We loved having visitors in the village and we had lots of them. Many came with all their kids! (No wonder I was tired so much of the time!) Our house was pretty small to have us and another family living in it for up to 4-5 days--plus all the constant village visitor friends. Remember -- we had only one outhouse, one kerosene burner for our cooking, a 5 gallon tub of water for all inside washing, one outside pump for washing clothes, and, during our last year, one very small kerosene-powered fridge.
Our visitors always enjoyed an elephant ride. Being the only SIL village allocation near the king's elephant camp, we were a popular destination for many of our friends. Note the ladder Ethan included in his drawing! The elephant driver was called a mahut and he directed the rides through jungles to see rhinos, tigers and anything else alive in the fields
Most visitors were immensely helpful and spent time with with Jon and Jenny who gladly gave them the village tour. Our village neighbors loved our kids--Jenny especially as she had a Tharu name! (In Tharu, jeni means "woman", or female in general.) Jonathan is demonstrating how to use the village pump! He was strong enough to bring in a small pail of water.
The visitors also gave me time to do medical work and literacy instruction while Bill worked on some initial Bible translation of the book of Mark. Many of the people we lived with had never seen or held books. We brought some National Geographic magazines to teach them how to look and hold a book. They didn't know how to interpret the pictures or hold it right side up. I had to start from scratch with initial steps to literacy.
You can see in the picture, taken in our downstairs living area, how two young women found it fascinating that they could read and write their own language. We enjoyed our times together. Usually only men learned to read and only some of them. Today it is different as schools are more numerous.
This was Jonathan's kindergarten year which meant that in the village I was his teacher. In Kathmandu, the SIL base had a school where kids attended, so we followed that curriculum. Teaching went well most of the time. But we all found it challenging at times, especially when Jenny wanted to interrupt. But I enjoyed getting back into teaching letters and sounds and numbers and all!
Jonathan was a quick learner ... and so was Jenny. While I was teaching Jonathan, Jenny was listening and soon began to read too. At two, she was an early reader for sure! But they did (and do!) love each other and played together well.
During one village stay we had another visitor--a well-known Christian author. He chartered a plane, flew down from Kathmandu for one only day, ate one meal at Kissan's house, flew back, and then published an embarrassing (unrealistic) view of our village people in an article about this visit. (We still have it if anyone wants to see it.) Amazing how people think one or two days in a village can make you an expert on a culture and people! The longer we were there the less we felt we knew.
Bill made one great addition to our village home this year--a "front porch" with a swing for Jenny and Jon. They loved that swing. You can see Jon sitting in the background on the front step in the shade waiting his turn.
Another interesting sight you may see outside our village door, on a cold morning, is some neighbors roasting breakfast over a fire. Yes, that's a field mouse on the spit; a delicacy they enjoyed ... as well as other respectable critters. You might wonder if we ever ate a roast mouse as a treat. Fortunately, in the Hindu caste structure, each caste has it's own dietary restrictions. As members of the "American caste" we were thereby able to avoid giving offence when we declined.
OK, some more village scenes: First, Jonathan having a swim in the local river, then our backyard which was an elephant trail, and finally another form of transportation which was very bumpy. The kids and I were being given the royal treatment to attend a wedding in another village.
Our visitors always enjoyed an elephant ride. Being the only SIL village allocation near the king's elephant camp, we were a popular destination for many of our friends. Note the ladder Ethan included in his drawing! The elephant driver was called a mahut and he directed the rides through jungles to see rhinos, tigers and anything else alive in the fields
Most visitors were immensely helpful and spent time with with Jon and Jenny who gladly gave them the village tour. Our village neighbors loved our kids--Jenny especially as she had a Tharu name! (In Tharu, jeni means "woman", or female in general.) Jonathan is demonstrating how to use the village pump! He was strong enough to bring in a small pail of water.
The visitors also gave me time to do medical work and literacy instruction while Bill worked on some initial Bible translation of the book of Mark. Many of the people we lived with had never seen or held books. We brought some National Geographic magazines to teach them how to look and hold a book. They didn't know how to interpret the pictures or hold it right side up. I had to start from scratch with initial steps to literacy.
You can see in the picture, taken in our downstairs living area, how two young women found it fascinating that they could read and write their own language. We enjoyed our times together. Usually only men learned to read and only some of them. Today it is different as schools are more numerous.
This was Jonathan's kindergarten year which meant that in the village I was his teacher. In Kathmandu, the SIL base had a school where kids attended, so we followed that curriculum. Teaching went well most of the time. But we all found it challenging at times, especially when Jenny wanted to interrupt. But I enjoyed getting back into teaching letters and sounds and numbers and all!
Jonathan was a quick learner ... and so was Jenny. While I was teaching Jonathan, Jenny was listening and soon began to read too. At two, she was an early reader for sure! But they did (and do!) love each other and played together well.
During one village stay we had another visitor--a well-known Christian author. He chartered a plane, flew down from Kathmandu for one only day, ate one meal at Kissan's house, flew back, and then published an embarrassing (unrealistic) view of our village people in an article about this visit. (We still have it if anyone wants to see it.) Amazing how people think one or two days in a village can make you an expert on a culture and people! The longer we were there the less we felt we knew.
Bill made one great addition to our village home this year--a "front porch" with a swing for Jenny and Jon. They loved that swing. You can see Jon sitting in the background on the front step in the shade waiting his turn.
Another interesting sight you may see outside our village door, on a cold morning, is some neighbors roasting breakfast over a fire. Yes, that's a field mouse on the spit; a delicacy they enjoyed ... as well as other respectable critters. You might wonder if we ever ate a roast mouse as a treat. Fortunately, in the Hindu caste structure, each caste has it's own dietary restrictions. As members of the "American caste" we were thereby able to avoid giving offence when we declined.
OK, some more village scenes: First, Jonathan having a swim in the local river, then our backyard which was an elephant trail, and finally another form of transportation which was very bumpy. The kids and I were being given the royal treatment to attend a wedding in another village.
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