For the past month I have been staying in a remote village in West Bengal called Daragaon. It is an hour walk from the nearest road and a 2-3 hour walk from the nearest town, Rimbik. Rimbik is about five hours by jeep from Darjeeling. Daragaon is very close to Sikkim and from the village is a beautiful view of Sikkim and the rolling foothills of the Himalaya, as well as of Darjeeling.
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| View out my bedroom window |
The village is Nepali-speaking and the majority of the residents are Rai in ethnicity and Hindu in religion. There are also Sherpa, Tamang and other ethnicities, as well as Buddhists and Christians. My main goal in the village is to learn as much Nepali language as possible.
I am staying with a local family which includes the principal of the English-language primary school, Red Star Academy. During the week, I help with English lessons for grades 1-6. Compared to American students, the Nepali students are incredibly motivated, well-behaved and eager to learn, but also quiet and afraid to make mistakes. From grade 3 and beyond, they are quite proficient in English and I can give instructions to them with few misunderstandings. All of the classes have English books. This is quite helpful for the older grades, but for grades 1 and 2 they are utterly useless, as their understanding of English is quite little and everything would need to be translated into Nepali (which, needless to say, is far beyond my ability). For these students, I must be more creative and use a mixture of games, drawing and other activities.
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| Red Star Academy |
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| School Grounds |
The region's staple food is rice. In general, it is eaten twice a day with vegetables which are grown in the village. Rice isn't grown in Daragaon as the elevation is too high, but many vegetables such as potatoes, green beans, squash and others are grown here.
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| Typical meal of rice, green beans and soup |
Commonly a meal like this will be eaten twice in a day, once around 9 am and once around 6 pm. It is also common to make "roti" from rice flour, and eat that with a meal instead of rice.
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| Rolling the "puri" so it's ready to fry |
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| Frying in mustard oil |
There is also an abundance of tea, which is consumed in very large
quantities. I drink between 5 and 10 cups of tea per day, usually with
milk and sometimes with sugar or salt. Since there are only two main meals in a day, it's common to have a snack in between the meals, such as my favorite of tea and corn.
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| My daily afterschool snack |
Cooking is commonly done over a fire with a stove such as the one seen below. Many families also have gas stoves but it is more common to use a traditional stove.
I've been able to be able to partake in several Hindu "pujas" or prayers. Several times I have gone to a local house and prayed with them to an Indian guru, called SaiBaba. Although I'm never really sure what is happening, it is a fascinating experience nonetheless.
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| Offerings |
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| SaiBaba, as well as Hindu Gods |
I recently got the opportunity to go to two different wedding receptions. The first was a Buddhist Sherpa wedding and the second Hindu Rai, but the structure was quite similar for both.
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| Site of the Buddhist Sherpa Wedding |
Upon first arriving, we were ushering into a sort of waiting room where we were given soft drinks and light snacks. After a little while there, we were led to a buffet which included rice, roti, lentils, meat (for the Sherpa wedding only), and a variety of vegetables and other foods that I can't identify.
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| Buffet Room |
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| Sherpa ladies in traditional dress |
After eating we went into the house where we got to see the bride and groom. They weren't keen to have their picture taken, but everyone else there was.
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| Shy Bride and Groom? |
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| Offerings |
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| Buddhist Monks |
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| Family, eager to have their photo taken |
The second wedding followed an almost identical structure, but was slightly larger in size. The bride and groom were prominently displayed.
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| Very dressed up, and slightly bored? |
I've been in the village for a month now and am really enjoying the experience. Everything is so different, which means I am learning a lot. I'll stay in the area until my visa expires in December, at which point I'll be returning to Nepal.
