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.

A post from Brad and Becca

Day four in our classrooms and we are all starting to build great relationships with not only our mentors but our students. Week one is almost done and we are loving every second of it. We all are so excited to get dropped off at the school in the morning. The moment we go outside with the kids the kids swarm Brad to play with them. From chasing them around the playground to pushing them on the swing and even trying to lift them all on the teeter-totter. Today we led our first planned activity in the classroom. The children are learning a lot about insects and spiders. We brought in materials for them to build their own insect or spider. The children all loved this, they created such unique insects and spiders. They enjoyed it so much that they were telling everyone on the playground about what they created. We feel like we are just as much students as the children are. We learn so much during the time the children learn Nepali, we are also learning just as much as they are about the Nepali language. We are super excited about leading activities in the classroom or the next couple of weeks.

A post from Holbie and Brook

Day two in the classrooms! Becca, Brad, Brook, Chancey, Holbie and Sam are all at Mother Care School, but we’re pretty evenly divided up between the 6 age groups. Yesterday we met our teachers and started to get to know the kids and routines and today we were feeling even more comfortable. We get to the school pretty early so we get to greet the kids as they come in for the day. We all spend the first hour or so outside in the play area where we get into interact with all of the kids and teachers, which has been really fun. Brad has become something of a celebrity to ALL of the kids! Around 10:00 we all separate into our classrooms to really start the day. Holbie’s day starts with a short circle time and activity followed by snack, but today we had a birthday party as well, so we got to enjoy cake, party hats and noise makers before we moved to the classroom for free-play time. Then we go outside, come in and eat lunch and finish up with activities until school ends, at 2:00pm! For Brook, the day begins with the two toddler classes combing for circle time where the teachers and kids sing lots of songs, in both English and Nepali! After this, the classes separate and go back to their rooms for snack time, and free-play afterwards. Then the class does a teacher-oriented activity (coloring yesterday, painting today). When they have finished the activity, they go outside to play then come back in for lunch, and free-play and read books before their parents come to pick them up at 2:00pm. Today, Brook’s class only had two students so combined with the other toddler class of 5 kids. She had a blast! It’s been a really exciting first couple of days for everyone and we’re super excited to see what the coming 3 weeks bring.

Brad and his fan club

Brook making a new friend.

Holbie checking out a student's work.

First day of school! A post from Kayleigh and Ty.

Day three and we have all started our school adventures! We all got on the bus this morning and went to tour our schools and meet our mentor teachers. Ty, Kayleigh, and Taylor are at Orchid Garden and were immediately greeted by smiling playful children. We met Bina Basnet, the director, and Sunita, the curriculum coordinator who gave us a short tour of the seven classrooms making up this strong community driven school.  The three of us got to watch the students’ morning meeting where they recited the Nepali prayer, national anthem, and several English nursery rhymes, where we still were only able to recognize “no more monkeys jumping on the bed”. After morning meeting, we were all thrown into the two-year-old room with four toys and 26 two-year-olds! The toys consisted of a bucket of chalk, a bead sort, a puzzle, a ring sort, and various stuffed animals and as chaotic as it sounds, us three and the 26 two-year-olds spent our entire morning laughing and enjoying every moment despite the language barrier. Currently it sounds like the three of us will be spending the week together in the two-year-old room then possibly rotating to see more classrooms in the following weeks. The morning flew by and we spent the afternoon hanging out and sharing tourist stories with other volunteers from the Netherlands and Australia while the students took their afternoon nap. We ended the new day following two calves down an alley towards the bus to head back to our hotel and get ready for tomorrow.

Weekend post from Chancey and Sam

Bhaktapur & Nagarkot

Day two here in Nepal! We started this adventure with help from our tour guide and friend Shree Ram Pandey. We packed up the bus and headed to the temples of Durbar Square of Bhaktapur. Here we saw the temples and past palaces of old Nepali Kings. We admired much of the stone, metal, and woodcarvings of the architecture. This is where we stopped to take many photos and make friends with the animals that inhabit the square. Finally, we got to experience the down pours of rain we had been hearing about. The tourists the filled the crowed square all ran for cover. We survived the crazy rains and from Bhaktapur we loaded back on to the bus and headed up the winding mountain roads to Nagarkot in hopes to see the Himalayas. We did not manage to see them but did still enjoy the views and had time for a long walk. On the way back to the guest house in Thamel, we had a chance to stop and see the highest point of Nagarkot. On top of the world! We made it back safely late Sunday morning and are anxious to get into the classrooms tomorrow!

Group photo at Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Chancey and Sam at Bhaktapur Square