First week in my new home: Baglung Bazar, Nepal

Home sweet home in Baglung Bazar. Let’s begin with some fast facts:
Population: right around 30,000
Elevation: (probably surprising) ~4,000 ft.
Balung Bazar is the headquarters for both Baglung District and the Dhawalagiri Zone (these are two different zoning systems used in Nepal), and it will be the crossroads of two major high ways once the one running north-south is complete. I’m approximately two hours west of Pokhara by bus, and a couple hours south of the Annapurna Range.  It’s absolutely gorgeous: situated on a small plateau in a valley about 150 meters above a large river, surrounded by hills 1000 meters high – and with a striking view of Mt Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest peak in the world. I appreciate my surroundings!

I’ve spent my first week settling into my new room and meeting as many people as possible. My counterpart guided me through a few days in office and two awesome field visits. I’ve already seen a hefty mushroom farm, numerous tomato green houses, all sorts of veggie fields, a fish farm, a chicken farm and a great example of smart, low tech irrigation. I’ve meet with a farmers’ group in the region west of town and spent an afternoon with a very experienced and active farmer in the region north of town. It’s made my head spin with ideas for future projects with these folks – with these perfect community allies. It’s a good feeling.

Aside from making myself familiar to my office and local farmers this week, I’ve been making myself familiar to the general community through my afternoon shopping excursions and explorations of town. This is perhaps my favorite thing to do, both because I love discovering the gems of a new place and because shop keepers are generally impressed with my Nepali language, which serves as a confidence booster. (In the office full of educated Nepali’s, talking fast, using vocabulary I’ve never heard before, I’m reduced back to a very novice level of the language; Honestly, it’s mostly humbling, not detrimental, as I pretty much expected to be lost in translation for the first month (at least) anyway.) To date, I’ve purchased an electric tea kettle, 4 metal tea cups, tea (I don’t suppose you’ve noticed a theme yet…), laundry soap, hand soap, a broom, slippers, a sweater (it’s cold at night!), a light bulb, and three cushions (for sitting on the floor). Pretty much basic domestic items. Still on my list: a clothing rack (commonly used in lieu of a dresser ’round here), a rug, a mattress (ie a thick piece of foam; my PC issued one is about a foot narrower than my bed frame) and a small table. If I get the new mattress then I’ll have a spare for a guest to use, which could be quite handy. And I intend to set up the cushions around the small table so I may host people for afternoon tea. Which people, I’m not yet sure, but there’s something reassuring in being set up to host (nesting reflex??)…

Any one notice a gap in my outstanding item list? Yes – I am certainly also still shopping around for a BICYCLE. To date, I’ve found 3 bike shops in town. But I’m trying to take this one slow, because I’m technically not allowed to buy one until I’ve been here for a month (PC reimbursement policy). I think they want to be sure our sites are in fact suited for bicycling before we purchase them. Well, I’m certain I don’t need to reassure any of you that I’ll DEFINITELY be using one. Aside from my love of two wheels, my site is PERFECT for one. My office is about 1.5 miles from my house, and there’s a great, low-traffic paved road heading north outta town for a few miles with a fairly moderate grade that’s giving me the itch… I suppose a bicycle will be my Christmas gift to myself (and/or from PC :) ).

I also spent a fair chunk of time at the district post office today, and, after many questions and confusions in both english and nepali, I finally figured out how to receive mail in this town (yes, I’ll share!). If you really think about it, their response is really quite straight forward and simple, but when one is used to the hyper-organization of our western postal system, it’s a bit surprising. After learning that they actual post office boxes do not exist, the postal attendant proceeded to write the Nepali equivalent of:
Baglung District, neighborhood 11, next to the big katar tree.
I looked at her, thinking “Are you serious?” then asking more questions (“Will mail actually be delivered to that ‘address’?”). I never got a straight answer (I’m not sure I properly communicated the question), but it sounds like letters will be sent to whatever building I describe to them. No, there are no street addresses – most streets don’t even have names. And no, there are no zip or other postal codes. Then I asked about packages that require a custom fee, and the attendant instructed me to have everyone write my phone number on the outside of the package so she could call me to come pick them up and to pay. This, writing my phone number on a package, felt a little odd to me. (Am I behind the times? Are phone numbers written on fed-ex type deliveries in the states?). And I am obviously reluctant to increase the chances that any package won’t make it to me. So I came up with what I hope is a safe solution: all of my mail can be sent to the District Agriculture Development Office, where I work. If I receive a package, she can simply inform someone in my office that I need to come get it. Easy. (Don’t worry, I’ll send it in an email too):
Amanda Bensel
District Agriculture Development Office
Baglung, Ward No. 1, Kalika Municipality, Baglung District, Nepal
— OR (if you want to be extra sure, or fancy, or something) —
Amanda Bensel, Peace Corps Swayamsevika
Baglung Jillaa Krishi Bikaash Kaaryaalaya
Baglung Bazar, Ward No. 1, Kalika Municipality, Baglung Jillaa, Nepal

Suffice it to say, I feel as if I’ve had a very productive first week! To top it off, one of my host-cousins is getting married friday/saturday (weddings are multi-day events here). So looks like I’ll be attending my first Nepali wedding too! I’ll definitely letcha know how it goes.

Best from Nepal
– Amanda (or Aminda, or Amendra. Tapaailaai kuun kuun manparchha – whichever you like!)