It’s raining! We wake up to a light drizzle which happens sometimes despite this being the dry season. The girls have a yoga session before breakfast so I join them for part of it. Today is the eve of the Tamang new year. It’s also the eve of the Chinese New Year. I suppose they’re connected but I’m not sure. Because of the celebrations planned for tomorrow, there are fewer children and teachers turning up at the school. We head down in the light rain, in time for the morning assembly and the songs. They sing a school song written by Ekkehart and the national anthem. I love their national anthem.
Today I teach grades 6 and 5. We have fun in grade 6 playing scrabble. Using teams brings out the competitive sides to the kids. They have fun.
School finishes early at 12 because of the holiday tomorrow. We head back for lunch and a break. The kids come out near our house to play a game. Then some more cricket. We go for a walk up past sunset hill and around. This is such an extraordinary landscape. The mountain ranges are so steep but communities have literally carved out existences from the up and down. The kids are so adapted to living here. A ball goes over the edge and they scamper after it like mountain goats with grace and agility. No losing their balance or twisting ankles. Medical help from here is difficult. Debilitated patients have to be carried out, then onto a car or bus to another village to visit a doctor. If serious it’s onto Kathmandu hospital where whole families have to provide for them because the hospital doesn’t provide anything but medical expertise. The need for a hospital here is such a huge imposition for the whole family.
A thunderstorm rattles around the mountains surprisingly. It’s unseasonal for rain. We get back in time but big rain doesn’t eventuate.
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