How do I begin to describe what it feels like to visit the second richest economy in the world after having lived in the second poorest country in the world?
Shell-shocked is the best term I can come up with.
Japan
is
nuts.
Here's a few comparisons for y'all to mull over as you enjoy a beer on a sunny patio in July:
average monthly salary in Japan (allegedly): 2500 USD. [I think this must be wrong...it must be higher because the cost of living is so insanely high here]
average YEARLY salary in Nepal: 470 USD
typical street in Japan: Spotlessly, obsessively clean. Filled with cars that run smoothly and silently. Lined by stores selling every item imaginable from Hello Kitty bags to Louis Vutton suits.
typical street in Nepal: Dirty and disordered. Filled with rickshaws, water buffalo and a few motorcycles all making a heap of noise. Lined with garbage, livestock and a few small shops.
a cheap meal in Japan: 10-15 USD
a cheap meal in Nepal: 1-2 USD
typical streetwear in Tokyo: Glammmmmmmed up women in designer dresses, wearing SKY high stillettos. Harajuko girls in outrageous cos play outfits (google it if you don't know what that means), goth guys in black mesh shirts with hairstyles that defy description.
typical streetwear in Pokhara: Saris and khurta shurbas. Sandals or bare feet depending on your preference and/or financial restrictions. All the colours of the rainbow, with very few frills.
typical bathroom in Japan: Tiny, and containing a toilet likely designed by NASA. Remote control flushers, princess sound systems (as in the toilet makes a noise while you go about your business to mask any embarrassing sound faux-pas), bidets and 'powerful deodorizers'. As in the toilet smells like roses.
typical bathroom in Nepal: A bucket to shower with. A hole for a toilet.
Japanese grub: Sushi, sashimi, pastries filled with mysterious bean pastes. McDonalds and Starbucks if you so desire. french croissants and pain au chocolate. Wine, beer, sake and very respectable coffee.
Nepali grub: Dhal bhat (lentils and rice). Milk tea. Occasionally a warm beer. Very very very rarely a cold one.
Japanese sporting event: Tigers baseball game. Possibly the funniest most outrageous thing you have ever witnessed - quiet, timid Japanese men and women decked out in allll the team gear chanting and screaming and singing. But in an orderly fashion.
Nepali sporting event: Volleyball or cricket in the dirt. Definitely no local sports teams and no stadiums.
Japanese greeting: a complex series of bows....Very Complex. I don't understand the rules...but it's insane to watch. On the trains, the women selling coffee and snacks bow when they enter AND when they leave every. single. car.
on the streets, people keep their heads down and avoid eye contact for the most part.
Nepali greeting: hands over heart, 'Namaste' and a head wiggle.
on the street, people smile and say hello to everyone, calling each other sister/brother, aunt and uncle whether they are related or not.
One country has its roots in order, discipline, structure and rules. The trains are always on time, everything is impeccably clean, there's little to no visible poverty (at least in the cities).
The other country has its roots in chaos. Nothing is ever on time, it's always dirty, most people are poor.
One country is prim and proper. One is filled with passion.
Guess which one's which......
It's been fascinating being here.
It's been over-the-top amazingly awesome to spend time with my family again.
And I'm stoked to go back to my little chaotic paradise soon.....
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Weeping for Joy
I went up to one of the daycares that I work with today. It was intense.
The children are AMAZING. They are all so adorable, and some of them are sharp as anything. They smile and laugh and play and it warms your heart.
And then you look around.
The daycare they attend used to be a stable for horses. I say 'used to be' because they tore it down last week. Before it got torn down, there were three classes: one for 2 year olds, one for 3-4 year olds and one for 5/6s. Each classroom was a 3x3m concrete block with a window. The children in the 3/4 and 5/6 classes gathered around lowered coffee tables, one per classroom. On one wall in each room hung a chalkboard. The two year olds sat on worn pieces of carpet and played with dirty stuffed animals.
That was before the demolition.
The tearing down is actually a good thing - they're putting up a new 6 room school house in its place. Three rooms for the kids, one room for a women's training program, and one room for a kids with special needs program. The sixth room will be an office.
When they tore it down, they said the new building would be in place in six months. Nepali time-wise, that means we'll be lucky if the kids are in a new school this time next year. Extremely lucky.
In the meantime, the daycare has been moved to two closets (one's about 1mx4m, the other is about 3x2) and an 'outdoor' classroom for the older kids. The outdoor classroom consists of four pieces of metal normally used for roofing. There's three walls and a cover overhead. Think stable-without-the-hay and you get anidea of the set up. Devastating.
There's 30 kids who attend the school. The program funding them is actually one of the success stories here (yes, this is what success looks like in a third world country). The kids are all given uniforms and school supplies, they are provided with vitamins every other day, medicine when sick and they get a meal at school each day. The parents, in return, have to make sure they go to school every day. End of story. Every child is sponsored until the age of 16 (donors commit to a minimum of 10 years funding a child), so there's the assurance they will finish high school. Inspiring.
Nepal is a country of constant contrasts.
One where you can bask in the glow of a program that provides hope and a future to dozens of impoverished children, while simultaneously raging at the conditions that hope and future have to exist under.
The children are AMAZING. They are all so adorable, and some of them are sharp as anything. They smile and laugh and play and it warms your heart.
And then you look around.
The daycare they attend used to be a stable for horses. I say 'used to be' because they tore it down last week. Before it got torn down, there were three classes: one for 2 year olds, one for 3-4 year olds and one for 5/6s. Each classroom was a 3x3m concrete block with a window. The children in the 3/4 and 5/6 classes gathered around lowered coffee tables, one per classroom. On one wall in each room hung a chalkboard. The two year olds sat on worn pieces of carpet and played with dirty stuffed animals.
That was before the demolition.
The tearing down is actually a good thing - they're putting up a new 6 room school house in its place. Three rooms for the kids, one room for a women's training program, and one room for a kids with special needs program. The sixth room will be an office.
When they tore it down, they said the new building would be in place in six months. Nepali time-wise, that means we'll be lucky if the kids are in a new school this time next year. Extremely lucky.
In the meantime, the daycare has been moved to two closets (one's about 1mx4m, the other is about 3x2) and an 'outdoor' classroom for the older kids. The outdoor classroom consists of four pieces of metal normally used for roofing. There's three walls and a cover overhead. Think stable-without-the-hay and you get anidea of the set up. Devastating.
There's 30 kids who attend the school. The program funding them is actually one of the success stories here (yes, this is what success looks like in a third world country). The kids are all given uniforms and school supplies, they are provided with vitamins every other day, medicine when sick and they get a meal at school each day. The parents, in return, have to make sure they go to school every day. End of story. Every child is sponsored until the age of 16 (donors commit to a minimum of 10 years funding a child), so there's the assurance they will finish high school. Inspiring.
Nepal is a country of constant contrasts.
One where you can bask in the glow of a program that provides hope and a future to dozens of impoverished children, while simultaneously raging at the conditions that hope and future have to exist under.
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