Brook's Adventures

A week left, and there is still so much I want to do! I have had a great time the past couple of days, and look forward to the days to come! Saturday, as mentioned in another blog post, I got to spend the day at Self Help Nepal and got to play with lots of children!  I had a lot of fun playing with the kids and learning a new game! The kids liked to pinch my cheeks and call me cute, and a few locals thought we were cute when we were stranded on the side of the road waiting for our bus to find us! 

Sunday was Holbie and I's adventurous day.  We walked with most the group into Kathmandu, then we got a taxi to take us to Patan so we could go back to Golden Temple Singing Bowls and Healing Center, where we went as a group last week.  Holbie bargained with the taxi driver and got him to take us there for 500 rupees ($5) for a 25 minute car ride! We both got larger singing bowls and got another taxi that dropped us off on the outside of Thamel.  We walked back to the Guest House and then had dinner with Taylor, Kayleigh, and Brad.  Later Sunday night, I saw a cockroach in Holbie and I's room! It disappeared so I woke Holbie up and she found it coming towards my feet and told me to step on it.  However, I was too scared so I threw her shoe at it.  Thinking I had killed it, I had just started to breath again and it flipped back over and I screamed.  Holbie ended up picking it up between two of her flip flops and threw it out the window.  She then laughed at me the rest of the night. 

Today, Holbie, Brad, Becca, Chancey, and I got the opportunity to spend the day at Orchid Garden.  We all got to watch the older kids sing songs with Ty and Taylor, which was a lot of fun! I then got to spend the day with the two year old's, and got to sing songs with them, play with Play-Doh, and play with lots of toys! After the kids ate lunch, they took a nap, so I sat with Becca and Chancey while we waited for our bus to come.  The children mostly spoke Nepali, but it was fun to check out the other school and play with the kids! 

After school Brad, Chancey, Taylor, Holbie, and I went to the Royal Palace Museum in Kathmandu.  We got to walk around and look at all of the gigantic rooms for the visiting heads of state, and got to see the gorgeous garden in the back.  We also got to see the Billiard room where we saw a huge pool table. Unfortunately we could not bring our personal belongings in and could not take pictures. 

My plan for the rest of the week is to lead some activities in my class, do some last minute shopping, hopefully get a henna tattoo, and play with the puppies here at the hotel! 

A friend from Self Help Nepal

Our visit to the Royal Palace Museum

Waiting for the bus after our visit to Self Help Nepal

Our visit to Self help Nepal

Yesterday we had the chance to pay a visit to the kids at Self Help Nepal.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  We brought some games, learned some awesome new games, and of course fell in love with the children there.  Here are some favorite pics from the day.

Group photo with some of the boys

Kayleigh learning the rock game. It's just awesome!

Becca and friend

Holbie learning the rock game.

Sam teaching cartwheels

Brook helping this little guy ride a unicycle

Sage trading Pokemon cards

This little guy loved Chancey's watch

Double-dutch with Kayleigh and Gabe

Brad and Ty playing basketball

Close examination of Ty's whiskers

Taylor making friends

Gabe mastering the rock game

Brook and Holbie teaching checkers

If you would like more information about Self Help Nepal check out their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Self-Help-Nepal-253837314749227/

One week to go-an update from Nikki

It's hard to believe that we only have a week left before we head home.  It should be a busy and eventful week as students take on more responsibilities in classrooms, fit in final sight-seeing adventures, and say good-bye to friends. I continue to be impressed with the maturity and talents of this group of students. They represent their families and the University of Wyoming so well.  Tomorrow we are looking forward to visiting two children's homes in the city to play and enjoy spending time with the children. I am sure we will be sharing photos and stories about our day. Sunday students will have the day to themselves to do some more independent exploring and to enjoy time with their Nepali friends. Then it's back to school on Monday.
More blog posts and pics to come!

Dinner at Third Eye 

Group pic from Bhaktapur

A Day in the Life of Chancey and Sam

Sam's Day at school:

I work in the 4 year old room at MotherCare. When I first get to school, I sit down with a child or two and work on writing letters. Today, we practiced writing the letter "O." Once the kids are done writing, they head outside. My kids like to do a variety of things outside - playing on the monkey bars, swinging, or just running around screaming. There are a handful of girls who strictly stay around the bars asking me to watch all of their cool tricks. There are three boys who like to hold hands while they run around and scream. After burning some energy, the sweaty boys and girls head inside to take a snack break. After lots of water and some food the children find their way to the carpet where they can free play. After free play we head back outside with the other classes to run around crazy. It's usually super hot during this time so when we go in for lunch it's pretty quiet for the rest of the day! I absolutely love the class I'm in and all the fun things they want to do with me.

Chancey's Day at school:

I am placed in the 3 year old room at MotherCare. When I first arrive at school, I wait for our class to arrive on the playground. We play outside for about an hour before heading in. The children particularly love swinging and digging in the sandbox. I enjoy the slow start to the morning and have plenty of time to converse with other teachers. Once inside we have circle time, singing a few songs and going over the lesson for the day. This week we are learning about jungle animals. Next, we color a picture to work on some hand eye coordination. After coloring, we have snack, free play and head outside. After we get our wiggles out on the playground we go inside for lunch. When lunch is finished we read a few stories, then it is time to head home for the day. I am really enjoying time with my class and helping my mentor teachers with whatever they need. Can't wait to see what the coming days have in store!

(Instructor commentary: Congratulations Chancey on getting your first teaching job! We are all so happy and proud of you.  And you did it while in Nepal! A 5:00am interview was the ticket.)

A post from Myles

On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to explore Sanskriti International School. The director Diptee Acharya invited our whole group to come and see some of the wonderful things that are going on. Dikshya who showed us through the newly added Early Education classrooms and each following grade level all the way to 10th led our tour. It was great to see so much of the student’s work hanging up on the wall, there is a clear intention to include the students in each and every aspect of the school. One example that was brought up in a large group discussion was a ‘Temperament’ chart that we saw in one of the 5^thgrade classes. This chart showed a thermometer that depicted certain bullying elements and the level of impact to an individual. Dikshya told us that the students of the class created and discussed all of this. They decided what actions correlated to the level of bullying and through meaningful dialogue were able to create an agreed upon measurement device for their environment. After seeing the inside of the classrooms we were shown the extra curricular building that houses additional language, theatre, art and music classrooms. As we winded our way up the three flights of stairs we saw French and Chinese language displayed on the walls, figurative art masks made by the students all while being surrounded by the beautiful sounds of a violin coming from the music rooms. As we left this building we made our way past the basketball courts, soccer and cricket fields and a garden with goats and chickens! Our time at Sanskriti ended with an amazing cafeteria style meal of Dal bhat and fruit, this felt just like old times sitting at knee-high tables and talking about the current drama of the day. We were given the afternoon off to explore Kathmandu and prepare for school on Wednesday. 

Character traits that Sanskriti focuses on with children.

Our group in the waiting area.

With the owner of Sanskriti, our friend for many years, Diptee Acharya, and her administrative team.

A post from Sage

It is so wonderful to be back in Nepal! In 2016, I had the amazing experience of participating in the UW Nepal Early Childhood Education Study Abroad. It was truly life-changing for me; my time interning at Orchid Garden cemented my passion for education, led me to graduate school at Teachers College Columbia University, and provided me with close friendships. I am thrilled to be working as a mentor and assistant teacher for this year's trip, and am lucky enough to be doing it along with my good friends Gabe and Myles (friendships that were formed in Nepal 2016!). Another exciting aspect of this trip for me is completing academic research for my Master's thesis in studying the amazing students who are interning at Orchid Garden. It has been emotional and eye-opening to return back to a space that holds so many memories, and to have the chance to make new memories with a fantastic and inspiring group of people.

The original crew (Sage, Gabe, and Myles) in 2018 and 2016!

A friend from 2016, who I was able to reconnect with again at Orchid Garden on this trip

Myles and Taylor connecting with friends at Orchid Garden

Ty got punked by a monkey

An update on our touring adventures by Holbie and Ty.

We started off the morning by going to the Monkey Temple (Swayambunath).  Ty, Brad, Angel and Myles all took the scenic route of 365 steps to the top. The rest of us took the sane route and drove up the hill.  We all met at the top and began our tour, walking clockwise around the temple and learning about its origins.  The main temple, called a stupa, had no known creator which makes it especially holy to the people here. It was cool to learn that the Buddhist and Hindu religions share the space in peace.  We spent a ton of time looking a the religious structures, and of course the monkeys. There were so many of them and they couldn't care less about us taking pictures and hollering about their cuteness.

The 365 steps up to the Monkey temple.

A momma monkey and her baby

Panoramic view of Kathmandu from the monkey temple - click to enlarge

Our group at the monkey temple

Our next stop was the Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath one of the larest stupas in the world.  It was huge and very, very hot!  The stupas are  painted whie which conveniently reflects all of the suns's rays onto unprepared tourists!  We got to explore the view from the second level of the stupa AND a Buddhist monastery. It was a very cool area to look at and explore.

Our group at Boudhanath

Our final destination was the Hindu temple complex Pashupatinath. To access it, we had to cross a toll bridge on which Ty was the only payee  It was a metal bridge about 3 feet wide spanning the river, maybe 300 feet across.  As we crossed, enjoying some snacks, Ty was the lucky winner of the monkey snack drawing.  A monkey swooped down upon him from above, grabbing his hand for his granola bar. It screeched, making it's demands known with a mouthful of very long, very sharp teeth.  To defend himself Ty threw his granola bar at Count Monkula, and quickly exited the bridge. After a brief recovery time spent climbing the many stairs to the temple we met a lady who was better prepared for handling monkeys.  She was equipped with a slingshot and sheer determination to stop them from stealing the snacks she was selling.  We walked through the rest of the temples to the holy river, where we got to observe a body being prepared for cremation in a sacred ceremony. It was an incredible event to see.  We got back to the bus and our friend and travel coordinator Shree Ram Pandey gave us all mango juice to make up for Ty's repossessed granola bar.  We had an awesome lunch at a Nepali fried chicken restaurant and returned to our hotel exhausted.  It was a great, sweaty, adventurous way to start off our second week!

(Instructor commentary: The above monkey story has become increasingly more dramatic with each retelling today. Keep this in mind as you read. :-)

Orchid Garden Update - Taylor and Kayleigh

We have finished our first week here in Nepal! We have had many unforgettable experiences both in and out of the schools. Yesterday, Ty, Kayleigh, and Taylor had a meeting with Sunita to provide feedback and share ideas about Orchid Garden’s curriculum. Next week we will be working with the amazing staff to implement some of our ideas. Ty has been working with the older students at Orchid Garden. He has been helping the students during their English instruction time and they have been teaching him how to write in Nepali. He can now write his own name in Nepali! Kayleigh and Taylor have been working together in the toddler room. The kids have enjoyed the invitations that they have implemented in the classroom. Yesterday, we worked on fine motor skills by having the students color party hats. Immediately the students started to sing “Happy Birthday” as we tied the hats on them. The students then took this invitation to a new level when they started using their hats to carry their other toys. Today, we are all enjoying a day off from our hectic schedules. We are excited to get back in the schools next week to see our new friends! 

Kayleigh helping children make hats

Taylor doing the same

Happy kids!

Our animal friends

Since our arrival in Nepal we have had plenty of animal encounters. With this group of animal-loving students any animal sighting is big news, and the responses of the people around us vary somewhere between concern, confusion, and laughter. We thought we should share some of our favorite animal pics for your viewing pleasure.

Street dogs are everywhere!  These guys are taking a little nap.

Chickens are Nikki's favorite!

A goat in Bhaktapur

Sam's street dog selfie.

Chancey feeding an extremely friendly squirrel.

The very noisy turkey at our hotel in Nagarkot

Our favorite momma and baby puppies at the guest house

We can't stop taking pics of the baby puppies!

Another adorable guest house puppy

One of the guest house cats taking a snooze

Guest house cat in the rafters this morning after the momma dog chased him there

Our  newest discovery, a toad in the guest house garden.