Nepal will always hold a special place in our memories for the scenery of the Annapurna trek and for the chance to volunteer and get immersed in the rural life that we have seen so much of on our travels, but had not had the chance to be apart of.  The volunteering was organized thanks to my uncle Bruce Higgs and the Rotary club.  A few years ago Bruce along with the Rotary Club helped build a school in the small village of Phulbari, which is about two hours outside of Kathmandu.  Recently the Rotary Club donated some computers and a large amount of books to the school.  Our project was to help teach some first time computer users the basics and to better organize the books that the school received.  We helped out as much as we could, but as with most places on our travels we could have used more time.  Rabindra helped arranged a home to stay with while we were there for the week, which help make our time there so memorable. 

The moment we arrived the Dhitals (father Rajan, mother Raj Kumari, grandmother Ama, and sons Shree Krishna and Shree Ram) adopted us into their family. We lived with the family in a two storey mud and wood house with no plumbing and infrequent hours of electricity. In the beginning we were a little worried about how we would adjust, but after a day we felt completely at home.  Besides Rajan's dedicated work as a teacher at Phulbari School, the family lives entirely off the land, growing wheat (which we helped them process the first night we arrived), corn, rice and other vegetables. They have one cow and two buffaloes that they milk to sell as well as their personal use.  They also have several bee boxes hung outside the upstairs windows where honey is collected from each year.

There was no such thing as garbage as everything was reused and the odd waste burned. The dishes were washed outside in a bowl filled with water and ashes. Fresh curd (yogurt) was made daily by letting their fresh milk sit for a few days in a container. Can't get much fresher than that! The only processed food that was used regularly was sugar. Vegetables were cut using a small sickle, spices were ground before each meal, and all the food was cooked on an open fire inside the home. For meals, we sat on two inch high wooden stools and learned the proper way to eat with our hands; scooping food into our fingers and flicking the food into our mouths using our thumb. Raj Kumari made some of the freshest, tastious meals we've ever had. We were treated as "gods" by the family and the village and were invited into several neighbours homes to share a meal. We were excited to be apart of a traditional wedding procession and celebration in Phulbari soon after were arrived.

The time Levi and I spent in a small town of Phulbari was one of the most humbling and wonderful experiences we have ever had . We stayed with such a nice Nepali family and being part of an extremely welcoming village for a week was simply amazing.  We consider ourselves very fortunate to have been able to experience Nepali culture and traditions and make some lasting friendships. As a departing gift, the family gave us traditional Nepali costumes. We gave them what we could, a small headlamp and a utility knife.  Phulbari was by far the most difficult palce to leave.  We had a teary goodbye and bused back to Kathmandu for our flight to Delhi and onwards to Bangkok.