Adolescent Audiences

I went down to the courtyard at lunch time and found about thirty adolescent boys and girls eating lunch. I had heard them in a nearby room throughout the morning, and assumed they were having classes. After I sat for awhile, a couple of the girls “namaste’d” me, and I asked “sancai?” (“how are you?”). They giggled and returned the greeting. Then one of the older boys walked right up and sat down and said, “Do you speak Nepali?” As soon as he did that, the entire crowd gathered around, as if they were waiting for someone to be so bold. We had a little conversation (more English than Nepali). They weren’t in school here, but in a special three-day class to learn about HIV and AIDS. I had heard them singing earlier, so I asked them about it and they said they were singing the Nepali national anthem, which they then proceeded to sing for me. They wanted to know how old I was and where I lived. When my lunch came they scampered back upstairs to their class, turning around to wave goodbye several times as they went.

This afternoon I was reading in my room when a young man knocked on the door. He checks on us frequently. I told Claire last night I thought he had a little crush on her. He wanted to check if everything was all right and the air conditioning was running OK (it actually wasn’t—I think it frequently overloads the circuits). He stayed to give me a Nepali lesson and to receive an English lesson from me. He could write English letters, and I don’t think he could really conceive of the idea that I could not read one letter of Nepali. He just kept writing things down for me to read. He too wanted to know how old I was. What’s with that? His name is Dharmendra, and he is 19 years old, and he lives in the next town, Ithari. When Claire and I first saw him yesterday he was wearing a green and white World Cup hat with three furry soccer balls on top, and playing with a little girl who looked to be about four, who thought he was wonderful.