Day 2

Day 2 – Christine

Today we woke up at 7:00 am, brushed our teeth, showered and headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast was apparently better than we expected. There was bacon, egg, bread, pastry etc.

After breakfast we headed back to our room and packed for our journey to Nuwakot. Before we left we performed our SB song and dance in front of the restaurant which went pretty well. We then finally got on the bus to Nuwakot which took 3 hours to reach. On our journey, we sung songs which entertained us a bit because we were quiet bored. While we were on the bus, we were travelling through the mountainous scenery where we saw breath-taking views. Most of us were overwhelmed.

When we arrived at Nuwakot, we headed to our camp site where we would stay for 3 days. Surprisingly, the tent was also better than I expected. The tent was clean and it was relatively big. However, most of us were really shocked by the insects, especially the girls. On our new campsite, going to the toilet was very inconvenient and an unpleasant experience. It was basically a hole dug up and covered by a tent. We unpacked and headed for lunch, which was good and we enjoyed it, though the food was basic.

After lunch, we walked to the school we were going to teach at. We saw the children and they looked very shy but excited to meet and talk to us. The school welcomed us with their national anthem and one of the students performed for us by playing a flute.

Afterwards we did our opening speech, which did not go so well and we also performed our SB song and dance. We started off with the name game. It felt really awkward and the kids looked really confused. We though that our first day would not turn out so good. However, after we did our arts and crafts and game activities, it helped us interact with the children and they enjoyed it a lot. We bonded with the children and we could already say that they were wonderful kids.

By the end of the day, we all could agree that the day went well. It was a very hot day and we were all tired. By evening, we had dinner and gathered for a group reflection.

Day 2 – Nicole

Waking up at 5:45 am, we got ready for breakfast. Even though it was really early, we were full of energy! Happily, we skipped down the corridor to the cafe and were so amazed by the beautiful garden and cool air that we ate our breakfast in bliss.

Straight after, we surprised the guests with an unexpected performance. They seemed pretty pleased. We took our bows in smiles and laughter and we headed back to our rooms to ready ourselves for the 3 hour bus journey ahead to Nuwakot School. Meeting the kids was only a matter of time away!

The ride was super bumpy and rough, several times we thought we were going to fall off the side of the road!

Finally, we arrived safely and trotted down to the place we were going to stay for the next 3 nights in the tents! Red, blue, orange, green, the tents were set up already with a kitchen tent near by. Excited as we were, most of us were instantly horrified of the toilets! Well, they weren’t exactly toilets, but holes in the ground with tents to allow privacy! Following the allocation of tents, we gathered for a delicious lunch cooked by the kitchen staff. We ate the scrumptious noodles that would soon become our trademark food “Shaka laka Boom!”

After lunch came our long awaited meeting with the children of Nuwakot School! We walked for 10 minutes and entered the school. To our surprise, we were received with great hospitality – with beautiful flower necklaces and welcoming posters.
We settled on the stage for a welcoming speech song and dance from their side, it was awesome! Their mass expression of culture seemed so much compared to our performance of the Spring Blossom song and dance. Nevertheless, the welcoming ceremony ended and we moved on to our programs.

Every single one of the 60 students were split into 4 colour groups (red, green, yellow, blue) and 2 groups played games first with the rest doing arts and craft! Games such as Octopus, cops and robbers, yak yak tiger were played. Most of all, the kids absolutely loved it! On the other hand, t-shirt designing was introduced and the children were allowed to freely express their imagination. These included pictures of the Nepalese flag and toys etc. We never expected that our first day would turn out so good. However, after we did our arts and crafts, and game activities, it helped us to interact with the children and we could tell that they enjoyed it a lot. We bonded deeply with the children; soon realizing that how wonderful they were.

By the end of the day, we all agreed that the day went along well. Although it was really hot and tiring, we gave it our best and regretted none of it. We had dinner at about 7:30 and then gathered for a group reflection afterwards. Even though it was only day one of the teaching program, most of us already felt lost for words. Obviously, the rest of this trip is going to be an amazing experience.