Smile :)

Walking along this morning, I was puzzling over various cultural habits inherent in Nepal. Coming from Scotland, and having experienced the welcoming shouts (or at least the continuous cries from groups of children of, “Teacher, give money”) in Tanzania, I find the total lack of recognition of my presence quite surprising. I’m not saying that I expect people to pay me huge amounts of attention, but you would think that, considering I am the only white person for miles around, in an area of Nepal where tourists and volunteers aren’t an everyday occurrence, people might offer a friendly smile or at least a questioning look of “Why on earth are you here in my village”?

But no. For the large part, I wander through the village each morning on my way to the temple and I’m completely left to my own thoughts. I’m not really complaining because I do like a good pondering-session in the morning, its just not what I was expecting.

Stemming from this, I’ve concluded that the smile is not a forte of Nepal. Think about the role of the smile in Scotland (and in most countries bar Nepal). We use it to indicate happiness and pleasure. It is used as a form of welcome, and also as a subtle acknowledgement of someone’s presence in a situation where an open “Hello” might not seem entirely appropriate. With this background, I continually offer my most appealing smile to people I pass, but I am rarely rewarded with a smile in return. Initially I was worried by my low ‘smile-back’ success rate but I have learnt now that it is simply not a cultural habit out here. I don’t think its that people are unhappy or that they don’t like me (at least I hope this is the case), and saying that, I do see people smiling in a more general way. Relating to the famous smile, what I find most amusing is their universal determination to look as miserable as possible in photos! Of the many family photos I’ve been shown (of which everyone is very proud, and as soon as you enter their house, they sit you down to show you their album), I have seen not one single smile. On Muna’s birthday, I took a photo of me and the family, in which I am beaming away in my usual photo pose, while everyone else has their mouth firmly shut and their face set in the most stern expression!

Relating to linguistic habits, I am still getting used to the lack of courteousy in Nepali. Muna told me off last night for always trying to translate “please” and “thank-you” in my limited efforts at Nepali. Instead she told me that you just say “Give me” etc, and that it is only foreigners who use “Namaste” (what we are told is the equivalent to “hello”) on a regular basis. Apparently they never say “good morning” to each other, nor do they offer any formal acknowledgement of one’s presence or their thanks in relation to someone else’s kindness. It all seems rather bizarre to me and I find that it further inhibits my attempts at communication and interaction with the locals because I don’t want to use unusual courteousy but yet, I don’t know what else to say to someone!

I’m finding all of these cultural insights very interesting and rather amusing at points, as I allow myself a little chuckle at the subtle differences between national cultures. Please don’t get me wrong concerning my insights. I am not saying that the Nepali people are unwelcoming or unfriendly, but simply that they don’t express their feelings towards me as a foreigner in the way I might have expected! Indeed, the family and Krishna, as well as various other contacts in the village, have been incredibly welcoming, and it is through them that I have slowly come to understand more about Nepalese habits.