After All, Bholi Is Another Day

My computer hasn’t been working for the past few weeks (hopefully just a bad battery), so I’m using a friend’s to write this. A number of notable things have happened since I last wrote. Perhaps most significantly, we received our site assignments. After swearing in as a volunteer, I’ll be moving to the municipality of Shreegaon in the district of Dang. There, I’ll be working with a medical officer out of a primary health center to promote nutrition health education within the community, among other things.

Initially, I wasn’t entirely thrilled with my placement: Dang is near the Tarai, the lowlands of Nepal famous for their heat, malaria, and snakes (including cobras). After reading through the entire report, however, my feelings grew more positive. I’ll going to be in a relatively flat area, which will make travel quicker (we have the option of getting a bike, but I’m pretty shaky on two wheels). I’ll also be working with a physician, a career path I hope to pursue after Peace Corps. Finally, the health center has a large plot of unused land that they need help managing. With the various technical trainings we’ve had lately (especially composting, nursery development, permagardening, and beekeeping), my head is swarming with ideas for the space.

For us to meet our government counterparts and new host families, Peace Corps planned a group trip to Nepalgunj (a large city near the Indian border) followed by individual visits to our sites. We were supposed to depart this past Monday, but were informed last Thursday that the trip had been cancelled. A temporary Nepal-wide ban on long-distance government travel, along with the U.S. government furlough, left us all without the means to go. The cancellation of the trip, for which a week and a half had been allotted, frustrated some of us who wanted a break from the highly structured, sometimes tedious schedule of pre-service training. Instead, we’ll now have an additional week and a half of language classes, family time, and restricted freedom.

In addition, due to the turmoil in anticipation of the upcoming Nepali Congress election, rumors have been circulating that our Swearing-In Ceremony (just two days after the election) is likely to be delayed. News here in the hills is somewhat scant, but political tensions (or at least activities) appear to be mounting somewhat. Last week a candidate was apparently assassinated, news of which only reached me from a current volunteer several days later. This past week, I’ve seen several trucks flying the flags of various political parties. Two days ago, a number of Maoist party politicians met in the home of my language teacher. Yesterday, I met a large group of men walking through the village hanging out fliers and putting up posters. From the few minutes of Nepali news and the one Nepali newspaper I’ve read, I have a feeling that our isolation is insulating us from much of the action for the present, but we’re scheduled to spend nearly a week in Kathmandu leading up to our Swearing-In Ceremony. With the all the bandhs that have been declared, travel to and within the city may not be possible around election time.

A political rally in Chautara

There is a saying among Peace Corps staff that bholi (tomorrow) never comes in Nepal.  While we are excited for our future here, we don’t yet know when it will arrive, or what to expect until then.