Naughty Monkeys,Yes. But Naughty Monks?

Well...Day 3 of staying with my host family is finally over and I am in need of a BREAK! Where do I start?

I spent my first night there on Monday. I was shown my room by the host father who calls himself 'Dai' (older brother). Was so happy that I had my own room. Very clean and very tidy. Dai fed me rice and cauliflower curry on my first evening there - it was lovely. He gave me a glass of water, which I drank rather slowly - hoping it wasn't going to make me ill. He quickly told me "It's filtered water. It is safe." I had no trips to the toilet that night so I guess the water was safe...HOWEVER, once again - the DOGS. I have come to the conclusion that there is something terribly wrong with the dogs here. I am not exaggerating when I say that this one dog was barking consistently (with less than a 1 second break between each bark) for about 45 minutes... NON STOP I could even hear the dog's 'voice' getting weaker with each bark but rather than thinking of stopping for a short break, it decided it wanted to keep going. And then a bit of howling every now and again! I AM SO GLAD I BROUGHT EAR PLUGS WITH ME TO NEPAL BECAUSE I WOULD NOT BE SLEEPING OTHERWISE!!!!! So that was my first night.

In the morning of Tuesday I woke up and made my way to see Dai who was in the kitchen. He put in front of me RICE AND CURRY at 0800 hours...with dahl and pickle. 8 o'clock in the morning, yes. I ate it. Then at 1000 hours Dai asked me if I wanted to see one of the private schools nearby because he knew the Principal there. I was greeted by the Principal and his lovely wife who gave me some more rice and curry. By this time, I was starting to feel sick. This was despite me saying "I don't feel hungry" (I said this in Nepalese!) "Oh just a little" they tell me. I ate it though - even though it was 10 o'clock in the morning. I was starting to worry that this was going to be the trend over the next few days. Dai then starts speaking Nepalese for the next 20 minutes and I'm just looking at them wondering if they were talking about me. Then they look at me and Dai says "Yes Nadine is happy to teach here from 10-12". My reply: "What?!" Dai says, "I told you about this...you can teach here from 10-12 then go to the monks from 2-4pm." Oh right, that's settled then! So....as of 3 weeks time (after my trek to Base Camp everest) I will be teaching twice a day.

Next...the monks. Would you believe me if I told you that I had to tell one of the little monks to leave the classroom and "get out" (in Nepalese)? Well that's what I had to do yesterday. I wish you all could see how NAUGHTY these little monks are? They fight in the classroom, they throw things, they don't listen when I speak.... What happened to the hard working, diligent, respectful little Dalai Lama's I thought I would find here? Well, in the age range I teach (8-14) this isn't the case. When I told Dai about my experience with them on my first day, he said "This is how the younger monks are. You are not the first volunteer to say this!"

The monk I told to 'get out' whacked another boy with a stick across his back and this was after he came to class 30 minutes after I told him. Does that sound harsh? This 'incident' happened on my second day of teaching and after speaking to Dai we said that it would be best if I used punishments like these so they know I mean business.

Well today the little monks were much better. And we had fun today. AND they let me take their photo! I return to them in 3 weeks time and I just might miss them.

Wish I could write more but I'm up early tomorrow (6am) to go to Royal Chitwan Park for the next 4 nights (not 3 nights like I was originally told). As I write this, the owner of the internet cafe is staring at me - just thought I'd tell you in real time! I will get to ride elephants and wash them - can't wait!

Before I go, must tell you. A monkey (not a monk) jumped at me today! It was really scary and I was running away screaming! One of the families living next door to Dai told me to throw something at this monkey who was eating their food but instead of throwing something, I decided to make a noise and flap my hands at it instead. It didn't like this so it leaped at me and chased me down the walkway! It then jumped off the balcony and onto a tree before disappearing from sight. The children were laughing their heads off. It was funny though.

Next time I write here I would have been to Royal Chitwan Park! Watch this space.

Bye bye for now! Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxx