Gopuli

It’s my new nickname. A family in the village of Simayal decided Kathleen was either too hard to say or not pretty enough, so they decided I should henceforth be called Gopuli, Gopu for short. Now, at every family we visit I am introduced as Kathleen and as Gopuli, and people only ever seem to remember the nickname. I don’t mind, it’s a nice name, but whether I like it or not I think it’s stuck. It’s extra funny to me because to me it sounds like someone is saying ‘Go poo, Li’ all the time :P. Also...if anyone could tell me what Gopuli means, that would be great. It might be Kumaoni or Hindi, I’m not sure which.

The families we meet in the villages are incredibly welcoming and kind to us, complete strangers who are affiliated with Chirag and are doing ‘health work’. Something I’ve noticed both in Tibet and here is that although many of these families are relatively poor, they are so, so generous and hospitable. They insist on going through the trouble of making us chai, giving us oranges (the only fruits besides lemons that are in season) to take back with us, and offering us all sorts of snacks like crackers and guguta. Rural life is such a quiet, peaceful (albeit slow) life. People are patient, helpful, sincere. These qualities stood out even more in light of our trip to Nainital today, a very touristy town. There, people hounded us to take taxis and rickshaws, or to get our pictures taken by the lake. People tried to rip us off left and right, charging 800 Rs to get back to Sitla when it had taken us only 100 Rs to get there. It was good to get a meal with meat and to buy some grapes (I miss fruit more than I miss meat, I think), but I agree with many of the other people who have worked in the area that Nainital is definitely not the greatest place to be. If you want to visit rural India in an enjoyable way, drive (or be driven) an hour out from Nainital, pull over, and walk down to the nearest home you see. They’ll definitely invite you to sit and have some chai, even if you can hardly put 2 words together in Hindi. 

Speaking of Hindi, that brings me to a significant obstacle I’m facing. I have a pretty decent (usable) vocabulary of Hindi but for the life of me I can't figure out how to conjugate verbs. I could probably pick up conversational Hindi in a couple months, but by then I'd have wasted half my time here just learning the language. My options are a) use a translator and b) find a Hindi tutor and study intensively 2x/week for a month. Basically right now if I don't go somewhere with Pulkit I can't have a conversation with people. This wouldn't be a problem except we're working on different projects and I hate being dependent on someone. With a translator, I'd be 'freed', but I'd still be trying to communicate through someone else. Some people have told me that even the translators around here don't speak great English, so how much would I really be gaining? Also, the rate at which I learn Hindi would slow b/c there's less necessity for it. Ideally I think I'd like the Hindi tutor option but the problem is finding someone who speaks English and can give structured Hindi lessons around here. 

Dinner time! (I miss the variety of foods you can find in the US...variety is such a luxury...)