Farewell to Pokhara

More details from our trek:

So even though we were discouraged by the landslide and had to end our trek early, things got a little better on our way back. We had passed a waterfall on our way to Ghandruk, and on our return we decided to stop and take a few pictures. We kept trying to get closer and closer to the waterfall to get better pictures, and finally Hannah and I climbed up on some rocks right next to it and discussed how cool it would be to go underneath it. And then we decided that, hey, how often do you get the chance to go under a waterfall? So we threw our shoes, cameras, and sunglasses down to Chris, and then just went for it. The water was more powerful than I’d expected, and we weren’t even under the bulk of it. And it was very cold, and the rocks were very slippery. Then, before we knew it, Chris had followed us in--we knew he wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch. (If you read his account of the event, don’t be fooled by his self-portrayal as the voice of reason.) It was super cool, and I felt pretty adventurous.

We dripped all the way back to the village, where we found a nice place to stay overlooking the river. After dinner we sat on the porch and talked and played cards while we listened to the rainstorm around us. At one point the power went out, as it frequently does when it rains, and we were left in the pitch black. I’d never been anywhere so dark before. We worried about how we would find our way back to our rooms if the power didn’t come back on, but, thankfully, one of the owners came out with some candles, matches, and umbrellas for us.

The next morning we left early so we could get back to Pokhara in time to accompany 5 of the kids to the radio station. A local man has some of the Sam’s House kids on his radio show once in a while to tell about themselves, sing songs, and tell jokes. So Chris, Hannah, Dinesh, and I went with Amrit, Sarita, Sabita, Mamata, and Pratima. The kids did a great job--some were shyer than others, but they were all cute, and they all made us very proud. Maybe this will inspire one of them to pursue a future career in radio!

The next day, Saturday, brought the kids’ weekly dance lesson. This week the kids learned a new dance, and Hannah and I tried to follow along, but I’m no dancer. The kids put me to shame. I had fun, though, and loved when the kids tried (hopelessly) to help me learn. Then the three of us headed to Dinesh and Rekha’s house for a final wonderful dinner and then headed to Lakeside for our last hotel stay. We visited our favorite Pokhara bar, Club Amsterdam, listened to our favorite Nepali band (playing surprisingly accurate covers of American songs), and played cards (a game called Blackjack--not the 21 kind, but something like Uno--that seemed to have too many illogical rules for me to understand it) with some British guys that we met there. A good time, for sure.

The next morning Hannah and I took a yoga class while Chris went back to the house to pick up the didis and bring them to Lakeside for lunch, which we all enjoyed. Then that evening we got our official farewell celebration from Sam’s House, complete with cake and beautiful drawings that the kids had been working on all afternoon.

Chris made a DVD slideshow of pictures from the summer to leave at the house that we watched that final night. We sat in the TV room, with kids piled on our laps and holding our hands and wrapped around our arms--kids we’d met for the first time only 4 short weeks ago--and watched the progression of our time at Sam’s House. It was a wonderful way to spend our last night, and it meant a lot to me. Then we tucked the kids into bed one last time, giving extra (and, in my case, tearful) hugs and kisses.

Finally, the day we had been dreading was here. We spent the morning doing some final packing, taking final pictures, and playing final handclapping games as we waited to walk the kids to the bus stop one last time. It was raining, which seemed fitting for the day’s somber mood. We gave them our last big hugs, the bus arrived, and suddenly they were gone. We went back to the house and ate some daal bhaat (the didis would never let us leave hungry), received tika (a blessing) from Amma and Ranjeet (the landlords upstairs) and the didis, and said our final namaste (goodbye) and dhanyabaad (thanks). Then we left for the airport and said farewell to Pokhara.

Stateside again

I’m home in North Dakota, safe and sound. I arrived in Dickinson last Thursday, the 3rd, to a welcoming committee of my parents, my brother Russ and his wife Cassi, and three of their four kids. It was actually my second 3rd of July, after crossing the International Date Line. After leaving Pokhara and Sam’s House on Monday morning, Chris, Hannah, and I spent that evening and all day Tuesday in Kathmandu before leaving Nepal on Wednesday. We then flew from Kathmandu to Bangkok, spent the evening in Bangkok, took an early morning flight to Tokyo, and then had our 9-hour flight to Los Angeles. In LA, after 5 weeks of traveling together, the three of us parted ways. Jennifer’s brother and sister-in-law graciously housed Hannah for the night before her flight back to Ohio the next day, Chris (accompanied by Jennifer, who had flown to LA to surprise him!) went back to Minnesota, and I rushed to catch my flight to Denver (also with help from Jennifer’s brother and sister-in-law, who drove me to my gate) and then Dickinson.

It was a pretty busy final week in Pokhara, so I didn’t get a chance to update my blog like I should have. The three of us had planned on going on a 2-day trek to Ghandruk, a nearby village, beginning early Monday morning our last week at Sam’s House. However, our plans changed when we learned that all of the taxi drivers (or “transport entrepreneurs,” as the Kathmandu Post calls them) in Nepal were going on strike to persuade the government to raise taxi fares in response to rising gas prices. In order to begin our trek, we needed to take a taxi to Nayapul, 45 minutes away from Pokhara. We were grounded. I had been feeling a little under the weather, so I was a somewhat glad for the delay, but still bummed. School bus drivers were also participating in the strike, so school ended up being canceled, which was great because it was another day we got to hang out with the kids. We taught them Pictionary, a game that seemed to be a hit with kids and didis alike. Later that day, Chris, Hannah, and I walked to Mahendrapul, the shopping district of Pokhara, mostly to just get out of the house for a while and take our mind off of trekking. We went to bed that night praying that the strike would end so we could begin our trek, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. We spent much of the next day kind of moping around the house, since the kids had school again and I think we were all a little depressed about our foiled plans. We did use our free time to give the didis a tiny break and make kajaa (afternoon snack) for the kids. We served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pudding snack packs—American staples. They seemed to get mostly positive reactions, and a few kids even asked for seconds. The next day was our last chance to go trekking because we wanted to get back before Friday afternoon (a few of the kids were going to be on the radio and we wanted to listen—more about that later), so again we went to bed hoping for good news the next morning. Sure enough, as soon as Hannah and I woke up on Wednesday, Chris informed us that the taxi strike had ended and we were going to leave for our trek around 9:00 am. Hooray!

We were all excited to go trekking, although it seemed to us that our day was cursed from the start. Because of the strike, taxis hadn’t been able to get gas, so our taxi driver was stuck in a petrol line and was going to be about a half hour late. We were anxious to get on the road because we wanted to get as much walking in as possible before the daily afternoon rain. We needed to get trekking permits before we could begin, so, of course, we went to the wrong office at first and were directed to a different one on the other side of town. We finally got to Nayapul (much later than we’d hoped) and began walking and Chris’s walking stick broke, so we had to pause to buy tape to fix it. And then came the rain. It began to pour somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon, so we admitted defeat, found a cute little lodge and restaurant, changed into dry clothes, and ate a nice dinner while listening to the rain.

The next day was bright and sunny, and soon after we began walking we met a couple coming toward us. They asked if we were going to Ghandruk, and we replied yes, we are. They chuckled a little (making us a little uneasy) and then the man explained that we may run into some trouble because there was a bad landslide up ahead, but with some help from the locals, we would probably be able to cross it. We got a little worried, but figured we could handle whatever came our way. We could see the landslide well before we got close to it, which should indicate just how large it was—I don’t think any of us were prepared for how big it was. Some local residents led us up to it. It was basically a big, muddy dropoff that led to a big, muddy, rocky, rushing river that we needed to cross in order to continue on our way to Ghandruk. I was skeptical. We decided to at least go down close to the water to assess the situation and figure out just how brave we were feeling (answer: not very). We shimmied our way down the steep hill as gracefully as we could, considering it was made up of very loose rocks and dirt that tumbled along with us. We stood around for quite a while, trying to pick out a stable path to cross the water, but it was rushing so quickly that the landscape seemed to change every time we looked away. A little crowd of locals assembled, watching us eagerly to see just what these crazy Americans were going to do. A couple of Nepali men offered to lead us across, and we got all ready to go. We packed away our cameras, rolled down our pant legs (to protect against leeches, which Chris assured us we would get. Eeek.), changed into flip-flops, and planned which rocks and sandbars we would use in our route across the water. And then stood around some more while we thought carefully about our decision to cross. Our concern was that, because the water was rushing so quickly and literally changing the land before our eyes, although we may have been able to cross at the time, what if the next day we wouldn’t be able to cross back? And if it rained heavily that night, the water would have been even higher, complicating things even more. Eventually, reason prevailed. We dejectedly admitted defeat and decided to turn around. To add insult to injury, in the short time we had been by the water the bank had gotten much muddier and on the way back up, my foot got stuck up to mid-calf (it was like quicksand—I actually had a sort of panicky moment when I thought I was going to be stuck for good) and my flip-flop was swallowed up, never to be seen again, except maybe in an archeological dig hundreds of years from now.

I’m going to pause here, because I’m tired of writing and no one really wants to read a 14-page blog post anyway, but I promise to continue soon.

"Danger" and Lumle

Chris, Hannah, and I haven’t done much sightseeing these past few days because the Sam’s House kids didn’t have school on Wednesday or Thursday, so we stayed home to play with them. We played outside a lot, and then on Wednesday afternoon we took them out to a Nepali movie. It was an action film (the title is the Nepali word for danger), but most Nepali films seem to follow a fairly similar plotline, regardless of genre. Even though it was in Nepali, we English-speakers didn’t have much difficulty following the action. My favorite part of any Nepali film is the moment when either the hero or heroine realizes they are in love, and then follows a dream sequence song and dance number featuring the couple. Mina and Maya, two of the older girls, are particularly good at reenacting film scenes, so I hope I’ll get to see their rendition sometime soon.

I caught some kind of stomach bug on Wednesday evening, as Chris assured me I would at some point, but am now feeling much better. We also had some frustration with our travel plans because one of our return flights got canceled, but with some help from Jennifer didi (Chris’s wife, another Sam’s House trustee, and my former academic advisor at UMM) back in the States, we got things straightened out. We seem to be at the point of our trip where the novelty of being in a new culture is beginning to wear off a bit, and now we’ve settled into being in Nepal and at Sam’s House. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just an inevitable part of traveling.

On Tuesday the three of us, along with Dinesh and Manju, one of the Sam’s House children, visited Lumle, the village where Manju lived prior to coming to Sam’s House. I was excited to see what a rural village is like, since we’ve spent all our time so far in the city. After a 30-minute hilly and winding taxi ride, we arrived in Lumle. As soon as we got out of the vehicle and Manju recognized where we were, she took off without us knowing where she went. The village is on a hillside and the houses are all surrounded by tall corn and other crops, so it was a little hard for us to get around. I was even a little worried (and probably irrationally so) that we weren’t going to find Manju, or that she thought we were bringing her back for good, or who knows what else. She’s a very quiet kid, and she doesn’t speak much English, so sometimes I worry about how she’s doing or what she’s thinking. Of course, we eventually found her at her cousins’ house. Manju came to live at Sam’s House because, for whatever reason, her parents were unable to care for her and she then lived with her elderly grandmother. Her grandmother is very old and frail, and she knew that she was not going to be able to take care of Manju forever, so she decided to send her to live at Sam’s House. Manju’s relatives said that her grandmother was out working in the fields, and they sent someone to go and get her so she could see her granddaughter. We drank some chiyaa and waited. Suddenly Manju’s grandmother arrived. She’s probably in her 60s, but she looks like she could easily be about 90—-Nepali farmers live a very tough life. The look on her face was so, so touching. She was so happy to see Manju. She came to Sam’s House to visit Manju a year and a half ago, but hadn’t seen her since then. There wasn’t a dry eye to be found. Her grandmother insisted that we come back to her house and sit, and she kept telling us thank you, over and over. She was just so grateful. She fixed Manju a plate of rice—-every grandmother in the world wants to make sure her grandchildren are well-fed—-and then brought the rest of us a glass of the most revolting milk I’d ever drank in my life. It came fresh from the cow, tepid, with a little dirt and grass mixed in for flavor. Of course, we couldn’t refuse, and I was touched that she would offer us something as valuable as milk to drink. We listened to her tell us about how Manju used to take care of her, and how she gets lonely now without her. It is amazing to me how she knew that Manju was much better off at Sam’s House, though—-this is just the way things have to be. I can’t think of a more unselfish action than giving up your child (or grandchild) to give them a better life. Manju’s grandmother lives in a tiny, one-room house with corrugated tin walls. The entire house is about as large as an American bathroom or walk-in closet. I’m sure that it was extremely difficult for her grandmother to earn enough money from farming to support both herself and Manju. After we sat and talked for a few minutes, it was time for us to leave, which was heartbreaking. A bus ticket into Pokhara to visit Sam’s House would probably only cost a few U.S. dollars, but it would be a huge amount of money to a rural Nepali like Manju’s grandmother.

Throughout the trip Chris has been telling Hannah and me stories about the circumstances from which many of the Sam’s House kids came, but seeing how happy and well-adjusted they are now, it’s almost hard for me to believe him. Our trip to Lumle was a good reminder of just how far the kids have come, and just how necessary orphanages like Sam’s House are.

PARAGLIDING!

Finally, after two and a half weeks of waiting, Hannah, Chris, and I went paragliding this morning. We made our appointment on one of our first days in Pokhara, but rain forced us to postpone. Then every time we tried to reschedule, it ended up being either rainy or cloudy. Because we are approaching monsoon season, it rains most nights and usually for a little while during the day. When we saw it was sunny this morning, we quickly called the paragliding company and they said we could try to go today, as long as the weather stayed nice. We hurried to their office, climbed in the back of a truck, picked up the pilots on the way, and drove for 30 minutes up to Sarangkot, a village way on top of a big hill. When we got to the top, the pilots laid out their parachutes and Hannah and I got harnessed up (there were only two pilots, so Hannah and I went first and Chris went after we landed). We got instructions on how to take off—-start walking when the pilot tells you to walk, then start running when he tells you to run, and don’t sit or jump—-and then, before we knew it, Hannah and her pilot were launching. I waited for another anxious 15 minutes before we got a good wind and Anil, my pilot, said it was our turn to go. And then we ran off the top of the hill and were in the air, just like that, flying over Pokhara. It was amazing. We could see monkeys playing in the trees below, and farmers doing their daily chores, and kids playing outside, and cows grazing, and we just soared above it all. I asked Anil if he could do some stunts, and when we climbed high enough he did a “wingover,” which I don’t really know how to describe but involved sort of swooping back and forth quickly, in a stomach-turning, roller coaster-y sort of way. Waaaay fun. And then it was time for us to land. I was supposed to start running when we got close to the ground, but, of course, in my non-graceful sort of way, we basically just hit the ground and stopped. Hannah got the whole landing on film. Then the pilots went back to the top and we waited for Chris to fly down and join us. Paragliding is definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and I think Hannah and Chris would agree.

long overdue

I didn’t realize it’s been so long since I updated. Hannah and I started volunteering at the kids’ school this week, so I’ve been busier than usual. Where to begin…

Hannah and I got kurta surwaals made for us this week. We brought Asuna, one of the didis, along with us for help. Hannah got a blue iridescent kurta (top) with a pink surwaal (pants) and pink scarf, and my outfit was all dark pink. After we picked them up from the tailor we immediately tried them on for the didis, who, of course, were delighted. We both wore our new purchases to school yesterday. All the women teachers wear kurtas, so it was nice to feel like I fit in.

Chris, Hannah, and I also made jello (or “jelly,” as it’s called here) for the kids as a special treat. They loved it. I could barely make myself swallow it. Nepali jello does NOT taste like American jello.

Earlier this week the 3 of us climbed to the top of a huge hill, where there was a tower overlooking Pokhara. It was a tough climb (for me, at least—I’m by far the least athletic of the bunch) but the view was worth it. I felt even more out of shape when we encountered 3 kids about halfway up. We had gotten off the path a little, so Chris asked them for directions and they steered us right. The 2 girls had huge baskets on their backs and looked like they were on their way to cut grass and collect it in the baskets. I felt especially ridiculous when they effortlessly bounded up the hill in their flip flops and we were breathless and unsteady in tennis shoes and Keens.

The biggest event of the week was volunteering at the Gorkha English Boarding School. On Tuesday Hannah and I got on the school bus with the Sam’s House kids and went to school to teach English conversation skills. Neither one of us knew quite what to expect, but I think we both did a pretty decent job of thinking on our feet. I played a lot of Hangman and answered a lot of questions about myself. Some of the older kids were incredibly shy and somewhat unresponsive, and I don’t think I was fully prepared for that. I’m so used to the Sam’s House kids, who jumped all over Hannah and me the very first time they saw us. And I was also a little frustrated with myself, for being less prepared than I should have been. Thursday, however, was a much better day. I came to class with a human scavenger hunt game, where the kids asked each other questions (in English) to find classmates that fulfilled items on a list of requirements (for example, find someone who has traveled to a foreign country, find someone with their shirt untucked, etc.). I think they enjoyed it, and at the very least, it encouraged them to talk to their classmates in English for a little while. Some highlights of the day: The 6th graders sang “All the Small Things” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” for me—hilarious. One of the 3rd graders painted me a picture of some kind of purple animal. I got a lot of “Are you married?” and “Do you have a boyfriend?” On Tuesday the 7th graders asked me to watch their after-school piano lesson, and they played a Nepali song. I’ll teach again for the last time this coming Tuesday, before the school days are taken up by midterm exams.

Hannah and I also were asked to help coach volleyball practice yesterday and today (at 6:30 am. Eeek.). Poor Hannah—she plays soccer at Yale, and would love to help coach soccer practice, but Nepalis don’t seem to be used to women playing competitive football. She did a great job of pretending that she plays volleyball, though. I tried to help the girls with hitting, blocking, their rotation, and their defense. They’re great at the fundamentals but struggle a little in a scrimmage situation, so we worked on that a little. I had a blast. My favorite part of each practice was the chiyaa break—what tastes best after a hard workout? A steaming cup of tea and milk, of course.

Chris, Hannah, and I are getting some internet time in Lakeside this afternoon, and we are all anxiously awaiting tomorrow, the kids’ day off from school, so we can spend a little more time with them. I can’t believe this is the end of our second week at Sam’s House—time is flying by!

Chris uploaded 8 new pictures today, so make sure you check out his blog, too.

Saturday fun

This morning as I was having morning chiyaa and biscuits, Asuna (one of the didis) came up to me, pointed to the tika on her forehead, and said, “You like?” Tika is red vermillion powder placed on the forehead as a blessing or as decoration, and the didis wear it almost daily. I said yes, and she put one on my forehead too. It was very sweet--I guess we’re BFFs now.

It was kind of rainy this morning, and the kids got one of their twice-weekly baths this morning, so we decided to play inside to stay clean and dry. (These kids are tough. They shower outside with cold water and get soaped up by the didis in a somewhat assembly line fashion. What do they do in the winter?) Chris had brought a friendship bracelet kit along from the U.S., so we spent the better part of the morning making bracelets. Then this afternoon everyone piled in a van and a taxi and went to Lakeside for ice cream. The kids put on all their best clothes, including new shirts that Hannah brought, and even the didis got all dolled up in their best kurtas. (Most Nepali women wear kurta surwaals, which are long tops, loose fitting pants, and a scarf, in pretty much every color and pattern you can imagine. To get one, you go to a tailor and pick out the fabric you want and then get one made especially for you, which Hannah and I plan to do. How often do you get the chance to get clothes made just for you?) The kids were pumped. They sang songs on the way to Lakeside (except for Amrit, who sat grumpily with his hands over his ears), including Jingle Bells, the only one in English. Everyone had a great time.

At 3:00 the kids’ dance teacher came to the house. Hannah and I warmed up along with them, and then watched some of the older girls do a traditional Nepali dance (I think). They are very good dancers. I am not.

Tonight Chris, Hannah and I are staying in a hotel in Lakeside. When Chris suggested a weekly hotel stay, I didn’t particularly care either way, but now that we are here, I’m glad. Our lives at Sam’s House aren’t particularly busy or stressful, but it will still be nice to just relax a little. Peace and quiet seem to be precious commodities in that house.

Make sure you check out Chris's blog as well. He has much better luck posting pictures than I do (maybe he's just more patient...) and is uploading some as we speak.

Mmmmmm.

I’m too full to sleep so I thought I’d do some blogging yet tonight. Chris, Hannah, and I ate dinner at Dinesh and Rekha’s house, and it was so, so good. Of course I like the didis’ daal bhaat, but this was just amazing. Snacks to start—fried rice puff things, peanut masala, vegetables—and then rice flavored with dates and fresh coconut, chicken, zucchini curry, some bean dish that was great, spicy mango chutney, and cheesecake to finish. I rolled out of their house. Sadly, Chris informs me that even if I stumble upon the rare Nepali restaurant in the U.S., it will never taste the same as the food here.

Yesterday during our afternoon snack, I wanted another cup of chiyaa (sweet tea with milk), so I asked the didis if I could make it and they showed me how. I think I did all right, if I say so myself. Today was laundry day, so I got my first taste of laundry, Nepali style. It involves a lot of swishing, soaking, and scrubbing your clothes on the cement with a bar of soap and a brush. This definitely isn’t the country to wear a shirt for 5 minutes and throw it in the wash—you make sure your clothes are good and dirty before you put the effort into washing them. The didis have also been letting Hannah and me help with more of the chores, like dishes and the kids’ laundry, although I still feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel a little guilty when I’m outside playing football (or soccer, for the Americans reading this) with them and the didis are inside cooking.

Today Chris, Hannah, and I visited a Tibetan refugee camp. After China took control of Tibet, many Tibetans fled to Nepal until Nepal stopped accepting the refugees. Now, they live very poorly and often rely on tourists for their income. We’ll go back another day to watch the Buddhist monks say their daily prayers—we were too early today.

Tomorrow is the kids’ day off from school. They shower in the morning, and then around noon we will all go to the Lakeside district of Pokhara—the tourist area—for ice cream. From 3:00 to 5:00 a dance teacher comes to the house, so I’m pumped to learn along with them. Then tomorrow night Chris and Hannah and I will stay in a hotel in Lakeside, just to satisfy our spoiled American selves and eat something other than daal bhaat for dinner (although, surprisingly, I’m not sick of the food. Yet.).

quick update

Last night Hannah and I had a homework assignment from Rekha to practice our Nepali with the didis. As they were cleaning up after dinner, we went in the kitchen and asked our first, incredibly basic Nepali question: "Tapaaiko naam ke ho?" (What is your name?) and they immediately burst into an uproar. They thought we were hilarious. We spent a lot of time talking to them, and they were very patient with us. Then, later when we were getting ready for bed, Susma (one of the didis) peeked into our room, gestured to the chairs in the living room, and said, "Talk?" So we sat up and talked to them until we had exhausted all the Nepali and English phrases we both knew. They kept asking us if we were tired and wanted to go to bed: "Problem?" No, no problem, we're not tired. We were so excited they wanted to talk to us!

We've got to get back to the house--the kids are home from school. Yesterday it was raining but today it looks like it will hold off, so we will get a chance to play outside with them.

Sam's House, at last!

Hannah, Chris, and I arrived in Pokhara yesterday morning, after a 20 minute flight from Kathmandu overlooking the Himalayas. We were all a little tired of the chaos and pollution of the big city and were looking forward to the more serene town of Pokhara--and, of course, anxious to see the kids. Sam's House, or Kopila Children's Home as it's called in Nepal, welcomed us with open arms. We first met Dinesh, the orphanage director, and then the giggly didis (house mothers). Sandeep, the only child that is too young to attend school, waddled out and handed us little flower bouquets. Adorable. After settling in, touring the house, and eating a huge plate of daal bhaat tarkari (rice, lentils, and curried vegetables), we finally got to walk to the bus stop to meet the kids after school. They bolted off the bus when they saw Chris, and gave him excited hugs, but I expected them to be shyer around Hannah and me. Not true. They ran up to us, too, hugging us and saying, "Namaste! What's your name?" and starting to tell us all about their day. We spent the rest of the night playing some handclapping games, talking (the older kids know quite a bit of English), handing out presents from the States, and trying to learn their names. It's just so great to finally be here, after hearing so much about the kids from Jennifer and Chris. I can't wait to get to know them better!

This morning Hannah and I had our first Nepali language lesson from Rekha, Dinesh's wife. I'm thankful she is so patient, to say the least. We'll have 3 more hours tomorrow, and then 2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday, and then we have to fend for ourselves. We have little homework assignments to do tonight—conversations we are instructed to have with the kids and the didis.

I'm in the process of uploading a few pictures to my flickr page, but it is taking foreeeeeeever. I'll let you know when they are available. I'll never take high speed internet for granted again.

Pictures!

Chris posted a handful of pictures this morning on his blog. I hope to post more soon, but this should give you a little taste of what we are seeing.

Chris had some things he needed to take care of before we leave Kathmandu tomorrow morning, so Hannah and I are about to go do some shopping on our own, without Chris's helpful Nepali language skills. Many Nepalis, especially vendors in the tourist areas, speak a passable amount of English, but it will still be a fun challenge for us to communicate.

Day 2

We did so many things today, I’m having a hard time remembering them all. We began our day at Ason market. Because Saturday is the Buddhist and Hindu day of worship, it’s also the day when many families do their shopping. I can’t imagine how these people make any money. On the same street, there are dozens of pashmina shops, or dozens of electronics shops, or dozens of tailors, and they are all exactly the same. We later went to an underground market that was much less crowded, and much sadder. Chris said that many of those vendors probably lived in their shops, and were possibly low-caste so not as many people shopped there. Roaming around the market are holy men who basically attack you with what is called a tika, or a blessing of vermillion powder placed on your forehead—sort of like ashes, for all you Catholics. Once they come up to you, you really have no choice but to receive it and then give them some money as an offering. We’d successfully avoided them for most of the morning but of course eventually ended up being branded, too.

After the markets we all ordered momos for lunch, which are sort of like little dumplings filled with meat or vegetables. We then went upstairs to a coffee shop, where Chris interviewed Hannah and me for a film that he’s making—more on that later. I hate being awkward on camera. Ugh.

Every taxi ride is an adventure—traffic laws don’t really seem to apply in Nepal. Although drivers technically drive on the left, this rule is pretty flexible and taxis, tuk tuks (little 3-wheeled buses that pack in ridiculous numbers of people), motorcycles, and bicycles weave in and out. Traffic signs, traffic lights, sidewalks, and crosswalks are nearly nonexistant and crossing the street is a pretty exciting endeavor, to say the least.

My favorite part of the day, and possibly of the trip so far, was visiting Swayambhunath, a Buddhist and Hindu place of worship at the top of a 385-stair climb. It’s amazing to me how Buddhism and Hinduism exist in complete harmony, for the most part, even to the point of sharing some of the same gods and, in the case of Swayambhunath, holy sites. The climb up was rushed because we were trying to beat what looked like an impending storm, but once we got to the top (and I caught my breath) the view was indescribable. We could see the entire city, framed by the Himalayas (Technically, the foothills, but I’m from North Dakota. They’re mountains to me.). It was peaceful, and beautiful, and I took dozens of pictures that I’m sure won’t even come close to doing it justice. It’s nicknamed the Monkey Temple because of, fittingly, all the monkeys running around the area. Monkeys are animals that, to my mind, belong in zoos, so to see them running wild is sort of surreal. After we’d had our fill of scenic pictures, we went inside a Buddhist monastery and heard the monks saying their evening prayers. They used drums and horns along with their chanting and one of the Nepali men standing nearby said they believed that God could hear the instruments because they were so loud. I think my favorite part was watching the young monks sitting at the edge of the room who couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 years old. I’m pretty sure they were supposed to be devoutly praying, but as soon as they saw me take out my camera, they began totally hamming it up and making goofy faces at me.

On our way back down, we found a little side path and decided to follow it. It took us through a wooded area to the back side of the temple, where we had a much less crowded view. Hannah went to take a picture of an adorable little boy climbing a tree and accidentally stepped on a stray dog that snapped at her and freaked her—and us—out. There are sooo many stray dogs everywhere. It’s really kind of depressing, but I suppose not as depressing as the beggars (sometimes holding dirty and clearly malnourished infants) we also see around the city.

On our way back to the neighborhood our hotel is in, our taxi got stopped by a man handing out brochures about Tibet and asked us to sign a petition demanding that China stops terrorizing Tibet and asking for UN interference. We got out of the taxi, looked to our left, and saw a huge group of people sitting on the ground, chanting, and spinning Buddhist prayer wheels. Nearby signs explained that they were fasting to protest against the Chinese government. They flashed us peace signs, and our hearts broke for them. We signed the petition, Chris left a donation, and we got back in the taxi and tried to process the scene.

We’re off to another relaxing and delicious dinner. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your comments. It’s great to hear from you all!

Day 1 in Nepal

I'm in an internet cafe in Kathmandu, after a sweaty but exciting day of

seeing the city. I'm much happier today than I was yesterday--I was supposed

to be in KTM by 5 pm but instead was stuck in the Bahrain airport until the

afternoon because a vehicle ran into the plane we were supposed to be taking.

Seriously. Anyway, I got out of the KTM airport around midnight, where Chris

was waiting with a taxi to pick me up. I was exhausted, and just generally

annoyed with traveling, and kept mentally questioning why the hell I had ever

decided to come to this country. I was actually kind of worried that I might

hate Nepal. What if I absolutely hate everything about it and am stuck here

for a month? That possibility hadn't crossed my mind before. Thankfully,

that was just my jet-lagged brain talking. I woke up this morning at 6:45, after a restful sleep, and couldn't wait for Chris and Hannah to get up so we could go explore.

And explore we did. We started at Boudhanath, the world's largest Buddhist stupa. We watched monks doing their morning prayers, spun enormous prayer wheels, and walked around the stupa several times. Hannah and I got our picture taken, awkwardly and without warning, by one of the monks on his camera phone. Chris made an offering and received a blessing, which was pretty interesting. Later he was talking with another one of the monks who then gave Chris another, even cooler blessing and then invited us all to have a glass of soda water with lemon with him at a tiny hidden cafe. It seems like the Nepalis love a Westerner who can speak their language, because Chris makes easy friends wherever we go. Of course, it turned out that the monk was also soliciting a donation for the monastery, but whatever. It was still pretty neat. On our way out of the area we were looking at thankas, extremely intricate Buddhist paintings, when the salesman invited us upstairs to watch them being painted. I don't even think I can describe how small the paintbrushes are, and how intensely detailed these paintings are. It was amazing to watch.

We then went to Pashupatinath, the holiest Hindu cremation site in Nepal. It's located on a river, and bodies are cremated all along the bank so the river is essentially full of dead people. The water is a greenish-gray. In fact, while we were standing there, watching the fires burn, I'm pretty sure that we each inhaled about half a person. We watched both the ceremony that takes place before the body is burned (horribly sad, especially because one of the grief-striken relatives was completely distraught and here we were, stupid gawking tourists) and the final ceremony, where the family takes a final saved
piece of the body and buries it in the river bottom. Chris got us a tour guide, who was full of information about the Hindu religion and also helpful because he took us to some photo-op places I wouldn't have found otherwise.

I think we're going to do a little more walking around yet today, and then hopefully back to the hotel for a nap. What a great first day!

I'M HERE!

After some unexpected delays--more details later--I'm here in Kathmandu, safe and sound (along with my luggage, which I consider to be a small miracle). And now I am going to bed.

Lo and behold, free internet in the Dubai airport!

Well, after wasting 7 of my 10 layover hours in the Dubai airport, I finally discovered that they have a little computer station with free internet. Had I found this out earlier, I would have posted in much greater detail. Here's the brief update so far:

I flew from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Dubai, and in 3 hours I am leaving for Bahrain and then FINALLY Kathmandu. Hooray! When I arrived in Dubai I had to get a new boarding pass and as I was waiting in line a woman next to me wearing a head scarf and toting 4 small children said, "You're American, too, huh?" I said yes, and then she said, "Minnesota." I mentally reviewed my clothing, not thinking I had worn anything UMM related, and said, "Yes, how did you know?!" She said, "No, I'm from Minnesota. You are too?" And then we marveled at how ridiculous it was that we were both in the same line on the other side of the world. She's from Minneapolis, on her way to Somalia for 3 months.

Anyhow, there is a whole line full of people waiting to use these computers so I will make this brief. I'm in Dubai, and alive. Someone please tell my mother, because I'm sure she is freaking out. Next update: Kathmandu!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome, and thanks for reading! If you don't already know, I am a recent college graduate who, rather than, you know, getting a job and earning some income after graduation, decided instead to spend a month in Nepal traveling and volunteering. Why Nepal? I became interested in traveling there because my academic advisor, Jennifer, does her research on gender and education in Nepal. Jennifer and her husband, Chris, opened a home for orphaned and abandoned children in Pokhara, Nepal in 2007. The home is called Sam's House, and it will be my home as well for approximately the next 30 days. I'm traveling with Chris and Hannah, another student--unfortunately, Jennifer will be back in Morris teaching a summer class so I won't get to travel with her. While I'm there I'll be doing lots of sightseeing, hopefully some (light) trekking, maybe paragliding--if I work up the courage, reading, relaxing, playing with a bunch of Nepali kids, and volunteering to help teach English.

My flight leaves tomorrow from Minneapolis. From there I go to Amsterdam for a brief layover, and then Dubai for 10 HOURS. Ick. I'm not looking forward to that at all. Thursday morning I fly from Dubai to Kathmandu, where I'll meet up with Chris and Hannah. Even though I leave tomorrow, I still feel like it's just another day. I'm getting a little nervous, but mostly that I get all the little things done before I leave, like closing my Morris bank account and leaving my house keys on the kitchen counter.

For more information about Sam's House, check out the links on the right. The homepage includes pictures of all 20 ridiculously adorable children. Chris will be updating his blog throughout the summer as well, so it will be interesting to read our different perspectives on the same events.

I'm not really sure how busy I'll be and what my schedule will be like when I get to Nepal, but I hope to update often. There are a lot of internet cafes in Pokhara, but I'm not sure how often I'll get to them. The next time you hear from me, I'll be in another country, far, far away...