Off to the village!

This photo was taken very close to where our village will be - note the scattered houses on the hillside.

Above: Our cards with information about our families included the animals that they have. My family doesn't have any pets - maybe, because they are teachers and not farmers (as many of the families are). Other houses have buffalos, goats, chickens, and/or dogs. I hope to get to know some of the animal villagers, as well, next week!

I made a quick trip to town today to buy a couple of last things I'll need for my village stay, which starts tomorrow. We just received information about the village we'll be staying in, as well as our host families. I'll be staying with a family of 5, and apparently at least one of them teaches at the local village school. I'll be eating daal baat (rice and lentils) twice a day (by hand), going to language lessons during the day, doing my best to remember to do everything with my right hand so that I don't accidentally offend anyone, and practicing my Nepali as much as possible! I'm completely nervous about the communication- my Nepali is so very basic right now. Our group makes jokes about having to have the same conversation every night about our family and likes and dislikes, since we're at least comfortable with this. In reality, I bet I'll do a lot of listening, a good amount of charades (thank goodness for theatre training in elementary school!), and will just pick up what I can. At the end of our stay we'll also spend a day doing a community project for the village. I am looking forward to that.

Pictures and stories from the village when I return. We'll be in the village for 7 nights, unless there is a strike on the day we'll be leaving, in which case one never quite knows what the agenda will be.....!