to start my ISP, although the topic has yet to be confirmed. The instructors have been working very hard to find a textiles mentor. I’m very grateful for them. I’m also loving my group, they are all very sweet and interesting. I’ve become very close with some of them and look forward to staying in touch/meeting up with them after the course too. I miss my family and friends very much but have also been enjoying being disconnected from the online world/social media. I also miss my animal friends a lot. There are a lot of dogs here, but most of them aren’t very friendly. My host family has a dog named Snow, but I think it will take a little while for him to warm up to me. When I asked my homestay father if he was friendly, he said that today, he will bite me, but in 5 days we will play.
I’ve been reading a lot, taking a lot of videos on my camcorder, and trying to practice Nepali. After our orientation in Boudha, we had a four day mini-trek. It was very strenuous and taught me many things. For example, the padding of my bag was breaking apart and coming out in tiny pieces through the mesh. Not so fun for the first day until I was able to sew some fabric over it at the tea house we stayed at that night. I also regretted how much stuff I brought, weighing my bag down during the steep, endless inclines. Much learned for the big trek later on. I just had my second dinner with my host family, trying to ask questions and speak as much Nepali I can. More later. Pheri betaulaa! Aba ma stuchhu.
-Loulie
P.S. It’s 2/27/23 today as I’m typing up this yak, and I wanted to add a few things! The instructors found me a mentor!!!! Her name is Merry Didi and she has been in the weaving/handicraft industry for a long time and teaches women to weave. I met her and saw the workspace on Friday with Shanti G showing me the way. I have to really focus on my language practice, because my mentor doesn’t speak much English. It was so amazing to meet her and see where I’ll be working, and I’m very excited to start today!!
Also, Snow loves me now!!