The grandparents . Gorkols mother still works hard at 73! She grinds the maze long sitting on the ground , sieves the rice, feeds the animals and cooks over a clay oven still . Apparently their marriage was arranged from the age of 7! She has no teeth which she proudly shows you .Her family and some well intending friends tried to teach her to say 'good morning' to us in English, everyone was in hysterics as the lack of teeth made the pronunciation even more difficult. she loved visiting us late in the afternoon and would bring us some local fruit on a tray or unusual food to try. She was delightful and had a great sense of humour, from what her body language told us!
Usa, Gorkol and their son.
Gorkol and Usa praying to the money tree!
My new Grandma and Rajan
Below is our neighbour Rajan who rented a room next to us at Usa and Gorkol's 5 days a week . His family live in in a town about 1-2 hours away but as he has been unable to secure a teaching position in his home town he teaches at a local government school in Chatara. He had very good English which made our life easier as he was willing to translate for us when needed to communicate more complex information ( eg we requested hot water and milk for 2 , in the mornings for one of our daily treats- Nescafe coffee! We usually were delivered a bowl of boiling water and 2 glasses, each half full with boiling milk.) . He was very helpful and even translated a Nepali handout on spasticity into English for me prior to me giving it to a parent .He used to drop in for a chat most nights , to ask us about NZ and our culture and our travels.
His mannerisms and sense of humour , classic! We had some interesting discussions on marriage, woman and America. ( Everyone in Nepal wants to go to and be like Americans!)
No comments:
Post a Comment