My host brother, Satwik (pronounced saht-veek), is a 15 year old from Kathmandu, Nepal. I’ve been living with him, my aamaa (host mom), babaa (host dad), and my hajuraamaa (grandmother) since February 9th and have gotten to know him over these past two months! I call him my bhai, which means little brother in Nepali. To him, I’m his didi, which means big sister. His actual big sister is studying at college in the USA right now.
Satwik eats dal bhaat (lentils with rice) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner most days. I eat breakfast with him in the mornings before he goes to school and often see him eating plain white rice with achar (pickle spice). In between lunch and dinner, we sometimes go to a nearby food stand and buy snacks to eat like pani puri or chatpate. Satwik also makes his own chatpate, which I had the honor of tasting the other day!
When I asked Satwik what his house is like, he said it’s beautiful. Like many houses in the neighborhood, Satwik’s house is a multiple story concrete house. There’s a backyard outside and stairs leading to the first floor of the house. Satwik has neighbors that live on the first floor.
