Paradise Bowl a.k.aAlivein Land
As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I have been incredibly lucky to
be placed in my permanent site along side with another volunteer, Alida Dean.
Coming into the Peace Corps, I never imagined that I would be paired up with
another volunteer. Alida is 23 years old and she comes from Martha’s Vineyard,
an island near Boston. She graduated from Smith College with a major in
English, class of 2012, just like me! Currently, there are 4 pairs of
volunteers, 3 of them in my district of Baglung. I am nothing but thankful to
have another volunteer in my permanent site because it brings many
opportunities to have a greater impact within our community. Alida lives in the
village called Masara where her house is next to this beautiful river that runs
through Harichaur. I live in Khaoleni, a village up a hill with a beautiful
view of the mountains surrounding it. It takes about 30 minutes to walk from
her house up to my house, but the Harichaur Bazar is typically where we meet
because it’s the middle ground of both our houses.
During PST, Alida and I got off to a great start. We get
along so well and neither one of us ever would have imagined to be placed together.
During the group’s trip to Pokhara for the holiday season, everyone who was in
close proximity was given one name, a combination of both names, thus Alive was
born because Marvin + Alida = ALIVEIN! Alida decided to call Harichaur“Alivein
Land” because we live in it and I decided to call is “Paradise Bowl” because
it’s so pretty, so we go back and forth. The Peace Corps has really brought us
together as fellow volunteers, as friends but now as brother and sister. It’s
great to have a friend who will be there whenever you need one. Whenever one of
us feels down, we can call each other up and go to our favorite “pasal” (shop)
in town and simply chat over a cup of tea. We have lived through so many
experiences during these past two months and I can’t wait to see what new
adventures await within the next two years.
Our lives consists of a never ending game of would you
rather, funny experiences and random ideas that we would like to implement
during our time in Peace Corps. Here are some examples of what Alivein comes up
with.
THE ADVENTURES OF
ALIVEIN
Alida’s BF
Alida and I had decided to go to Pokhara for the holiday
season to meet up with the rest of the group on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately,
Harichaur is very far from Baglung’s district capital; it’s a 4-hour jeep ride
on a windy road. I was the genius to take a FREE ride with the district health
center staff who were in town conducting a family planning camp. Our original
plan was to leave at 1pm from the neighboring city, but we ended up leaving at
4pm with the staff in a overly crowded jeep. The first half of the jeep ride
was a ride from hell. Alida and I were so uncomfortable because we were in the
most awkward position in the back of the seat. Now Alida gets very car sick so
once we made it to the middle of the trip we got off to stretch our legs and
Alida had made the decision that she was not going to get back in that jeep and
there was nothing I could do to make her get back in. It was shocking because I
have never seen Alida so determined and simply frustrated with a situation. She
decided to walk the rest of the way to Baglung. I was confused because I thought she was kidding, but after her little “bitch
fit”, I was convinced that she was walking. I didn’t know what to do so I
decided to walk with her. I wasn't going to let her walk by herself even though
she was insisting on me to take the jeep. I convinced the staff to drop off our
bags with Eleanor, a volunteer who is placed in the district capital.
After that agreement was made we took off with our water
bottles, cell phones and the money I had in my wallet, Alida left her money in
her backpack. We walked for about 2 hours asking people if we were on the right
path towards the district capital. We came across a three-way
fork and by then I was tired and kind of desperate. I told Alida that we couldn't go any further because I was super tired. Thankfully we came across two very nice Nepalis who helped us
find a jeep that was going to Baglung. There were many detours because there were many
cars that were blocking the road due to engine problems. Thankfully we were
with nice and honest people because the people on the truck helped the cars
that were blocking the way. After two or three stops we finally made it to
Baglung where we meet up with other volunteers who were on the road
which in fact we almost ran over. I do have to say that this has been one of
the most spontaneous actions that I have ever done in my life. It was a trip,
but it was worth it!
“Bisee” Donuts
There was this one day where I went to one of my mothers’
group meeting and it lasted a bit longer than usual. Alida, she went off on an
adventure to find the roads to one of our fellow volunteers who is also placed
in Baglung. Unfortunately, Alida got lost and she ended up in the middle of a
forest on a steep edge. She fell a couple of times and I could tell that she
had some battle scars. Anyways, we decided to meet up at our pasal because we
both were starving. Sadly, the pasal had no more snacks; we were so hungry that
we didn’t know what to do, so we got some tea. After a few minutes we noticed
that there were some donuts packed in a bag. We asked our Didi (sister) if we
could have one of those donuts and she looked at us with such a confused gaze
and said no because they were not good and old. We insisted because we were
pretty hungry and they our didi finally said that the reason that she wasn’t
going to give it to us because they were old, thus they are meant for the bisee
(buffalo). We were so hungry and pretty much we begged to have them. Our didi
gave in and warmed two donuts for each of us. After trying to rip them apart we
realized that they were very stale and no wonder they were meant for the bisee.
I guess she saw that we were super hungry so she gave in. She offered to give
us another one and we kindly said no, but she gave it to us anyways. Thankfully
we didn't have to pay for them, I mean we were willing, but I’m sure she felt
sorry for us so she only charged us for the tea. That’s why this is our
favorite pasal.
Alida’s Multiple Trips
Alida tends to trip a lot and at times she completely falls.
One day that we were walking down from my village towards the bazar, we were
walking past this boarding school and some pasals. There was a good amount of
people who were staring at us, like always. Next thing you know, I see this tall
girl just fall on her knees. It was so funny! She fell like in slow motion in
front of me and I didn’t know what to do but laugh, I know mean. People were
shocked and they too didn’t know what to do. It was such a mess, but good thing
Alida just got up and continued walking like nothing ever happened.
A Search for DutChiyaa
(Milk Tea)
One day during our normal meet ups for our daily snack,
Alida and I literally walked our bazar back and forth about four times asking
each pasal if they had dut chiyaa. Sadly, that day the entire bazar had ran out
of milk. We were devastated because we really wanted dut chiyaa. We came to the
point were we mistakenly asked a lady if her house was a store and she looked
at us like we were idiots and said “hoina” (no)! We wouldn’t give up; therefore
we went on a search for dut chiyaa. We came across a house, which looked like a
pasal, and we asked if there was dutchiyaa and the lady confusedly said yes. It
turns out that her house wasn’t a pasal, it was her home and we had invited
ourselves into her house to drink tea. Thankfully, it was a lady who Alida knew
so she was very sweet to us. Also, in her hosue we found this very cute little
kitten and we asked the lady for its name, but it didn’t have one, thus Alida
and I decided to name it Barbara. From then on we call the lady “Barbara Lady”
due to her little kitten. Thank you Barbara Lady for the tea! To this day,
Alida and I drink so much dutchiyaa where it came to the point that our tongues
would get numb due to all that sugar in the tea. I blame myself because I was
the one who got Alida to drink more than four cups a day. She now drinks about
three in the morning and two or three during our breaks and some more once she
gets home. I feel bad but it’s simply to good to put it down!
Chow-Chow DutChiyaa
One day we decided to go to Hatiya, the neighboring city to
buy some fruit and such stuff. At the end of the day Alida decided to get a
“curta” a Nepali shirt for girls due to the fact that one of my Female
Community Health Volunteer is a tailor.
After buying the fabric we took it to our didi and of course we were
offered tea. However, after the first sip, Alida and I look at each other with
faces of death. This tea was awful, it had such an odd taste and after a couple
of more sips we came to the conclusion that it had the taste of chow-chow (top
rammen). It took us a pretty long time
to chug it down because the taste was too much to bare. Thankfully, our didi
didn’t make the tea; a neighboring pasal gave it to us. Now we know never to go
to that pasal. Chow-Chow tea is not our cup of tea.
Got caught watching
“porn” (Black Swan)
Alida and I had been meaning to watch Balck Swan for some
time since being in Harichaur, finally the opportunity came up when we ended
our day early. Typically I go to Alida’s house to watch movies because I love
drinking her mom’s dut tea, it’s really good! Sadly, she wasn’t there that day
so we put Black Swan on and ate oranges. For those who have seen Black Swan
know that there are some very erotic scnes in the film thus we were freaking
out if someone came in. Next thing you know Alida’s mom comes in and we quickly
pause the movie, but we pause it during the final ballerina scene but it was
paused on someone’s upper body, which looked naked. Her mom was looking at us
like if were doing something bad thus we deiced to continue the movie where her
mom could also see it. She was so confused as she was looking at these ballerinas
dance; thankfully we had passed the erotic scene. Afterwards, her nine-year-old
son came in when there was a kissing scene and her mom completely freaked out
and kicked her son out while covering his eyes! She sat back down and continued
watching. Once I turned to her and saw her faced gazed into the film, I busted
out laughing. I could not stop, it was too funny to see her mom so focused on
Black Swan, I mean I found it very funny! After the film ended she left very
confused while Alida was worried and I was still laughing. What a mess! lol
A Nepali Guide with an
American Tourist
During the beginning of our time in Harichuar everyone was
still confused who we were and what were we doing in their town? It was during
the first week when Alida told them that her mom told her that people in town
truly believed I was a Nepali guide. We were always together, I look Nepali,
Alida is white and people didn’t know us yet, thus of course they all came to
the conclusion that I had to be Alida’s Nepali guide. After a week or two and
after introductions everyone knew that we were Peace Corps volunteers, thus the
Nepali guide rumor finally ended.
A New Year’s
Celebration
It’s great to have another volunteer around you because you
can celebrate special holidays like New Years together. Alida and I have been
planning this celebration for over a week and once the day finally came it was
go time. We had a sleep over in her house where we ate so much food that her
mom had made for the celebration. We bought, Oreos, peanut butter, apples and
chocolate thinking that we would eat throughout the night. We also had a movie
night where we watched “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Titanic”. I have to admit
that it was hard staying up past ten because we are use to sleeping around
nine. We ate some of the Oreos, none of the apples and peanut butter and all of
the chocolates. The funny part of this celebration was that her host mom and
little brother decided to join for the sleep over. It’s not culturally
appropriate to have one make and female sleeping together in one room if they
are not married, thus her host mother and brother slept on the floor with me
and Alida on her bed. It was funny because by 11:30pm we were dying, we were so
sleepy! I admit that I fell asleep for a bit but then Alida woke me up! One
time during the night, Alida’s mom plays this ringtone from her phone, which
sounded like Chucky laughing in the background, but it was so funny because her
mom was busting out laughing. We were so confused and scared at the same time
but thankfully she shut it off. Once it hit 12am we said happy new years and
knocked out. For the sake of Alida’s little brother we shut Titanic off where Jack
is getting ready to draw Rose because we know what comes next! Happy New Year!
WOULD YOU RATHER…
Leave Nepal now, board Titanic, fall madly in love, survive
the ship sinking and return to the states, but your lover dies OR stay in Nepal
for your 2 years of service and return home safely by plane.
Be celibate for the rest of your life OR murder a cute
little puppy (think of the party favors from “Bridesmaids”) on every birthday
with a butter knife for the rest of your life.
ONLY eat sinkers for a week OR top roman/chow-chow for a
week.
In a relationship, be the one who is more in love OR the one
who is more loved.
Stay in Nepal for the rest of your life and bring your
American family with you OR live with your Nepali family in the states and
never see your American family for the rest of your life.
Be blasted by strawberries OR blasted with grapes both with
a baseball pitching machine.
Walk up a hill for the rest of your life OR walk down a hill
for the rest of your life.
Be a participant in Fear Factor OR Dancing with the Stars.
Be the joker in the “Dark Knight” OR be Voldemort in “Harry
Potter”
Drink ONLY milk tea OR starbucks’ ginger bread latte for the
rest of your life.
Travel backwards in time OR travel forwards in time.
Mary a 13-year-old boy who is sexually active or a 57-year-old
man who has been celibate for the past 30 years.
Count stars for the rest of your life OR count grains of
sand on a beach for the rest of your life.
Have 12 children OR no children.
Be married to the love of your life and have no children OR
have three children, but be single.
Be a used car salesman in Detroit OR a doctor who only
performs vasectomies in Nepal for the rest of your life.
Climb the Eiffel Tower or the Pyramids of Egypt.
“FUTURE PLANS”
*Such plans were made up during our random conversations and
simply live in our imaginations.
Chow-Chow
Demonstration
Nepal’s typical snack for kids is Chow-Chow, in other words
they are instant noodles with packages of highly concentrated sodium seasoning.
You can compare this type of snack to Top Roman to give you an idea. The kids
love it though! The way you prepare it is by crushing the noodles into small
pieces and then pouring the seasoning and there you go you eat it like finger
food. One day when we were walking around and saw so many Chow-Chow rappers on
the floor Alida and I thought about having a Chow-Chow demonstration. We would
have a protest around the bazar where we would convince the kids of the
unhealthiness of that snack and march around the bazar with signs stating “DOWN
WITH CHOW-CHOW”. Only in a magical world right!
To-Go Boxes
In our town, there is no sense of to-go/take out due to the
fact of the lack of to-go boxes. Typically, people in Nepal have the time to
enjoy their snacks in the shop while chatting about their daily lives. It’s
great to see that they have this lack of concern for time as many people in the
states dwell on. One day when we were eating our daily snack in our favorite
pasal we saw this little girl come out of school and clearly she was in a
hurry. She came into the pasal and ordered two samosas and some chick peas
“TO-GO”!!! We were confused because we have never seen anyone ask for their
snacks to go! Next thing we know we see our didi put the samosas and chick peas
in a plastic bag and off the little girl goes! It’s crazy because the chick
peas are hot and imagine them swimming in a plastic bag with samosas, it’s
pretty odd but funny as well. Therefore, Alida and I decided to implement the
idea of “to-go” in a way implement the sense of take out if one is in a hurry.
We would convince the stores to have take out boxes and thus the customers
wouldn’t have to have their snack in a plastic bag and all mixed up. However,
after much thinking we think that the sense of take out would destroy the
Nepali’s sense of time and appreciation of sitting down and chatting about
their daily lives because they would be so concerned about time that their
whole routine of time would be messed up. Therefore, we’ll work on this idea a
little bit more.
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