Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving in Banepa

A tree and fields in the early morning.

Field and haystack right outside our training institute.


A view from our classroom...

It's Thanksgiving today back home. :-) All of the volunteers in my group have decided that an American Thanksgiving is an excellent reason to have a party tonight. They have no idea what Thanksgiving is, but that doesn't seem to matter. They are, however, concerned that I have people to spend the evening with. So, we'll all gather in our room this evening, have some drinks and snacks, and who knows what will transpire. We've asked Johnathan to bring his Mandolin to play. And I bet there will be folks willing to dance. Thanksgiving, after all, is about being with people, enjoying food and drink, and thinking about what there is to be grateful for, yes? So while I will miss my family dearly and some of our regular traditions, I figure there is no reason I can't celebrate Thanksgiving here also.

I got up with my friend, Helen, from London early this morning to take a walk. To get a bit of exercise, to explore the land around our training institute (Chetana Kendra), and also, because it is so peaceful and tranquil in the early mornings here.

We walked along dirt roads, said hello to the crows, sheep, goats, chicken, small children, and the women who get up early to work.

There was a mist that enveloped the fields and that small valley that we found ourselves in. This place is quite magical at times...

All day I've been thinking about what I have to be grateful for. The simple things. Water for a hot shower. Water to wash my clothes with (I hand washed all my clothes today during our lunch break). Healthy food. Good company. And teachers who are willing to share their time, cultural and language traditions with us. None of this to take for granted.

Tonight we get something new and different for dinner (usually we have rice and lentils every day for both lunch and dinner). Special for the American for Thanksgiving. Yeah!!! I'm not going to lie - something different tonight is also something to be grateful for. Even if it's not Turkey and Cranberries.


Saturday, November 21, 2009

From our visit to Buddhist sites in Kathmandu








Monday, November 16, 2009

Pictures from Kathmandu


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Some things I've learned so far while in Kathmandu:

1. It's the year 2066 here in Nepal. I have somehow jumped forward in time. Cool! At least officially. There are 2 other versions of calendars (and what year it is here), however. New year starts in mid April.

2. 67% (ish) of the people who live in Nepal are Hindu - but most Hindus also practice some Buddhism, as well. I went to three beautiful Buddhist monasteries yesterday. Pictures to come later. Absolutely beautiful - and varied.

3. If you want to cross the road in the middle of heavy traffic you just wait for a group to gather, enter the road, pray you make it to the other side, and gesture wildly if it tries too aggressively to hit you. I have not seen one traffic signal or stop sign yet. And I've survived a lot of walking and bus trips so far. There are men who direct traffic at the hugest intersections, however. A most perilous job, I am sure.

4. Everyone is on loadshedding schedules here, which means they only have a few hours a day of electricity. Starting soon 8, to be exact. Our restaurant last night lost all electricity right after we sat down. That didn't deter them from somehow cooking 6 different dishes and serving us, however. We just ate by candlelight.

5. Internet access is extremely hard to find here. Well - I should say that functional internet access is hard to find. Plenty of internet cafes. But the computers don't always work. And when they do, sometimes the internet is so slow that I can't get websites to load at all. So, I will be slower with emails and and blogs posts than I had thought. At least for a while - and especially while I'm in my 7 weeks of language and culture training.

6. Mero naam Tiffany ho. Mero gahr America ho. My name is Tiffany, and I am from America. This is what I learned in language class today. :-)

7. Everyone told me I would find the people in Nepal friendly, warm, and kind. So far, I have found this to be true. Thing like the crazy traffic really just doesn't matter so much when people take the time to greet you and connect with you ina real - and so often joyful - way. They take time here, take stock of who is around them, notice, and are patient. Oh, so patient.

8. People drink lots of tea here for real. I'm set!! I have tea for breakfast. Then we get a mid morning tea break at our language school. Then I get to have tea again with dinner. Masala chai tea is my current favorite - spices, milk, and a small bit of sugar. I am going to like it here, I can tell already.....


Thursday, November 12, 2009

First day in Nepal!


Picture: View outside from outside my room at the Pacific Guest House in Kathmandu

I arrived in Kathmandu today after 4 planes, 37 hours of travel, no luggage lost, and surviving a 6 and a half hour wait in a holding (aka "transit") room in Delhi from 1:00 AM to 7:30AM. I studied up a bit on the most basic of Nepali, but mostly slept - recovering from everything I had been doing the last two weeks.

I was the first of the volunteers out of our group to arrive, and got picked up by the VSO driver, Prem, who said that he couldn't take me to the guest house right away, because there was a huge Maoist demonstration downtown and the streets were closed. He estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 people demonstrating - at this point, completely peacefully.

So I was plopped into a rented room in a hotel close to the airport and was told I'd stay there all day and wait for the other volunteers to arrive. But apparently the streets cleared, because someone else came a couple hours later and said we were good to go.

The guest house - where I'll be staying for the first while here - is nice. It's peaceful, has internet off and on (though it's quite slow), and is in a good part of the city to walk around in. Apparently quieter than it normally is today, because everyone was at the demonstration.

Nepal feels different in every way from Portland to me. The streets are loud and totally chaotic. There are dogs wandering the streets (they don't seem to belong to anyone at all), cows hanging out here and there. Men walking their goats. Street corner shops: simple, some make-shift, family run. And this evening, walking around in the dark, only one side of the street had electricity. The other side had their shops lit with candles, which made the street glow in way that I feel I have only seen in movies. There's not enough electricity to go around. The side of the street with candles tonight will get electricity tomorrow night.

I have 8 weeks ahead of me to get to know the other volunteers (from England, Phillipines, Uganda, and Kenya) through language and cultural training. I am the lone representative from the United States - which makes me think that I should be careful how I present myself perhaps. Or not.... :-) And 8 weeks to attempt to pick up as much Nepali as I can. I tackled the Devangari letter for A today and can now spot it in words. It is a sideways squiggle with a couple straight, perpendicular lines attached. And the hotel staff just taught me how to say one: ek. That gets me started...

Tomorrow we're off earlier than normal (7:00 AM) so that we can hopefully make it to the medical center before the streets are closed again. If they're already closed by 7:00, just means that we'll walk the few miles instead of taking the bus. But that way we'll get to check out the demonstration - which I'm curious about. And can't get much information about, somehow. No one seems worried in the least. Just how things go around here....

Off to sleep in my cozy sleep sack that the staff at MFS gave to me. Don't think I've slept more than 4 hours at a time for the last week - so this should be my first real nights sleep in a long time. :-)