Holi Pictures!!!

Alicia and I with some of the sweetie girls from Papa's House

Alicia and I laughing our asses off...I am not sure why, but that is the BEST!!!

....still laughing!

Team Volunteer. Isn't it clear that we lost the fight with the children. When the stats are 4 to 124 you know you are going to lose!

Team Volunteer (Sam, Emma, Alicia and I) with Vinod in the background.

Alicia...the giver of the greatest gift....PAINT!!!!

Sam, him and I agreed it looks like a fairy puked on him.

Me (below) being chased by the kids....they came at me from ALL directions!

Holi: The GREATEST Day EVER!!!!

Emma and Alicia

This picture of me is in the beginning....trust me it gets much worse :)

Emma (typical Brit, with her tea) and Alicia

I know I have explained in earlier blogs, that Holi is this HUGE water fight with anyone and everyone on the streets. Another thing that happens on Holi is people will run up and rub podwer paint on your face. Emma told me it was alot of fun, and I was alittle unsure but always game for a great time.

NOW! The day had arrived....I honestly was alittle hesitant to part take. I am the opposite of a competitive person, so throwing water at one another in game like fashion was alittle unnerving. Then the water throwing began! Intially, everyone in the house (Sam, Emma, Alicia, Santoshe, and I) were at war with the house across the street. Which sadly they kicked our butts, even though we had the height advantage of throwing water down on to them. Our neighbors below, had the man power (literally) and four guys with great aim, against one guy and four girls....you can kind of see how they won. During this time, there was also an internal war...Every man/woman for themselves. Water and paint were thrown back and forth between us on the balcony.

About an hour into battle with the neighbors, the kids from up the street (Papa's House kids) went running by signalling that we should head up to Michael's House to join the children for Holi. We quickly made it to Michael's and then TOTAL chaos insued! I mean everyone was running from everyone, around the HUGE backyard. Paint and water and laughter filled the air. It was a totally phenomenal experience. The best part about Holi is when you get someone (with water or paint) you yell out in a condescending voice "HAPPY HOLI!"

Oh my goodness! It was a GREAT time at Michael's house. The water throwing did stop at some point because Michael only allows them to use up so much water then they are finished (Good idea! Isn't there a water shortage?). Once all the water was gone, everyone just sat out in the sun and dried off. The children, especially the girls, are so sweet they just want to sit with you and be close. Many little girls will just come up and hold your hand or give you a hug. They are TOTAL dolls. After all the excitement, we were feeling tired and hungry. We mad the made dash back to the volunteer house. Which ofcourse made us a GREAT target for water throwing. Sam had went back before us, so we didn't have a key...and we are standing and waiting and waiting for Sam to come and let us in. I say "waiting and waiting" we probably waited 3 minutes, but in that time Sam lean out over the balcony and dumped a WHOLE bucket of water on me....then he came and opened the door. Ha ha ha! Happy Holi! Don't worry when he let us in I gave him a HUGE soaking wet hug :)

Lunch, tea and homemade popcorn...a few more water balloons and we were all feeling really tired. Us girls went up to the very highest rooftop (better to be safe than sorry) laid out blankets and basked in the sun. After a day of paint and RIDICULOUS amounts of water, napping and relaxing was the absolute BEST way to end the day.

I am posting a few of my photos from Holi, but Michael took some great ones at his house. So as soon as he emails the photos to me I will post them on my blog. That's all, until next time... HAPPY HOLI!

Back in Kathmandu!!!

The trip from Banepa to Kathmandu, was relatively uneventful. I was SUPER happy to get my stupidly HUGE pack on the bus with me, so it didn't have to ride on the roof of the bus. The small triumphs of Nepal, always bring the greatest enjoyment for me. Although, I got alittle worried at the end of my bus right, because I wasn't sure if I would know where to get off. But when they yelled "bus park!" at me, I knew I was in the right place. Cab ride back to Dhapasi and I was back in the Volunteer house....YAY!
I was so happy to be back. Familiarity is another small pleasure I try very hard not to take advantage of. Once I got upstairs, I met another volunteer Alicia from Australia. She is a TOTAL HOOT! More stories to come about her and I :) I staked claim to a room and hauled all of my stupid amounts of crap upstairs....then it was breakfast time! Yay, no more strange Banepa breakfast!
*Side note: I don't think I mentioned this but, when I was staying in Banepa I was the only person in the hostel who ate breakfast. So very often I was served quite random things. The worst of which was this soup which was gray and had the consistence of gravy. And it was just thick and tasteless. YUCK! Other times I was served fried roti bread (which is like a pita), which would be delicious if it wasn't DRIPPING in greese.*
Back on topic! Alicia and I bonded over breakfast and tea. Laughing and joking, it was so GREAT to have a new Westerner friend that I felt this great connection to. Alicia has this energy that I think just draws everyone in and before you know it (because I have only known her a day) you feel like she has been your friend forever. Then there was laundry to attend to, YUCK! Washing your clothes by hand isn't all that bad, its the rinse the soap off the clothes by hand that is the hard part. Have I mentioned how much I miss the spin cycle?
With laundry done, Alicia and I planned to go to Bhat-Bhateni, which is this AWESOME first world grocery store...that I haven't been to yet. Alicia and I meandered down to the grocery store, not expecting to have water balloons thrown at us.
*Another Side note: Sunday is "Holy" whatever that really means....to me it means lots of people throwing water balloons and paint filled water balloons. I think it has to do with Shiva, the god of destruction, but I don't know what the point of all the water is. By the way, isn't it the dry season and there are water shortages? hmmm....
Back on track! After dodging some water balloons, Alicia and I made it relatively dry and safely to Bhat-Bhateni. OH MY GOODNESS! Its like Meijer (well kind of) with an escalator! There was cheese!!!! Oh yay, REAL cheese...not yak cheese. I bought some honey, peanut butter, and jam. Alicia and I also invested in some water guns for Sunday AND some vodka to go along with it for good measure :)
On our way back to the Volunteer house, we managed to stay as dry possible being two Western girls (we might as well be sitting ducks). I had cheese and crackers for lunch....what an indulgence! Then Alicia and I were on to our next mission of the day, shelves! The volunteer "dorms," the rooms that the volunteers stay in only have beds in the rooms. There isn't anywhere to put your random little things like toiletries, books, flashlights, and clocks. We decided that we would take measurements and have shelves made for the guys and gals dorms. Because this is a luxury, I volunteered to ask people from home to donate some money to help us pay for the shelves. Once we have an estimate from the man who makes the shelves I will post the cost. Any little bit will help and I thought I would pitch in the get little plaque to put up saying my friends and family donated the money for the shelves. Email me if you wish to donate, thanks!
That evening, Alicia and I met Sam in Thamel for dinner at K-too and I had a cheese burger and fries. Oh Boy! It was delicious. Once back at the Volunteer house I stayed up to almost one in the morning BLOGGING. See! You all now have me addicted to telling you EVERYTHING about my life here. And I thought blogging was stupid, look who's talking now!
That's all for now, I will certainly have another VERY interesting blog soon with "Holy" coming. Also I hope to take some good pictures on Sunday! Stay Tuned! Until Next Time.

Banepa: Week 2

Lara, me, and Muna

Uganda, Muna, Lara, (I am ass, I don't remember her name), me, Ras, and Sam.

The big white house I was staying.

If you can see this is a Nepali traffic sign...and on it a horn, signaling that you must honk as you go around the curve to let possible oncoming traffic know that you are there. :)

A beautiful polluted sunset....what an oxymoron.

Banepa, Banepa, Banepa....

Once I settled into things, I got into a routine. Doing laundry and taking long walks on the weekend days. The hospital during the day, reading and being entertained by the family in my building in the evening. My second week in Banepa was like week in the states, with a rountine and a plan. A time I have to get up at and people who were expecting me somewhere at a given time. I have to say it was quite nice.

Monday, I assisted physiotherapists with ponseti plaster. Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary happened at the hospital. That night I had one of the MOST endearing moments of my trip to Banepa. Let me preface this story with some facts. The woman who cooked for me (ah-ma) her entire family lived in the building...meaning her husband, her mother-in-law, her son, her daughter-in-law, and her two grandchildren (which I didn't know the youngest was a girl until I saw her bathing outside...which is VERY common in Nepal, please don't think I have become a pedophile). So, to the story...the little girl was ALWAYS in the kitchen when I was eating (it was kind of a family past time to watch me eat....for whatever reason). This particular night, she was singing and dancing around the kitchen. It was like she was putting on a little show for me in Nepali. What was more adorable was when she would forget the lines to the song ah-ma would help her remember singing along with her. It was TOO cute!

Tuesday, was an interesting day at the hospital because I got a thorough tour of the prosthetic department. It was totally fasinating. The hospital makes all of their own AFOs, body jackets, prosthetics (the cover to the stub and the artificial limb) and braces for club foot (after treatment is complete). The man who runs the department walked us through all the steps to make an AFO...how they take the negative off the patient, to creating a positive impression, and then the melting and molding of the plastic. The other really cool thing was he was explaining it ALL in the Nepali, but because I have used AFOs before I understood alot of what he was explaining. It was really great to see how self-sufficient the hospital is, not to rely on an outside source to make all their prostheses.

Wednesday was a very laid back day. Lara and I took a long lunch and sat out in the court yard in the sun. The past three days had been TERRIBLY cloudy and cool, so to be out in the sun was such a pleasure. It was also very nice to talk to Laura and hear what brought her to Nepal, and explain to her what brought me to Nepal. Discussing with a TOTALLY objective person, the struggles that brought you to such a far away places was not only cathartic but, she had insight that no one else could have because she barely knows me. She said to me that she could see that I obviously care for people (especially those with disabilities) and I need to balance that with my education and job availability. She was very helpful.

Thursday was my last day at the hospital and Lara brought in cakes for tea time. Everyone in the physiotherapy department sat together and had cakes. Friday was to be Lara's last day. So everyone was sad to see us both go. Especially our friend Muna, the Nepali physiotherapy student who we both had gotten quite close with. It was sad to go on Thursday, but I was ready to go back to the capital, because the placement at the hospital had been alot of observing and I am ready to DO!

This sums up my time in Banepa. Stay tuned for many adventures from Kathmandu and my next placement. Until next time.

My Rant about Nepal

I know what you are thinking, oh here is comes Carlyn's got something on her mind and she is going to let it have it. I bet you are wondering what my rant about Nepal could be...maybe the government, the power shortage, or maybe it is ALL the garbage and the dirty dusty EVERYTHING. But if that is what you are thinking you all are wrong. My rant is simple and I believe it is a common courtesy of most Westerners that I have TOTALLY taken for granted.
It is all the spitting. Well you can't even call it spitting, because it is really (for lack of a better word) hacking loogies. Yes! EVERYONE, young and old, beautiful and ugly, intelligent and NOT....almost all of them snort up their snot and then hack it out spitting it indiscriminately out on the ground where ever they deem appropriate. You would think well if you don't see it happen, its not that bad. No, no, no...Its not just the sight, it is the sound. It hear it coming and you just pray as you walk by some sweet old lady or a beautiful young girl, that their loogies doesn't land on you!
So now that you know, everytime I walk down the street in Nepal some part of me is living in fear of a loogie being hacked on to me. I want you to appreciate the freedom to go anywhere in the states without having to succumb to someone else's mucus. Feel the freedom for me.
Thank you!
By the way, no photos will be attached to this blog due to its content :).

Banepa: Week 1

The view from my rooftop in Banepa. Sunset :)

The view from my walk up to the hospital.

The path I took everyday to get to the hospital.

Two more views from my FABulous rooftop!

Hey Everyone! I have TOTALLY been missing you all! Being in Banepa has been quite the shock to my system. The hostel I am staying in is managed by a Nepali man (Damo) and his wife (Sumi). Damo works at the Rehabilitation Hospital that I have been volunteering (if you can call it that) all week. I came to Banepa with visions of grandeur, that I would step in and be really involved (whatever that means). All I can say is that DEFINITELY didn't happen. So lets start at the beginning.

I arrived in Banepa on Saturday morning, expecting to start volunteering on Sunday, because the Nepali work week is Sunday to Friday. But! At the hospital volunteers only go there Monday through Friday, so I was ALL weekend in a new place ALL by myself. I also had expected that other volunteers would be staying at Damo's hostel, that also was not the case. Essentially I moped around most of the weekend, went and bought toilet paper, because HELLO! You can only go native so long :) By the way, to go native....yes it means to use your hand, trust me I ALWAYS washed them afterward. Don't judge! I am here for the experience and going native is one of them.

When Monday morning came I was so EXCITED to get started, you know because I was going to change lives this week, ha! Monday was a TOTAL letdown all I did was observe and I just felt like I was in EVERYone's way. To say the least I was bummed on Monday, but Emma was coming to visit me so that kept my spirits up. True to Nepal, Emma was over an hour late to come and see me, but she did call and I really didn't care because I was going to get to see a familiar face. Emma and her boyfriend came and brought me my pillow YAY! But her visit was all to short because they had to get back to Dhulikhel (a neighboring village) in time for dinner.

Tuesday was ANOTHER challenge! I arrived at the hospital, evidently too early, and met the head of physiotherapy. She was not happy that I was there and said she was going to take me to administration to pay some fee....but then she never did. Huh? There's Nepal for you! The good thing that happened Tuesday was the UK physiotherapist warmed up to me. Thank Goodness! I need an English speaking friend....or warm body for that matter!

Wednesday was a TON better. Got to the hospital at the right time and I actually got to help! YAY! At the hospital, almost all of the children have congenital disorders, and half of those (or more) are club foot. The physiotherapists (after surgery) use 6 casts of Ponseti plaster to correct the club foot. On Wednesday, I got to assist a physiotherapist in applying the case, which essentially means I held a child's foot and leg while they scream and cry....and the physiotherapist applies the plaster. Wednesday was a good day!

Thursday was even better. Mainly because I got to leave the hospital! Muna, a physiotherapy student, invited me to the graduation of her friends at the medical hospital in the nearby town of Dhulikhel. That morning Muna and I went on ward rounds, which would be really interesting if the doctors and nurses didn't speak in this weird combination of Nepali and English. Then it was on the bus and off to graduation. The actual ceremony was kind of boring, especially the parts that were spoken in Nepali. So, Muna took me on alittle tour of Dhulikhel. The tour was just of some shrines of different Hindu gods and godesses. The best part of that day was once back at the graduation, the dancing had commenced. It was so cool! The music here is TOTALLY different and as you would expect so is the dancing. I got some great video, so next week I am going to post it on my blog. Can you see the days of Banepa getting better? :)

Friday, was just a relaxed day. I helped Lara (the physiotherapist from the UK) with Ponseti plaster. Then in the afternoon was the best EVER! There is a patient at the hospital who has spinal TB (which I guess is a quite common form of TB in Nepal). Due to the TB, the patient has paralysis from the stomach down and a result is a TON of high tone in their legs. Here comes the exciting part, we put them on a tilt table and they stood up! For the first time in probably six months they stood up on their own two feet! Lara and I were so happy and so was the patient. You just see how proud the patient was. Friday was a GREAT day! In addition to being helpful, Lara showed me a great cyber cafe that has back-up, which means when the power goes out the internet keeps going because they use a generator. YAY! That is actually where I am blogging from right now! Ha!

I am really glad I am only blogging weekly on placement, because I hope it shows the transition of first getting somewhere and then how I settle in. Although, I had planned to stay in Banepa for a month I am only staying two weeks because I have no medical certification I can only observe. I will be back in the Volunteer House in a week. Which I am quite happy about it, but I am still trying to enjoy my time in Banepa. As for the rest of the weekend I am hopefully doing some laundry, which I hate doing in the states BUT! Here I have to do it by hand...so you can imagine how much I LOVE it here ;) I better wrap this up, because this blog is getting quite lengthly. Until next time!

The Letdown of Shivarati

So! Sorry to disappoint but Shiva had his way and weather is terribly cold and rainy. Evidently, Shiva (the god of destruction) makes the weather cold, wet, and nasty the day of his festival. Thanks Shiva! Yuck! No one wanted to go to Pashupati to see 100,000 naked holy men in the rain. Honestly, I was relieved because I am leaving for Banepa tomorrow and I have to up early and ready. Instead of going to Shivarati I packed and moved all my extra stuff downstairs to the spare bedroom. Luckily, Emma is going to her boyfriend to a village nearby Banepa, so she is going to take my computer and pillow for me (she is taking a car). In place of a really great blog, I tagged photos to most of my past blogs today. Also I am warning my "followers" (hahaha, I have like 4!) that once on placement I don't think I will have internet everyday, so I will be blogging weekly from here on out. Sorry for such a short blog, go check out my pictures. Until Next Time.

Day 6: Bhaktapur and Banepa

Today was suppose to be SUPER exciting because I was going to get a preview of the placement I am going to on Saturday and Shivani and I were going to check out Bhaktapur (which is a village, that is what Kathmandu should look like if it would've been perserved). To my total surprise another volunteer Blake, decided to come with us...which made it more exciting, Blake is a TOTAL free spirit and I LOVE it!
Shivani, Blake and I headed out, caught a micro bus to the bus station, but the micro wouldn't take us there because the traffic was so bad. We had to get off and catch a taxi to the bus station. Then we got on the bus to Banepa, which luckily we got a seat :) The bus ride was suppose to be an hour, but it took closer to three hours. Ugh! We didn't get to Banepa until almost 3pm!
Then we walked up this curvy, hilly little road to the children's hospital in Banepa. I LOVED it! It was so green and secluded, two things you never really seem to find in Kathmandu. At the top of the hill was this PHENOMENAL facility, and this really sweet Nepali man met us to show us around (and if I could remember his name, It would be right here). The hospital is AMAZING, they have a HUGE ward, a surgical theatre, an adult clinic, a HUGE physical therapy room, and a WHOLE building dedicated to prosthetic limbs (the fitting and making of the prosthetic). After the tour, the man explained that there is a Cerebral Palsy (CP) clinic right in Banepa that I will be able to work at. The doctor there goes out to remote villages to work with children who have CP and I will also be able to go with him sometimes. I am so excited I can't wait!
After checking out the hospital, we walked back down the hill and tried to find somewhere to eat (somewhere safe!), but to no avail. Shivani, Blake and I then tried for 20 minutes to catch a bus. Finally, one packed bus let us on (Blake and I wanted to ride on the roof, but I don't think Shivani wanted us to) so we stood in the doorway of the bus and the bus boy was holding Blake and I on the bus. It was GREAT! It was a wild ride, but I loved it! When we got to Bhaktapur, the sun was setting so I got some great pictures of the mountains and the temple area. Then we were back on a bus to Kathamandu, but we had a seat for the long ride. YAY!
Once back in Kathamandu, we couldn't find a taxi from the bus station to Dhapasi...we walked for at least 15 minutes, until finally we found a taxi to take us! Let me remind you that we haven't eaten all day! The instant Blake and I got back to the volunteer house, we inhaled so dinner. Dhal bhat (rice and curry), has NEVER tasted so good! After our long day of travel, I used the internet (because YAY the power was on!) and went to bed. Tomorrow should be interesting, we are going Shivarati...which is 100,000 naked holy men at Pashupati! Expect a GREAT blog. Until then...

Day 5: Durbar Square

The two views from our roof top in Dhapasi.

Durbar Square.

The almighty Shivani...god of destruction (and like ALL things bad).

I FINALLY committed to doing my laundry and even though it was cold and cloudy. I washed all my clothes, BY HAND! After I had put all my clothes on the line, Anne made a really good point...if the sun didn't come out I wouldn't have any dry clothes at the end of the day. Ooops! I guess you live and you learn. *Side Note: The sun came out mid-morning, and it was beautiful weather all day. So, my clothes did end up drying quite nicely.*

Today was another PHENOMENAL day with Shivani. I had my language lesson, which I must admit Nepali is getting easier everyday. Then immediately following, Shivani and I grabbed a micro bus to "new" road, then I had the interesting experience of going to the "mall." I wanted Shivani to show me where she did her clothes shopping. The funniest thing about the mall, was in certain shops they had knock off American Eagle and Abercrombie&Fitch clothes. Also, they had t-shirts with writing on the front, though unfortunately whoever wrote on the shirt didn't have good enough english to spell correctly. Haha!

After the mall, Shivani and I had lunch then headed to Durbar square. Shivani explained to me that when Nepal had a king and a queen, Durbar square was where they lived. I took some pictures, but I don't think I quite captured the beauty of the wood work. The windows and door ways are so intricately carved, it is so beautiful. We then took a short walk from Durbar square to Thamel, where I was determined to find the perfect fingerless mitts. Which after about a half of an hour torturing Shivani, I found the pair I wanted. Simple, green and small enough for my hands. It was a successful shopping trip. The only downfall to being at Thamel so late, is we had a really hard time finding a bus back to Daphasi. Shavani and I ended up just going to Basandhara together and then I got to take a LOVELY walk up the hill to the Volunteer house. The weather was just so beautiful, with the sun out and setting, I just didn't want to even be inside.

Once, back at the volunteer house the usual evening ensued. Although I did sit on the roof and watch the sunset, which was incredible. Tomorrow, I hope to go the Banepa, where I would like to do my first placement. There is a children's hospital located there and I am very excited to go look at it. Until Then.

Days 3&4: Time with Shivani

Me Shopping for funny hats...you can't tell here but I am soaking wet!

The following pictures are of Bhoadnath temple.

I officially started my culture and Nepali language courses on Monday with Shivani(who is the volunteer "coordinator" and my first friend in Nepal). Let me start this blog by saying my language lessons are going quite badly to say the least...I am terrible at Nepali! The only shining beacon of hope is that most everyone in Nepal speaks some English. Shivani is so patient with me, when she asks me something in Nepali and I don't know she just looks at me waiting (I assume when she looks at me she is willing me to know and understand and then speak the correct answer....yeah right!).
On Monday, after my Nepali lesson, Shivani and I went to Bhoad to see the Bhoadnath temple. The temple is the Buddhist temple and it was incredible. It is shaped like a HUGE white dome with eyes on top(hopefully one of these days I will attach pictures to my blog). A top the eyes is a peak and then in a ray out away from the top are thousands of Buddhist prayer flags. Then encircling the bottom of the temple is a wall with tons of prayer wheels embedded in the wall. It is just sooooo phenomenal. After Shivani and I toured the temple we had lunch at this GREAT little restaurant, I had momos which are dumplings and they were DELicious.
On Tuesday (today, we are finally up to the present on my blog), after another awful Nepali lesson....I should take a picture of Shivani's patient look :) Did I mention it rained, ALL day, today? If not, then yes! It rained all day! I had told Shivani that I needed a sleeping bag for placements and trekking. We went into Thamel and went shopping, before shopping commenced Shivani and I got a coffee and it was the first I had in a week....oh man! It was delicious! Then we went to a trekking shop and got my sleeping bag, this is actually a funny story. Because I had to go across the street from the shop up three flights of SUPER creepy and dark steps to the "warehouse." The "warehouse" was this tiny room packed with all sorts of trekking gear and the man lead me to sleeping bag, demonstrated all of its wonderful characterstics (ie. the zipper :), and I was sold. After getting the sleeping bag, we just walked from shop to shop in the rain. I was mainly just checking things out I didn't want to buy any souvenirs just yet. You may not know, but I am Polish so I MUST get the lowest price on everything (aka I am cheap). Although I did buy a FABulous shawl for 300 rupees. After too much rain and shopping Shivani and I stopped for lunch, where we spilt some great fried rice and some not so great spring rolls. At lunch, we decided we had enough of the rain and caught a cab back to the volunteer house.
I am going to wrap up my blog for today because, tonight is movie night and my computer is the resident theatre :) Until Next Time.

Day 2: The Wedding

Wedding Pictures: The getaway car above :)

Blessed offerings

The sad bride (above) and the couple and family (below).

First of all, I HAVE got to stop going into soooo much detail. I don't think anyone really cares that much and it is taking me FOREVER to write my blogs. Please, post if you like more or less information in the blogs...otherwise I am going to start shortening them.

How exciting, I am only in Nepal 2 days and I get invited to a traditional Hindu wedding. I was so excited, but I was TOTALLY kicking myself for not packing my skirt. When Emma explained there could be 500 people at the wedding on the first day, I felt alot better. And yes! I did say the first day, traditional Hindu weddings go for three days; first day is for the bride, second is for the groom, and the final day I believe is for the couple together. We were only going to the first day, because Ram (the man who invited us) it was his sister getting married. We were there to celebrate the bride's day.

*Funny Side Story*

Anne (another volunteer) was invited to a different wedding then the group was going to and Melanie decided to go with her. This meant that Emma, Blake, and I were meeting up with Shivani and going to the wedding for Ram's sister. We decided to meet Shivani at the trekking office (Ram owns the trekking office) and once we all got there Emma got a phone call from Anne's date asking if Anne was there. As Emma tried to explain Anne wasn't there and didn't have a phone or a number he could contact her at. When it was clear that he didn't seem to understand Emma finally just got off the phone. Shivani in the meantime went into the trekking office to get directions and guess who was there???? Anne and Melanie, YAY! This meant we ALL got to go to the wedding together.

On to the wedding...once we arrived the groom's procession came shortly after. There was lots of music and dance and once he was settled outside, the bride came out and did some kind of blessing (I didn't really understand, ie. it was all in Hindu). Then the bride went back inside and came back out and there were alot of things going on that I didn't really understand. It was clear though that, as Shivani explained, the bride was very sad and she is suppose to behave this way to show respect to her family. Because after she is married, it is considered that she has left her family and joined her husband's family. After her marriage she will rarely see her own family. There was this really cool part where they "priest" bathed their feet together and made offerings to...I am not sure who. At that point we were all invited to eat, the food was good but REALLY quite spicy and I didn't eat much of it....but for the record I tried EVERYTHING on my plate. Shortly after we ate we headed back into Thamel, bought chocolate! oooo Yum!
Once back at the Volunteer house, we all used internet, read books, wrote in ours journals and got ready for the night. See, when the power goes out (as Anne so eloquently put it) its like the Middle Ages....we sit around by candle light and chat. Which I sort of just love! I think it is so quaint and old fashion, but I guess coming from the country (aka Hicktown USA) without TV or internet I would find this all very quaint.
That is it for Day 2, stay tuned from excitement for the rest of my first week. After my first week I am thinking about going to Bigu, a remote village that doesn't have internet....so no blog for 3 weeks if I choose that placement. Until Next Time.

My First "real" Day in Nepal

Above; stairs up to Pashupati....Below; the "Holy" River

Melanie taking pictures at the Ashram.

Pashupati

On my first full day in Nepal, I woke up really early not by choice but because I was so jet lagged. I finally got out of bed at 6am Nepali time, washed up and got dressed. Two other volunteers, Melanie and Anne, were also up because they were going to the Elderly Ashram and then to Pashupati Temple. They invited me! I was so excited to get out and see some of Kathmandu! Once we were all ready, we walked for about 15 minutes to Basundhara and caught a bus to the Ashram. The bus ride from Basundhara to Ashram was unusual, because it was Saturday morning, which is their "holiday" or weekend, also it was quite early in the morning so the bus was empty and traffic was light (What a shock?!?!?)
We arrive at the bus stop and walk maybe 10 minutes to the Ashram. We walk in and immediately to our right their is a "band" of eldery Nepali men and women singing and conducting some kind of religious cermony. We stopped and listened, Anne and Melanie took some pictures...but I am still too shy to take pictures of strangers. Then we walk up these steep steps to these shrines and at each of them is a large bell that a woman and walking around and ringing. I am standing pinching myself, thinking "I am really in Nepal, I am really in Nepal..." We walk around the grounds some more and then head into the back of the Ashram to see the less lucid elderly. As we were walking out I began thinking to myself how incredible these old Nepali men and women are. Just as this thought crosses my mind a little old Nepali man walks in front of me, and he walks with his back at a 90 degree angle, totally hunched over but still with a smile on his face and a "Namaste" (hello in Nepali) for a strange white girl. These people are miraculous.
After leaving the Ashram, we headed to the temple. Before entering the temple, because we are apparently (because we are white) tourist we have to pay 500 rupees. Once we walk in we see a shrine that has been recently worshipped, because there had obviously been an animal scarifice (yes! blood streaked all over the ground). Then we go on the bridge that goes over the "holy" river of Kathmandu, but it is so filled with trash that it is hard to believe how holy this river is. It is so sad to see the disrespect taken to something so sacred. Then we head up all of these HUGE white steps, along the way there are these "holy" men and they sit around smoking hash. They were talking to us in Hindu, Anne and I were laughing that they were inviting us to come and smoke with them.
At the top of the steps, was this little village of shrines and lining the far right was this mini forest of these HUGE trees. It was like entering into a whole another world, Kathmandu is so dirty and impoverished, and the temple was run down...but it was ancient (literally, from 400 AD) and beautiful despite the abandonment. Oh! Another thing about the temple is ALL the monkeys. Now monkeys in a zoo, cute. Monkeys running around wild, swinging down from buildings is more like the movie 28 days! They are kind of creepy and word to the wise you never know if they have rabies or not. Eeeek! We took TONS of pictures, especially Melanie she should totally be a photographer. As we are about to leave a man worshipping a specific shrine stopped us and, sadly, told us that we were charged 500 rupees but the money never actually makes it to the people to repair the run down shrines. We were SUPER disappointed to hear this news, so with heavy hearts we headed back. We were lightened some because a "holy" man stopped us and blessed our fore-heads.
Once back at the volunteer house, we hung around for about 30 minutes then it was off to Papa's House for Tiffin (aka holiday). Papa's house is just seconds from the volunteer house and has a HUGE yard. It was so interesting to see all of the children interact, they were playing jump rope and some were playing basketball. Tiffin got really fun when the children finally warmed up to me, alittle girl name Jenny came up to me and chatted and talked to me about being Christian (she saw the cross on my necklace). I decided she was too young (5 or 6 years old) to explain I didn't really associate with one religion or another, more spiritual than anything else. The sun had come out that afternoon and it was VERY hot in the yard, I was starting to get worried that I was getting sun burnt (Yeah! I forgot to put on sunscreen, shame on me). Melanie and I headed back to the volunteer house, and I feel asleep. Ooops! Melanie and I were suppose to go back to Papa's house and listen to Eric (another volunteer) play his guitar for the children. Well, still being jet lagged I can't do it all.
That is a summary of my first day in Nepal. In real time it is my third day in Nepal so...YIKES I have some catching up to do. Until Next Time.

The Flight to Nepal

My trip here was definitely blessed by the good will and prayers of the people who love me at home. I started in Detriot and connected in Washington DC, my flight from DC to London was delayed and I was quite worried because in London I had to go through immigration, get my luggage and check back in with Air India. Surprisingly, that all went smoothly and my flight out of London actually ended up being delayed as well so I wasn't in any hurry. It was quite funny though, I remember seeing a cute white guy waiting in line behind me and I thought "oooo, an American!" Then I looked at this clothes and said to myself "No, European..." Ironically, on my flight from London to India, the cute white guy, he sat next to me. It was so WONDERFUL, because he was German and he spoke PERFECT English. BTW! His name is Moritz, or Mo. Mo and I chatted most of the flight and I am currently trying to stalk him on Facebook, but there are 46 Moritz Werners on fbk!!! Who knew?
So here comes the weird part...I landed in India at like 4am, ugh! Once I got off the flight and into the airport, these men took me off on this secluded elevator up to the 3rd floor, and through all of these hallways, to the connection desk. The man who was helping me (looked more like a 14 year old boy in a suit) took my luggage information and then told me to wait. 30 minutes later he came back looked at my passport, wrote some things down and then told me to wait. Over an hour and a half later, this nice Indian man (who also spoke PERFECT English) came up to me and asked me what I was waiting for. I explained I still need my boarding pass. He looked shocked and then said we MUST go find a Jet Airways representative (this is the 3rd airline I was flying into Kathmandu). So, this WONDERful man hunted down and agent and demanded (in Hindu I assume) to get me may boarding pass. Not but 10-15 mintues later the same agent came back with my boarding pass, and the Indian man wished me good luck and I thanked him. Are you now seeing all the people who were angels to me on my flight to Nepal?
I got to my gate, and waited some more, only to find out that my flight AGAIN was delayed. I decided to go for a walk and get a drink. 20 mintues later I went back to my gate and sat down to write in my journal when I noticed that I didn't recognized anyone I was sitting by. That is when I realized my flight was boarding...HOLY shit! I almost missed my flight to Kathmandu.
Once on the flight to Kathmandu, I relaxed and actually fell asleep. Only to be awakened to my neighbor nudging me, I was annoyed only momentarily until he pointed out Mount Everest in the window across the aisle. Now that I was awake, my neighbor (this really sweet Nepali man), was explaining to me in his broken English that he lived in Dubai and was coming home for the first time in 2 years. What a neat story?
Landing in Kathmandu, was uneventful as was going through immigration and getting my visa. But once out of the airport I was expecting to meet Emma (the British woman running Volunteer Nepal). To my surprise she wasn't there, which of course the taxi drivers came up to me in full force trying to sell me a ride. Finally, some stranger asked me if I had a contact number and insisted he call Emma. Emma explained Shivani was there to meet me. Moments later, Shivani and I met up and got into a taxi. Thank goodness for Shivani! She is Nepali and knows how to negotiate a taxi.
Just when you think the excitment is over, the cab ride was wild...as to be expected. But I evidently recieved an extra special taxi ride, because there was a strike going on due to a young man was hit by a bus and killed. Some of the roads were blocked off because of the strike, so the taxi kept going up one street and having to turn around and go down another street. Finally, Shivani and I made it to the Volunteer house and that is the end of my 30 plus hours of travel.
I was finally in Nepal. The relief I felt was immense and I was exhausted. After meeting the other volunteers and having a tour of the house, that was my first day in Nepal.
Until Next Time.

Introduction

Hello! out there this is my first time blogging, which I find fitting because this is my first time for alot of things. This blog is being created for everyone and anyone, but specifically friends and family to read while I am in Nepal. I am two days into my trip to Nepal, and I am finding it difficult to keep correspondence with all of the people at home whom I want to stay in touch with.
This all started at least six months ago sitting around chatting with my older sister about the rut I was living in and how the hell I planned to get out of it. When she brought up volunteer somewhere outside of the country, after my months of planning and research here I am in Nepal. As you follow my in my journey to "find" myself, please be a sympathetic witness and bear with me on this journey to finding myself. You know what they say...finding your soul is never easy.
Until Next Time.