Daily life of KTM

Welcome to Kathmandu!

Return of Tsering, Pokahara, Bhaktapur, My SmallHelp

On Nov 20th After I returned to KTM I went to the zoo. There weren't many animals and the trip was short. We only spent two and half hours in there.



On Nov 23rd Tsering came back! Tsering has come back to Nepal after 10 years studying in the USA. (high school, bachelors, and MPA). She just came back from visiting our friend Ten in Korea for a month. We finally had a chance to catch up!











Nov 26-28th. I had gone with a friend and her family to visit Pokahara. We drove about 5-6 hours to get there. We had gone for the ceremonial opening of the National Industrial Trade Fair. Happy Thanksgiving! Later on Thanksgiving I got a midnight phone call from my family. One of the highlights was waking up at 5am to see the sunrise of the Annapurna Mountains. Which are so beautiful in the morning!





Pokahara is a great place for tourists and there are a lot of things to do. There are many restaurants by the lake and where we had dinner at Boomerang. During the dinner there were live performances of traditional Nepali dancers. On the way back to KTM we had stopped for something to eat and we ate fried fish! It was Yummy!


On Dec 2nd, Tsering and I went with friends on a road trip. We ended up at Bhaktapur but on the way we were in several traffic jams. Here is what we saw.



















Me running away from the cow! It moved while we were taking a picture.


















Bhaktapur is listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO for its rich culture, temples, and wood, metal and stone artwork.




























Dec 4th My first visit at MySmallhelp. http://mysmallhelp.org/index.php
The office is located in Patan. I met Lucy, Pramila, Raju and Januka. They were so warm and welcoming! I got a chance to visit the orphanage/school. The kids were great and we played hot potato. This is one of the non-profits where I will volunteer at.

Goodbye Phaplu Community School but I'll be back!

Today was my last day of school. This past week I had a cold and could not attend school for 5 days. I lost my voice but feel much better now. I wanted to see my students before I leave. I didn't want to just leave without saying goodbye and wanted to explained that I am coming back!

Since my voice didn't come back completely I had to observe the classes and plan for the book shelves with Manisha. After spending almost two weeks with the school we decided for each of the classes to build shelves for a classroom library. We are planning to buy books in Kathmandu and build shelves while I'm in Kathmandu during the winter time. I estimate we can buy 500 books and I couldn't have done this without the help of my friends in New York City!

One of the activities I did with Class 2 was to draw The Cat In the Hat. When I showed them the pictures in the book, their reaction was WOW!





For Class 4, I read Thank you, Thanksgiving and explained about the holiday that I celebrate with my family in America. This book was given from my mom!










Also with class 4, I made a game called "Let's Speak English"
To earn a star the students must speak English with me or a classmate or answer a question with a complete sentence. Whoever earns the most stars will get a special gift. The gift was a pen and a notebook. The three winners were Dolma, Ajay and Menkuna. Each of them tried to answer me with complete sentences and I saw their efforts! I think the students enjoyed this game and will continue after I come back.

















Class 1~ Students playing~


















Tashi giving you a peace sign!













Class 3 gang!























My good bye with Dawa Lama~ the best reader from class 3.












Srijina, class 4 the best reader of the school.


At the end of the day the entire school surprised me with Hokie Pokie! I had received khatas from a member of each class and a letter from Jeeban Rai from class 3.

The letter reads:
Dear Elli miss
Thank you so much for being with us for so long. We will miss you lot and lot.
From Class 3

I wanted to make sure the students understood that I am coming back but also with books! Manisha told me that the students were happy to hear that! I am looking forward to return to my students and Manisha. I can't wait to see their smiling faces! Now I'm heading back to Kathmandu for the winter!

Private and Government Schools

This week I spent two days to visit two government and two private schools. Jana Jagriti Lower secondary school and Dudhkunda Himalaya were the government schools.

There were two things that I was surprised about. One was that Dudhkunda Himalaya had a small library filled with only 63 different titles from Room to Read.

This is a sign in the teacher's office.I think it s says all I need to say. Does this make any sense to you?

The Jana Jagriti Lower secondary school had a computer with Nepali and English letters in their office.

Here's a picture of a classroom.

The students are curious!

First grade classroom at Jana Jagriti Lower secondary school

I like this sign at White Hills!

At Mount Everest they have a small computer lab. This is the organization that has donated the computer. They are from Denmark.

After visiting these schools they gave me a general idea of the schools and their conditions. Once I finish my written comparison I will post it.

Reading Competition/Mandi rimdu

Every Friday the school has a half day and on that day they have different competitions.

The English Reading Competition was on Friday Oct 30th. Guess who was the judge? ME!

I had to rank the students 1-10. 10 being the best. The school is split into houses which are names of color. Two students from each house read a poem or short story.

This was Srijina from Red House and she was the best reader. I am impressed on her ability during class and reading aloud Red Riding Hood.

On the first day of Mandi Rimdu. (Buddhist festival) Manisha, Patna didi, Nimdu and me walked to the Chiwong Monastery. The Monastery is on top of a mountain. The first day was receiving blessings.

Manisha is at the bottom of the hill! It took about 3 hours on the first day to walk to Chiwong.

People stay over night during the three day festival. Here's the inside of the monastery where the Rinpoche was.

On the second day, the kids came along and the walk only took us about 2 hours and 1 hour coming down. The second day was the dances. The day is filled with dancing. It was amazing to watch. One of their dances was a man putting a sword into his stomach. Here's the link if you want to learn more about this festival. I would recommend reading more! It is very interesting!

http://www.chiwongmonastery.com/

Me watching from above!

Here's a colorful mask of a dancer.

First day of school

School started on October 25, 2009.

During my first week I wake up around 6:30am everyday and we have breakfast around 8:30. We go to school together at 9:15 and arrive at 9:45. School's morning assembly is at 9:45 and classes starts at 10.

First day of school with Manisha, Poonam (age 7), Lakpa (age 11), and Jangmu (age 11).

On my first day of school We made name tags so I can be able to know their names. I introduced to them to the Hokie Pokie.

On the second day I asked them their ages and where do they live? They wrote the answers on their name cards. Every morning I pass out their cards and this will help me remember! Some of their names are difficult for me to pronounce.

We play London Bridges and Ring around the Rosie.

In the classes I am teaching the hokie pokie. In grade 1 and 2 we are learning Teddy Bear Teddy Bear turn around...If your happy and you know it clap your hands, patty cake, and Skidamarinka dink-a-dink. (Elephant Show). In grade 4 I read the Cat in the Hat!

My typical day

9:45 Morning assembly

10- 10:40 Free period

Class 3

Class 2

Class 4

11:40- Lunch

Class 1

Class 1

2:45 end of school

3:30 reach at home