Some building days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

These four days are being combined because each one has been pretty much the same.  We began each day with milk coffee in the alley behind the guest house at about 6:15 am.  Some times we get just coffee while other times we get a sweet roll and often buy our water for the day.  The "bakery" doesn't bake anything, it is just a name.  It is a pleasant 30 minutes of socializing before we do a 20-30 minute walk through the city as the street markets are being set up to get to our bus.  Below are our new friends from Michigan, Kathy and Tom.

Catching the bus is an adventure as they run only every 30 minutes so we time our departure from the hotel to get to Ratna Park just before the bus does.  Sometimes we have to hurry to get the bus and generally it is SRO for some of us.  Our bus ride gets us closer to the ANSWER office and costs us all of 15 cents each.  Our morning coffee is a whopping 60 cents per cup!  

Here we are having just disembarked from our little bus.  And writing about these buses, there is actual seating for about 12 and then you pack in another 12-15 people so that you get really chummy with the folks standing around you.  Sometimes it is a challenge to get off the bus in the evening on the return trip to Ratna Park because so many others want to get on.  They jam as many people on board in seats and the aisle as will fit, plus a half-dozen more.  Imagine someone in the back of the bus trying to exit; people don't get angry, they seem resigned to the very uncomfortable situation.

There are always interesting things to see near the bus stop.  One morning there was a man sitting on the sidewalk with a scale near by and one would pay to get weighed.  The scale doesn't look like it is in very good condition so maybe one gets a lighter weight or panics and goes on a diet.

Once we arrive at the ANSWER office we wait for the truck to arrive and for the students.  Then we all climb up into the back of the truck finding a good place to stand and prepare to hang on for about an hour's plus drive to the village where we are building.

The ride out to the build site takes us past some of the more historic places in the city including Bodhnath (huge stupa complex) and Pashupatinath.  Along these major roadways we have encountered traffic jams as well as interesting sights.  Below is the quick glimpse of Bodhnath from the back of the truck.

There are still thousands of people living in temporary housing like these tents.  We really don't know what the government is doing to help.  Hopefully before winter comes there will a solution, although that seems extremely doubtful. We also see things differently being higher than sidewalk level in the back of the truck, we are looking either down at things or directly across.  Below is a quick shot of some shops as we sped by.

We have seen huge long lines of cars, motorcycles and scooters waiting for petrol.  Also long lines of people waiting for propane and kerosene.  All these things in short supply with with the problems at the border with India.  The only gasoline comes over treacherous overland mountain roads from China.

And sometimes traffic is pretty crazy too!

This shot is of people waiting for kerosene.

There is a festive atmosphere when you ride in the back of a truck with 30-35 high school kids.  Every bump produces a groan, every sway and lurch another groan, a passing bus with passengers on the roof rates highly with waves and shouts and laughter.  It is a game of waving to people and smiling to see if they will wave or smile back; and sometimes they do.

Eventually we arrive at the village where we are building and disembark from the bus.  Then it is time to gather up backpacks and cross the stream and head to the site.  The shot below, however, is from the end of the day when we crossed back to get the truck.

One interesting thing for our gardening and farming friends is the manner in which they grow potatoes. In this shot you see how deeply trenched the rows are.  We are told that this is because of too much moisture.  They do irrigate and terrace grains such as rice and buckwheat.  There is also a lot of cauliflower grown here as well.  The village we are in is all farm oriented and there is non stop work in the fields and women passing by with bundles of grain.

Potato field

Women bringing in a grain from the field.

Now we will shift gears to the work we have been doing and the students.  What a pleasure it has been to work with these young people.  We get questions about how old we are and when we respond they inevitably comment that people our age don't do such hard work the way we are doing with them.  They allow us to see into their world and they ask about ours.  Typically they know less about world geography - just as our US teens know very little of world geography.  

Our work days begin with milk tea prepared outdoors at the work site along with Nepalese donuts or cookies.  Unfortunately this eats up 15-20 minutes we could be working.  We have come to accept this routine and we certainly enjoy the tea as well.  Eventually we get organized and begin work.

Our first day at the site the build project looked like this, that was Friday.  Below is what the site looked like on Wednesday at the end of the work day.

We have laid four courses of bags filled with gravel.  All the gravel was carried to where the bags were filled in small buckets using a bucket brigade approach.  The structure will have two rooms and is the furthest away in the photo.  The nearer room is now getting earth filled bags which are about double the length of the gravel bags and have the advantage of being able to be shaped by pounding bricks on the sides.  

The dirt for the earth bags had to be dug up.  There was once a small plot of potatoes here, but now it is gone and the kids have been digging down to get below any vegetation.  The earth was then moved to plastic sheets for drying being broken up from larger clods into something more workable that could be placed in the bags. Note below the Nepali hoe; a very efficient tool for moving earth.

We ate our lunch at the site, again food was prepared there and was always a form of dal bhat, the traditional Nepali meal, which gets eaten twice a day!  

Here is the garlic press...and the same rocks used for any spice or ingredient needing to be crushed.

The mother of the household for whom we are building the house cooks our meals every day.  She uses a curved knife to slice onions and other veggies.  The knife is held on the ground and she slides the veggie down it to slice.

The lunch line has formed!

After lunch we would work another three or four hours after which there would be another light meal of dal bhat for the kids and whichever adults wanted it.  Oh yes, milk tea was again served.

Most Nepali people eat with their right hand and only a few of the students used a spoon.  After each meal we would walk to where there was running water and wash our plates and cups.  For sure this was not water we would drink and most of us working at the site, non Nepali, rinse our plates with mineral water or baby wipes as added insurance that they are clean enough that we won't pick up some nasty bug.

After work, we all pile back into the truck and return to Kathmandu through the evening rush hour traffic.  Some of us sponsors catch a bus back to Thamel; others pass on the crush of the bus and shell out $10 for a taxi.  Taxi fares have risen dramatically because the only place drivers can get gas is through the black market.