Teej

Teej is a Nepali festival where women celebrate in honor of their husbands and in the hope of a long and happy married life.
At umbrella it is celebrated by all the women in the houses, including volunteers.
We all wore Sari's, had mehndi done (that's the henna drawing they do on your hand) and went for a night out at the local cafe. It was kinda like going to a wedding of someone you don't know with a couple of friends. Us volunteers stuck together, Some of the didi's played the role of the crazy drunk aunts, And everyone was all awkward and polite with the people you didn't really know. Now there wasn't any alcohol served, but we noticed the women going into the bathroom in groups. I had my suspicions about a bottle of Roxy (nepali moonshine) being passed around. Add to that the language barrier and great fun was had by all.
I think what i liked like most about Teej was how it gave myself and the house mother something to talk about,
The Gauri Shankar house mother is great at what she does. Herself and her husband run the house. I think she has the more active role. Being a mom to 36 pre-teen and teenagers can't be easy. She kinda intimidates me. The fact that I hear her talking about me and laughing alot doesn't help. I'm sure it's all
In good humor, but I have NO idea what's she's saying. I just hear "sister" alot, and I'm pretty sure she's talking about me.
So anyways, she is the one that told me about Teej, what it was and how I needed to get a sari. She tailored it for me, and had one if the didi's take me shopping for a petticoat. Again she laughed at me when I said I'd wear shorts underneath. "hahahaha, No Sister, get a petticoat". In hindsight, that advice was very wise.
Me buying, and wearing traditional clothing was also exciting for the girls. After they heard I was going to buy and wear a sari they asked me about it everyday until I bought it. When I bought it I made sure I brought it right over to show them. They liked it:)
And the day I wore
It one of the older girls in the house dressed me, while about half a dozen watched. Good thing I'm not shy!
"Sister show!" one girl said as she lifted up her shirt a little. Oh god, this isn't good. I had worn the shirt I was going to wear with the sari, specifically, because I knew that there would be an audience. Know I had worn my thickest granny painties for when I had to take off my pants and put on the petticoat and had been really quick about it. So what is this show and tell thing?
After she repeated herself and kept lifting her shirt to show off the tiniest bit of belly I realized they all wanted to point and gawk at my white stomach. The skin they see; ankles and arms, has gotten tanned, but my belly is still white as winter. So i lifted my shirt, just a little, to the sound of giggles and laughter and "sister, you sooooo white"
Apparently it just doesn't get old. I kinda feel like a circus freak, but at least I know they find it attractive, so I'm not too self conscious about it. It's weird, in north America, we sell self tanners and here, there are hundreds of products to lighten your skin.

I also had one of the girls do my makeup. I had no idea what to expect, but knew they'd like doing it, and could probably do it better than me. I bought an eyeliner at the local beauty shop. They only sell one, it's liquid and it's black. I handed over the eyeliner and my mascara, and let them do whatever they wanted. The same girl that dressed me did it. She is our Fashionista I think. She also did all the mehndi. The final result was a very cleopatra look. I put on my pink lipgloss and was ready to go. One of the girls says to me "red lipstick sister?".
Now I think i was pretty open to everything, but I do have to draw the line somewhere. Red lipstick is my line.

Tan update

I put on a bandaid today and it was lighter than my skin color. That never happens. I MUST be tanned :)

Last day of exams for class 3

Today I only had five girls to walk to school. They were soooo wound up, I swear someone switched their morning dhal batt for Cocoa Puffs. Half way there I had to stop them and request that they try to stay together. They were either running miles ahead or walking slow and beating on each other (in a non-violent sisterly sort of way). I told them the were harder to handle than the group of 24 that there normally was. They apologized profusely and one of the more dramatic girls exclaimed "it would be our great pleasure to stay together and listen to you sister" as she batted her eyelashes and flashed me her best smile. Now THAT is more like it. They were acting a little bit like scolded puppies though so i felt kinda bad. To remind them that we can be good and still have fun we stopped for Tikka and a photo before carrying on to school. The picture isn't great... I know I look terrible, I am running on 3 hours sleep and little patience.
The girls if course always look beautiful.

Monkey Business

Monkeys have and always will be a problem at the Volunteer House.

Enroute to Gauri Shankar House

Just a couple of photo's I took on my way to the house this afternoon. By the looks of the dark clouds i thought it was going to rain for sure. It didn't.

Boys playing soccer, or as they call it here 'football'

Night Out Continued.....

Sunday morning I woke up and enjoyed a nice warmish shower. After I left the hotel I wandered the streets aimlessly taking photos. Because I was carrying overnight toiletries I had my packsack which has a Canadian Flag on the back. It seems to give people an opening line to
approach you. Before lunch I heard 'Canada? Capital city Ottawa. Rickshaw? Where you going? I give you cheap rate." from about half a dozen rickshaw drivers. "canada? Capital city Ottawa? You want pashmina? Good price on cashmere!" from the merchants.
And finally, "Canada! Capital city Ottawa! Where you going? I show you a temple if you want?" from an incredibly handsome Indian student, who claimed he wasn't any sort of guide.
I declined them all, and carried on me merry way.
Later on that afternoon I bumped into fellow volunteer Megan who was heading to the spa for a massage. After her appointment we met up for dinner and drinks and then crashed at another guest house that was even nicer than the one I stayed at the previous night. There was also plenty of hot water. I showered 4x altogether on my weekend away. Water is $$ at the volunteer house as it's trucked in every few days, so we donour best to conserve it. It's nice to go out and not have to worry about it.

While in Thamel, I picked up a copy of the "Lonely Planet - Europe on a shoestring" a skirt, and another pair of comfy 'wouldn't be caught dead wearing around town back home'. Pants. I also picked up a few blisters from all the walking. And also maybe because my flip flops are starting to wear out.

Another bonus of staying overnight in Thamel is that most guest houses have free WiFi. I was able to catch up with a few friends online over the weekend, which was also nice :)

Night out

I came to Thamel last night to get away and spend some time away from the other volunteers. I found a hotel for 500 rupees. Which is about $6.50 Canadian. It's not the Pan Pacific. It's pretty loud. My neighbor Luke seemed to be sleeping pretty soundly though as somebody was banging on his door and yelling his name for about half an hour this morning around 6am. The quieter noises were drowned out by the fan in the room. There wasn't any hot water last night, but I hope that isn't the case this morning. Not bad for the price. So the photos below are the view from the window. I'm on the fifth floor. Kinda reminds me of downtown Vancouver with the mountains in the background.