Kyle and I stayed at an NGO called EduVision in Hetauda, Nepal for a little over a month, and while we didn't completely immerse ourselves in Nepali culture and become one with the people, we DID have the opportunity to get to know about 30 Nepali kids between the ages of 12 and 18 while we were there. And these kids rocked. How, exactly? Here's a list with just a few examples:
1. Favorite Food
I asked a lot of the kids what their favorite food was, and the general consensus was a mango. Not Sour Patch Kids, or Doritos, or MacDonald's french fries, or corn dogs. But a fruit. They like this fruit so much that if you take a hike somewhere and there happens to be a mango tree along the way, they'll stop for a good 30 minutes trying to knock down as many mangoes as they can carry home. Ripe or not, any mango is a delicacy as far as these kids are concerned. If you asked American kids of the same age if they would consider any fruit as a favorite food, they'd most likely make a disgusted face and go back to eating Oreos and diabetes.
2. Favorite Hobbies
An interesting trend that's currently all over Nepal (and the rest of Asia) is to wear Angry Birds clothing. Guys, girls, children, adults- you see it on everyone. For the one or two people unfamiliar with Angry Birds, it's a video game available on just about any touch screen mobile device that allows you to use your finger to launch little cartoon birds at green pigs housed in collapsible forts. The game has become so successful that it's taken the entire world by storm, generating millions of dollars in game sales, merchandizing, clothing lines, and even a few sequels. And the best part about it is that in Nepal, nobody knows what the hell the game is. When I questioned one of the girls on the Angry Birds picture on her shirt, the conversation went like this:
Me (pointing to her shirt): Sabita, you like Angry Birds?
Sabita: Yes, it is an Angry Bird! I love.
Me: Yeah, but what about the game 'Angry Birds'? Are you any good at the video game?
Sabita (confused): Video... game?
My point here is that along with being the hapless victims of global marketing and merchandizing, Nepali kids don't know what video games are. Or they just don't play them. Television is occasionally found in a household, but it's not common. And the internet is something that's about as easy to locate as the Himalayan Yeti. (It's there, just impossible to find.)
