It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted, but now, as the 3rd year Indev students are starting to choose placements, I thought I’d write about what a typical day on placement is actually like here.
A typical weekday:
• I generally start my day waking up around 8:30am. I’m one of the lucky ones because my work doesn’t start until 10am and it’s really close so I don’t actually have to leave until 9:55am to get there on time.
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My incredibly long walk to work (not!) |
• At 10am I start work. I have my own cubicle there where I sit. How much work I do there typically depends on the week. Sometimes I’m actually out meeting with website developers a lot and some weeks I’m within the office the entire time.
• Generally, I go to lunch somewhere around 12:30/1ish, either staying at the office, or meeting up with friends at CECI office. After lunch I return to the office and work until 5pm.
• Right now, I go to Nepali language class 3 times a week at 6:30pm (2 days for speaking, 1 for learning the script). Generally, I leave early to catch the last TukTuk out of Baluwatar (around 6pm) and hang out at a coffee shop until class.
• After class, we go to dinner somewhere. Right now we are 4 Indev students living at the CECI Passage House, as well as another volunteer, so we generally do meals out together. Most meals we eat out rather than cooking. There are lots of restaurants around where you can get a cheap meal (Some places you can find a full meal for under ~$1, while other more expensive places it can be closer to ~$5). We can cook at home but it isn’t that much cheaper and due to power outages (12 hours a day right now), nothing will keep long in the fridge.
• After dinner we usually just hang out until we go to bed. We might watch movies or just talk, or skype with people back home. I go to bed pretty early here, usually by 10 or 11. In Nepal, most people go to bed by 9pm and we have actually been shushed for talking too loudly in the street at that time.
On the weekends:
• The weekends are when we have the most time to actually do things. We try to get out and do a little bit every weekend (even if it takes more motivation for some people).
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Having a relaxing weekend in Nagarkot |
• I love getting out of Kathmandu as much as possible. Just to getaway from the pollution and the noise is so nice and I actually find I forget what peace and quiet is until I leave the city. There’s lots of places to escape that aren’t too far away such as Nagarkot, Bhaktapur, etc.
• Within Kathmandu, there’s also tons of hiking to do on the outskirts of the valley. This is one thing I want to do more because there’s so much to explore this way. 2 weekends ago, we walked up to a monastery that was very close to the city.
• I love just walking around and shopping on the weekends when there’s no rush to go anywhere- there’s so much to see and I love the clothing here, it’s so colourful. I’ve bought a couple kurtas and a sari and I’m hoping to buy more before I come home.
• Sometimes we’ll go out to a bar or club on Friday night. There’s not a huge nightlife here but there’s a few places where we can have a great night out.
• Lounging. Probably what we end up doing most is just lounging around. At the CECI Passage House we have an amazing rooftop and I put up a hammock as well. So this weekend, we spent half of it just hanging out together on the roof, playing ukulele, reading, dancing, and chatting. Nothing wrong with a little R&R!
This is just a quick example of the ways we spend our time here on placement. If you’d like more details on any specific aspects of life in Nepal, feel free to leave a question in the comments section.