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Nepal Part 1 Vocabulary Lesson

Hi. Hello, welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Nepal Part 1.” Now this conversation has two parts. In the conversation, Joe and I are talking about two separate trips we each took to Nepal. I went with my boyfriend at the time in 2001 and Joe went with his girlfriend at the time in 2004.

Okay, let’s begin.

At the beginning of the conversation, Joe says, “Hey, when we were at Tim’s house the other night, did you see all those pictures he had hanging up?” And then I said, after laughing, “Yeah, I did.

Those really surprised me because they weren’t there the last time we were there.” So both Joe and I had been at Tim’s. Tim was my boyfriend that I had gone to Nepal with, now my ex-boyfriend. We had been at Tim’s house and he had put up some pictures on the wall that were not there the last time Joe and I had been there. So that’s what we’re talking about. It was just a bunch of different pictures.

Then Joe says, after laughing, “Yeah, you’re right. That must have really been a walk down memory lane because you were in a lot of those pictures.”

A walk down memory lane. That’s an idiom. So basically what Joe was saying to me was, that must have really been or that must have made you think back to that particular time. Because you were in a lot of those pictures. Or that must have really helped you remember that time or that trip. Because you were in a lot of those pictures. A walk down memory lane. Now an example of a walk down memory lane would be: It’s such a walk down memory lane whenever I visit my hometown, Gainesville, Georgia. It takes me back to memories of growing up there.

Okay, then in the conversation I say, “Yeah, it was.”

And I’m referring to the pictures being memorable for me. They helped me remember that time in Nepal.

Then Joe says, “Y’know, there’s this one that’s sticking out in my mind where you have all this paint on your face.”

When Joe first says, y’know… Now that’s something that we would say a lot in conversation. Or you would hear a lot in conversational English. But not really see it in written English. So, it’s basically just combining “you” and “know” and asking, you know? Basically, do you understand? So Joe is saying, y’know, there’s this one that’s sticking out in my mind. So what he’s saying or what he’s mentioning to me is there’s this one picture that’s present or it’s there in my mind… it’s sticking out in my mind… where you have all this paint on your face. Another way of looking at it is Joe is saying to me. There’s this one picture that I’m remembering more than any other one, where you have all this paint on your face. So that’s sticking out in my mind. An example of that would be: I saw a butterfly the other day in the back yard. It’s sticking out in my mind because the colors of its wings were beautiful.

Okay, then in the conversation I say, “Oh, no, no, that wasn’t paint. That was colored powder. That, um, that actually was taken during a festival that Tim and I participated in when we were in Katmandu.”

So what I’m saying is Tim, my boyfriend at the time, we participated in or we joined in this particular festival that was going on in Katmandu at the time. And I’m not exactly sure what the festival, what the importance of the festival was. I do remember there was a lot of water being squirted out of squirt guns. And a lot of colored powder, I remember mostly red and blue, that Nepalis would come up and put on people. So they had come up and put a lot on my face and in my hair. So we participated in or we joined in this festival in Katmandu.

And then I go on to say, “It was, it’s called Holi.”

So the name of the festival is Holi.

“It’s just a water and colored powder festival.” And then Joe says, “Oh, nice. Oh I loved Katmandu.” And then I go on to say, “Yeah, oh god, I loved Katmandu. Y’know, when I arrived in Katmandu, it was just such an assault on my senses, in a, in a positive way, in a good way.” An assault on my senses. So what I’m… What I’m basically saying is that when I arrived in Katmandu, everything about Katmandu was affecting me at once or influencing me at once. For example, like the smells, the sounds, the sights. So it was all an assault on my senses. Now assault can be used at times in a negative way, like as an attack or someone hitting another person or beating up another person. But in this sense, and that’s why I say, it was an assault on my senses in a positive way, in a good way. So in this particular situation, assault is very positive. I am saying all these, all these things, the sights, the sounds, the smells of Katmandu affected me in a really good way. An example of assault on my senses would be: I can remember my first Grateful Dead concert was so exciting because it was such an assault on my senses.

Okay, moving on then Joe says, “Yeah, yeah, I mean there are so many things about it once you get there that just stay in your mind, like the sounds, the smell, um, the people. My gosh.” Stay in your mind. What Joe is saying is there are so many things about Katmandu that you just won’t forget, like the sounds, the smells, the people. Or there are so many things about it, about Katmandu, that once you get there it would just be difficult to not remember them. Or it would be difficult to lose the memory of them, such as the sounds, the smell, the people. An example of stay in your mind would be: Whenever I go to a movie theatre, the smell of popcorn is so good and so strong that it stays in my mind until the next time I go. I can always remember that smell. At the end of Joe’s sentence there, after he’s talking about the sights, the sounds, the smells staying in your mind, he says, my gosh. Now, that’s just a way of showing emotion in a positive or a good way. Another example would have been if he had said, “My god.” or “Wow.” or “Jeez.” It’s just a way of showing emotion.

Okay moving on. Then I say, “Oh yeah.” And then Joe says, “I had a ball when I was there.” Now what he’s saying is, I had a ball, is I had a good time when I was there. Or I had a lot of fun when I was there. I had a ball. Example of I had a ball would be: I had a ball at the music festival a few weeks ago. It was so much fun. I had a ball.

He goes on to say, “And y’know, I think actually… I think I would just say hands down Nepal must be one of my favorite places in the entire world.”

Hands down. What he is saying here is, I think I would just say definitely Nepal must be one of my favorite places in the entire world. Or I think I would just say without a doubt Nepal must be one of my favorite places in the entire world. Hands down. An example of hands down would be to say: Hands down, orange and brown are some of my favorite colors. I just really like them. Now at the end of that sentence, Joe says, hands down Nepal must be one of his favorite places in the entire world. Entire meaning the whole world.

He goes on to say, “I mean the people there just make you feel so at home. They’re so accommodating.”

Or in other words, they’re so helpful.

“They’re so friendly. I mean they’ll bend over backwards to do whatever they can for you.” Okay, so feel so at home. This idiom is essentially, what Joe is saying is… I mean the people there just make you feel so comfortable. So at ease. Feel so at home. An example would be: I like to be around people who make me feel so at home because I like to be stress free and feel at ease. Who doesn’t, right?

Then he goes on to say, yeah, the Nepali people make him feel so at home, so comfortable, so at ease.

They’re so accommodating. They’re so helpful. They’re so friendly. I mean they’ll bend over backwards to do whatever they can for you. Bend over backwards. Basically what he is saying here is, I mean they’ll do almost anything to do whatever they can for you. I mean they’ll be very helpful. They’ll do whatever they can for you. Bend over backwards. An example of bend over backwards: I’ve eaten two times in a Nepali restaurant here in San Francisco. I love to eat there because the food is so good. And the owner and staff really bend over backwards to make sure I’m taken very good care of by, for example, constantly checking to see if I need more food, more drinks, asking me if the food is good, etc., etc.

Okay, then I say (back to the conversation), “Yeah, I totally agree. I love Nepal, too.” Then Joe, “Y’know, the other thing I loved was, uh, the mountains there. I mean you, I don’t think you can really speak of that country without speaking about the mountains.”

So, he’s just talking about how he really likes the mountains there. They are, they’re beautiful. And he’s saying… You know, I don’t know how anyone can talk about Nepal and not talk about the mountains.

Then I go on to say, “Oh yeah, well did you notice the one picture of Tim and I with the mountains in the background?”

So what I’m saying here is… Did you notice the picture of Tim and I where the mountains are behind us?

They’re in the background.

“When some people have, when other people have looked at that picture of us…” And then Joe, “Mm-hm.” And then I finish saying, “they thought it was very surreal.” So they thought it wasn’t even real, is what I’m saying. They thought it was very surreal.

“they didn’t, they thought it was like a backdrop.”

So what I’m saying here is, and this is really true… When people looked at my pictures from Nepal, they just thought that’s not real. Those mountains in the background are not real. They’re very surreal. They look…

They don’t look real. They thought it was like a backdrop. A backdrop being like a fake picture behind Tim and I.

Then Joe goes on to say, “Yeah, I got the same response when I showed pictures to my aunt that I had taken, uh, when I was trekking.”

So trekking is hiking, intense hiking, difficult hiking. So both Joe and I, when we were in Nepal, we went on hikes, or treks, for many days.

Then Joe says, “Speaking of which…”

Or what he’s saying essentially is that makes me think. Or that reminds me. Speaking of which.

“that was one of the highlights of my entire trip to Nepal was trekking.” So what he’s saying is one of the highlights, the best thing to him about his trip to Nepal was the trek that he did, or this hike, for many days.

“I mean, uh, I trekked to the Annapurna region and, uh, just had an amazing time. And, uh, I’ll tell ya, I would love to do that again.” So he went to an area of Nepal, which is a very popular area to go trekking. It’s called the Annapurna region.

You know a lot of people go to Mount Everest or they go to Annapurna. So he happened to go to Annapurna.

And he’s saying, you know, he loved it so much he would do it again.

Then he goes on to say, “The trek was memorable.”

So, memorable… It left a memory with him. It was something that he will remember.

Okay so, “The trek was memorable, not only because of all the beautiful, uh, scenery that I saw but when I went on the trek I went with a guide and a porter.”

So when he’s talking about scenery… Scenery usually consists of mountains, lakes, trees, etc. So the scenery on his trek was beautiful, as I’m sure you can imagine. It was on mine as well. He went on his trek with a guide. Someone who… A guide is someone who leads a group. So he had a guide, a leader of the group, and there was a porter. A porter is someone who carries other people’s belongings, or stuff. So there was a porter who was helping to carry his stuff. His girlfriend’s stuff as well.

Okay, then I go on to say, “Yeah.”

I’m agreeing with him that, basically, that the scenery on my trek as well was beautiful.

Then Joe says, “And, uh, the guide’s name was Binaya. And he had a master’s degree in conflict resolution, specifically studying the Maoist struggle that was going on with the government. So…” So, his guide, named Binaya, had a master’s degree. A master’s degree is a higher degree. It’s a degree past four years of regular college or university. So his guide had a master’s degree in conflict resolution.

Conflict meaning fight. Resolution meaning a solution, something you can solve. And his master’s degree being in conflict resolution was very specific or very focused on one thing and that being the Maoist struggle.

A struggle is kind of like a fight as well, or, yeah basically, like a fight. Maoist means, or Maoists… Maoists are a group of people who did not like the government and they wanted to change or replace it in Nepal. So he got a master’s degree in conflict resolution specifically focused on the Maoist struggle, this group in Nepal that was wanting to replace the government.

So then I say, “Oh, interesting.”

I just found that really interesting. His guide had a master’s degree in this. I think it would have been fascinating to have been on this trek and found out all of that information about what was going on at that time in Nepal.

So Joe says, “Yeah, it really, yeah, it really gave me a glimpse into, y’know, what was really going on.”

So he’s saying it really gave me a glimpse. It really let me see what was going on in the country at that time, which I think is so cool.

And then I say, “Yeah.”

Agreeing with him, right?

And then Joe says, “So, so I really enjoyed that. And then the porter who was with us was this guy named Dipesh and…” And then I respond, “Uh-huh.”

Like yeah, tell me more.

And Joe says, “Oh my gosh.”

Oh my gosh. Oh wow is what he is saying.

“This guy was so funny. He was like in his early twenties…”

So he’s twenty-something, 21, 22, 23.

“and he really liked to party. And he loved music. And he loved American music also…” So what he is saying is this guy liked to party. He liked to have fun. He liked to have a good time.

And I respond, “Uh-huh.”

Like, yeah, tell me more.

And Joe says, “or western music, I should say.”

So not just American music. He didn’t mean to make it specific to American music. He saying, no I mean he liked all of western music.

“And he actually taught me how to sing a few Nepali songs. So…” and he laughs and I laugh.

I can just picture this right, Joe singing some Nepali songs.

And Joe says, “Yeah, so that was a lot of fun. And, yeah, the entire time that I was on the trek, Binaya was telling me about the Maoist, y’know, conflict that was going on. And then, sure enough, we actually saw some Maoists when we were trekking.”

So just like I was thinking and would have enjoyed myself, Binaya (having the master’s degree in the conflict resolution focusing on the Maoist struggle) is telling Joe all about this on the trek. And he is saying, sure enough or most definitely we ended up seeing some Maoists when we were trekking.

So then I say, “Oh really?” And Joe says, “Yeah, we went on this, we woke up this one morning. And we went to this one hilltop known as Poon Hill and…” And I’m saying, “Uh-huh.”

Uh-huh. Yeah. I want to hear more. So they woke up really early in the morning and went up to the top of a hill, the name of it being Poon Hill. This is what he’s telling me.

And then he goes on to say, “because we wanted to see the sunrise. So we woke up at like five in the morning. I mean, y’know, it was so early that it was still dark and you could see your breath as you were walking. So we got up there and, y’know, had a great time watching the sunrise. The sights were beautiful. So then we were walking down, uh, from the hill because it was about a 45 minute walk back…”

Down or back.

“to the guest house…”

So Joe woke up at five in the morning, which is unbelievable to begin with. When he wakes up this early, five in the morning, he’s talking about how early it was. It was still dark. You could see your breath. What he’s saying here is… This idiom is, he could see the air when he was breathing out because it was so cold. See your breath. An example of that would be: I like when I can see my breath in the winter. I like to pretend that I’m blowing out smoke from a fake cigarette. So they got up to the top. It’s so cold they can see their breath.

And had a great time just watching the sunrise. And everything was beautiful, right? And then he’s talking about they walked back down the hill. It took them about 45 minutes to walk back to the guest house. A guest house is just a budget or cheap hotel.

So then I say, “Uh-huh.”

Tell me more. Tell me more. I want to hear more.

So Joe says then, “there were some Maoists that were waiting at the bottom of the hill and, um…

What they were, uh, waiting for from each tourist was a donation, as they called it.” So here they come down to the bottom of the hill and there are Maoists right there. And they were waiting for all the tourists to come down. It’s probably a spot where they have chosen because a lot of tourists do this…

They’ll wake up in the morning, once they’re on their trek. Climb to the top of this hill to watch the sunrise.

Come down. And there the Maoists get them, or greet them by asking for a donation. A donation, as they called it. A donation is an offering of money.

So I laugh. Joe then says, “Basically what they said was when you come into the country you pay the Nepali government a visa fee…”

So what he’s saying here is the Maoists are telling the tourists, you… When you come in, when you fly into Katmandu, you have to pay the government this price to enter the country, this visa fee.

And I respond, “Uh-huh.” And Joe says, “Well, y’know…”

He’s still talking about the Maoists now.

“Well, y’know, they don’t oversee this part of the country. We do. So it’s like you’re paying us a visa fee.”

So the Maoists are telling them, you paid the government this visa fee, this payment, to enter Nepal. But the government is not, they don’t oversee this part of the country. They don’t control this part of the country. We do. So it’s like you’re paying us a visa fee, here.

And then I say, “Oh.” And then Joe, “So, they actually give you a receipt.” A receipt is a piece of paper that shows a proof of payment. It shows you’ve paid for something.

So he says, “So, they actually give you a receipt. And then if you see Maoists anytime later on, you show them the receipt and they just let you pass by.”

So after you… You pay them this visa fee that they ask for, you show them the piece of paper, if a Maoist stopped you after that. You could show the piece of paper, which says you’ve paid. And then they’ll just let you pass by. They’ll let you go by. They’ll let you go on. You’re okay in other words.

So then I laugh and I say, “Oh, wow.” And Joe says, “Yeah. So, uh, y’know, after, uh, paying off the Maoists…” and he laughs, “we went down to eat breakfast at the guest house. And sure enough there were a couple of Maoists there who were making sure that everyone had their receipt and that everyone had paid. So.”

Okay, so he’s saying after paying off the Maoists… Paying off. Paying off is giving payment to, giving money to. Paying off the Maoists. An example of that would be: I can remember paying off my bank for my first car loan. I was so happy and proud. Oh, that was a great day. So they go eat breakfast. And after they pay off the Maoists (give them money) they go eat breakfast at their guest house. And there were some Maoists in there. And they were walking around to everyone asking to see their receipt. They wanted to make sure they had all paid.

So then I laugh. And Joe says, “Yeah, I actually had one of the Maoists come down and sit and eat breakfast with me.” And I laugh again.

I’m thinking oh my goodness, this just sounds crazy. I can’t imagine a Maoist coming and sitting down with me to eat breakfast.

So then Joe goes on to say, “He was like a public relations guy.”

Public relations guy. That is referring to someone who works for a company or, in this situation, a group.

And that person talks about the good of the group or the company to other people. So this guy, this Maoist that comes and sits and eats breakfast with him, he’s like a public relations guy. He’s telling Joe all about the Maoists.

So yeah, “He was like a public relations guy, y’know. He was telling me about the Maoist struggle.

And, y’know, so, uh, so it was interesting to hear what he had to say. And I even got a shot of him and me together. So…”

Alright, so Joe’s listening, he’s interested in what the Maoist has to say. And he even got a shot of him. Got a shot of. In other words, he got a picture or a photograph of this Maoist. For example: I got a shot of the building where the Guinness beer is made when I was in Dublin, Ireland last week. I think it was a pretty good picture. I got a shot of it.

Okay, so then Joe goes on to say, “So it was kind of like proof that I had actually, y’know, been interacting with the Maoists.”

So he’s saying I took this picture so it would show proof. It would show that I really had done this. I had really been sitting there talking to this Maoist, interacting with him.

And I just had this image in my head so I laughed.

Okay, that concludes the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Nepal Part 1.” Hope you enjoyed it. See you again next time.