Orientation has begun!

The volunteers and Kevin (our health team leader) met in the lobby of our hotel and walked the 12 minutes it takes to get to the VSN office. (Volunteer Service Nepal Office in Thamel). There are 9 of us, 5 from the US, 2 from the UK, 1 France and 1 Australia. We then sat on pillows in the volunteer room anxiously awaiting our training to start.
We received our training materials, including a language guide, that was ample but not overwhelming. The morning consisted of policies/procedures, conduct code, and general information and introductions. At 10:30 a.m. sharp, we broke for tea (chiyaa). More brief discussions and before we knew it, we were gathering our things to walk across the street for lunch. Emma (the volunteer coordinator here in Nepal) wanted us to experience firsthand the type of meal we will be eating at our host families house: Dhal Bhaad. We sat on pillows and enjoyed our food from a low table.
The best (okay, you will see... second best) part of the meal was being able to eat with our hand. (Right hand of course, left is considered dirty because we utilize the toilet with our left). Dhal Bhaad is a meal consisting of rice, curry, tofu, spinach, egg plant or really whatever the cook prepares. Mainly rice and the Dhal is this sauce to put on the rice. The lunch basically consisted of breaking every single cotillon rule I know to be true. Eating with out hands, cleaning our plates with our fingers and then licking them, and the best part BURPING is actually acceptable. My brother would fit in so well here.

The afternoon consisted of our first Nepalese language lesson taught by Gaurdi. We learned phrases like "What is your name?" "What is your mother's name" "My name is" "Please", "Thank you", etc. We all performed "Raamba"= good and are anxious to learn more! :)

It was sort of information overload today and this will continue tomorrow. Our plan now is to soak this up over some adult cocktails.

Lessons from Nepal:
1) Mocktails are cocktails without alcohol- do not be fooled by this menu choice.
2) You mix every single item on your plate together when you eat- have fun with this!
3) On the streets in Thamel, it is common for someone to whisper to you "smoke hash?" (especialy if you are a man) referring to this illegal drug. Kindly deny as this drug is very illegal here!