pokhara

Ive hardly had the time to charge my phone, let alone use the internet. I attended story time at the orphanage and these kids are so freaking happy. While I see American children upset they don’t have the newest gaming device or shoes from the mall, these kids are so excited to listen to a local elder tell jokes for an hour. They live in what we would consider terrible conditions (the girls room is connected to the cow barn) and they go to sleep happy to have a bed. These children have really helped put alot in to perspective for me. I enjoy the little work we do here.

we visited Pokhara and after a day of no one deciding what they wanted to do, we parted ways and I headed home. Me and Anna spent the night watching scary movies with our host family. It was a great bonding experience.

yesterday my roommate felt sick still so we admitted her to the local hospital. She has been battling a very severe bacterial infection ever since. I stayed in the hospital with her because I heard horror stories of hospitals drugging their clients for days so they can get paid more money. I’m a little concerned as to the overall sanitation of the hospital though. No one wears masks, washes their hands. The man taking care of Anna has had no medical training whatsoever. The doctor was offended when I suggested that the standards were not hygienic but I really didnt care. I’ll ask that the assistant wash his hands a hundred times if it means she wont contract a disease.

While Anna was in the hospital, I ventured out to Lakeside ALONE. (Sorry mom and dad!)Lakeside is a very safe touristy area -emphasis on touristy. I decided that I would visit the temple that no one would pay 100NPR for the day before. That’s $1USD btw. Being the only non Hindi on the boat I was of course, a spectacle. Everyone just kept staring at me the whole boat ride to the island but I didn’t care. The lake is so beautiful and I am happy I got to go alone. The reflection of the mountains on the lake is not an exaggeration. When I got to the temple I took a few photographs and ignored the stares, the calls for me to buy overpriced tourist trinkets. An Indian woman literally grabbed me, threw her arm around me as her friend took 4 pictures of us. Um helurrr? Personal space?

I enjoyed several cafes before heading back into town. I spent the night in the hospital and ill head to my new homestay tonight. It is very difficult to type on my phone so adios!

quick update

so this is the first time I have wifi within the last few days. Working off my phone so pay no mind to the grammatical errors.

the road from pokhara was gorgeous. I tried sleeping on the road but the farmland was just too scenic and beautiful to miss. We stopped at several restaraunts along the way and I enjoyed a private breakfast along the river bank. We arrived at our homestay where we were greeted by Rita and Solena, our host family. Rita is this beautiful Nepalese women. What she lacks in height she makes up with her beautiful smile. Her daughter Solena is gorgeous. She has the most beautiful eyes and this gorgeous black hair that falls down to her waste side. Their son Solauv is a very tall young boy who is obsessed with soccer and American films.

our room over looks the Himalayans but we couldn’t see them the night of our arrival as there was a huge thunder and lightening storm. The storm itself was amazing in its own right. A huge lightening streak crossed the sky as I was staring out at the world from our window. We visited our placement and the children attack Anna and I ask we walked in. For having so little these children’s happiness level is through the roof. I’m looking forward to working with them.

yesterday Anna and I took sold a out to the Lakeside where we walked around and visited a couple of restaraunts, did a little shopping. I am still looking for stamps to mail home postcards. Please don’t mind the delay mom and dad.

Day Three

Day Three

I am definitely settling in better here. Yesterday I started off the day with Indian hash browns, fruit, and coffee. Not as good as Eliseo’s is but I’ve been spoiled and I accept that. Afterwards, one of the girls showed me the rooftop terrace. It’s absolutely beautiful. On the top of our four story building, and up a helix style stairway, there is a little oasis away from the ground floor. The view is insane as you can see across Kathmandu Valley- the sounds of the city, birds flowing overhead, the thick aroma of Indian insence and the construction next door create an urbanized ambience and I love it. This is my happy place.

We went through an orientation on Nepali customs- we were essentially told we, as woman, can’t go to bars, can’t be out late, and can’t walk alone. Apparently my feet are junto and my habits of using them to pick things up is considered rude. When women go through menstruation for the first time they are locked into a dark room for twelve days. When a baby’s born, the whole family goes on lock down and the house is cleansed with cow urine. I should also throw out my leather backpack.

Folllowing the orientation, we all piled into a van and made our way up the mountain to the Monkey Temple. I forget the actual name but essentially it is a Stupa dominated by monkeys- very reminiscent of Planet of the Apes. There were hundreds of these little monkeys just taking over the stupa. That stupa was their property and they did not let us forget it. Our tour guide told us before we left not to stare at the monkeys in the eyes as the mother’s are aggressive and are known to attack. These aggressive little primates were making that very difficult as they were staring us down from the moment we got there. They were hanging on the archway, dangling from tree branches, and scurrying past your feet. I could feel their heads follow me as I walked through the temple. They were either very hungry or they were just waiting for me to cave in to their cuteness so they could fight me. I like to assume the latter.

The temple itself was gorgeous- these large structures that just dominate the hill side with the backdrop of Kathmandu behind- it was hard not to take a photo of everything. I will try to add photos later. And I didn’t get any monkey poop flung at me but I did almost step in some. It didn’t phase me- I do live in San Francisco after all.

At the temple itself, in this small, ill-lit room with Mandalas lining the walls,  we had a lesson into the making of Mandalas. Some of the things I learned: traditional Mandalas are birds eye views of stupas, a master mandala maker can take seven and a half years to create a single Mandala, and Manadalas require no imagination- it’s creation is governed by a strict set of rules and they must be adhered to accordingly.

We proceeded back to the hotel where I was able to escape to the rooftop terrace before dinner. The ride to dinner was an adventure in itself. Because road conditions are so poor, we ended up hitting a pile of rocks on the road and had to walk the rest of the way to our welcome dinner. We entered this two story building, a woman adorned with jewels and decorated fabrics placed red tikas (bindis) on our foreheads, and we walked into this long white room with a green ceiling. All the tables were about two feet high and the chairs were designed to encourage traditional style seating (cross legged). The food was delicious and the glass of  “local Nepali wine” was enjoyable, although I haven’t seen any vineyards around here and I think it’s too cold. They could have served me Sutter Home and I wouldn’t know the difference. There were four traditional dances preformed during dinner with a band and everything. It was a great way to experience what I have been told is authentic Nepali culture. I may have ruined it though because I got into a debate with this woman about why westernization of the east is not ideal for improving women’s rights in Nepal. Whoops! #srynotsry

Going to attempt taking another shower this morning. Wish me luck!

Day One

Talk about culture shock… I’m not sure that there is anything that can really prepare you for Kathmandu. When I got off the plane and through customs (10 minutes from my plane seat to the streets!) I walked out to a sea of porters, drivers, locals and tourists. I was suppose to be looking for a driver with my name on a sign but that was impossible. With the hundreds of people, unorganized traffic, and being hustled to keep moving on the sidewalk, I had no way of knowing where I was or who I was suppose to be meeting. After about 20 minutes of frantically searching, on the verge of breaking down, these three Nepalese men approached me and yelled “Emily!” They had a sign of the organization and my name. Obviously relieved to not be stranded at the airport, I followed the men to the parking lot.

But wait Emily, isn’t this how all those oblivious tourists go missing? Get into a car with strangers and then never be heard from again? They totally stole the sign and this is just one master plot to abduct you and hold you for ransom. They brought me to a small van with a bench in the back covered by three cushions. I just thought to myself, “Oh, okay. This is how I go missing. Awesome.” As the cautious San Franciscan that I am, I refused to get into the car without identification verifying their employment. Then I realized his car had the company name on it as did his jacket. I offended my driver and he gave me the cold shoulder for the entirety of the ride. I didn’t ask about the seatbelt situation.

The streets of Kathmandu are chaotic. No one follows traffic laws, cars frequently go off the road, motorcycles weave in and out of traffic lanes (even implying that there are organized lanes is giving the urban planner too much credit- seriously my driver wedged between two lanes at least a dozen times), pedestrians walk through heavy traffic, and using the car horn every 15 seconds is a norm.

The streets are just littered with garbage. Tires and dust and scrap metal top the houses, trash fills the drainage ditches on the side of the road, the pollution is thick enough to see. I took a couple of photos at first but had to stop. I couldn’t believe that conditions were this bad in the capitol city. Children who should be at school were instead alone, sitting on the street curbs with their shoes, so poorly maintained, literally falling off of their feet. Their doesn’t appear to be a middle class here. You see men and women sitting in dirt piles begging for money and the wealthy business men in suits on their iPhones casually walking around the homeless. There really aren’t many people that fall in between the two categories.

I arrived at the Kathmandu Peace Guest House, situated in a calmer portion of the city, and tipped my driver generously for putting up with my paranoid travel nerves. My room is on the ground floor and outside the window is an alleyway with four potted plants. The bed itself is not that bad, it has unidentifiable stains on the blanket but I’ve seen worse.

After texting my partner and family to let them know I was safe, I took a swing at operating the hosed shower- an upgrade from a garden hose but a shower nonetheless. The water was so cold I resorted to filling up a cup with water and splashing myself in select areas to get clean.

A two hour power nap to try to recover from altitude sickness and one panic attack later, I woke up to Amy Kate, an Australian traveller who just arrived from Delhi and my new roommate. I learned quickly she is a louder sleeper than my partner.

Myself and about 12 other volunteers had dinner on site at the restaurant behind the house. A vegetarian dish of lentils, rice, and potatoes. The architecture of the restaurant and house itself is something worth photographing. I can’t wait to have my partner develop and print them for me.

I start orientation today and I am excited to see what exploring the city will bring.

 

“Go Forth and Be Brilliant.”

One of my favorite teachers used to repeat this phrase in the three years where I was a student in his class; before a test, starting a project, or finishing the edits for the school paper. He used it as a motivational tool for his students who were otherwise uninspired. I can’t remember what I thought of it at the time or if it even motivated me- I won’t pretend that I was deeply impacted by the quote as a 15 year-old girl. But in last six years since graduating high school, I have hung onto those words and found myself using it for motivation to get through many of the hurdles in my academic career. I feel a little guilty for not appreciating the message more as teenager but I’m making up for lost time now.

Flash forward.

Eight months ago, after some thorough self reflection, I took on the challenge to “Go forth and be brilliant” in all aspects of my life- most importantly, in my aspirations for world travel. I decided that I needed to stop talking about the people I wanted to help, the places I wanted to see, and the adventures I wanted to experience- I needed to go out there and do it. I needed to live my life based on my plan. That month, I applied for my passport and bought my plane tickets to Kathmandu, Nepal. I leave in less than six hours.

My partner has already woken up, gotten dressed for work, and has set down coffee on the table for me; he is going to bike to work while I stay in bed. Today feels just like any normal Thursday. The only difference is that I have luggage waiting for me beside my bed and I’m still in my sleepwear at 7AM. I have planned for eight months for this trip and the reality of its arrival seems anything but a reality. Perhaps I am suffering from pre-departure shock- “Home Alone” provided some very unrealistic expectations of how this is all suppose to go down.

I will be travelling to LAX, CAN (Guangzhou, China), and finally to KTM (Kathmandu) where a member of International Volunteer Headquarters (IVHQ) will be waiting for my arrival at the airport. Or you know, probably not. Who knows. With my luck, I’m certainly going to have to hitchhike my way to the Kathmandu Peace Guest House. YOLO.

I will do my best to update this blog so you can read about my travels. Or not. I think this is more for me than anything else. Either way, here’s to going forth and being brilliant.