I recently finished Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This book has definetally cemented Dostoevsky as my favorite author of all time. This is probably one of my favorite books along with Notes From Underground. The story of Crime and Punishment was fabulous. The thing I love most are the depth of the characters, my favorite being the protagonist Raskolnikov. He is so very multidimensional, while reading the book I wished to be friends with him. He was so very real. I loved how strange Raskolnikov and loved to read his thoughts. Dostoevsky's characters are endlessly fascinating. Raskolnikov is so logically irrational, or maybe he is so irrationally logical. Is he madly sane or insanely mad? Well, I think a little bit of each one, and that is why he is a wonderful character. I feel as though I could read the book a thousand times and discover new bits about it with each reading. This is what I plan to do. Well, I obviously loved this book and recommend it to everyone. Fantastic!
I also recently finished a book called 1700 about London city life during this time period, by Maureen Waller. For some reason, I felt like reading European history. The book has chapters on all aspects of life from London in 1700, including Death, Disease, Marriage, Childbirth, Prostitution and Vice, Coffeehouses and Taverns, Working, and Crime and Punishment. My favorite sections were probably the ones on Crime and Punishment which go into detail about being sent to the gallows, and Disease which was interesting as many of the diseases from London in 1700 exist here in Kathmandu at the present.
I am currently reading a volume of Roald Dahl's short stories. I think most of us know Dahl for his children's books but his short stories are wonderfully dark and twisted. I find myself continuously laughing at the black humor and satirical stories. They are great! My favorite so far are the stories called "William and Mary" and "Royal Jelly."
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Kuber's House
One of the wonderful things about being here is that everything turns into an adventure. The minute you wake up, the minute you step out of the door, life turns into a fabulous adventure. This phenomenon happened yesterday on our visit to Kuber's house. Well, now I look back on it and think it was a wonderful adventure. At the time, not so much. But as long as you can look back on things, and think they are funny, then it's all good.
So, we planned to visit Kuber's house on Saturday and meet his family. Kuber is our... servant? I hate that word, but I'm not sure when to call him. He cooks our meals, cleans, generally serves everyone. Anyway, we've become great friends with him. He is 17 years old, and a typical pubescent blubbering boy. He is quite amused by us and I think really likes working at the house and getting to hang out with us. Kuber is quite a funny young lad, his English is not so good which sort of adds to how entertaining he is. He just failed his English test, so we are all tutoring him to help him pass his next test. Kuber has a habit of saying "Ok," to everything that he doesn't know what we are talking about. Examples: "Kuber, when is food ready?" "Ok!" or "Kuber, what did you do today?" "Ok!" All of us have become quite good friends with Kuber, he is like our little brother in a sense. So we all decided we must meet Kuber's family. All we really knew about him was that he is from a village and has worked for Anuj for a while. So we woke up early Saturday morning and left to meet Kuber's family. "Kuber, how long to your house?" "30 minute bus ride, 30 minute walk." Ok, that doesn't sound so bad. So we pile on the rickety, creaky, bouncy local bus that seems like it is held together with duct tape and are on our way. An hour later we pile off the bus and set out for Kuber's house. It is pouring down rain at this time and most of us are wearing flip flops, crocs, or other very inappropriate shoes for hiking. And hiking is what it was. Into the corn fields we went, through the rice paddies, up into the hills. It's a bit difficult to describe the "paths" on the way to Kuber's house. The paths are about 6 inches wide, and with the monsoons basically turn into mud rivers. In the first 15 minutes everyone of us (except Kuber) had slipped and fallen in the mud. So, starting to get soggy and covered in bright orange clayish mud we were ready to be at Kuber's house. "Kuber, how much longer?" "Ok!" Hmm.... we continue on. After about 2 hours of mud rivers, rice fields, scramblling and sliding up (and down) trecherous clay hills we were starting to get a bit miffed. We were all covered in head to toe in mud, soaked to the bone, and starting to get rather annoyed that this supposedly "30 minute walk" was actually a 2 hour (so far) trecherous trek through the mud mountains of Nepal. By this time we were deep into the countryside. No houses anywhere, not even any cows. Along the way we had picked up two old Nepali men who were laughing histerically at us. "Nepali road! Nepali road!" Yes, we understood. These were the Nepali "roads" and we were illprepared Americans slipping and sliding through these horrible paths. As we trekked deeper and deeper into the jungle I was not going to be surprised if any R.O.U.S's came out and attacked us. (Rodents Of Unusual Size... anyone seen the Princess Bride?) After 2 and a half hours we were all horribly irritated. I kept reminding myself to not be annoyed, I was trying as hard as I could to not get agitated. Wet, cold, muddy, and hungry. Then to top it all off I took off my shoes to to go get some of the mud out and to my surprise found quite a large colony of leeches had taken refuge between my toes. Wonderful. After leeches attach and start sucking, it's almost impossible to pry them off. So after a long while of attempting to get the little suckers off, finally I succeeded. The little buggers left my feet covered in blood, which just topped it off even more. Almost three hours had gone by. Kuber kept pointing to the nearest house on the hillside that we passed saying it was his house. None of them were. The thing I have learned about many Nepalis is that they will tell you something, even if it is not true, just to make you happy. So Kuber tells us it is a half an hour walk to his house. The problem is that this backfired horribly because we were much more annoyed that he didn't just tell us it was 3 hours into the jungle through mud rivers and leech country in the pouring rain. The thing is Kuber just didn't quite understand this, and it's not his fault. So after a horribly long walk, drenching rains, multitudes of leeches, dozens of falls into the mud, faces covered in scatches by brambles, a couple ant and other unidentified bug bites on our feet, and empty stomaches we arrived at Kuber's house. After this walk I truely understood how difficult it is for rural Nepalis to get anywhere. Going, literally anywhere, would take 3 hours on trecherous paths. It is important to know that Nepal is 90% rural, so this is where most of Nepalis live: in the countryside up incredibly steep hills, with no roads, and usually not even any paths to their homes. Going to the doctor would be a difficult endeavour, so you can image that these rural Nepalis really don't go to the doctor. Too far. (Note: I now understand why at the geriatric clinic we had people who said they have had headaches for 20 years, their knees have been in pain for 10 years, or that they have not been able to hear for 15 years. Too hard to go to the doctor!) Doing something on a whim would be unheard of. Example: Do you feel like going for ice-cream? .... Not if the walk is 3 hours through corn fields and mud hills, and thorn bushes. I think I would be much more content to stay home. I also now appreciate how isolated it is living in these places. Anyway, we finally arrived at Kuber's. I was in a horrible mood because I had just fallen very hard and thought I may have broken my arm. But my temperment changed quickly from the warm welcome from Kuber's family. Pretty much the whole village was at Kuber's house waiting for us. They all stood around and starred at us with smiles on their faces as they watched us drink tea prepared for us by Kuber's mother. Kuber's house is a typical rural house. Mostly made of mud and sticks. It was 2 stories. The bottom story was where the "kitchen" was, actually just a pile of sticks and a fire and some pans. The bottom story was also filled with potates. I have never seen so many potatoes in my life. There were literally thousands. It must be potatoe harvesting season. Well, we were starved and Kuber's mother made us a huge meal. We had dozens of roti (sort of like a Nepali tortilla) which she prepared over the cooking fire, potatoe and pea curry which we ate with the roti, dal, and burned corn which we ate with sugar. The meal was probably the most delicious meal ever. Partly because it really was delicious, partly because we had just had the most horrible walk ever. But we soon forgot our troubles and were having a great time. The whole village piled into the mud hut and had a great time laughing at us. We each got a burned ear of corn cooked in the fire and were eating it how we eat it typically at a BBQ. Straight off the cob. "Monkey system! Monkey system!" they laughed at us. "Monkey system?" "We show you Nepali system." The Nepali system for eating corn was to take all the kernels off the cob and put them on a plate, them sprinkle them with generous amounts of sugar. No more monkey system for us. After the meal we were stuffed. We tested buffalos milk and buffalo fat which was interesting. The buff milk was a bit chunky but very sweet. The buffalo fat looked like bacon grease but tasted like sweet milky butter. We had after meal tea and were all happy. Then we talked with all the villagers and Kuber's family. They all look so much alike, it is scary. After a while with the villagers were were ready to depart. We thanked them all very much and were off to finish the second leg of our journey, which we were not looking forward to. Along the way one of Kuber's village friends invited us to stop by his house and eat "bees honey." So we stopped by another mud hut close by. We all sat on the mud porch next to a few goats. The woman of the house came out and presented each one of us a huge bowl full of honey with a spoon in it! It was a rich orangy brown color. We could see the hives on top of the thatched roof. The honey was so delicious. It had an interesting taste, almost a bit like fermented apples. It had a wonderful grainy texture that melted in your mouth. It was amazing. We sat eating our honey bowls when more villagers came by and huddled in groups starring at us with amazement. I don't know why, I think we looked quite hilarious covered in mud and soaking wet. Anyway, the honey was SO sweet, we couldn't eat it all and felt very bad. But really, all you needed of this honey was one spoonful to be satisfied. Finally we were on our way again. After another 3 hour journey we were back at home. Clean, warm, full, and nestled in our beds. At dinner we sat around the table laughing about our adventure. The whole while during the walk I kept reminding myself "this will be funny in 5 hours, this will be funny in 5 hours." And sure enough, it was. So a simple 30 minute bus, 30 minute walk turned into a 1 hour bus, 3 hour trek both ways. But the rewards outweighed the bads in the end. We had a wonderful time with Kuber's family. They were so kind and generous, and also we had an amazing Nepali meal. I am also happy that I now understand I little more the hardships that come with most rural Nepali's lives. But despite these hardships they are still so happy and appreciative! Rural Nepali life is amazing to say the least. The people of the Nepali hill villages are wonderful and generous and so kind. Another great thing, besides just meeting Kuber's family and his village, was to watch Kuber interact with his mother, father, brother and sister and all his friends. This trip sort of completed a missing piece of Kuber for me. I now understand his life just a little bit more, and appreciate him more as well. From this visit Kuber has become a much more 3 dimensional person. It was so great to see his mother dote on him, his father tease him, his sister hang on his neck, and his older brother joke around with him. Despite the muddy falls, the leeches in my toes, the sprained elbow, and the skinned knees, this day turned into a most awesome adventure. It turned into a wonderful experience that I will never forget. I am very grateful for this opportunity. As long as you can look back, and find your adventures funny, then that means everything is ok.
So, we planned to visit Kuber's house on Saturday and meet his family. Kuber is our... servant? I hate that word, but I'm not sure when to call him. He cooks our meals, cleans, generally serves everyone. Anyway, we've become great friends with him. He is 17 years old, and a typical pubescent blubbering boy. He is quite amused by us and I think really likes working at the house and getting to hang out with us. Kuber is quite a funny young lad, his English is not so good which sort of adds to how entertaining he is. He just failed his English test, so we are all tutoring him to help him pass his next test. Kuber has a habit of saying "Ok," to everything that he doesn't know what we are talking about. Examples: "Kuber, when is food ready?" "Ok!" or "Kuber, what did you do today?" "Ok!" All of us have become quite good friends with Kuber, he is like our little brother in a sense. So we all decided we must meet Kuber's family. All we really knew about him was that he is from a village and has worked for Anuj for a while. So we woke up early Saturday morning and left to meet Kuber's family. "Kuber, how long to your house?" "30 minute bus ride, 30 minute walk." Ok, that doesn't sound so bad. So we pile on the rickety, creaky, bouncy local bus that seems like it is held together with duct tape and are on our way. An hour later we pile off the bus and set out for Kuber's house. It is pouring down rain at this time and most of us are wearing flip flops, crocs, or other very inappropriate shoes for hiking. And hiking is what it was. Into the corn fields we went, through the rice paddies, up into the hills. It's a bit difficult to describe the "paths" on the way to Kuber's house. The paths are about 6 inches wide, and with the monsoons basically turn into mud rivers. In the first 15 minutes everyone of us (except Kuber) had slipped and fallen in the mud. So, starting to get soggy and covered in bright orange clayish mud we were ready to be at Kuber's house. "Kuber, how much longer?" "Ok!" Hmm.... we continue on. After about 2 hours of mud rivers, rice fields, scramblling and sliding up (and down) trecherous clay hills we were starting to get a bit miffed. We were all covered in head to toe in mud, soaked to the bone, and starting to get rather annoyed that this supposedly "30 minute walk" was actually a 2 hour (so far) trecherous trek through the mud mountains of Nepal. By this time we were deep into the countryside. No houses anywhere, not even any cows. Along the way we had picked up two old Nepali men who were laughing histerically at us. "Nepali road! Nepali road!" Yes, we understood. These were the Nepali "roads" and we were illprepared Americans slipping and sliding through these horrible paths. As we trekked deeper and deeper into the jungle I was not going to be surprised if any R.O.U.S's came out and attacked us. (Rodents Of Unusual Size... anyone seen the Princess Bride?) After 2 and a half hours we were all horribly irritated. I kept reminding myself to not be annoyed, I was trying as hard as I could to not get agitated. Wet, cold, muddy, and hungry. Then to top it all off I took off my shoes to to go get some of the mud out and to my surprise found quite a large colony of leeches had taken refuge between my toes. Wonderful. After leeches attach and start sucking, it's almost impossible to pry them off. So after a long while of attempting to get the little suckers off, finally I succeeded. The little buggers left my feet covered in blood, which just topped it off even more. Almost three hours had gone by. Kuber kept pointing to the nearest house on the hillside that we passed saying it was his house. None of them were. The thing I have learned about many Nepalis is that they will tell you something, even if it is not true, just to make you happy. So Kuber tells us it is a half an hour walk to his house. The problem is that this backfired horribly because we were much more annoyed that he didn't just tell us it was 3 hours into the jungle through mud rivers and leech country in the pouring rain. The thing is Kuber just didn't quite understand this, and it's not his fault. So after a horribly long walk, drenching rains, multitudes of leeches, dozens of falls into the mud, faces covered in scatches by brambles, a couple ant and other unidentified bug bites on our feet, and empty stomaches we arrived at Kuber's house. After this walk I truely understood how difficult it is for rural Nepalis to get anywhere. Going, literally anywhere, would take 3 hours on trecherous paths. It is important to know that Nepal is 90% rural, so this is where most of Nepalis live: in the countryside up incredibly steep hills, with no roads, and usually not even any paths to their homes. Going to the doctor would be a difficult endeavour, so you can image that these rural Nepalis really don't go to the doctor. Too far. (Note: I now understand why at the geriatric clinic we had people who said they have had headaches for 20 years, their knees have been in pain for 10 years, or that they have not been able to hear for 15 years. Too hard to go to the doctor!) Doing something on a whim would be unheard of. Example: Do you feel like going for ice-cream? .... Not if the walk is 3 hours through corn fields and mud hills, and thorn bushes. I think I would be much more content to stay home. I also now appreciate how isolated it is living in these places. Anyway, we finally arrived at Kuber's. I was in a horrible mood because I had just fallen very hard and thought I may have broken my arm. But my temperment changed quickly from the warm welcome from Kuber's family. Pretty much the whole village was at Kuber's house waiting for us. They all stood around and starred at us with smiles on their faces as they watched us drink tea prepared for us by Kuber's mother. Kuber's house is a typical rural house. Mostly made of mud and sticks. It was 2 stories. The bottom story was where the "kitchen" was, actually just a pile of sticks and a fire and some pans. The bottom story was also filled with potates. I have never seen so many potatoes in my life. There were literally thousands. It must be potatoe harvesting season. Well, we were starved and Kuber's mother made us a huge meal. We had dozens of roti (sort of like a Nepali tortilla) which she prepared over the cooking fire, potatoe and pea curry which we ate with the roti, dal, and burned corn which we ate with sugar. The meal was probably the most delicious meal ever. Partly because it really was delicious, partly because we had just had the most horrible walk ever. But we soon forgot our troubles and were having a great time. The whole village piled into the mud hut and had a great time laughing at us. We each got a burned ear of corn cooked in the fire and were eating it how we eat it typically at a BBQ. Straight off the cob. "Monkey system! Monkey system!" they laughed at us. "Monkey system?" "We show you Nepali system." The Nepali system for eating corn was to take all the kernels off the cob and put them on a plate, them sprinkle them with generous amounts of sugar. No more monkey system for us. After the meal we were stuffed. We tested buffalos milk and buffalo fat which was interesting. The buff milk was a bit chunky but very sweet. The buffalo fat looked like bacon grease but tasted like sweet milky butter. We had after meal tea and were all happy. Then we talked with all the villagers and Kuber's family. They all look so much alike, it is scary. After a while with the villagers were were ready to depart. We thanked them all very much and were off to finish the second leg of our journey, which we were not looking forward to. Along the way one of Kuber's village friends invited us to stop by his house and eat "bees honey." So we stopped by another mud hut close by. We all sat on the mud porch next to a few goats. The woman of the house came out and presented each one of us a huge bowl full of honey with a spoon in it! It was a rich orangy brown color. We could see the hives on top of the thatched roof. The honey was so delicious. It had an interesting taste, almost a bit like fermented apples. It had a wonderful grainy texture that melted in your mouth. It was amazing. We sat eating our honey bowls when more villagers came by and huddled in groups starring at us with amazement. I don't know why, I think we looked quite hilarious covered in mud and soaking wet. Anyway, the honey was SO sweet, we couldn't eat it all and felt very bad. But really, all you needed of this honey was one spoonful to be satisfied. Finally we were on our way again. After another 3 hour journey we were back at home. Clean, warm, full, and nestled in our beds. At dinner we sat around the table laughing about our adventure. The whole while during the walk I kept reminding myself "this will be funny in 5 hours, this will be funny in 5 hours." And sure enough, it was. So a simple 30 minute bus, 30 minute walk turned into a 1 hour bus, 3 hour trek both ways. But the rewards outweighed the bads in the end. We had a wonderful time with Kuber's family. They were so kind and generous, and also we had an amazing Nepali meal. I am also happy that I now understand I little more the hardships that come with most rural Nepali's lives. But despite these hardships they are still so happy and appreciative! Rural Nepali life is amazing to say the least. The people of the Nepali hill villages are wonderful and generous and so kind. Another great thing, besides just meeting Kuber's family and his village, was to watch Kuber interact with his mother, father, brother and sister and all his friends. This trip sort of completed a missing piece of Kuber for me. I now understand his life just a little bit more, and appreciate him more as well. From this visit Kuber has become a much more 3 dimensional person. It was so great to see his mother dote on him, his father tease him, his sister hang on his neck, and his older brother joke around with him. Despite the muddy falls, the leeches in my toes, the sprained elbow, and the skinned knees, this day turned into a most awesome adventure. It turned into a wonderful experience that I will never forget. I am very grateful for this opportunity. As long as you can look back, and find your adventures funny, then that means everything is ok.
More Pokhara Stories
Namaste!
Sorry I have not been able to finish up writing about my last Pokhara trip for a while. I've been busy back in the city. So here are some other highlights from Pokhara:
-riding on the roof of the bus (already wrote about it)
-renting motor bikes and cruising the country
-We rented a paddle boat and paddled out as far as we could into Phewa Tal lake. This was actually not that far because there were five of us in the boat.
-On one day we hiked to Devis Falls which is an amazing underground water falls. The water was so incredibly powerful, since it had been raining pretty much constantly for the last month or so. Apparently in the dry season the water subsides to not more than a trickle, but when we went it was raging. It was quite mesmerizing to look at. On this same day we explored the near by Tibetan refugee camp. We were exploring the country side and happened upon a gorgeous raging river. The country people were swimming in it, and the women were doing their washing on the rocks. It was a beautiful milky blue color, like the color of a husky dog's eyes that are stangely blue. We all exchanged looks and knew what we had to do: go swimming in it. So we took of our shoes and went for a dip. It was quite fun. On our walk back into Pokhara the locals I think thought us quite strange, as we all looked like bedragled rats.
-In town there are Tibetan women who peruse the streets with backpacks full of their handicrafts. There are probably the best sales people I have ever met and very persistant. "Looking is free!" We made friends with one woman named Lobsang. She became very fond of us and invited us to her home at one of the nearby Tibetan refugee camps. So, one morning we met her in town and took a taxi about 30 minutes to the refugee camp. She showed us her home which was provided to her by the Nepalese government and is where she has been living since she had to leave Tibet in 1959. It is actually not more than a room, which she shares with another person. It was wonderful though. There were two beds in the room, and one table, and one dresser. The main focal point of the room was a large picture of the Dalai Lama. We sat on the two beds and she made us a most magnificent and delicious breakfast. The breakfast consisted of yak butter tea, milk tea, stacks and stacks of Tibetan bread (sort of like a dense pancake), marmalade for the Tibetan bread, omlets, and bowls of curd (yogurt). Lobsang is such a kind and generous woman and was so eager to tell us about her life and family and about Tibet. After breakfast she had a little "ceremony" for us: she presented each one of us with a milky yellow silk scarf (the kind you may see people present to the Dalai Lama when they meet him) which she placed around our neck and said the Tibetan prayer "om mane pheme houme" (sp?). After the mini-ceremony she took us around the Tibetan refugee camp. It is a wonderfully peaceful place, I suppose this is how Tibet must be, or at least used to be. It is full of little which cottages white-washed, and brightly colored red, yellow, blue, green and white prayer flags strung through out the entire refugee camp. She took us to the monastery which is in the refugee camp. It was closed but she snuck us passed the monks laughing with each other at the gate and took us inside. It was empty but she showed us where all the monks studied and all the amazingly beautiful statues and artwork and icons all about the monastery. At the head of the monastery was a massive golden buddha, next to which was a large framed picture of the Dalai Lama. We each gave a little donation and waited for Lobsang to do a few prostrations infront of the golden Buddha. Then she took us to a juice making factory! Well, it was actually a few rooms dediced to making and bottling juices which they sell in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and I think is a good source of income for the refugees. We met all the workers and watched them slice up pineapples and put labels on the pineapple juice bottles. After we explored the rest of the camp we headed back to Pokhara. All of us and Lobsang squished into a taxi back to town. There was no room so I sat on Lobsang's lap and she had fun stroking my hair and saying the Tibetan prayer. I think she really enjoyed having us to her home, especially since she has no children of her own. "Oh! I will tell everyone I have 3 young miss daughters and 1 young boy son with white skin!" she told us in jest. Going to Lobsang's refugee camp was a most amazing time. She was one of the most radiant, bright and kind people I have ever met despite having had to leave her home many years ago. Soon after she was forced to leave Tibet with her mother, her mother died leaving just Lobsang. Lobsang never married or had any children, but she was so wonderful and didn't let any of the make her sad. She was also so generous to us, although she has so little. Looking around her humble home I thought it is so silly huge mansions in the states and how much space we think we need when some people have so little. She has been living in a home that was provided to her from the government, she did not even want to live there by choice, but she makes the best of it.
Sorry I have not been able to finish up writing about my last Pokhara trip for a while. I've been busy back in the city. So here are some other highlights from Pokhara:
-riding on the roof of the bus (already wrote about it)
-renting motor bikes and cruising the country
-We rented a paddle boat and paddled out as far as we could into Phewa Tal lake. This was actually not that far because there were five of us in the boat.
-On one day we hiked to Devis Falls which is an amazing underground water falls. The water was so incredibly powerful, since it had been raining pretty much constantly for the last month or so. Apparently in the dry season the water subsides to not more than a trickle, but when we went it was raging. It was quite mesmerizing to look at. On this same day we explored the near by Tibetan refugee camp. We were exploring the country side and happened upon a gorgeous raging river. The country people were swimming in it, and the women were doing their washing on the rocks. It was a beautiful milky blue color, like the color of a husky dog's eyes that are stangely blue. We all exchanged looks and knew what we had to do: go swimming in it. So we took of our shoes and went for a dip. It was quite fun. On our walk back into Pokhara the locals I think thought us quite strange, as we all looked like bedragled rats.
-In town there are Tibetan women who peruse the streets with backpacks full of their handicrafts. There are probably the best sales people I have ever met and very persistant. "Looking is free!" We made friends with one woman named Lobsang. She became very fond of us and invited us to her home at one of the nearby Tibetan refugee camps. So, one morning we met her in town and took a taxi about 30 minutes to the refugee camp. She showed us her home which was provided to her by the Nepalese government and is where she has been living since she had to leave Tibet in 1959. It is actually not more than a room, which she shares with another person. It was wonderful though. There were two beds in the room, and one table, and one dresser. The main focal point of the room was a large picture of the Dalai Lama. We sat on the two beds and she made us a most magnificent and delicious breakfast. The breakfast consisted of yak butter tea, milk tea, stacks and stacks of Tibetan bread (sort of like a dense pancake), marmalade for the Tibetan bread, omlets, and bowls of curd (yogurt). Lobsang is such a kind and generous woman and was so eager to tell us about her life and family and about Tibet. After breakfast she had a little "ceremony" for us: she presented each one of us with a milky yellow silk scarf (the kind you may see people present to the Dalai Lama when they meet him) which she placed around our neck and said the Tibetan prayer "om mane pheme houme" (sp?). After the mini-ceremony she took us around the Tibetan refugee camp. It is a wonderfully peaceful place, I suppose this is how Tibet must be, or at least used to be. It is full of little which cottages white-washed, and brightly colored red, yellow, blue, green and white prayer flags strung through out the entire refugee camp. She took us to the monastery which is in the refugee camp. It was closed but she snuck us passed the monks laughing with each other at the gate and took us inside. It was empty but she showed us where all the monks studied and all the amazingly beautiful statues and artwork and icons all about the monastery. At the head of the monastery was a massive golden buddha, next to which was a large framed picture of the Dalai Lama. We each gave a little donation and waited for Lobsang to do a few prostrations infront of the golden Buddha. Then she took us to a juice making factory! Well, it was actually a few rooms dediced to making and bottling juices which they sell in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and I think is a good source of income for the refugees. We met all the workers and watched them slice up pineapples and put labels on the pineapple juice bottles. After we explored the rest of the camp we headed back to Pokhara. All of us and Lobsang squished into a taxi back to town. There was no room so I sat on Lobsang's lap and she had fun stroking my hair and saying the Tibetan prayer. I think she really enjoyed having us to her home, especially since she has no children of her own. "Oh! I will tell everyone I have 3 young miss daughters and 1 young boy son with white skin!" she told us in jest. Going to Lobsang's refugee camp was a most amazing time. She was one of the most radiant, bright and kind people I have ever met despite having had to leave her home many years ago. Soon after she was forced to leave Tibet with her mother, her mother died leaving just Lobsang. Lobsang never married or had any children, but she was so wonderful and didn't let any of the make her sad. She was also so generous to us, although she has so little. Looking around her humble home I thought it is so silly huge mansions in the states and how much space we think we need when some people have so little. She has been living in a home that was provided to her from the government, she did not even want to live there by choice, but she makes the best of it.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Pokhara II
Namaste! I have just returned from my second visit to Pokhara which was fantastic! Our journey started out early Thursday morning where we caught a local bus from the bus park. After alot of haggling, we got our bus fare down to 180 rupees. Instead of riding in the bus, we went for the much more fun option of riding on the bus. On top of all the buses in Nepal are shallow metal cage type things to store bags, people, or even a herd of goats. So we climbed up the ladder and situated ourselves for the 7 hour bus ride. I can not emphasize enough how much better it is to ride on the top of the bus. You sort of feel like you are on an amusement park ride though a medieval countryside. The Nepal countryside is probably the most beautifl thing I have ever seen. Everything looks so ancient. I kept expecting a triceratops or a pteradactyl to come out from the hills. Also on the roof you get 360 degree panoramic views of the country which are breathtaking. Especially now, Nepal is incredibly green and lush. It is much more tropical than I had imagined: banana trees, palmish trees, everything blanketed in green. Also riding on the roof, you get the Nepali wind in your hair and face which is one of the best parts. Most of the 7 hour wild ride to Pokhara we shared the roof with an old Nepali vegetable farmer who had enough burlap sacks of potatoes, cabbage, and beans to feed the Nepali army. We whoops and yelled the whole ride while he took naps nestled in his sacks of lettuce. We shared our chocolate with him once he woke up from his nap (how in the world he slept up there I dont know!!). He was very curious about our snacks and cameras and thought we were quite strange I think. Riding on the roof of the bus is like flying sort of. It is like in the omni-max movies how they fly through the grand canyon. You get the best views of villages, the terraced green fields, and the staggeringly large hills. Finally, after 7 hours of riding on the bus we arrived, all thoroughly aired out and covered in dirt. I wiped my face and it was literally covered with grime. Also we all looked like lobsters from sunburn.
The next day we were up for more adventure so we decided to rent motor bikes!! This turned into a huge fiasco. The four of us who were there got motor bikes in the morning and after a 1 minute "lesson" were off! Pokhara is a much better place to learn how to ride a motor bike than in Kathmandu. It is actually much easier than I expected. But, the first disaster struck about 5 minutes into our adventure. Every single one of us ran out of gas. Amie and Christine got split up from me and Matt too. The motor bike rental guy had pointed in the direction of the petrol station, but that did no good. We asked about 20 Nepalis where the gas station was, and we got 20 different answers. We shold have fully realized this before trusted every Nepali we met, but the thing with these people is that they never say "I don't know." So I am pretty sure no one we asked actually knew where the gas station was, they just pointed to where it maybe was. After 3 hours of waiting by the side of the road the motor bike rental guy came and broght us some petrol. We met back up with the other two and were off for the country!! We rode for about an hour on bumpy gravel roads and through the rice fields. Disaster number two: Christine's motor bike ran out of oil. After a very frustrating two hours we finally got Christine another motor bike. And we were ready to cruise so we headed up into the hills! This was so spectaclar! Probably one of the best things I have done. We were winding though monstrous hills, green everywhere, tiny mountain huts, braking for chickens and pigs in the road, stopping to look at fantastic water falls and clear moutain streams. All the while the most fresh mountain air was blowing on our faces. It was motor biking through the hills that I actually got a good scale of how truly rugged and hilly Nepal is. And how small I am compared to these "hills" (which I think are more like mountains). The canyons were so huge, the water falls massive, cliffs jutting high into the sky. After about 8 hours of motor biking we were exhausted! It's surprising how tired you can get from sitting on top of a bus and sitting on a motor bike. Sore too!
The next day we were up for more adventure so we decided to rent motor bikes!! This turned into a huge fiasco. The four of us who were there got motor bikes in the morning and after a 1 minute "lesson" were off! Pokhara is a much better place to learn how to ride a motor bike than in Kathmandu. It is actually much easier than I expected. But, the first disaster struck about 5 minutes into our adventure. Every single one of us ran out of gas. Amie and Christine got split up from me and Matt too. The motor bike rental guy had pointed in the direction of the petrol station, but that did no good. We asked about 20 Nepalis where the gas station was, and we got 20 different answers. We shold have fully realized this before trusted every Nepali we met, but the thing with these people is that they never say "I don't know." So I am pretty sure no one we asked actually knew where the gas station was, they just pointed to where it maybe was. After 3 hours of waiting by the side of the road the motor bike rental guy came and broght us some petrol. We met back up with the other two and were off for the country!! We rode for about an hour on bumpy gravel roads and through the rice fields. Disaster number two: Christine's motor bike ran out of oil. After a very frustrating two hours we finally got Christine another motor bike. And we were ready to cruise so we headed up into the hills! This was so spectaclar! Probably one of the best things I have done. We were winding though monstrous hills, green everywhere, tiny mountain huts, braking for chickens and pigs in the road, stopping to look at fantastic water falls and clear moutain streams. All the while the most fresh mountain air was blowing on our faces. It was motor biking through the hills that I actually got a good scale of how truly rugged and hilly Nepal is. And how small I am compared to these "hills" (which I think are more like mountains). The canyons were so huge, the water falls massive, cliffs jutting high into the sky. After about 8 hours of motor biking we were exhausted! It's surprising how tired you can get from sitting on top of a bus and sitting on a motor bike. Sore too!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Delicious Delights
The food here in Nepal quite delicious! I will admit, it is not the most varied food in the world. Most of the Nepali restaurants all have about the same menus. In Thamel, the touristy area, there is a variety of different sorts of restaurants which are sooooo good! We like to treat ourselves to these every now and then. The flavors are a welcome treat to dal bhat (will describe in a second) everyday. One reason I believe that Nepali food has little variety: I don't think Nepalis have in the past, or even now as much, cared whether they are serving gourmet food. Food is fuel, and that is that. Food is something that you want to eat as much of as you can so that you will have the energy to work all day in the fields planting and picking rice. So gourmet, high quality, top notch dishes are not a priority. That's not to say that the food isn't good, but it's just pretty uniform across the board. Also the food in the restaurants can be a little interesting as well. Sometimes the apppropriate spices seem to be missing, so an Italian pizza may end up tasting more like a Mexican quesadilla. Here is a rundown of the Nepali food:
dal bhatt: this is the national food. Dal is the soupy lentil soup, and bhatt is cooked rice. Nepalis literally eat this at just about every meal. Kuber makes us dal bhatt EVERY day, no joke. You are supposed to pour the dal on to the bhatt and eat it together. Nepalis eat with their hands, and mush the dal and bhatt together and then eat with their hands. They can fit a surprisingly enormous amount of dal bhatt into their stomachs. The dal is a bit bland, but it's good. Dal bhatt usually comes with a bit of curried vegetable and some aachar, a bit or pickled fruit or vegetable.
curd: this is yogurt, a little thinner and less sweet than we are used to. This is one of my favorite things. Sometimes you get it in a bowl, or sometimes in a cup to drink.
milk tea: this is the intensely sweet tea that pretty much flows through the veins of all Nepalis. It is so delicious, although so incredibly rich and sweet that it is hard to drink a lot of it. It's more like a dessert to me.
STREET FOOD:
There seems to be a greater variety of street food. I really like that street food here. It is sold by vendors who may have a tiny stand, stall, or just a little platform they carry around (like peanut sellers at baseball games) with some kind of food on it. Here are the best things I have tried:
A note about street food: It is a bit of a gamble how your stomach will handle this food. Our host dad Anuj tells us "DO NOT EAT THE STREET FOOD!!" But I do anyway becasue I love it. Yes, you may have a bit of a rumbley stomach the next day, but in my opinion it is just as much of a gamble to eat at any of the restaurants. There is no health code, inspectors, or rules regarding cleanliness at all. So you could just as easily get sick out of a nice Thamel restaurant as off a street cart. Especially in a country where washing your hands after going to the bathroom is not observed at all.
Burned corn: I am not sure what the Nepalis call this but I call it burned corn. It is sooo good. It's sold usually by woman crouched on the side of the road next to a small pile of burning coals. Over the coals the roast ears of corn and fan the coals and corn with a bit of card board. The corn is roasted until it has a nice smokey flavor and the kernels get sort of hard. The women hand you an ear of corn in it's husk and maybe will rub some salt on it. It is sooo good. I love this, and it runs about 10 rupees. (15 or so cents.)
Puff balls: I don't know what the Nepali word for these are either. But men sell these on tiny stands dotted all over the road. The are hollow puff balls, then they punch a hole in the puff ball and fill it with a mix of chopped vegetables and puffed rice. Then they dip the whole thing in a small vat of lemmony chili water. It's quite interesting. You eat the stuffed puff balls on tiny tin plates next to their stand, and hand them back when you are done to be reused by the next customer.
Fruit: There are all sorts of fruits you can buy on the side of the road. I generally stay away from the fruit already cut into slices because they aer usually covered with flies, but you can buy chunks of pineapple, coconut, papaya, mango, banana, and apple.
Vegetables: One of the main vegetables sold ready to eat (you can buy any vegetable at the veg markets) are slices of cucumber. The women have a tiny plate with cucumber slices, and when you buy one the slather it with green chili sauce. It is rather interesting with the green chili sauce, but refreshing none the less.
Fried things: Nepalis love fried street food. Along the side of the road are vats of boiling oil in front of food stalls. They fry all sorts of things: samosas, pancake type things, sweet dough, doughnuts filled with cream, and lots of things I have no idea what they are.
Juices: You can get an assortment of juices from carts that men push through the street. The juice of choice for most Nepalis is sugar cane. The men will grind a shoot of sugar cane through their grinder and out comes sugar cane juice! Also from these stands you can get pineapple juice.
Juice bars: These are tiny stalls along the road side. You can get all sorts of fresh juice including apple, banana, carrot, sweet lime, lemon, coconut, papaya, mango, and pomegranate. My favorite to get here is banana lassi. It is a fresh banana ground up in a blender with some curd (yogurt) and a bit of sugar. The banana lassi is equivalent to a banana smoothie. Delicious!!
Chapatis: These are delicious, I had the best ones in Pokhara though. Usually the chapati vendor carts come out later at night. The woman makes a chapati on her tiny stove, which is simlar to a pancake. Then she will put a mixture of vegetables and eggs (scrambled) on the chapati. In pokhara the Chapati was cooked in some butter and the vendor gave me a small plastic bag of a thick chili sauce to dip it in. Yum!!!! YUM!!!
dal bhatt: this is the national food. Dal is the soupy lentil soup, and bhatt is cooked rice. Nepalis literally eat this at just about every meal. Kuber makes us dal bhatt EVERY day, no joke. You are supposed to pour the dal on to the bhatt and eat it together. Nepalis eat with their hands, and mush the dal and bhatt together and then eat with their hands. They can fit a surprisingly enormous amount of dal bhatt into their stomachs. The dal is a bit bland, but it's good. Dal bhatt usually comes with a bit of curried vegetable and some aachar, a bit or pickled fruit or vegetable.
curd: this is yogurt, a little thinner and less sweet than we are used to. This is one of my favorite things. Sometimes you get it in a bowl, or sometimes in a cup to drink.
milk tea: this is the intensely sweet tea that pretty much flows through the veins of all Nepalis. It is so delicious, although so incredibly rich and sweet that it is hard to drink a lot of it. It's more like a dessert to me.
STREET FOOD:
There seems to be a greater variety of street food. I really like that street food here. It is sold by vendors who may have a tiny stand, stall, or just a little platform they carry around (like peanut sellers at baseball games) with some kind of food on it. Here are the best things I have tried:
A note about street food: It is a bit of a gamble how your stomach will handle this food. Our host dad Anuj tells us "DO NOT EAT THE STREET FOOD!!" But I do anyway becasue I love it. Yes, you may have a bit of a rumbley stomach the next day, but in my opinion it is just as much of a gamble to eat at any of the restaurants. There is no health code, inspectors, or rules regarding cleanliness at all. So you could just as easily get sick out of a nice Thamel restaurant as off a street cart. Especially in a country where washing your hands after going to the bathroom is not observed at all.
Burned corn: I am not sure what the Nepalis call this but I call it burned corn. It is sooo good. It's sold usually by woman crouched on the side of the road next to a small pile of burning coals. Over the coals the roast ears of corn and fan the coals and corn with a bit of card board. The corn is roasted until it has a nice smokey flavor and the kernels get sort of hard. The women hand you an ear of corn in it's husk and maybe will rub some salt on it. It is sooo good. I love this, and it runs about 10 rupees. (15 or so cents.)
Puff balls: I don't know what the Nepali word for these are either. But men sell these on tiny stands dotted all over the road. The are hollow puff balls, then they punch a hole in the puff ball and fill it with a mix of chopped vegetables and puffed rice. Then they dip the whole thing in a small vat of lemmony chili water. It's quite interesting. You eat the stuffed puff balls on tiny tin plates next to their stand, and hand them back when you are done to be reused by the next customer.
Fruit: There are all sorts of fruits you can buy on the side of the road. I generally stay away from the fruit already cut into slices because they aer usually covered with flies, but you can buy chunks of pineapple, coconut, papaya, mango, banana, and apple.
Vegetables: One of the main vegetables sold ready to eat (you can buy any vegetable at the veg markets) are slices of cucumber. The women have a tiny plate with cucumber slices, and when you buy one the slather it with green chili sauce. It is rather interesting with the green chili sauce, but refreshing none the less.
Fried things: Nepalis love fried street food. Along the side of the road are vats of boiling oil in front of food stalls. They fry all sorts of things: samosas, pancake type things, sweet dough, doughnuts filled with cream, and lots of things I have no idea what they are.
Juices: You can get an assortment of juices from carts that men push through the street. The juice of choice for most Nepalis is sugar cane. The men will grind a shoot of sugar cane through their grinder and out comes sugar cane juice! Also from these stands you can get pineapple juice.
Juice bars: These are tiny stalls along the road side. You can get all sorts of fresh juice including apple, banana, carrot, sweet lime, lemon, coconut, papaya, mango, and pomegranate. My favorite to get here is banana lassi. It is a fresh banana ground up in a blender with some curd (yogurt) and a bit of sugar. The banana lassi is equivalent to a banana smoothie. Delicious!!
Chapatis: These are delicious, I had the best ones in Pokhara though. Usually the chapati vendor carts come out later at night. The woman makes a chapati on her tiny stove, which is simlar to a pancake. Then she will put a mixture of vegetables and eggs (scrambled) on the chapati. In pokhara the Chapati was cooked in some butter and the vendor gave me a small plastic bag of a thick chili sauce to dip it in. Yum!!!! YUM!!!
Off To Pokhara
Namaste!
Tomorrow morning we are off to Pokhara, me for the second time, everyone else for the first time. I am looking forward to showing my fellow volunteers around and maybe hiking into the hills for a day and having them meet the family that I stayed with. We will leave tomorrow (Thursday) morning and take a bus, which takes about 6 hours give or take. After a few straight weeks in the city we are in need or some cleansing, figuratively and literally. My feet are constantly caked with mud, I swear, no matter how hard I scrub them, especially now that the monsoon rains are coming down more often leading the streets to become rivers or mud. Anyway, we are planning to do some hiking, rent a paddle boat on Phewa lake, rent bikes for a day and bike into the beautiful countryside with a picnic lunch, relax, read, and have fun! We are actually going with quite the entourage: me, Christine, Amie, Matt, Rajendra, Hassia, Apar, BJ, and Ashton. Four of those are our Nepali friends who we invited along. It is always fun to have them come, also they are our shield against rip offs. It should be a nice relaxing weekend, and I will report about the happenings when I am back in Kathmandu on either Sunday or Monday.
Speaking of my fellow volunteers, here is a short rundown on who I have been living with:
Christine: one of my room mates. She is 20 years old, from Chicago and goes to Vasser College in New York. She is studying biology and music and wants to be a surgeon. Her dad owns a homeopathic store, and she has tons of cool homeopathic stuff here.
Amie: my other room mate. She got here about a week or a week and a half ago and is the newest addition to the gang. She is 23 years old, and graduated last year from Oberlin College with a degree in biochemistry. Right now she is about to embark on her second year of Teach For America. This program I had never heard of but sounds like an amazing, frustrating, and incredibly challenging experience. It is a program that employs recent college graduates to teach in inner city schools. So all last year she has been teaching chemistry and earth science at an inner city high school in Chicago. Wow, her stories are amazing. A very noble thing to do, and she seems to have learned a TON. She is originally from Ithaca, New York.
Matt: he lives in the "office" with us, but in his own room. He is going to be a senior at the College of Charleston and studying biology and wants to be a surgeon. He is from South Carolina and is full of southern pride. He is alot of fun, and very funny.
Melissa: she is 23 years old and room mates with Caroline who also lives in the office with us. She went to Grove City College, then got a masters degree at University of Tennessee in public health and epidemiology. She is originally from Colorado. She will be entering medical/PhD school in the fall either in San Diego or Seattle. She has worked alot with Third World medicine, focusing in Central and South America, especially Guatemala. She is very outdoorsy and fun to hang out with.
Caroline: Melissa's room mate. She is 20 years old and half way done with her undergrad at William and Mary in Williamsburg (which I am very jealous of) where she is an English major. She is teaching English here at a elementary school. She is originally from Maryland.
Kuber: (pronounced Ku-bear) he is between the ages of 15 and 18, none of us can figure it out. He is our cook, cleaner, server. I am not really sure what to call it. He lives at the office and has a small fold out bed and sleeps in the kitchen. He was hired by the family from a poor village some where outside of Kathmandu. He is very entertaining, and things we are all very funny. We kid him and pronounce words wrong, like saying Namaste which is pronounced na-ma-stay, we say "naa-mastee!" He teaches us alot of Nepali words, and we help him with his English homework. He just failed his English test, so we are making him study.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Pokhara, me for the second time, everyone else for the first time. I am looking forward to showing my fellow volunteers around and maybe hiking into the hills for a day and having them meet the family that I stayed with. We will leave tomorrow (Thursday) morning and take a bus, which takes about 6 hours give or take. After a few straight weeks in the city we are in need or some cleansing, figuratively and literally. My feet are constantly caked with mud, I swear, no matter how hard I scrub them, especially now that the monsoon rains are coming down more often leading the streets to become rivers or mud. Anyway, we are planning to do some hiking, rent a paddle boat on Phewa lake, rent bikes for a day and bike into the beautiful countryside with a picnic lunch, relax, read, and have fun! We are actually going with quite the entourage: me, Christine, Amie, Matt, Rajendra, Hassia, Apar, BJ, and Ashton. Four of those are our Nepali friends who we invited along. It is always fun to have them come, also they are our shield against rip offs. It should be a nice relaxing weekend, and I will report about the happenings when I am back in Kathmandu on either Sunday or Monday.
Speaking of my fellow volunteers, here is a short rundown on who I have been living with:
Christine: one of my room mates. She is 20 years old, from Chicago and goes to Vasser College in New York. She is studying biology and music and wants to be a surgeon. Her dad owns a homeopathic store, and she has tons of cool homeopathic stuff here.
Amie: my other room mate. She got here about a week or a week and a half ago and is the newest addition to the gang. She is 23 years old, and graduated last year from Oberlin College with a degree in biochemistry. Right now she is about to embark on her second year of Teach For America. This program I had never heard of but sounds like an amazing, frustrating, and incredibly challenging experience. It is a program that employs recent college graduates to teach in inner city schools. So all last year she has been teaching chemistry and earth science at an inner city high school in Chicago. Wow, her stories are amazing. A very noble thing to do, and she seems to have learned a TON. She is originally from Ithaca, New York.
Matt: he lives in the "office" with us, but in his own room. He is going to be a senior at the College of Charleston and studying biology and wants to be a surgeon. He is from South Carolina and is full of southern pride. He is alot of fun, and very funny.
Melissa: she is 23 years old and room mates with Caroline who also lives in the office with us. She went to Grove City College, then got a masters degree at University of Tennessee in public health and epidemiology. She is originally from Colorado. She will be entering medical/PhD school in the fall either in San Diego or Seattle. She has worked alot with Third World medicine, focusing in Central and South America, especially Guatemala. She is very outdoorsy and fun to hang out with.
Caroline: Melissa's room mate. She is 20 years old and half way done with her undergrad at William and Mary in Williamsburg (which I am very jealous of) where she is an English major. She is teaching English here at a elementary school. She is originally from Maryland.
Kuber: (pronounced Ku-bear) he is between the ages of 15 and 18, none of us can figure it out. He is our cook, cleaner, server. I am not really sure what to call it. He lives at the office and has a small fold out bed and sleeps in the kitchen. He was hired by the family from a poor village some where outside of Kathmandu. He is very entertaining, and things we are all very funny. We kid him and pronounce words wrong, like saying Namaste which is pronounced na-ma-stay, we say "naa-mastee!" He teaches us alot of Nepali words, and we help him with his English homework. He just failed his English test, so we are making him study.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Adaptation
Adaptation is an interesting thing. I have been surprised at myself at how fast I have adapted and meshed with this culture and society and life. I remember my first taxi ride into town when I had first arrived from the airport. My jaw literally was dropped the entire ride. I was shocked, amazed, disgusted, ecstatic, and full of wonder. I remember my first walk around the city with a few law students I had met at the airport. It was mesmerizing! Everything completely different. The street vendors, poor children, amputees, open air butcher stalls, vegetable markets lining the streets, goats wandering, cows munching, monks on motor bikes, stupas, cigarettes, holy shrines, trash piles, dead dogs, new born puppies. This seemed a land of endless contradiction. I thought to my self: I will never, ever, ever be able to figure out the streets of Kathmandu. Some are paved, some are not. Some are gravel, some mud. No street signs, and multitudes of dark alley ways. Now though, I can get around anywhere in the city I want to on foot. I know the long scenic routes, the short cuts, all the different possible paths to any destination. I know where to walk if I feel like walking in the shade, or the sun. I know which routes are paved, and which will lead me through an abundance of mud puddles. I know where the worst trash piles are and how to avoid them. I know at exactly which moment to start holding my breath when walking by one of these masses of putrid garbage. I know all the street foods, and which ones will upset your stomach and which ones are ok. I have my favorite vendors of "burned corn," a tiny Nepali lady who squats on the ground and fans cobs or corn for a living (a most delicious treat by the way!!) I know which beggars sit where and for how long. The little blind boy who sings and plays the drum for a few rupees sits on a bridge, the old woman with the kind smile who reaches for a few coins. I know where the man sits with cataracts who shrieks all day. I know where the woman with an amptated leg and the new born baby sits. The hand ful of leprosy survivors and amputees, and polio victims. I know where all of them sit. I know how much things should cost, and if people are trying to take advantage of me. Where all the gangs of street dogs hang out I know and cross the road to avoid rabid ones. How to cross the streets I have learned, to dodge speeding motor bikes, taxis, rickshaws and buses. I've learned the best restaurants, the cheapest, the places with the best milk tea, the best tourist and local restaurants alike. I know how to bargain with a taxi driver for 20 minutes, watch for the massive potholes in the road, tell if a dog is dead or alive, avoid the drug dealers, and when to tell if it is going to rain in 10 minutes or not.
The process of adaptation is very interesting. It amazes me at how normal this environment is to me now. Just 2 months ago it was the most foreign thing I could ever imagine, incomprehendable almost. Now it is normal. I live here and learn how to do all the minute things that take up our everyday life but become a huge obstacle in a foreign land. I am surprised, a bit shocked at how fast assimilating here has been, and also pleased that this place has become so home like. Things that were shocking I now am so used to for example: the rotting trash mountains, the drug addicted street boys, seeing dead animals or even people(!) in the street, or seeing a stray dog chewing on a hand. Things that I was amazing and mystified by are still amazing, but are more normal now. The beautiful dress of the Nepali women, the magnificent mountains, the gorgeous religious ceremonies. The temples and signs of devout religiousness all around me I was at first not used to. But now seeing people doing prostrations on the street is not out of the ordinary. School children, business people, beggars, and families alike all stop and pray quickly and touch their heads in front of the tiny temples sprinkled through the street.
Adaptation is an interesting process, and interesting insight on to the human condition and human tendancy to adapt to surroundings to matter how foreign they may be. I am glad that I have had the chance to observe myself adapting and how I have become a part of this society.
The process of adaptation is very interesting. It amazes me at how normal this environment is to me now. Just 2 months ago it was the most foreign thing I could ever imagine, incomprehendable almost. Now it is normal. I live here and learn how to do all the minute things that take up our everyday life but become a huge obstacle in a foreign land. I am surprised, a bit shocked at how fast assimilating here has been, and also pleased that this place has become so home like. Things that were shocking I now am so used to for example: the rotting trash mountains, the drug addicted street boys, seeing dead animals or even people(!) in the street, or seeing a stray dog chewing on a hand. Things that I was amazing and mystified by are still amazing, but are more normal now. The beautiful dress of the Nepali women, the magnificent mountains, the gorgeous religious ceremonies. The temples and signs of devout religiousness all around me I was at first not used to. But now seeing people doing prostrations on the street is not out of the ordinary. School children, business people, beggars, and families alike all stop and pray quickly and touch their heads in front of the tiny temples sprinkled through the street.
Adaptation is an interesting process, and interesting insight on to the human condition and human tendancy to adapt to surroundings to matter how foreign they may be. I am glad that I have had the chance to observe myself adapting and how I have become a part of this society.
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