Elephants & Rhinos & No Tigers OH MY

Well, I was hoping to write this blog post to report seeing a tiger in real life. But after spending 2 ½ days in the jungle of Nepal, I am sad to report that is still just a dream of mine. On Thursday, a few fellows and I took 8 of the most outdoor enthusiastic hostel kids to Bardia National Park. Brendan, our outdoor education fellow, has been playing "ultimate jungle challenge" with the kids for 7 months. This entails spotting birds and animals, naming them, learning more about them from the animal guide book, and drawing pictures of the animals. Some of the kids have gotten really into it..."a red-winged spotted drango!" "a honeycrested sugar glider!" they will shout from the roof of the hostel...they know their stuff and Bardia was the reward for the jungle challenge winners. Bardia is situated in the southwestern corner of Nepal almost reaching India, and it is the largest and most undisturbed national park in the region. We wound up and over mountains, across plains and through towns for about 6 hours before reaching the park’s edge. We had to get out of the school bus and walk across the bridge because of weight limitations, which I thought was kinda silly. But I was so thankful we had to do it moments later because just as we were crossing and casually pointing out fish and crocodiles, a massive wild elephant crossed the river about 400 yards away from us! It was beautiful and natural and so amazing to see this impressive creature just strolling through the river and splashing around to cool off. The elephant disappeared into the brush moments later, but it was a truly unforgettable moment and I hoped it was foreshadowing all the amazing things we would see that weekend. In the evening, we were supposed to take elephant rides around the outskirts of the jungle, but unfortunately there was a tragedy the day before. One of the Nepali elephant trainers fell off the largest elephant at the sanctuary and was trampled to death, and they decided to give the elephants and trainers a few days off to recuperate. So sad! I still got to see the elephants, shake their trunks, become best friends with a baby ele, but it was bitter-sweet because it was pretty obvious that was not the best environment for the elephants. The elephants’ front paws were chained together and connected to a post close by; they looked content but I just couldn’t help and compare them to the wild elephant we had seen hours earlier that looked so relaxed. After visiting with the elephants and taking way too many photos, we took a short walk in the jungle and saw some monkeys, deer, and many different species of birds. The kids were so in their element – identifying all the different birds, fighting over binoculars to get a better look at the mammals in the distance, and trying so hard to be the first one to spot something – and they were naturals!

The next morning, we were up and ready to go after breakfast at 6:30am. We rode in the back of jeep wranglers and went deep into the jungle. Since it was early, the temperature was perfect, the animals were out, and there was this fresh outdoorsy smell that made me realize I really haven’t smelled anything good since I arrived in Nepal. We spent the late morning and early afternoon hours perched on a cliff overlooking a river and some brush, hoping to spot some good wildlife. We watched a rhino bathe for two hours before yawning and meandering into the forest, some deer with really impressive antlers gallivant around, a peacock with its feathers down awkwardly waddle across the plain, but unfortunately the tigers were nowhere to be found. Mid to late April during the hours of noon to 4pm is officially the best time to spot tigers in Bardia. Tigers had been seen everyday for 5 days prior to our trip and we were told there was a 99% chance we would see one. The person who gave us that estimate must not have realized we would be in the jungle with eight small people between the ages of 8 and 13. To the kids, being quiet meant yelling once every 10 minutes, being stealthy meant sitting still for 1 minute before sprinting to find a new place to play, and being calm meant only having a spaz attack when it was absolutely necessary. I can’t say for sure if we would have seen a tiger, but the small people definitely didn’t increase our chances. Even so, it was really cool to watch the wildlife appear and disappear from our sight throughout the day and I felt like a badass jungle ranger in my forest-green button down strolling through the brush with my walking stick all day. We wrapped up our trip the next morning with a swim in a possibly crocodile-infested river that ran through the jungle, and headed back to Surkhet with all of our kids accounted for and in one piece somehow. 

Brendan & kids before jeep ride!

Sagar tiger watching

rhino spotting!

rhino raised at the Bardia Conservation Center

Bishal in the bird den at Rhino Lodge

Kid Camping Trip in 2071

School has been out for eight days but it feels more like eighty. We’ve done family soccer games, a skills challenge (skills tested: eating a donut off a dangling rope, bobbing for apples, egg on spoon, water balloon toss, cornhole, paper airplane making, etc.), 4 trips to the pool, an innovation competition, TV and movies, lunch outings, and so much more. Yet the kids are constantly saying to me, “I’m boring.” I know they actually mean to say “I am bored,” but it’s still not very fun to be reminded daily that you are not fun and entertaining enough. What’s even worse is there are still two more weeks of vacation and I am running out of ideas and brain cells. How did mom make it through 3 months of summer vacation without losing her mind each year?!

One thing on our vacation bucket list was to go camping. The idea of taking a large group of children who have never camped before into unmarked wilderness territory was a bit daunting, but Krishna Bogati told me it was her birthday wish to celebrate turning 13 on a camping trip, so we had to make it happen.  Equipped with a change of clothes, a blanket, a banana, PB&J, a bowl, a spoon, two packs of ramen noodles, and whatever else could fit in a tiny backpack, the 20 oldest kids and 6 fellows hopped on the school bus and started heading west on Monday morning – the first day of the Nepali new year 2071! Jamie and Luke (sustainability fellows) had been camping west of Surkhet a few weeks ago so they pointed us in the right direction, but I would be lying if I told you I had any idea where we would be sleeping that night. We wound up and down and over and across mountains for about 1hr 45minutes before stopping in front of a tiny shop on top of a mountain. We hiked downhill for about an hour, before the trail spit us out on a pristine little beach on the side of a beautiful, teal-colored river. Some of the older boys had run ahead and when I arrived, Nabin (one of our 13 year olds) was being chased by an old village man with a giant stone in his hand. There was a misunderstanding and the man thought Nabin had thrown his fishing nets in the water, so naturally, he grabbed the nearest rock to put Nabin in his place. A great way to start our trip! We spent the afternoon swimming in the river. The water was freeeeeeezing, like max 55 degrees, just a casual 30 degrees colder than the water I’m used to at Caswell. But I’m very proud of myself, I swam for over an hour with the kids until I couldn’t feel my toes anymore. Soon after, all the kids were climbing trees with knives in hand (yeah, doesn’t sound like the safest thing to allow), cutting down branches to make forts, collecting twigs for fires, and gathering leaves to sleep on. They were naturals! One of our boys, Shahi, was grabbing rocks for the fire pit when a scorpion stung him. We called back to the house and after some googling, were told to give him some ibuprofen and ice the wound. One of the fellows provided the advil and somehow one of our 12 year olds had prepared so well that he had brought a 2-liter bottled filled with ice! The medicine had not quite kicked in yet and tears were streaming down Shahi’s face, when we noticed a Nepali villager floating down the river in a tire with an oar and we called him over to ask about scorpion bites. The man picked up the dead scorpion (which our boys had caught and killed), plucked off the stinger, crushed the rest of the scorpion’s body and smeared the carcass filled with “anti-venom” all over Shahi’s finger. Talk about traditional medicine! A few minutes later, Shahi was completely fine…and I like to think the ibuprofen had nothing to do with it.

By nightfall, there were three forts, two leaf pile beds, and 8 fires built. The fellows cooked ramen noodles over the fire and we were joking about how this would be the first time the kids would eat a meal that didn’t have an excessive amount of salt in it, like the aunties prepare each night. Right then, one of our boys unfolded a piece of newspaper from his pocket, revealing a couple tablespoons of salt and some chilis to add to our dinner! Seriously, best campers ever. As the full moon rose, we did satsang around the fire, danced and sang, and played tag around the beach under the moonlight. The night was super cold, but I woke up around 1am and two of our girls were restarting their fire. I quickly fell back asleep, with a campfire warming my back and little Nepali girls snuggled next to me. It was perfect! 

Just three months ago, I was bundled up in New York City celebrating the American New Year with my best friends. Pizza, high heels, beer, heated apartments….it’s crazy to contrast that trip with how I spent the Nepali New Year. Ringing in 2014 was a lot more cushy than ringing in 2071 in Nepal, but ya know what, I’m not quite sure if cushy is better. This is an experience of a lifetime and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

panorama

beach nook

so serene

forts

dinner

family being crazy

Pictures, Projects & Points

Current fellows get their photos taken and hung in the office at Kopila Valley, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that the wall was complete. Jamie, Amy, and I all came in January and we finally got our photos up this week! Jamie’s says Sustainability Fellow, Amy’s says Early Childhood Development Fellow and says The Everything Fellow. Before arriving here, I was a little worried by the fact that I lacked an official title, but I quickly realized, it’s really awesome. I’m an English teacher, a Home fellow, an extracurricular coordinator, and a lot of other things rolled into one.  I really feel like I do a little bit of everything, and I’ve taken on two big projects thus far: Sports Month and the Kopila Cup Celebration.

Each student is placed in one of four houses – sky, star, moon, or sun – upon arrival at KVS (yes, Harry Potter style). Throughout the year, the students accumulate points through academics, extracurriculars, least amount of food waste, being helpful, etc. All of the points and excitement culminates on the last day of school when the winner of the prized Kopila Cup is announced. This year, Sports Month played a huge part in determining the winner. During the month of February, I organized 69 different football, volleyball, and track matches, pitting each house against the others. I refereed almost every single game, and with matches at lunchtime and up to 5 games after school 6 days a week, I was quite busy! But it was a blast. I got to know so many students outside of my classes, hang out outside every day, and watch Nepali kids get way too competitive. The best matches were the minis’ football games, when girls and boys in kindergarten through 2^nd grade would run in one big pack chasing after the ball and stirring up clouds of dust along the way. It was some of their first times ever playing soccer and it was the most entertaining event by far! I remember coaching a YMCA 3-4 year old team a few years ago, and the kids could hardly walk let alone play football…and the Nepali kids were at this level. By the end of sports month, I think a few of them finally picked up on the fact that you cannot pick up the soccer ball with your hands. We finished up sports month with a 3K road run around Surkhet. The students ran barefoot along the rocky and dusty road as I rode backwards on a scooter filming the entire thing…check out the video below!

Sky House dominated sports month by racking in 322 points, followed by Moon with 250, Star with 200, and poor Sun House brought in just 146. The week leading up to the Kopila Cup celebration, we tried to even out the points any way possible. 10 points for each student that is on time to school! 30 points for each student wearing a clean uniform! Our plan didn’t quite work though, turns out the Sky House students are athletic, punctual, and value cleanliness. I even said I would give points to anyone smiling in the morning one day – and Sky House still won. Even though the Kopila Cup winner was pretty apparent, I wanted to make the celebration on the last day of school as exciting as possible. I created a slideshow, we had students perform songs, dances, poems, hip hops routines and dramas, we gave 5 awards to outstanding students, played cornhole and ringtoss on the field, had a dance party, did facepainting, and announced Sky House as the Kopila Cup Winner with the unveiling of a new banner that I made. A fun time was had by all, and it was really cool to see my two projects showcased together and that the time and energy I put in really made a difference at the school. 

lil nuggets playing football

photo finish! 

teachers before road run

Sky House is the Kopila Cup Winner!