Sunday 30 November 2014

Life on the Roof

Pretty much every house in Nepal comes with an accessible flat roof. This is where people can hang their washing to dry, access their water tanks and, as the winter approaches, it is also where more and more people spend their time trying to keep warm.

Winter here is dry and sunny, but cold. Temperatures very rarely drop below freezing, but with no heating and poor insulation houses get pretty cold, so during the day the best place to be is out in the sunshine.

We are very fortunate in that we have a nice big roof which is almost as big as our flat directly below. We are also the only ones who use it most of the time, so through the winter months the children have enjoyed cycling (although they are getting a little big for the space now), playing ball games (although it's a long trek down 3 flights to get the ball if it goes over the edge) and drawing with chalk on the roof.

While supervising the children Dan and I usually spend our time enjoying the mountain views and people watching. Our building has 3 flats so our third floor rooftop is one of the tallest in the area so we can see others around on their roof tops as well as the streets below. We often see children playing or being bathed in the sun, women combing each other’s hair, or just folk having a nap in the warm! It’s a great vantage point to watch Nepali life unfold.

No comments: