SIT Staff

Here’s a chance for you to get to know some of the people I’m living and learning with!

Our program really has some of the kindest, most patient, and funniest staff and I feel so lucky to be with them.

Dondaai– cook and entertainer (not a real title but he deserves it), living proof that being funny is directly proportional to your age aka he always makes us laugh and he’s like a loving uncle

Dorjedaai- head cook and a man of few words, yet so cool he can get away with not speaking and you always know what he’s thinking (most likely “be patient, you’ll get to eat it soon”)

Hemdaai- guard and mail keeper, always has a smile on his face and lives in the guard house with Singe

Pramiladidi- housekeeper and giver of compliments, she’s your favorite big sister and I love seeing her smile through the curtain blocking off our classroom from the kitchen

Gyandaai- finance and technology go-to guy, it’s a running joke between us that the only thing I know how to ask him is tapaailaai _____ manparchha? “do you like _____?”. All the language teachers make fun of me for it, but I bet they don’t know that he doesn’t like cats and that his favorite fruits are mangos.

Gopaldaai- gardener, Singe Whisperer, and cool glasses wearer, I promise these glasses are the smallest things you’ve ever seen (in his case, the size of his glasses is inversely proportional to his wisdom). Singe is in love with him and will Namaste with him (the dog gets on his hind legs and puts his front paws together like palms- so cute).

Singe- guard dog and companion, we’re typically jealous of his standard behavior of lying on the porch showing his belly until someone rubs him. He’s figured out that I’m allergic to him, so every morning when he runs to greet me, rather than putting his paws on me, we walk along side each other. When I’m sitting on the ground, he’ll come up and put his face close to mine without touching it while holding eye contact and then he’ll bob his head once and sit as if to say “hi friend! Nice to see you” I like to think I’ve trained him well, but I think he’s just a smart doggie.

Each* can be found in their respective places around the house/grounds but all of them (at least once a day) like to go outside to sit and read the daily paper. During lecture, I often prefer a seat with my back to the window as the sun keeps me warm and alert. However, I sometimes trade that warm Nepali sun in favor of the opportunity to look out the window and observe everyone flipping through the paper- some wearing reading glasses, others drinking chiyaa (tea) and of course, everyone petting Singe- because that very act reveals each of their mannerisms so well. Essentially, they’re all so sweet, quite patient, and so funny. They hear us butchering their language horribly, yet they smile and laugh and encourage us still.

*Singe doesn’t read the paper. Though that’d be a pretty entertaining distraction from class.

 

Our language instructors and lead lecturer are just as amazing (yet I worship them slightly more because they have to put up with us as students). Mina, Chandra, and Sanjib. They each have a great sense of humor and it’s obvious they really care about us and want us to learn and retain as much as we can in such little time. It’s so encouraging and refreshing because they give us so much time and freedom to discover things on our own and to ask the questions that might seem a little funky (but hey, we’re Americans).

Minaji- language teacher, cool big sister, and trickster, she manages to pull off pigtails, pink clips, skinny jeans, a leather jacket, and a nose ring without looking like a mom that tries too hard to be hip or young. I swear she’s actually 25…

Chandraji- language teacher and coolest dresser, he always looks stylish and rolls in on his motorcycle. AND his son (4) has crazy hair just like him (which makes him a cool dad)

Sanjibji- language teacher and jokester, while all of the teachers make jokes, it’s possible Sanjib’s are the best delivered and most accurate, thus, create the most laughter. Plus, he’s got orange hair and a giant grin on his face all the time and is always so sweet.

BASICALLY, never question the coolness of our language teachers. They are all so patient (I can’t emphasize that enough) and we each desire to be them when we “grow up”.

Anilji is our lead lecturer and reminds me of an all-knowing Lawrence Fishburne a’la Matrix (only Nepali). He has such an effective way of lecturing that every lesson becomes a story. He’s so full of facts, quotes, and meaningful anecdotes that I’m not so sure how he doesn’t explode from being so knowledgeable. AND he’s a Jack of all Trades: he’s involved in numerous non-profits, lectures with us, with Tribhuvan University, is a board member on virtually every committee there is in Nepal, and is in charge of the development of the Great Himalayan Trail. Not to mention, he travels to the U.S. and other Western countries to lecture and learn when he can squeeze that in. Unfortunately, since he’s so highly esteemed and in such high demand, we are only graced with his presence about once or twice a week. If only I knew half as much as he does.

**No one’s name actually ends in daai, didi, or ji, those are ways of identifying people (daai- big brother) (didi- big sister) (ji- respect)