This past Wednesday I met with Jinmin again. For about the first few minutes we caught up
on the past week’s activities and then we started talking about spring
break. She said that her and her husband
were planning on staying in Indiana for spring break and they were going to
visit caves or something. My heart wept
because I don’t know why anyone would want to stay in Indiana for spring
break. But putting that aside, I told
her I hoped that she had a good time.
Later that week I went to my other weekly activity which was
global café. This time the Nepali
student association of Purdue came to do a presentation on the music and art of
their country. I arrived at 5 o’clock as
usual and helped set up as normal expecting it to be a normal global café. But no.
This particular night things started out slow. Yet by the end of the presentation, as I turned
around, I saw tons of new faces some of which were standing. I learned more than I could have ever wanted
to know about Nepal. For example I think
there are about some 200 languages spoken in their country. The main one is spoken by about 49% of the
population. Also about 89% of the
population practices Hinduism. What
surprised me the most was how much a part of everyday life music is in their
country. Apparently you can’t walk down
the street without hearing some type of music.
Moreover there is a certain type of music associated with many
things. Weddings and numerous festivals
for example all have certain music associated with them. And the festivals never seem to end. Since the country is so diverse in terms of
beliefs much of the Buddhist and Hindu culture mix and often you will find
Buddhists going to the Hindu temples and vice versa. Music is even incorporated into their
movies. And by this I mean they film people
dancing and singing. There are no plots
like in our movies where we have music but it is in the background. After the presentation the students feed the
congregation with traditional Nepali food they had prepared and they played us
a song. It was an enriching experience.
Wow. Sounds like such an awesome experience. Your volunteering is not only helping others but you are learning so much and really experiencing a lot. Everything you do sounds like something way out of my comfort zone but that is what builds personality and that being said I would love experience everything you are. A lot of people will respect your work with these two places and it will only make you a more well rounded person.
ReplyDeleteSo I definitely laughed when you said your heart wept for her because she was staying in Indiana for spring break… I live in Illinois and am staying in my home town for spring break too and let me tell ya, Indiana and Illinois are pretty close on the level of excitement which = none. That is awesome that you learned so much at the student association meeting! Some of the facts that you listed were actually pretty neat and interesting for me to learn about. It reminds me of an assignment I had to do in my engineering class last semester where we had to go to a call out or program of a different culture or something that would expand our knowledge on different cultures. I went to one about Malaysia and thought I would be so bored; but I was wrong. Culturally diverse programs such as these actually are pretty interesting!
ReplyDeleteI also found it funny when you said "I don't know why anyone would want to stay in Indiana for spring break" because I will definitely be here. I agree though, Indiana is not the most desireable location in comparison to Florida. Anyway, I am so glad that you are enjoying your service experience. I was a little confused though. Do you like go set up for these events? And do they occur on a regular basis and discuss different countries/cultures? I think I would like to go watch one of these sometime, so you should tell me next time one is going to happen and maybe we can go together. I, like you, find it really interesting to learn about new cultures and ways of life because I think it really opens us up to new ideas. Some people are so close minded even about learning about different religions than their own, but I think it is okay to inform yourself. That doesn't mean you have to convert or anything. That is also really cool that music plays such an important role in Nepal's society. Honestly, I do not know anything about Nepal so your blog sort of gave me an insight. I hope your service continues to go well!
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that I could share something I learned with you. And my part in all of this is pretty small. Myself and some other volunteers just set up for the event and clean up afterwards but we all stay the whole time for the presentation. You should definitely come to check it out. It’s every Friday and it usually starts around 6pm (although technically I think it’s supposed to start at 5:30. I’ll hit you up and maybe you can go with me sometime when you get the chance.
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