Namaste! wow. I can't believe nobody else from our batch of volunteers has done a blog yet!
We are in our 9th week here and boy have I seen a lot! Let me cast my mind back to the beginning.  Once we arrived in Nepal, everyone was VERY tired due to the lack of sleep and flight delays in Delhi, India. We were taken straight to the Tibet Holiday Inn in Kathmandu. Immediately, I noticed how different England is to Nepal. One of the first things I remember seeing was a monkey casually walking down the road! Everything was so different. Watch out for the street sellers, they are determined to sell you items.

Once we moved into our village, Sirutar, we were taken to our host families. I couldn't have asked for a better family. They are so nice and genuinely care about you! The standard of living is sooo different to England.  Getting used to the squat toilets, cold showers and power cuts was a challenge, but you definitely get used to it after the first few weeks.  That includes the food, dhaal baat - that means 'rice and lentils' everyday!

Other major differences that are evident - the gender difference. We visited a local school and had a meeting with the teachers.  The women sat at the back of the classroom and men at the front. It was the men who did the talking and when I asked the female teachers a question, the male teachers answered.  But the male teachers had no intention of controlling the women, this just happened naturally. The male was evidently the dominant gender. 

The views in Nepal are AMAZING. Especially in the village, there are views left, right and centre! The mix of culture is amazing - we walked past three soldiers guarding the embassy, they all looked so different yet they were all Nepalese. This is the most beautiful race I have seen.

Our main task consists of construction work 6 days a week. It is HARD WORK. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be so difficult but on the plus side I've gained some muscles! There is so much manual labour here. In England we rely on machines to do everything, and when the machine breaks, we waste time sitting around waiting for a repair man to come and fix it, whereas here, the man is the machine. These people are soldiers, they have so much strength! The skilled manpower who help us at the construction site are 60 years plus and they carry big rocks - not even rocks - they carry BOULDERS all by themselves.

The bus journeys are really quite something else. One time a woman came and put her head on my lap without my permission! I didn't know how to respond so I just let her stay there until her stop came! It was a weird encounter. There can never be too many people on a Nepalese bus! I've also witnessed the preparation of a dead body before its cremation at a temple - that was rather disturbing, I've been trekking, had an elephant ride in the monsoon! Visited orphans and even watched a sheep give birth to twins, and a whole lot more, which I would write about if I had a lot more time!

I think I've written enough and I am SO SO SO glad I've done this experience - THANK YOU PLATFORM2!