Namaste is the traditional greeting use in Nepal. You place your hands together in prayer position over your heart and say "Namaste", translated means "I bow to the God in you". I have managed to pick up the language fairly easily. I can say, "Tapailai kosta ccha?" "how are you" and answer, "Malai ramro ccha." " I am good". People are very eager to speak English so I tend to ask in Nepali and they respond in English, it's a struggle for me to practice the language.
I started my placement today at the school, the only way to describe it is like "Little house on the prairie." The school is old and beat up the classrooms are small, the kids sit and the old style table with the wooden bench, 3 or 4 to a bench. Whenever the teacher walks in or out they all stand at attention until dismissed. It was funny today, they were all standing and not moving, I was told they were waiting for me to leave the class. There is a lot of improving to do with the teachers. The style of teaching is very old school (forgive the pun). They read from a book and expect the students to retain it. My job will be to help develop the teachers and curriculum to make it more interactive and fun for both student and teacher. My schedule will likely be 7:30am at the orphanage, 9am at school until 3pm, then back to the orphanage until dinner at 7:30pm. Both the school and the orphanage or walking distance to my house so it's very nice to casually stroll down the street to work. Eventually I suppose I will get to know the shop keepers on the way so I can say Namaste to them. Sorry no photos today, it's all work now.
I started my placement today at the school, the only way to describe it is like "Little house on the prairie." The school is old and beat up the classrooms are small, the kids sit and the old style table with the wooden bench, 3 or 4 to a bench. Whenever the teacher walks in or out they all stand at attention until dismissed. It was funny today, they were all standing and not moving, I was told they were waiting for me to leave the class. There is a lot of improving to do with the teachers. The style of teaching is very old school (forgive the pun). They read from a book and expect the students to retain it. My job will be to help develop the teachers and curriculum to make it more interactive and fun for both student and teacher. My schedule will likely be 7:30am at the orphanage, 9am at school until 3pm, then back to the orphanage until dinner at 7:30pm. Both the school and the orphanage or walking distance to my house so it's very nice to casually stroll down the street to work. Eventually I suppose I will get to know the shop keepers on the way so I can say Namaste to them. Sorry no photos today, it's all work now.
2 comments:
Great blog Phil. I look forward to reading each entry.
How old are the kids PHilippe ? Are they the same children from the orphanage . Yes that must seem strange - the deference towards teachers - can you imagine standing at attention in Canada - I can only imagine the kids standing if the room was on fire
Mayanna
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