I’ve noticed that time goes by at a different speed in the children’s home.
The day starts early and goes on relaxed. While the boys are at the school, there’s literally not much to do. I eat some fruits, read a book, write, try to learn some Nepali with the help of Sushma… Sometimes I go back to sleep for a short nap, as my body is still not used to the heat and I feel tired quite often.
When the boys come back, it’s a totally different thing.
Of course, I can still have some time for myself and just stay in my room (chilling under the fan, when I can’t stand the heat any more), but once I leave my room, there’s always something for me to do, watch or photograph. “You play marble game?” is one of the recurrent questions I get. Other times it’s cricket, hide and seek or flying a kite. Some boys are really creative and enjoy showing me the things they have built with some cardboar and glue. I’m amazed, every single time.
A funny time is when, twice a day, the boys do their homework, and Sushma and I help them.
They enjoy reading out loud their exercises and showing me their good marks. Sometimes they ask me to read them a story of one of the books that are in the shelf, or they grab a photograph book and play to imagine that they live in the places shown in the pictures. “This is my house”, says Ramesh pointing at some San Francisco buildings.
Occassionally the boys watch TV or a film. I can’t tell what’s more entertaining for me: their concentrated faces or the Nepali movies or music clips, wich I don’t understand but make the boys laugh.
Around 8pm we usually have dinner: dal bhat, a plate of rice with a lentils soup and some vegetables and pickles one the side.
After that, we usually play some Nepali music and the boys dance. They are so good! By now, I have gotten used to this kind of music, so I try to copy some dance moves without making a fool of myself. And I have the best time. If this is what routine looks like, I’m not complaining!
