How and where do I begin to tell you about puja? Puja is a Nepali ceremony; a kind of cleansing ritual that is supposed to drive out evil spirits and protect something or someone from danger. Now, this merry occasion isn't just for people; there is goat puja, river puja, and even car and bus pujas. This explains why most commercial vehicles are elaborately painted and decked out with all kinds of fantastic streamers and ridiculous tassels. The majority of them even have movie posters plastered on their roof interiors. Big eyed Nepali women and angry male heroes covered in blood and surrounded by fire when, I can guarantee, there won't be a flame in the whole film (production costs). But, as usual, I'm beginning to stray…
This week I came down with a fierce case of stomach flu, shocking since, especially in the village, there are a million different weird bacteria and evil little microorganisms that can, and do, live in the most devious places. But, this must have been an angry little creature that had penetrated my intestines because I was doubled over in pain most of the day, only getting up from bed to have ferocious diarrhea in my newly constructed 'compost toilet' (yeah, it's totally just a hole in the ground that you fill with sawdust once in a while). Anyway, puja; since I was whimpering with agony when my boyfriend's mother came to check on me, she begged him to let her perform a puja for me (as if I'd let him make decisions for me, bwa haw haw) but since I have such a good heart and an even better sense of humor I said Ok. I had no idea what I was getting myself into…
(Pause for dramatic description)
I'm in a room comprised entirely of red mud and stone. It is dark and damp with a moist and earthy smell, like moss or wet bark. The room has a low ceiling and only two pieces of furniture, one of which was a low and sturdy bed covered with a dirty blanket and one sad flap of a pillow. There's about six of them, all arranged in one way or another at the foot of the bed, all in one way or another looking creepy. There is very little light, just a few candles keeping everyone cast in shadow. I can't tell if it's hot and musty in the room or if I'm just feverish and sticky from my own sweat. I can't understand a thing that's being said but I assume that the man with the incense and the strange hat is the one in charge. They make me sit next to him on a bamboo mat. It was painful enough just getting down there and now I have to be arranged properly so that his mother can rub my belly in the right places.
Never again. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Moving on, it has been brought to my attention that my last e-mail may have caused some of you to worry and for that I apologize. I'm sure you could tell I was under duress at the time and feeling a little down. My spirits are higher these days, though my situation hasn't changed much. I am trying to renew that burning zeal I felt when I first arrived; the children need you, Jen!
I have taken a self-imposed leave of absence from the village so that I can spend more time with the children I was working with six months ago and less time schlepping through the jungle assessing damaged schools and building compost toilets.
Being back in Kathmandu, with the orphans I was originally working with, has definitely renewed my motivation and enthusiasm; but, since the paying job promised to me by this NGO has been put on hold (they didn't receive a grant that they thought was a 'sure thing') I am fast discovering that without an income there is a constant anxiety that underlies everything a person does. I am definitely not starving in a ditch anywhere (like many other unfortunate people in this country), but I am certainly gaining new wisdom that can only really be learned in a third world country.
Along with anxiety, there comes the frustrating fact that without money for arts and crafts supplies I now have to come up with ideas for art projects made entirely out of trash or things found in nature (and when you were a kid, those were never the projects that excited anybody). I have a renewed and hearty respect for those teachers I had that made the most out of their budgets. The kids are still having a blast, but I'm running out of ideas. If anyone has any suggestions for games or projects please let me know.
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