My new home for 2 years!

So I am officially settled into my new home of the next 2 years. I am living with a Mom, Dad and I have a little sister. Also there is a blind couple (the dad is a teacher) who rents rooms on the first floor with a 2 year old daughter who is absolutely adorable (yes I, Rachel Nolz, thinks a child is adorable). My moms garden is spectacular and we get all of our vegetables right from the garden. She also has limes, pineapples, and mangos growing. I really don't know what I will do here because they are pretty well developed agriculturally so this is going to be tough figuring out how I can these people out.

I have made friends with some neighbor girls and one day we even went to a fair. It is crazy how much its exactly like fairs in America. You go to eat a bunch of food, watch concerts, watch fights, ride rides (ferris wheel, the boat, kiddy rides), play games and buy 'stuff'. It was alot of fun and of course at the concert they pulled me up on stage and wanted me to dance but I can't dance when I am in a crowd now on stage when I am on the only white person for miles, yup I had to turn that opportunity down haha.

Christmas was exciting here. Surprisingly Surkhet has a very large population of Christians so some of the stores sell decorations and christmas things. Me and 4 friends gathered at the girls house in the capital city of Surkhet and celebrated at her house. Her family was very eager to learn our traditions and participate. We cooked cheese noodles, fried chicken, saag, and garlic bread for dinner. Then Christmas morning we woke up and opened our homemade stockings and did our white elephant gift exchange. It was all very fun and then we made egg burritos, potatoes, fruit, and fried prawns (surprisingly tasty). We also decorated her evergreen tree out from with garland and lights, well half the tree was decorated, the other half we couldn't reach. This is definitely a christmas we will all remember.

Also my new address is:
Rachel Nolz Peace Corps Volunteer
Tilla Oli (my moms name here)
Rolpali Tole, Ward Number 5
Ramghat VDC, Surkhet District
Nepal

Things I learned while in PST Nepal

-Invest in quality clothing and don't bring alot of clothing/stuff. One checked bag is sufficient.

-You will never wash your cloths good enough to meet Nepali standards. They scrub and rinse cloths so intensely I am shocked not more cloths have ripped yet.

-These big plans you make before you come to a country that doesn’t use toilet paper about how you will strategically not cave and wipe with water and your left hand: throw all that out and get use to using that left hand – surprisingly your behind will be very clean and you will without a doubt wash your hands with soap longer than the recommended time which very few people do back in the states.

-Showering only once or twice I week isn’t so bad. Of course we don’t smell great but showering with a cold bucket of water when its only 60 degree out – you get the point.

-Accept you are a like a pet for these three months. As long as you are happy, pee outside, eat when you are told everyone will love you. And when you get “speak” down they are extremely thrilled!

-You will sound like a child just throwing out simple sentences trying to use all the vocab you know. Still do this, it is good practice and they think its cute ur talking.

-Getting 10 hours a sleep is not shameful, after dark there is really point in staying awake.

-You will start craving foods you don’t even like back in the States.

-Watching movies you will notice every time someone is eating or standing by a refrigerator. 

-Get over any reservations you have about talking about your bowl movements, it’s going to be a topic for your new two years.

-Doing a stool sample is not as horrible as it sounds, once the first person does it everyone who has had persistent bowl problems will follow as well.

-Getting news you have a parasite is a huge relief! This means you don’t have to live the rest of your Peace Corps life with diarrhea and there is actually something wrong with you.

-Don’t get embarrassed that the entire village knows the next morning that you spent the night in the bathroom with diarrhea/vomiting.

-If you cook an American meal for your families expect them to praise your food, eat it and then immediately cook daal bhat afterwards.

-Lay down the law right away about how much you are willing to eat and when those portions start to increase slowly you must knock it back down because before you know it you are eating a pound of rice morning and night and you have gained 15lbs over night!

-When you bring photos with you to share with your family leave behind any swimsuit photos, too shocking for them but the woman analyze it anyways.

-People love when you get fat and if they think you are fat they will tell you and tell you it’s a good thing.

-Don’t mess with the dogs

-Make a calendar marked with things to look forward to (trainings, vacations, holidays); makes time seem to go by faster.

-Every time you speak a little Nepali the locals are so impressed and happy you are trying.

-This is an experience you will never fully be able to explain to anyone back home.