Cultural barriers, en vanaf nu in het Nederlands!

Mijn derde week lesgeven in Siddhartha zit er bijna op, daarna nog een goede twee weken lesgeven en uiteindelijk een week examentoezicht, en dat laatste zal een regelrechte ramp worden. Deze week waren het namelijk de preparational tests die werden georganiseerd ter voorbereiding van de uiteindelijke final exams. Hierbij werd me al redelijk vlug duidelijk dat heel wat leerlingen hun punten halen door op heel onsubtiele wijze te spieken. Met onsubtiel bedoel ik dan ook leerlingen die hun buur hun toets geven of, nog beter, hun boek bovenhalen en de antwoorden beginnen op te zoeken. Frustrerend is ook wanneer de leerlingen beginnen te babbelen, meestal in het Nepalees zodat ik niet weet wat ze tegen elkaar zeggen (spelen ze antwoorden door of zitten ze gewoon te tetteren zoals ze anders ook wel eens durven doen tijdens de les?). In de mate van het mogelijke probeer ik zoveel mogelijk damage control te voorzien: ik laat de leerlingen hun boeken en notebooks vooraan in de klas leggen, ik probeer de leerlingen verder uit elkaar te zetten (mission impossible: de banken staan soms tot tegen het bord omdat het zo’n kleine lokalen zijn en ze toch zo’n grote klassen moeten onderbrengen). Na eindeloze waarschuwingen dat ze een 0 zullen krijgen voor hun test, heb ik het dan toch uiteindelijk eens gedaan. 0 in Nepal = drama. De toetsen moeten thuis ondertekend worden, terug naar school gebracht worden en overhandigd worden aan de directeur… and you don’t mess with Mr. Khadka. De directeur is een schat van een man, maar autoriteit uitstralen is toch blijkbaar één van zijn betere features binnen de school. Een voorbeeldje, ter illustratie!: Wanneer de leerlingen niet gehoorzamen, teveel babbelen, storend zijn, enz. dan is één van de ergste straffen voor de leerlingen om ze buiten het klaslokaal te plaatsen. Het kantoor van de directeur bevindt zich namelijk te midden het schoolplein en hij heeft dus zicht op alle lokalen. Wanneer een leerling buiten staat heeft hij het sowieso gezien. Wat dit als consequenties heeft is me nog niet duidelijk geworden, maar het is alleszins iets wat de leerlingen niet willen. Je moet ze, bij wijze van spreken, naar buiten sleuren om ze tijdens een les buiten het klaslokaal te plaatsen. Je stem verheffen of je echt boos maken haalt niets uit, maar “I’ll put you outside” is toch wel een winner (sadistisch much?). Toen ik tijdens een van mijn springuren deze week een les aan het voorbereiden was zag ik plots Grade 10 (ca. 16 jaar oud) tijdens de les buiten de klas komen. Ze moesten zich op een lijn plaatsen en hun rechterhand in de lucht houden. Ik dacht eerst dat dit weer een soort van (uithoudings)straf was (net zoals de straf waar de leerlingen hun oren moeten vasthouden en een op-en-neergaande beweging 100 keer moeten herhalen), maar plots kwam de directeur af met een lange stok… if you catch my drift. Duidelijk iets waar ik me heel ongemakkelijk bij voelde. Toen ik aan de onderdirecteur vroeg wat ze verkeerd hadden gedaan zei hij: “They’re not being serious about their studies”. De directeur laat namelijk de studenten van Grade 10 voor een aantal maanden bij hem verblijven eens ze zijn afgestudeerd in Siddhartha om ze zo te begeleiden naar hun verdere, hogere studies. Hij wil echt het beste voor zijn studenten, maar als westerling is dat niet altijd even gemakkelijk te begrijpen als je fysieke straffen ziet uitgevoerd worden. Laten we het een cultuurbarrière noemen.

Naast het schoolleven in Nepal hadden we deze week ook weer een dag waarop een soort van festivalletje plaatsvond (maar gelukkig geen verlofdag voor kregen, daar hebben we er genoeg van). In school kreeg ik mandarijntjes, er liepen wat meer kinderen en leerkrachten met tika’s rond en toen we in de vooravond muziek hoorden aan de andere kant van de straat nodigde Lok (zoon van Govinda) ons uit om het eens te gaan bezichtigen. We kwamen uit op een heel klein binnenkoertje waar locals op een tapijt traditionele muziek maakten. Simpele, maar erg leuke instrumenten en het gezang en gedans waren echt de moeite. Een poging om te dansen en in het ritme mee te klappen waren niet altijd even succesvol, maar het was in ieder geval een unieke ervaring. Door de muziek heen kwam ik in contact met een Nepalees meisje, Susmetha, die haar arm rond me sloeg en spontaan een gesprek begon. Ik dacht dat ze 16 jaar oud was en ik vroeg haar wat ze in het leven deed. Ze vertelde me dat ze nu 26 jaar oud was, gehuwd was op haar 13^de en momenteel moeder is van een 10 jaar oude zoon die ze enkel te zien krijgt als ze naar zijn school gaat, want hij verblijft bij haar schoonouders. Ze voegde er aan toe hoe ze zich door de dagen moet sleuren en zich niet gelukkig voelt met een man waarvan ze nooit heeft gehouden. Van een reality check gesproken. Dit zijn zaken waar je als toerist niet altijd bij stilstaat of alleen maar verhalen over hoort, maar Susmetha’s verhaal heeft me in ieder geval met m’n neus op de feiten gedrukt. 

Cultuurbarrières in overvloed.

A taste of Nepali culture.

First week at the Siddhartha Lovedale school went quite alright. Just like mentioned before, it was hard to adapt to the Nepalese way of teaching at first, but after given a few lessons to the same classes, they seem to adapt to me as well and it’s getting a bit easier for me to comprehend what they really need to know at school. We’ve seen some national exams for the senior classes and these seemed to be quite hard, but for the junior classes everything is taught/learned pretty literally. For the reading activities (which I have to give most of the time), I don’t really see the usefulness of just reproducing whole stories, but for grammar, the pupils definitely know their stuff. So of course, this is the primordial aspect of their education for the English language.

On Friday the 15^th, there was a short festivity going on at our school: there were no lessons, but there was a celebration for the Goddess of Knowledge. All the pupils left their uniforms at home and some of them dressed up as if they were going to a wedding, others wore their clothes which they wear at home. I took my camera with me to photograph the rituals/offerings of the principal to the goddess and also to take some pictures of my pupils. The pupils love to be in pictures, and not only the pupils... At one point, a pupil’s mother came to sit between Laura and me and she demanded her son to take pictures of her sitting between us two. I did smile at the camera, although I thought it was a bit awkward (because I didn’t even have a conversation with her). One of the rituals which would bless us was to eat breadcrumb and drink sweet milk which we had to throw over our heads. Another ritual was to put our hands in a small fire (of course, very briefly) and then rub our faces with our hands. Apart from the rituals, we also got some sort of lunch at 11 a.m. (way too early and way too heavy), consisting of breadcrumbs, rice porridge and some spicy vegetables. It was clear to us that the principal was very happy and appreciative that we visited the school that day.

After being at Lakeside for a week, we’ve already been to a variety of restaurants where we can eat for about € 3 - 4 per person, drinks cost about 50 cents. We’ve eaten a lot of Nepalese foods in Kathmandu and in Pokhara, but we tried the western foods as well (pizza, pasta, burger). We’re trying to make a good balance between the new culture we’re getting to know and yet, we also enjoy having a good (not as good as in Belgium!) western meal. The funny thing is, that everywhere we go and we see “400 – 500 Rs” (= € 4 – 5) on the menu, we’re all like “That’s way too much”, haha. Already getting used to the very low prices, indeed! Because Lakeside is a very touristic place for trekkers (and others), it’s also a bit more expensive than if you would go a bit further away. Govinda took us to Mahendrapul with The Butterfly Lodge van and showed us all the places we should look for good, yet cheap foods. You had some cheap supermarkets, but the most charming thing at Mahendrapul are the fruit and vegetable markets. Authentic stalls with huge mountains of grapes, mandarins, bananas, tomatoes, ginger, cucumbers, carrots, a lot of other fruit and vegetables we didn’t really know, etc. And the best thing is: we can taste all of it before buying anything, so you’re definitely sure that what you buy is of a good quality. We came back to the Lodge with 4 kilos of fruit and for that, we paid 150 Rs (about € 1,5).

In the early evenings, walking through one of the biggest streets at Lakeside, hearing the Vengaboys… You know you just entered ‘civilization’. Same goes for the Blues Bar, about 50 meters away from the Lodge: every evening there are cover nights, including bands such as: The Beatles, Neil Young, Tool, Dire Straits, Rage Against The Machine, Aerosmith, Puddle of Mudd, ... The awesomeness! 

Daily life at Pokhara keeps getting more interesting and refreshing, although I’m also looking forward to do some more adventurous activities other than going to school, having dinner at a restaurant and doing our groceries. 

I’ll keep you all updated on what we’ll experience next! 

Kathmandu, the start of an adventure. Pokhara, the real deal.

Namaste!

After landing in Kathmandu on the 4th of February, we arrived safely at the Student Guest House in Thamel,  although our drive with a taxi from the airport to Thamel was quite unorthodox in comparison to what we are used to: the traffic in Kathmandu is very chaotic and you’d presume that there are more accidents, but after staying here for a few days, we came to realize that they are the most skilled drivers and they really know what they’re doing. When arriving at the Student Guest House, we received a room for three, where we could settle down. After staying there for one night, we decided to move to a more tranquil area in Thamel, i.e. The Mustang Holiday Inn. Meggie, the friendliest woman we’ve met in Kathmandu, made us feel so welcome and helped us out whenever we had a question about a touristic visit, about Thamel in general, about daily life, weddings, and so on.

When we settled down in the Mustang Holiday Inn, we decided to discover Thamel. We walked around and kept walking and we always seemed to arrive somewhere else. After a few days, our orientation skills got a lot better and we found our way around Thamel a lot easier. It’s a very busy region (traffic, a lot of people, a lot of shops, etc.) but after about two days, we got used to it and we really appreciated the crowdedness. We learned how to fix a taxi for a reasonable price, we started to know how to react to inhabitants who beg for money, we got to know a lot of new dishes (i.a. Momo), … We started to feel as if we were in Kathmandu for a much longer time than we actually were.

After getting to know Thamel, we planned the following days: what to visit?

- We went to Swayambhunath: after facing a very steep stairway (365 steps, one for every day of the year) towards the Monkey Temple, we arrived on top. We received some information about the temple, we got a tika (red dot) on our foreheads and of course, we also got a magnificent view of Kathmandu. Apart from the monkeys, we were definitely amazed by the mountain view. It’s impossible to capture a picture that gives you the same feeling as actually standing there.

- The day after, we visited Durbar Square: a concentration of “the big seven”: 7 UNESCO world heritages which, obviously, attract a lot of tourists. Apart from the traditional buildings, you also had some smaller temples where the locals went to to do their prayers and offerings, but the tourists weren’t allowed to go in, which we respected.

- During our last day in Kathmandu, we visited Pashupatinath. All three of us thought this was the most impressing location we went to. We immediately were welcomed by a guide who had studied in Great Britain and he gave us some general information about the mourning process of the people who had lost a member of their family, the purification of the bodies and eventually also the cremation on the other side of the bridge, including the caste (social system) which is implemented during this ceremony.

After having had the opportunity to visit Kathmandu for a few days to do some sightseeing and some acclimatizing, we were ready to go to Pokhara! On Friday the 8^th of February, we took the Greenline bus to Pokhara. This was a 7 hour drive through the Himalaya with amazing views, but taking pictures wasn't the easiest job to do. After arriving at Pokhara, there were already a dozen of taxidrivers waiting for the people who were on the Greenline bus to take them to a hotel or a lodge. A taxi took us to the Butterfly Lodge where we were welcomed by Govinda, the owner of the lodge and the founder of the Butterfly Foundation. He has been a delight to be around and helped us out whenever it was necessary. When settling down in our rooms at the lodge, we took the time to have a look at the Phewa Lake. A-ma-zing! Beautiful mountains, beautiful sunset, lovely area, a lot more tranquil than Kathmandu, a variety of restaurants (Nepali, Indian, Western, ... foods), shops, etc. Pokhara, to me, seems to be a beautiful region to stay for our internship. 

Govinda's son, Raj, took care of our kitchen so we can cook our own meals once in a while, we got a new bike (driving a bike in chaotic traffic, keeping in mind we have to drive on the left side of the road: scary!) and he also took us to our school, The Siddhartha Lovedale Secondary School. Raj and Kem (an employee at the Lodge) also assured us that they would help us plan our activities, such as Chitwan National Park, maybe some trekking, our flight back to Kathmandu, and so on. We are really taken care of, we feel very at ease. Also the cook of the lodge is great. He already helped Thomas with the Nepali history (Govinda as well), he's so friendly and every time we see him: "Hiiiiii!". 

The Siddhartha Lovedale Secondary School, where we will be teaching our subjects the next 5 to 6 weeks. I will be teaching English, as I expected, Laura will be teaching sciences and Thomas Nepali history. I was very glad to have the textbooks so I could start working on my lesson preparations, but after going through all the textbooks (2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th grade) I have to say I'm a bit demotivated. The lessons don't have that many lesson contents and there are a lot of reading activities and reproductive activities instead of really teaching the pupils new and useful contents such as grammar, vocabulary, speaking exercises, and so on. Tomorrow we start our teaching practice in the school and I hope my pupils will be interested and motivated to study. That way, I will love going there and I will be able to give my lessons in an enthusiastic manner. I know this sounds depressing, but I'm sure everything will turn out fine and we will just have to adapt to the Nepalese way of teaching during this week of our teaching practice.

When I've finished my first week of my internship at Siddhartha, I'll probably post an update on how eveything's going.

Namaskar!