Nepal - My Fantastic Four Months!

TIME FOR A CHANGE?
The decision to live with a family in a completely different country, and adopting a completely different way of life, is not to be taken lightly. For the duration of your stay you will experience a total life change as you embrace the culture and try your hardest to become an included member of the family. My time in Nepal was no exception to the rule, living with a family which spread across the whole village!

YOUR DEVELOPMENT AS A HUMAN BEING
It takes courage and a great deal of patience (which you may not have known you had!) to cope with everything from language barriers to often a dramatic change of diet. Its not all a bunch of roses and you will be faced with many frustrating and challenging moments. However these are far outweighed by the positives of gaining brothers, sisters, mums and dads, this as well as an overwhelming sense of achievement! Living with my Nepali family gave me not only increased social skills and personal awareness but of course, more than this, a fantastic once in a lifetime experience.

GIVE AND TAKE
For any relationship to flourish there has to be some degree of give and take, and though at first you may feel useless in your new and strange environment, you will actually be giving your family more than you think. While you will be taking not only shelter, but an awareness of culture, daily meals and the comfort of friendship; you will also have the opportunity to teach your new family about your own country and background. Simply put, you get out what you put in, so be open and seize any opportunity to join family festivals, shopping trips or even simply talk. While living in Nepal, my friend Lucy and I would always help our 'sister' cook in the kitchen and spend the evenings playing cards with the boys or helping to look after the young children. In most cases families who volunteer to house you are extremely altruistic, so remember never to take them for granted and help around the house whenever you can.



LEARNING TO LOVE LENTILS!
This section is in reference to your almost definite change of diet should you choose to live with a family in Asia. In my case I was introduced to the staple meal in Nepal - dal bhat, twice a day at around 6pm and at 9am everyday! This dish is rice and lentils in its basic form, however my family included delicious vegetable curry and pickles and food was in abundance! At first you may find it a challenge to eat the same food twice a day and especially having curry so early in the morning, but it is remarkable how quickly you get used to it and start loving it!
Dal bhat had an addictive nature and as all the ingredients were freshly picked from the farm, it was so tasty and nutritous. In Nepal, meat was seen as a luxury and only used on special occasions such as weddings. I actually decided to become vegetarian for my time abroad; I found vegetables to be far tastier and it also meant avoiding stomach bugs from poorly cooked chicken. Your family may never have tasted other food, such as pasta or pizza and you might like to suggest making them something 'European'. This goes down very well and Lucy and I bought ingredients for a simple tomato pasta from a market in Kathmandu and the family loved it, though we still preferred their Dal Bhat!

GET INVOLVED
I was so fortunate to be staying in Nepal, a country rich in culture and faith. Nepal is actually the only official Hindu country in the World, which meant plenty of wonderful and colourful festivals for us to get involved in! One festival we celebrated is called 'Holi' or 'The festival of colour', which is also celebrated in India. It involved (as far as we understood!) coating each other in red 'teeka' which has the consistency of powder paint - all in good faith and as a way of wishing good luck to friends and family.

If you, like me, are lucky enough to have the opportunity to involve yourself in festivals, weddings, family celebrations - anything - go for it! I won't lie, sometimes you may feel a little silly, shy or out of place; but learning to laugh at yourself is key to your overall enjoyment!

With our family, Lucy and I ended up being part of the village parade celebrating Bisket Jatra (the Nepali new year) in traditional Newari dress. As we walked through the streets the locals were adorable and we really felt at home.

For the mean time I will leave these as the main points I believe are important, should you be considering living with a family in a foreign country. I hope they have helped advise (and persuade!) you to leave your tourist roots behind and throw yourself into a new way of seeing the world!

Here is a link to the Nepal section of Oyster Worldwide's website.

Oyster Worldwide

Or check out their Facebook forum:

Oyster Worldwide Facebook Group

Please check it out for more information and email any enquiries to the manager regarding any foreign travel with the company. I and many others would certainly recommend this company for your Gap Year Adventure!

I also have other lenses relating to travel:

Guide to Good Hostels
Female Travel