Lazy Sunday Afternoon.....

My favourite cafe is shut on Sunday's.. And there is yet another bloody strike which means no transport. While it's only 4pm into town it's so hot today and when it's hot, it's dusty plus the walk is past all the tips and it stinks. If ever there was a place where you need a face mask it's here!!!
There is another cafe that serves good coffee and a nice omelette so I've parked myself here for a few hours.
The lessons went well. 'how many' and 'how much' . The first class of the day is a real challenge to keep their attention. The second two are a joy to teach. Attentive and well behaved. I've brought some stuff to the cafe and will spend some time planning the lessons.
There is a little courtyard 'well it's more of a front yard' with some seats. At the moment four of the family are washing the blankets. The father explained to me that they pump their water from the ground and it is coming to the end if the rainy season. Soon they will have to buy water from the water truck so they are taking advantage of the fine weather and the free water and cleaning all the blankets. This involves spreading them out in the yard. Taking a bar of soap and getting on their hands and knees. For a change the men are getting involved too, nice to see a bit of equality going on.

The omelette I had was good and only 40p. There is a huge difference in prices between here and town...

I have spent hours so far thinking up games to warm classes up in the morning. Last night I came up with a whizzo idea. All the students stand, make a circle. Question are asked 1 by one. If they get it right they stay standing. If they get it wrong they sit down. Last one standing wins the prize. ( a new pen or pencil) it worked a treat. I'm now recognising the good ones so question on what we've already done. The less capable get slightly easier questions and the very incapable get a ' pick what hand it's in' sort of question. It worked well. Time constraints ( the lessons are only 30 mins) mean the lesson us somewhat condensed but I always finish with 7 mins of video. It's a great motivator. Good lesson, video. Bad lesson, no video. While I was playing the video I looked through one of the Monks' exercise books. They appear at first sight quite advanced but the methodology is repeating and drilling. There are no concept checking or context checking and therefore no comprehension testing. I'm pretty sure only a few of them know what they are writing..









Ha ha. Now the blanket washing is done the bloke is washing his wifes hair on the table next to mine. Classy joint....

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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

A private Lesson

My first private lesson in Nepal, granted, not a fee paying customer. One of the older monks is studying English and has an IELTS exam, coming up pretty shortly by all accounts.
I was sitting in the courtyard, listening to the horns, drums and chants of the afternoon Puja when he approached me and asked if I could give him lessons. It seemed pretty urgent as he wanted a lesson that evening, 7:00 while 8:00. I agreed so we shall see.....

The afternoon was spent preparing for lessons tomorrow. Having read through some of the text book and the exercise books I thought it would be a good idea to put some text together and then some questions on the text to test comprehension. I still have my doubts as to how successful it will be but if it works it will open up avenues for more comprehensive lessons. I will only do this for class two and three and the first class is nit at that level and I can see it ending up in organised chaos. Besides, I had promised this morning that we would make a video of them singing Do Re Me;-)

And hey, for only the third time in two weeks the water is working. Unfortunately I spotted this only after I had filled by massive bottle. That said, I did take the opportunity to fill all the containers I could lay my hands on...

As my favourite cafe was closed on Sunday I wandered down to the main road in an effort to get something to eat. Last Sunday I had stumbled on a restaurant, typical roadside but had a decent menu. I wouldn't risk meat but a veg curry and some chapatti seems safe enough. It was actually quite nice. Not a patch on the usual and the command of English will always present the potential of a surprise when the meal eventually does arrive. In this case it was a pleasant surprise when it arrived. Don't think I will swap it for my usual haunt. I really must try and persuade them to open on a Sunday!

I found out today that the other volunteers actually get Sunday off. Bummer. Not sure why I am working Sundays. I'll need to look into this. I am hoping to do a few trips in the coming weeks, so I'll need to look into the chance of having a couple of long weekends anyway.

Just as I finished my late lunch the heavens opened as usual for this time of year. I'm sure I'll regret saying this but I will be glad when the monsoon season is well and truly over. I moved inside the restaurant which is actually quite nice. Complete with a bar! The is no action at the moment, I wonder if it gets busier in the evening.
I do wonder how some of these places make a living. The price of food outside Thamel must barely cover the cost and there never seems to be anyone in the places. Like I say, maybe it will be different on an evening.

Up to now I'm keeping myself reasonable busy with the lesson plans and reading but I'm really not sure I can keep it up for another six weeks which is how long I have left on the placement. I am quite keen to sit through one of the Puja sessions. Apparently they are quite spiritual although you do need to sit cross legged for a whole hour. Maybe I will use the opportunity this evening to ask the question.

Because of the transport strike the roads are noticeably quieter in terms of traffic and people. There do appear to be a number of taxis and some of the busses are also running. I'm really not sure how it works. I understand that most of the ubiquitous "micros" are run by the government. This is the third strike in three weeks, it appears to be a common occurrence. The general advice is to stay holed up in your hotel. Noticeably there is a much increased army presence on the streets and I understand that occasionally it can turn nasty. Given that the army are armed it makes no sense risking a trip into town today, despite the fact ha I have my laundry to collect. Once the rain has abated I will go back to my room and make some worksheets for tomorrow.


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Weekend charity dinner.

It's been an interesting week. Here I am, Saturday lunchtime sitting in my favourite coffee shop, a lovely morning, no rain, nursing a bit of a hangover.
Last night was the Nepal Children's Home launch event. It was great event, very successful by all accounts with around 200 people attending. We were all given a job. I was the official photographer...
The food was excellent, the beer was reasonable and the entertainment was... Well ... Er different..

After lessons of friday I headed into town. Met one of the other volunteers at the monkey temple and took a bus into the office. Bhupi had asked that we all go down before the event. It was a bit of a waste of time. There is a certain undercurrent of disorganisation in Nepal. It reigns everywhere. Jobs were allocated. Crazy jobs,including someone sitting by the bar and recording how many drinks were sold (VIN were getting half the margin for the evening) someone even had the job of watching if anyone was pissed and then guiding them away and out of trouble....

My brochure was finished. Unfortunately someone had messed around and there were bits of text missing and some typo's

Once the jobs had been allocated, I together with a few of the other volunteer made our way on foot to the Hotel Premium. I was so much looking forward to my hot shower. It's no big deal not having hot water but you do have a feeling of constant "grubbiness' only another 6 weeks to go.

I had had the foresight to book my room last week. Some of the other volunteers had not and were disappointed. My room was actually nicer than the last one. Not hard, but welcome. The shower was perfect. Small things.....

I really didn't know what to expect of the charity dinner. Apparently about 200 tickets had been sold. We arrived at 4:30, the kick off was 5:30 but that was Nepali time. The venue was cool. A three star hotel not far from the Premium Hotel. Snacks were served, they were delicious, probably the best food I've had since arriving and the main buffet was yet to come.

Eventually, at 6:30 it kicked off, not before a big black car had swept into the car park. A Nepali flag on the front and an armed solider had jumped out. Apparently this was a government minister. The first part of the evening was a presentation. The VIN story and update on the projects. After that they went through the plans for the children's home. The minister had a slot too. Of course it was all in Nepali but sounded very passionate. I was sitting with one of the advisors. She enlightened me that this was a party political speech and the minister was using the event as a platform. No mention of VIN.

Raffle tickets were on sale and guess what? I won! When I went go collect my prize was told by Dinesh 'you will get it later' I suspect not. It was only 100 rp for the two tickets but it was still a bit cheeky of him...

After the official speeches were over, it was time for the entertainment. Unusual to say the least. A 'comedy' act and then the equivalent of a 'cabaret' act. Theme Ali can drink. Most tables had a bottle of spirits. Bhupi and Dinesh also seemed to enjoy a drink. The food was great. A selection of nepali traditional dishes which seemed to go down very well. Everyone's plates were piled high . I met the architect of the home, a young, recently qualified chap who had made a great job.

At the end of the evening there was dancing. It would have been rude not to join in. All in all it was a great evening. I had a couple of beers and certain he noted myself .

The evening was over by 10:00, I Maria walked home, she was staying at one of the nuns' homes and was worried about walking on her own. Don't blame her. I was back at the hotel and in bed by 11:00.

I had a lie in.... 11:45. A fruit juice at the usual place.
"how much today" I asked.
"how much will you pay " was the quick response.

I think he got the message that as a regular, if he continues to rip me off I will become an ex customer. We agreed 70rp.
Coffee at the Java Himalaya coffee house then lunch at he Food bazaar opposite. I made a bad choice. A mixed curry which consisted of a few chicken bones, some dhaal Bhat and some veg. Not brilliant and nearly as expensive as the lovely chicken tikka masala and about three times as expensive as the lovely veg curry I have come to know and love from my 'local' I know for next time!

After a couple of hours I headed back to the hotel. I had already checked out. My laundry wouldn't be ready till later so I agreed to collect it the next day. I'm beginning to think that I will sling (nay burn) most of my clothes when I leave. Each visit to the laundry leaves them looking slightly less attractive. The whites are now grey and the colours are looking decidedly worse for wear. Good job I brought cheap stuff...

I was back at the monastery by 6:30 and doing my prep for the following days lessons. No rest for the teacher.......


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Mrs Frumpy Bitch....

I live my refuge in the monastery. But I also love my refuge in the local cafe. I've spent hours here, chewing the fat with other travellers and volunteers. The coffee is good, I've not tried the beer yet, it's only a matter of time, I'm sure.

Yesterday I had my teaching shift changed so got to stay in bed till 8:00 this morning Little did I know the fuss it would cause.....

Monday was good, lessons went well. The first class is always a challenge as they are the youngest, a big spread of ability and all they want to do us watch the Ipad. I've downloaded a few cartoons. We watch it. I write up questions, then we watch it again. Great fun. In fact it worked so well I changed my plan and did it for all three lessons. Result. I've now got two lessons saved for later in the week.

After class, I tend to wander to my cafe and have breakfast, coffee and chill. Monday was different though. I got a text from the office, "could I go there now" to finalise the brochure for Fridays charity launch dinner for the children's home. I jumped on a 'micro bus' and headed down. We did get it finished but not before a degree of anxiety with the constant changes. The monastery closes it's gates at 8:00. At 8:05, despite promising myself I wouldn't do it ever again, I was jumping in the back of Bhupi's bike and weaving through the still busy streets onto the ring road, back to the monastery. Not wise but unavoidable if I wanted a bed for the night. We got there with only seconds to spare.

Tuesday was good, once again good lessons. Amusing, we were doing 'what' and ' how many' having watched a cartoon.
"how many gold coins did jake collect"
"two" was the shout, correct answer.
What is the name of jakes parrot"
"two" ....... Oh well.
"how many = number"
"what = name"
I think we got there.... So fir a nice breakfast of eggs and toast and a good cup of coffee. Back to the office on the bus. We hadn't gone more than a mile when we were back ended and shunted 10 metres down the road. It was bound to happen, given the appalling driving and poor road sense of everyone in Kathmandu. Fortunately, no injuries although watching the conductor trying to get fares from us all as we left the bus to get on a working model was entertaining. It was never going to happen and I suspect I was witness to some very choice Nepali language....

I did get back at a reasonable hour. I made sure by leaving when most of the staff left and travelling with one of the girls. It was just before 5:30 when I pulled up outside Monkey Temple, just across the road from Samate Ling. Popped into the cafe for some veg samosa and a sprite. I've decided to make more of a healthy effort with the food. Most has been fried. Not good, from tomorrow.....

On to today, a good nights sleep, a lie in and lessons from 8:45 to 11:30. Sounds good I was 10 minutes into my lesson when a frumpy woman burst in. She was a volunteer and made out that she had an arrangement for five years. "we need to talk" she said. "We can talk at break" I replied. She didn't appear at break but did collar me before my last lesson, also claiming this was her lesson. She was really rude. It turns out this was her first day and her and her friend thought they were doing the lessons I was taking. I had no issue, I will go back to doing the early shift...

I laughed with the resident teacher later as we agreed I would go back to the original schedule. I'm sure this wouldn't satisfy the frumpy bitch. She said too many English lessons would confuse them. My view, you can't have too many English lessons.

I didn't have any food when I'd finished, I'd arranged to give one of the girls English lessons at the office do took an event free journey towards town.

The lesson went well. Writing and reading English was the objective.
I was in the cafe at 4:30 and enjoying my new non fried regime of a veg curry and sone beautiful little rolls. I treated myself to a beer... Half way through the week and all that ...


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

Busy, Busy , Busy

Day three in the monastery house......
Awake again by the gong at 4:30, actually, it's quite cool. A really nice and gradual way to wake up. Perhaps not so early mind, but then. I'm not exactly having late nights....

From the balcony I watched assembly, it was really amusing. Most were on time but those that weren't, and they came running across the yard to a crack on the head by one of the elder monks. You could see they were used to it...





















Lessons at 7:20 and 8:55 today. I got there 10 minutes earlier than start time. For some reason Class 1 were I'm a particularly boisterous mood. Lesson went well. Actually a bit too well, can't help feel that they have been holding out on me....


















We started with a bit of a game, smiley, sad, happy faces. It went well, sort of till they started slinging the balls at each other. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that this type of game is a bit difficult to manage with at least 32 kids in a room that is exactly the size of my bedroom.....

The second lesson (and I'd been told to expect this) didn't go quite to plan. I'd expected to do a bit of revision on the previous lesson from Friday. And planned the lesson around that. As I came out of the classroom I was asked to take class three rather than class two. I quickly had to think about what to do with the spare 10 mins I just had gained. You can't revise something they hadn't done yet!!!no worries. We got by.

After class wandered to the office to ask if I could get another big bottle of water. (those that you use for water fountains in offices....) there was still no running water. In was actually quite resigned to it now, whether I'll be resigned to it in 2 months, I'm not quite sure....

I couldn't have made myself understood as I got an empty bottle. I had noticed a big tank in the courtyard. I took my bottle, and half filled it with water. I'll fill my bucket and them get some more later.

After class, I went to my favourite cafe, good coffee and Internet access. Alas, it was closed on Sunday's. Fuck!!!

I did find a very poor alternative. Nice chapati and omelette and a milky coffee. Back to my room, a small nap, a read, made some flashcards for tomorrow's lesson. Then out for a wander and to pop in the stationers to pick up my order. It had arrived. I also bought a few other thinks I would use for the games and the warmers...
As I was coming back a couple of the kids were handing money through the railings to the woman who had the shop across the road. The giggled when they saw me. Caught red handed!!!












Later afternoon, and it was a glorious day, I sat in the courtyard and chatted to the kids and a couple of the older monks. Really friendly. They were fascinated with my tattoo.

Great day.... Again.





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Location:Karma Samte Ling Monastery. Kathmandu.

A night on the town........

I took a taxi into town when the rain finally stopped. I had packed a few things I would need into my daypack and chucked a pile of washing into my dry bag. The taxi wanted three hundred but we eventually agreed on two hundred. For some bizarre reason he didn't take the ring road, instead took what appeared to be the back roads, most of which were flooded from the torrential rain. He got the last laugh, dropping me off at what he claimed was Thamel, I only realised as I got out that I was about 2k from where I wanted to be. Oh well, good exercise for if I want to go trekking.....

I arrived at the Premium hotel, checked in, got my old room and everyone appeared to be happy to see me. Namaste they all yelled as I walked through the door. The owner told me that I could have. Room 402, the room that had been my home for two weeks. Great I said, I just need a hot hot water. He looked at me alarmed, "there was no hot water last time' he enquirer. "no no" I explained, no hot water at the monastery, in fact no water at all. As I walked up to my room it dawned me that actually, for a good five days out of the last 10 there was indeed no hot water....

Anyway, today there was hot water and I gave myself a good scrub. I took my laundry to reception and asked if there was any chance i could be done by Saturday lunch time. He would try but it dries in the sun.. We laughed looking at the weather this morning.... I told him that it didn't matter if itbwas still dam, I would dry it at the monastery. I then went out to BK's for chips, chilli sauce and Pakora, the best chips in town..... Then a small sleep.

It was a pretty low key evening. I had dinner at the Mandep. The usual of chicken tikka masala and a garlic naan. Washed down with a couple of beers. After which I went back to the hotel and bed.....

I had a lie in, a week (actually it's only 3 days!) of 4:30 wake ups had clearly taken their toll. It was 11:00am before I had breakfast. Hard boiled eggs (which came as fried) and hash browns which weren't, they were however good. The food at the hotel, given the facilities, is quite nice and the beer is cheap....

It was a beautiful morning, the red sky the previous evening had promised that. After breakfast I checked out. My laundry wasn't ready, no worries, I was going to get a coffee anyway. I called in to get my vitamin drink of pineapple juice. This guy as a bizarre charging structure, it's been 70, 80, 90 and 100 rupees. This kinda pisses me off. I have had to ask for my change a couple of times. Today he gave me 10 back from 100. "Has the price gone up." He looked puzzled.. "On Wednesday it was 80 rupees." "agh", he said, "it's special" yeah right. I know it's not much but the principle of the matter pisses me off. Does the man have no comprehension of "lifetime customer value". Of course not. But he just lost a customer who would have happily spent about £20 with him over the next two month. There are plenty of other fruit juice vendors...

Coffee at the Himalaya Java, it was packed so I had to ask this rather over dressed (in a scanty sort of way) and rather over made up (in a tarty sort of way) if I could sit opposite her. Two sofas with a table in-between and she had pretty much taken over the table with all her "stuff" she looked at me as if I had just asked for a shag and shrugged her shoulders. Some people are complete twats...

I am finding Kathmandu quite a strange sort of place in terms of meeting people out an about. There are loads of "hippies" complete with dreadlocks and grubby clothes. There are loads of trekker types, there are loads of french. I've only had conversations with about 10 foreign people since I arrived... Hey ho..

I found a nice little app that let's you upload batches of photos onto Face Book. Something I've not done much of before. I spent the next couple of hours drinking coffee and doing that. Every time I looked over, the women opposite glared. She was eventually joined by her boyfriend, both America, although she did have a South American look about her. But there you go. American again, with a couple of examples (if you're reading this Randles- you're exempt ) they appear to be rather a dysfunctional race. Listening to these two only reinforced that view....

The beautiful morning had turned into a pissing afternoon, dark clouds and torrential rain. I decided to have a shave... Nice head massage, all for the price of a beer. Having made that splash out, well worth it. I went to the hotel, paid my bill and checked out. As I'd been extravagant with the shave I decided to walk the 4km to the monastery. Arrived absolutely wet through.

Lots of waves from the monks as I walked through the gates. Still no water. Guess I'll have to get another HUGE bottle from the head monk. At 50 rupees it's not going to break the bank...

Having forgotten my glasses, I had a bit of work to do in preparation for the lesson tomorrow.

It won't be a late night either....


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Location:Ring Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal

This is just fantastic....

The calling to prayers woke me at around. 4:30am. It's a strange feeling to really be in the thick of it.
I had prepared all my stuff for the morning so went to take a shower. There is a constant feeling of 'grubbiness'. having trekked down road I was in need of a good scrub. The slight inconvenience of no hot water yesterday paled into insignificance. Today there was no water at all. I had a huge bottle of water in my room which I emptied into a bucket and had a very thorough 'body wash' and a shave. Any thoughts of wearing the same shirt as yesterday's were quickly dismissed as I looked at the collar in the light. It was bloody loopy. Dirty gypsy bastard...

It was a miserable day, absolutely pissing down with rain. I had two classes again. One with the real youngsters, and then a second with the older boys.

As I walked towards the first classroom I was hijacked by a young monk from the second class.
'sir, sir.... In here. In reasonable English he said the first class had a teacher.
I went in an started the class with a 'Simon says' warm up. Very quickly it became evident that my first class didn't have a teacher at all. The monk thought it was hugely Funny that I'd been had. The first class again was the 30 youngsters. 'good morning sir' they shouted as I went in. 'Video, ,video' they yelled.
'good lesson - then video' was my deal.
They ca Ss went well, reinforcing what we had done yesterday. Getting them to converse in English with me and then in English with their peers. The is a real breadth of skills. Some very competent and some not at all so. One of the older boys was obviously the 'leader' and I got him on side. He was OK at speaking and really helped with the controlling of the younger monks.

Great lesson again, completed with a song. They love the Do Re Mi... I feel like Julie Andrew in the sound of music.

We finished the lesson with 5 minutes of video. I am showing them the road trip across the lower Himalayas by Motorbike. Using the opportunity to pause it from time to time and ask questions. 'What is this.' the area we travelled had a lot of monasteries so it is good that they can see Buddhist culture in another adjoining country. I am planning to use this every lesson till we've seen it all and use it to increase their vocal and allow them to name a few of the Buddhist gods etc...

The second take of the second lesson was great too. Again, there are couple of bright cookies, but also those at the other end of the spectrum. I think I have identified those that need most help. The trick is to keep them all motivated
The context of the lesson was 'feelings' and the the form was 'present, past and future simple' with an irregular verb thrown in for good measure. Went very well. Need to think a little bit more as to how I can get everything in as the lessons are only 35 minutes and I like to get a bit of a game in. I will try starting with the first class earlier and try to squeeze 45 mins in each. We actually managed to get most of the stuff in and the. Finished with a game to test the learning. Some of them certainly got it, others not so much. I will think how we can broaden it out to capture everyone. Being new to this lark I'm not sure how to do this yet. I will seek some expert advice...

All through at 9:00 and it's still tipping down with rain. At least the transport strike is over. My plan is to head back into town for the night and get a hot shower and a bit of a lie in tomorrow. Saturday is my day off.. Back to tomorrow evening with lessons starting again at 6:30 on Sunday.

I'm having breakfast of boiled eggs and toast and milky coffee thinking when shall I make a move . I need to let the rain subside.

I've not taken any photos yet... The weather is too bad and I've been too busy but there will be some cracking opportunities .....

This is so enjoyable. And it's going to get better.....



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Location:Kimdol Rd,Kathmandu,Nepal