“Kids say the Darndest Things”

Art Linkletter made a great living talking to Kids about their lives and experiences.  I don’t know that I have that kind of talent to ask the right questions, but I do enjoy trying.  Here are some interviews I did on the spur of the moment the other day after KG (what we call Kindergarten) & Nursery got out for the day.   Some Children were waiting around for Parents to pick them up or older siblings to walk home with them, or just wanting to see what “the old guy” was up to today.  As soon as they saw the Flip Cam, I had all the subjects I could handle.   I probably should have moved out into the open for better light, but I was trying to keep them informal and unstaged.

One thing to notice if you haven’t ever been to Nepal and experienced it first hand, Nepalis tend to say yes with a waggle of their head.  So when you see the Child’s head turn to one side, the other, or both, in what might be a “no” in the US and elsewhere, that is actually a yes.  It took me a long time to get used to it.

Please enjoy.

Love,

Uncle Ed

p.s. I found a faster place to upload videos.  These 3 only took 11 min & 38 seconds vs 5 hours for the last ones that actually failed to load.

I MADE IT!

I just made it to Pokhara! After one LONG 18 hour bus ride I’m finally here. I can’t even explain the beauty of this place. It’s a tourist town that sits at the base of the Himalayan mountain range. Annapurna is one of the three mountains in view! All I have to say is I wish my brother Aaron was here to see this! Aaron, you have to come see these mountains. Pictures don’t do any justice.

My friend Meagan is at a Buddhist Monastery and we will be meeting up tomorrow. Today I spent the day hanging out with her new friend Heidi. She is from Vancouver and she is great!

Hopefully I will get some rest and restoration while I’m here. I had my first sandwich in three months for lunch it was amazing! It’s the little things in life;)

My Eye!

Just in good timing, I got an eye infection. I was planning on leaving today for Pokhara to meet up with my good friend Meagen, but I thought it would be better to wait to travel on a 17 hr bus ride when I’m feeling better. I haven’t ever had an eye infection and I must say it is terrible. I stayed home from school today and rested up. Just when my eye started feeling better I realized the infection had spread to my other eye!! Ugh!!

Don’t worry…. I’m in good hands and have already been to the doctor and have all the medicine I need. If I’m feeling better I will head out tomorrow! Please pray for me!!

P.S.
Uncle Ed wanted me to tell you all we hit water!!! The well drillers have been busy at work and it’s looking good. There is water everywhere. Uncle Ed will give you all more detail when he gets his laptop back up and running! With the well keeping him busy it might be a little while!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!

As I sit down for the first time today I’m at a loss of words to explain how amazing Christmas was this year. First we started out by getting all dressed up for the Christmas Program. It was a huge success! Maggie, Lexie and I wore the traditional Nepali Sari and we were a big hit. They made us dance on stage in front of the crowd of 600 people!

All of the Kopila Kids did such a great job dancing and performing in the drama! I was definitely proud!

After the program we ran back to the house to decorate the sat-song room for Christmas.

I had 41 stocking made for the kids just incase Santa clause came to Surkhet this year!

We opened presents for two hours!! It was a long night! The biggest hit was Numraj and Monica’s new tricycle. Numraj didn’t want to get off it. I swear he would have slept on it if Maggie would have let him.

I would say it was a success. Everyone had fun and we all survived. I feel so blessed to have had the change to celebrate Christmas at the Kopila house!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope your season was bright. A special shout out to my family…. I missed you so much this year. I can’t wait to see you when I get home in February.

Oh and Santa did make it in time to fill all the stockings… It took him an hour!! Haha.

Friday Night Movies – Thanks, Liz

Because school has been in session since shortly after we arrived, only Friday nights can be movie nights.  Movies are a privilege that we don’t always have if we haven’t been doing our homework, or have been fighting, or any number of things that Kids might do to restrict their privileges.  SOooo…we haven’t seen too many movies until lately.  I am thinking Santa’s possible upcoming visit might have us being nicer and more attentive to directions.

In any event several Friday’s ago we watched “The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest” by National Geographic and based on the 40+ critical reviews we highly recommend it.  I have attached a movie showing two of the review sessions for your enjoyment.  They go out with our special thanks to Liz Emerick of REI in Seattle who sent it and Planet Earth over here with Julia and me.  Liz, it was perfect, and because it came from someone at REI Adventures it made the back story even more exciting.  Please accept this short token of our appreciation.

For those of you not named Liz, don’t tune out just yet.  We are please to bring you our very own Chief Cook and Popcorn Popper, Bauju (Spelling check required).  This was last Friday when everyone was so great all week Maggie ordered up a special treat, fresh popped corn for 50 people.  Check it out.

Bauju, along with Uncle Krishna, and several other helpers do the cooking at the Home or Hostel.  She is an amazing Woman who works hard and I will never understand how she can sit on that very, very low stool for hours at a time.   She taught Julia her methods for both popping and making rotti, so expect some great Friday nights once we get her back home.

Here is what it looks like when it all comes together in the Satsung room as Grandfather, the movie guy, entertains us.

Thanks again, Liz for Everest and many Friday nights to come with Planet Earth!

Spelling Bee

Yesterday we continued with the team building theme at Kopila Valley Primary School by having a school wide spelling bee! Lexi went through and picked 4 students in each grade level; one from Sky House, one from Moon House, one from Sun House and one from Star House. This put us with a total of 32 students!

This was an event not to be missed! We got down to the final 4 students and we had a student from 1 class, 3 class, 5 class and 6 class. We wanted to find an ultimate winner so we decided to find the fastest speller. We gave them the word KOPILA (which is the name of our school) and who ever spelled it the fastest won!

BINDU from 6 class was the final winner!!

Let me tell you I never thought running a spelling bee would be any fun, but I had a blast! I realized how much fun it is to have the microphone in front of a large group you aren’t afraid to talk to! I got a little carried away!

After the spelling bee I blasted “Santa Clause is coming to Town” and we had a school wide dance party!

I love Christmas and to have the chance to share it with all of these amazing kids is such a blessing! I’m reminded how lucky I am everyday I wake up in Nepal.

I found these cute girls as I was walking to school for the spelling bee!

All of the Kopila kids!

Always a good time at Kopila!

I have been so busy now that Libby is gone and I’m teaching her English classes full time. I have gained a lot of respect for teachers…. it is hard to talk for 6 hours a day. Let me tell you, I get so tired of hearing my own voice and by the afternoon I am wiped out. The best part of it all is after school I’m not officially off work; I still run errands for the house and school, help with homework, spend time with the house kids and Maggie and I are currently teaching a dance for the Christmas program on Sunday. It really is a 24 hour job. I honestly love it. It feels good to be busy. Here are some pictures of the last couple if weeks;)

“Mama Said…

They’ll be days like this…”  I had to go find (and then buy from iTunes) the old Shirelle’s hit “Mama Said” as I started thinking about yesterday.  My time here is drawing short and I want to cram everything I can into these last few weeks and days.

Here are three things that happened in the space of about three hours that have nothing to do with my teaching 3 English classes with Julia in the morning or setting up Maggie’s classes projector, or ordering up materials for new shelves, or building my first menorah.

Dancing – Is huge here for both Girls and Boys

It is a huge part of Nepali culture and the socialization of Children.  To see some of the impact on how babies and toddlers watch older kids and learn from them let’s start out with this camera shy, unsocialized, rebellious toddler back in October when we arrived and shot an intro video.  This is the third or fourth take and I finally gave up on his being able to do it without prompting.

Now let’s look at the same 4 year old wearing the “funny looking” light blue sweater vest over his blue and orange KV shirt) on December 21st during practicing for the dance numbers in the Christmas/Holiday program the Kids will put on next week at the school.

He has come a long way on the good behavior trail since we got here and his parents, who work at the School and Home can be very proud of his progress.

Sunset for Margaret

It has been just about a month since the last sunset that made we want to run up to the roof and shoot one for Margaret.  All too often the red ball of fire drops into a darkened sky so thick that there are no beautiful clouds to complement its departure for the evening.  Last night was an exception that caught Julia’s alert eye and sent me to the roof.  Some might think it an odd coincidence that Margaret sent me a msg yesterday morning out of the blue.  We connected, she signed up for Skype, and we shared a 6 minute call before I had to go teach.  I had been missing her quiet counsel and just hearing the sound of her cheerful voice.  Poof, there she was and 8 hours later, God blessed us with this…

Lastly, writing of God and all he does for all of us, this is a non-denominational Home where everyone gets to believe in his or her own God.  Most of the Kids sing the traditional Napali prayers at Satsung, I have even learned some of the words.   The Kopila Kids were introduced to Christmas years ago and this year Lexi Suberi, our volunteer from Maryland, taught us all about Hanukkah.  We used one of Libby’s candleholders (yes, dear we put it back) the first night, but last night we had our own homemade menorah and did the 2nd night right.  Maggie’s comment at the end of this clip relates to the fact that she gave each of the Children 200 ruppees to shop for their secret santa gift and that fit right into the Jewish tradition of children receiving small amounts of money for Hanukkah.   There will be some shopping done today after school, for sure!

And oh, yes, doesn’t Lexi sing beautifully?  Mama said there would be days like this, but she didn’t say every three hours would be so emotionally fantastic.  Thanks Mom and Dad for everything!

Love to all,

Uncle Ed

Happy Birthday to The Other “Miss Doyne”

Is it any wonder they grew up to be America’s First Family of Nepal?

The song of the night, December 20th, at Satsung was Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to YOU, Happy Birthday Dear Libby, Happy Birthday to YOU.

We were all missing Libby today during the day.  Her name comes up constantly every day with Julia teaching her English classes and Maggie saying Libby has the receipt for the drill, and the Kids saying Libby said we could make cookies, and, and, and… it is not the same without her here.  We know she is getting well earned R & R and Mom time, and it may be her first Christmas at home in ??? I don’t know.  I would only ask that she and Nancy (a.k.a. Grandmother) don’t work too hard on the house and take some “Me” time for each other.

After my first month here the song “The Wind Beneath My Wings” began running through my mind.  Maggie makes it very clear that she is not making this miracle alone.  That she has an incredible staff, both at the School from Principal Jeff through the Teachers, Cooks and Maintenance Staff and in the Home with another amazing staff.  The staffs surge back and forth at peak times of the day and week to meet things like mealtime for 300+ and the issuing of clothing and shoes.  It works incredibly well and continually brings that song to my mind.  So many people operating in Maggie’s overarching shadow.

One of those SuperStars is none other than Maggie’s younger Sister, Libby who I feel particularly close to because she carries the same given names as my departed Sister, Betsy (both a.k.a. Elizabeth Anne).  Libby is a very complex person, as all Doynes seem to be.  If you follow her blog http://persistinlove.wordpress.com/ you get that she is short and to the point in her communications.  She doesn’t mince words or hold back thoughts or opinions.  I think the Children would prefer Maggie as the disciplinarian (I have to be careful here) because Libby runs a very tight ship.  The ship is full of love for everyone in equal measure, but your ration gets cut off quickly when you are breaking the rules.  She and Maggie make a great team working together.

I almost cut this 2nd teaching video out, but it shows you the size of the classes the teachers deal with, how well they can keep them organized, and Julia give a great summary of the progress on the book project.

Libby is so much more than an English Teacher, I can see so many of the Girls looking up to her as a role model.  She’s a Lady who looks so tall and strong and elegant in her Nepali garb.  She’s a Tomboy who can kick that ‘football’ with the best of the Boys and has inspired so many of the Girls to take on the Boys at anything and everything.

She is an excellent Mother who like both her Sisters learned super-parent skills from both her Mom and her Dad.  The little kids love her and I think Namraj would have Solomon’s problem if he ever had to choose between his Mothers.  Thankfully, that won’t ever have to happen, there seems to be plenty of love to go around!

We Love and MISS YOU, Libby Miss!  Have a super birthday!

Love,

Uncle Ed & Julia, and Maggie and Grandfather, and Lexi and Jeff, and all the Kopila Kids, Aunties, Uncles, and Teachers and Staff.

The Role of Baby Videos in Child and Adult Development

Big title for a few thoughts from an unlikely authority on the subject.  At home I call myself the immaculate grandfather because I have the benefit of two wonderful Grandsons and three Children thanks to Lorraine.  I missed out on all the fathering stuff while I was busy being a substitute father to Marines around the world.  Here I am just Uncle Ed, the fix-it and video guy.

As you watch this short clip, know that I am a firm believer in the role of video in reminding our Children where they have come from, and keeping them pointed toward where they are going.  Steve and I and our Sisters grew up in the 35mm slide world of our Dad, before film was available to the mass market.  I believe many, if not most, of our childhood memories are imbedded because of watching those slide shows over and over “A-gen”.  My experience here has validated the huge amount of time needed to compile the hours of video you shoot in hopes of capturing those few precious moments.

External hard drives are cheap, but time is hard to come by.  You are probably tired of seeing me write that our bandwidth here is so slow I feel like I could push the bits through the air faster, but that is the limiting factor.   Since you don’t have that issue, I suggest you shoot and save as much as you possibly can WITHOUT missing your involvement in the actual moments themselves.  I look forward to showing the young star of this Vid just how quickly he was growing up before our eyes “A-gen” and “A-gen” on both sides of the Pacific as the years go by for both of us.

One other thought…in addition to his well known female Co-Star in this flick, our hero appears with someone seldom seen in front of the Camera; in a rare speaking role, all the Children of Nepal know him as “Grandfather!”

Preview of coming attractions, feel free to cast your vote for moving things up in the production line:

Movie nights (few and far between) – with a thank you to Liz Emrick of REI

Nepal’s best English Teacher – and much, much more

Football, Nepali style

Julia’s evening Tuition (a.k.a. tutoring or study hall)

Swimming party at “the River”

Trash Disposal – a work in progress – stay tuned

Well Drilling in progress – awaiting arrival of fuel and head driller

and much, much more than I will ever have time for!

Love,

Uncle Ed