Wild and (Flea) Free

I’ve moved back into my family’s house and so far, great news—no fleas! I’ve loved being back with my family. My aamaa has been teaching me how to cook nepali food, which often takes place in the dark because of load shedding, making it extremely difficult to discern what exactly we’re cooking sometimes (although it’s usually safe to assume it’s daalbhaat). My dog Jenny however is still the devil. No one here likes Jenny, including my friends and Nepali teachers, who all talk about how crazy Jenny is. But my aamaa just adores him. People are so funny about their animals.

Today I feel like I had a real break through in my Nepali speaking abilities. We visited a gau called Khokana and our only assignment was to find out as much as we could about the village. I had two very successful conversations with some villagers and was able to learn about their daily lives, development in the village over the past ten years, farming and agriculture, problems they are experiencing in the village, and a little bit about their marriages. It was rewarding to be able to converse with such receptive villagers. Speaking Nepali opens up a whole new world here, taking down the wall that divides bideshis (foreigners) from Nepalis.

Lately life here has been exhausting. After a month of living here things aren’t any less werid… if that makes sense. It’s still strange to see cows eating trash on the side of the road, femur breaking pot holes aren’t any less scary, the smell of shit isn’t any less potent, getting attacked by monkeys remains an ever present fear, the pollution is just as suffocating and seeing all the suffering doesn’t get any easier. With that said, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now. I finally feel a sense of purpose in being here and I’m so excited to (slowly) be adjusting to the culture.

This weekend I saw a bollywood version of a western movie called Annjana Annjani. It was a highly entertaining love story that took place in both New York and San Fransisco, portraying all Americans as fat and ugly and America as a giant desert. There was also a cheating American whore named Rachel. Not the most flattering portrayal of Americans and Rachels a like. Despite the extremely offensive suicide and gay jokes that would never fly in American movies, I was thoroughly entertained. Hindi movies double as a great escape and cultural experience. For just three dollars a film, I plan to see many more Hindi films in the future.