Last night we all went to Mann's group home for dinner and to hang out with the kids. We had daal baat, watermelon and tomato and cucumber salad with "imported" balsamic vinegar. The kids entertained us with music and dancing (Nepali, Indian and imported dance music from the US...not to mention the always present Brian Adams). The girls danced for us and it was beautiful as always. They were trying to get us to show them a Canadian cultural dance, to which we had no idea where to start, so I got out my ipod again (and was informed that it would cost 50 million rupees to buy in Nepal) and put on the ol' Bohemian Rhapsody. Me, Steph and Isha rocked out with air guitars and looked ridiculous, but the kids ate it up. Amanda has the whole thing on video, so I'll post it to youtube once I get home.
Mann was very impressed with our confidence in front of people, and he wants us to try to teach his kids how to be confident, especially the girls. After dinner it was very dark and there were no streetlights for the walk home. Mann, Gocool and a couple of the teenage boys walked us home because "they have muscles". Steph pointed out that we have muscles too, but we really weren't going to complain. We got home around 10:00pm and as is appropriate, we invited everyone in for tea. Gocool turned on the TV news and we found out that with only 2 hours left until the constitution deadline, the 600 person parliament were just sitting down for the first time today, to write up a 6 month extension.
Mann is very politically minded and quite rightfully annoyed. He says that because of his social status (ie not Brahman caste and not rich) he can't get into politics even though he would love too. He hopes that with Facebook and TV becoming more widespread in Nepal as well as education for the youths, a few years from now the children will be able to peacefully (or not) change the current system.
Nepal has so many resources and communities that need infrastructure that if managed properly, it wouldn't be unreasonable to dream of no longer being ranked 3rd world. They have enough untapped hydro to power all of Asia. It is the government corruption and waste that makes the Nepali people impoverished.
At bedtime there was a firefly in my bedroom. One little brilliant glowing spark that zipped and whorled around the ceiling for 5 minutes before leaving out the window.
Monday, June 6
Monday, May 30
Pokhara (May 22)
We started the day off at 4 am again in order to drive to a lookout and see the sun rise. This time we were close enough that we could actually see the snow on Mt Machhapucha and the Annapurna range in the Himalayans (Pronounced by the locals as him-all-ee-ans, means "big mountains" in Nepali). From the lookout we headed back to the hotel for breakfast and to complain about the giant cockroaches in our beds last night (EWWWWWWW!). Then it was off to our first site of many. Yes folks, we were tour busing it.
1) Gupteshwar Makadev cave is a holy site for the Hindus because there is a large stalagmite in the middle of one of the caverns believed to be Shiva, or a close proximity thereof. While we were there there was a priest chanting and ringing bells while decorating the pillar with flowers. We weren't allowed any pictures unfortunately. At the end of the cave there was a waterfall that came from our next holy site...
2) Devi Falls is part of a religious recreation park, my favorite part was the wishing fountain where a tiny statue of a goddess stood under a mirror clear pond holding a tiny dish (size of a penny) If you can get a coin to land there she would grant you any wish. It was the prettiest way to bilk us of our money that I've seen so far!
3) Next we were off to The World Peace Pavilion for a quick switch in religions. This is a world heritage site that was built by a Buddhist and had something to do with completing a prophecy. The site was destroyed by bad guys in the not so distant past and the current pavilion was built to promote World Peace and compassion. It is a huge white dome with 4 giant gold buddha statues surrounding it on all compass points. It is absolutely gorgeous up close, but can be seen gleaming up on the hilltop from down below in Pokhara as well. We picked up another dog at the pavilion, this one white and fluffy. She fiercely fought off another dog to hang out with us. On the way down the steep steps away from the temple, 3 water buffaloes descended the trail right behind me and I found myself having a staredown with one of them as he tried to run me over. Luckily there was a spot to step off the trail (and I realize that no one believes what I write anymore, this trip is just so crazy!).
4) The Gurkha Memorial Museum - I got lots of pictures with James in mind, it was very cool. I didn't really know much about the Gurkas before coming to Nepal,but since being here I've seen several groups out training and they are very impressive. Nothing like running straight up a mountain carrying all your gear on your head in the middle of the hottest part of the day to get the heart rate up. The soldier get paid really well for their service to the British and the families of the Gurkha are some of the best cared for in the country. The soldiers that come back spend their time and money on building back country infrastructure such as bridges and roads. They seem more organized and caring then the Nepali government for the welfare of the Nepali people.
5) Hey look, lunch.
6) After lunch we rented canoes and rowed ourselves out to a temple in the middle of the lake. We got there just as it started to Monsoon, rain and lightning, so we took shelter under a pagoda and played "two truths and a lie" until it stopped again, much to the entertainment of the locals who were sheltering with us. We raced the canoes back to the shore afterwards and the girls beat the big, strong tour guides :) See? scouting is a good investment in real life skills...
We finally returned to the hotel for a short break before we hit the town again to celebrate Steph's 20th birthday.
7) Amsterdam cafe - We walked in and the first person I saw was very tall and thin and looked like he stepped out of the 70's "Freak Brothers" comic. He had long hair and a top hat stuffed with flyers and papers. He wasn't quite all there either...don't ask me where he was. The cover band at the cafe was Nepali but could imitate any western band perfectly. The singer did Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Queen, Radiohead, Nirvana, Chilli Peppers, Bob Marley...the list went on and on and he was very very good.
Good friends, good food, good music. We taught Gocool how to pour a beer properly ("Canadian style") without getting mostly foam, and Garret built a beer can tower that was 16 cans high. Yes, we were those loud tourists :)
1) Gupteshwar Makadev cave is a holy site for the Hindus because there is a large stalagmite in the middle of one of the caverns believed to be Shiva, or a close proximity thereof. While we were there there was a priest chanting and ringing bells while decorating the pillar with flowers. We weren't allowed any pictures unfortunately. At the end of the cave there was a waterfall that came from our next holy site...
2) Devi Falls is part of a religious recreation park, my favorite part was the wishing fountain where a tiny statue of a goddess stood under a mirror clear pond holding a tiny dish (size of a penny) If you can get a coin to land there she would grant you any wish. It was the prettiest way to bilk us of our money that I've seen so far!
3) Next we were off to The World Peace Pavilion for a quick switch in religions. This is a world heritage site that was built by a Buddhist and had something to do with completing a prophecy. The site was destroyed by bad guys in the not so distant past and the current pavilion was built to promote World Peace and compassion. It is a huge white dome with 4 giant gold buddha statues surrounding it on all compass points. It is absolutely gorgeous up close, but can be seen gleaming up on the hilltop from down below in Pokhara as well. We picked up another dog at the pavilion, this one white and fluffy. She fiercely fought off another dog to hang out with us. On the way down the steep steps away from the temple, 3 water buffaloes descended the trail right behind me and I found myself having a staredown with one of them as he tried to run me over. Luckily there was a spot to step off the trail (and I realize that no one believes what I write anymore, this trip is just so crazy!).
4) The Gurkha Memorial Museum - I got lots of pictures with James in mind, it was very cool. I didn't really know much about the Gurkas before coming to Nepal,but since being here I've seen several groups out training and they are very impressive. Nothing like running straight up a mountain carrying all your gear on your head in the middle of the hottest part of the day to get the heart rate up. The soldier get paid really well for their service to the British and the families of the Gurkha are some of the best cared for in the country. The soldiers that come back spend their time and money on building back country infrastructure such as bridges and roads. They seem more organized and caring then the Nepali government for the welfare of the Nepali people.
5) Hey look, lunch.
6) After lunch we rented canoes and rowed ourselves out to a temple in the middle of the lake. We got there just as it started to Monsoon, rain and lightning, so we took shelter under a pagoda and played "two truths and a lie" until it stopped again, much to the entertainment of the locals who were sheltering with us. We raced the canoes back to the shore afterwards and the girls beat the big, strong tour guides :) See? scouting is a good investment in real life skills...
We finally returned to the hotel for a short break before we hit the town again to celebrate Steph's 20th birthday.
7) Amsterdam cafe - We walked in and the first person I saw was very tall and thin and looked like he stepped out of the 70's "Freak Brothers" comic. He had long hair and a top hat stuffed with flyers and papers. He wasn't quite all there either...don't ask me where he was. The cover band at the cafe was Nepali but could imitate any western band perfectly. The singer did Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Queen, Radiohead, Nirvana, Chilli Peppers, Bob Marley...the list went on and on and he was very very good.
Good friends, good food, good music. We taught Gocool how to pour a beer properly ("Canadian style") without getting mostly foam, and Garret built a beer can tower that was 16 cans high. Yes, we were those loud tourists :)
Friday, May 27
Off to Pokhara
May 20
This was a very short work week. Monday we were in the village, Tuesday was Buddha's b-day holiday, and we took Friday off for the cultural trip to Pokhara. Practicum is going well. I'm spending the first few hours of the day with a UKG (Upper Kindergarten) class. Grades work differently here. If a kid can do the work than that's the grade that they are in. Each semester there are exams that all children take to decide where they should be. In the UKG class I work with children aged 4 to 7 that are all able to read at a grade 1 English level (in Canada). The system only goes until year 10, at which point the stuff those kids are learning are well above my head. I was scared off of teaching the older classes when grade 4 was learning advanced 10 algebra and trigonometry. I needed a spell check just to spell that btw, these kids do everything with a pencil and a pad of paper. No extra tools.
The Canadian education structure might be in trouble because of our abuse of technology, the competition from Nepal is better armed without it...
Secondary school here costs approx $40 cnd a semester and almost everyone I speak to has a masters degree in business. Of course there are no jobs or infrastructure here and the government is a waste of space, so many educated people move away. Poland, Denmark and Australia are the top choices for immigration for those lucky enough to wrangle a passport and citizenship papers from the bureaucracy. "paper orphans" is a term that relates to Nepali born people who can't prove their birth due to the past violence in the area. These people can't do anything at all but squat in poverty because no citizenship means no caste and no right to work.
I learned something very interesting (to me) the other night at Nepali lessons. Nepali people have such a high value in family that there are over twice as many specific titles for family members as we have in English (33 words compared to 13). There are micro-labels to the point that my mother's oldest (younger) sisters eldest son (aka Karter) has a specific title, other than just plain old "my cousin", the same position on the family tree on my fathers side has a completely different word.
Today we drove for 6 hours from Kathmandu to Pokhara and gave poor Gocool an earful as well all rocked out to Bohemian Rhapsody, north american style. Pokhara is to Kathmandu like Victoria is to Vancouver...that is, it is beautiful and well taken care of and a major tourist attraction. The road there was like the Hope-Princeton but with more overturned buses instead of logging trucks. We passed 6 buses either flipped on their sides or upside down off the bank and in the river rapids. We also passed at least 12 roadblocks of angry protesters and in one case a town had cut down the huge tree that grew in the middle of it in order to block the road. It was tragic and we could see that this strike really meant a lot to these people. I felt bad that we were let past because of the color of our skin. It is illegal to stop tourists because it is the only real income Nepal gets right now. About 20 minutes outside of Pokhara we rescued a German couple from the side of the road. They had the bad luck of getting on a bus full of locals and the strike had forcefully stopped it. We shuffled around and made room for them and they were very grateful. Amanda went to sit up front which was a big mistake. Until then we hardly got bothered, but Amanda looks Nepali because of her Asian-Canadian goddess looks and putting her in the front next to two Nepali's meant that we were firmly stopped 4 more times before Pokhara. Luckily she had her passport on her and she showed it every chance she had. The rest of us just leaned out the windows and flashed our pasty white smiles...no problems.
We were taught in school about the "invisible backpack" but this is the first time I've ever felt offended about being treated a certain way just because of who I am. Not that I wanted to be detained, but it doesn't seem very fair that we can do whatever we want and the locals are suffering.
Anyways, this was a pretty negative post, I'm stressing about the political situation and will post more about that when I can wrap my head around it better.
Please know that I am safe and all is well.
This was a very short work week. Monday we were in the village, Tuesday was Buddha's b-day holiday, and we took Friday off for the cultural trip to Pokhara. Practicum is going well. I'm spending the first few hours of the day with a UKG (Upper Kindergarten) class. Grades work differently here. If a kid can do the work than that's the grade that they are in. Each semester there are exams that all children take to decide where they should be. In the UKG class I work with children aged 4 to 7 that are all able to read at a grade 1 English level (in Canada). The system only goes until year 10, at which point the stuff those kids are learning are well above my head. I was scared off of teaching the older classes when grade 4 was learning advanced 10 algebra and trigonometry. I needed a spell check just to spell that btw, these kids do everything with a pencil and a pad of paper. No extra tools.
The Canadian education structure might be in trouble because of our abuse of technology, the competition from Nepal is better armed without it...
Secondary school here costs approx $40 cnd a semester and almost everyone I speak to has a masters degree in business. Of course there are no jobs or infrastructure here and the government is a waste of space, so many educated people move away. Poland, Denmark and Australia are the top choices for immigration for those lucky enough to wrangle a passport and citizenship papers from the bureaucracy. "paper orphans" is a term that relates to Nepali born people who can't prove their birth due to the past violence in the area. These people can't do anything at all but squat in poverty because no citizenship means no caste and no right to work.
I learned something very interesting (to me) the other night at Nepali lessons. Nepali people have such a high value in family that there are over twice as many specific titles for family members as we have in English (33 words compared to 13). There are micro-labels to the point that my mother's oldest (younger) sisters eldest son (aka Karter) has a specific title, other than just plain old "my cousin", the same position on the family tree on my fathers side has a completely different word.
Today we drove for 6 hours from Kathmandu to Pokhara and gave poor Gocool an earful as well all rocked out to Bohemian Rhapsody, north american style. Pokhara is to Kathmandu like Victoria is to Vancouver...that is, it is beautiful and well taken care of and a major tourist attraction. The road there was like the Hope-Princeton but with more overturned buses instead of logging trucks. We passed 6 buses either flipped on their sides or upside down off the bank and in the river rapids. We also passed at least 12 roadblocks of angry protesters and in one case a town had cut down the huge tree that grew in the middle of it in order to block the road. It was tragic and we could see that this strike really meant a lot to these people. I felt bad that we were let past because of the color of our skin. It is illegal to stop tourists because it is the only real income Nepal gets right now. About 20 minutes outside of Pokhara we rescued a German couple from the side of the road. They had the bad luck of getting on a bus full of locals and the strike had forcefully stopped it. We shuffled around and made room for them and they were very grateful. Amanda went to sit up front which was a big mistake. Until then we hardly got bothered, but Amanda looks Nepali because of her Asian-Canadian goddess looks and putting her in the front next to two Nepali's meant that we were firmly stopped 4 more times before Pokhara. Luckily she had her passport on her and she showed it every chance she had. The rest of us just leaned out the windows and flashed our pasty white smiles...no problems.
We were taught in school about the "invisible backpack" but this is the first time I've ever felt offended about being treated a certain way just because of who I am. Not that I wanted to be detained, but it doesn't seem very fair that we can do whatever we want and the locals are suffering.
Anyways, this was a pretty negative post, I'm stressing about the political situation and will post more about that when I can wrap my head around it better.
Please know that I am safe and all is well.
Tuesday, May 24
Dressing to impress (May 17th)
Yesterday in Nepal it was Buddha's birthday. All over Asia this is usually on different dates, but because Buddha was born here I'm going to trust Nepal to know what they are talking about. Since Buddha is either a major or minor religious figure depending on what faith is being worshiped here, his birthday is a National holiday. For the record I've now been in Nepal for 17 days and only worked for 5 of those because of all of the holidays and strikes.
Instead of going to school we went to see a dance competition at a nearby "Party Palace". Mauda Mam the principals wife was excited to invite us as her daughter was dancing (Ayuma is 5 years old and dances really, really well). It was an interesting day in many ways. First of all, the smallest man in the world was there, Kahagendra Thapa Magar, and the audience took on a carnival atmosphere right from the start. He was basically treated like an object and passed around like a baby for photo ops. At one point he got on stage and did a dance to a popular Nepali song with a gurka knife, and half of the audience rushed the stage. His managers had to bounce people back. A comedian came on stage and did a strange slapstick routine to music which contained lots of fart jokes and potty humor (not to mention a lot of stuff not suitable for children in the least) The Canadian group of us weren't very impressed, but the audience couldn't stop howling.
A video camera from the news was set up right in front of the stage and 10 different men wearing the funny-looking Nepali hats used the opportunity to each give 20 minute speeches. I think they were politicians. The audience just stopped listening to them after awhile, and the men didn't care as long as the camera was pointed at them. When the camera wasn't pointed at the stage, it was pointed directly at us as the only foreigners in the audience. At one point a reporter came and stood right in front of me with a microphone in my face, but didn't ask any questions or even make eye contact. It was very uncomfortable.
We were introduced and invited on stage (much to our surprise) and given scarves in honor of...something. Our introduction was the only time we heard English all day, and the announcer quickly lapsed back into Nepali. We were even given a standing ovation, I wish I knew why.
The dancing was sporadic and at one point a group of girls were dancing on stage when some older men jumped up and stared putting money in their hair. The girls looked confused but went with it and brought them into the dance.
We left early as the show was going nowhere fast (I heard later that it ran over by 4 hours). I went to the tailor shop near our house with Isha and Steph and had a kurta ordered. Zagery, the boy from the internet cafe came and interpreted for us as it turns out his family owns the tailors shop as well. He helped pick the pattern and fabric as well as negotiate cost and measurements. He wouldn't let me get the pants that I wanted because I'm "too tall". The whole outfit cost about $20 Canadian and is made with that shiny satin with the embroidered dragons on it, like kimono's are made from.
Instead of going to school we went to see a dance competition at a nearby "Party Palace". Mauda Mam the principals wife was excited to invite us as her daughter was dancing (Ayuma is 5 years old and dances really, really well). It was an interesting day in many ways. First of all, the smallest man in the world was there, Kahagendra Thapa Magar, and the audience took on a carnival atmosphere right from the start. He was basically treated like an object and passed around like a baby for photo ops. At one point he got on stage and did a dance to a popular Nepali song with a gurka knife, and half of the audience rushed the stage. His managers had to bounce people back. A comedian came on stage and did a strange slapstick routine to music which contained lots of fart jokes and potty humor (not to mention a lot of stuff not suitable for children in the least) The Canadian group of us weren't very impressed, but the audience couldn't stop howling.
A video camera from the news was set up right in front of the stage and 10 different men wearing the funny-looking Nepali hats used the opportunity to each give 20 minute speeches. I think they were politicians. The audience just stopped listening to them after awhile, and the men didn't care as long as the camera was pointed at them. When the camera wasn't pointed at the stage, it was pointed directly at us as the only foreigners in the audience. At one point a reporter came and stood right in front of me with a microphone in my face, but didn't ask any questions or even make eye contact. It was very uncomfortable.
We were introduced and invited on stage (much to our surprise) and given scarves in honor of...something. Our introduction was the only time we heard English all day, and the announcer quickly lapsed back into Nepali. We were even given a standing ovation, I wish I knew why.
The dancing was sporadic and at one point a group of girls were dancing on stage when some older men jumped up and stared putting money in their hair. The girls looked confused but went with it and brought them into the dance.
We left early as the show was going nowhere fast (I heard later that it ran over by 4 hours). I went to the tailor shop near our house with Isha and Steph and had a kurta ordered. Zagery, the boy from the internet cafe came and interpreted for us as it turns out his family owns the tailors shop as well. He helped pick the pattern and fabric as well as negotiate cost and measurements. He wouldn't let me get the pants that I wanted because I'm "too tall". The whole outfit cost about $20 Canadian and is made with that shiny satin with the embroidered dragons on it, like kimono's are made from.
Saturday, May 21
Falling Behind Again
Every time I've had the time to hit the internet cafe this week, the power has been out. So my posts are a week behind, sorry. This post was about what I was doing on the 16th (Happy Birthday Liam, I'm bringing you back a very cool present!)
Last night at the hotel, Garret was wandering the grounds when a group of men rushed past him weilding bricks and stones and yelling loudly. Garret being the daredevil that he is, went chasing after them to see what was up. When he finally gave up trying to communicate with them, he returned to the terrace where the rest of us were hanging out. Alex, our flamboyant host, explained that the men were chasing a big cat from the property (he said cheetah but I think leopard is more likely). He urged us to sleep with the windows shut, so we did.
At 5:20 this morning we woke up and watched the sun rise over the distant Himalayan mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking and I wish I had a much better camera.
After breakfast we hiked for 3 hours downhill via cow and goat trails to Gocool's villiage. The villiage doesn't have a name, but a sign at the top of the first path said "Nirvana" and pointed in the right direction, so for romance sake, that's what I'll call it. Near the top of the trail were two black dogs that decided to join us. In Nepal, dogs aren't owned like they are in Canada, most are wild or wander from area to area. They are usually around people though, by choice. These dogs were homeless but were the gentlest creatures. They stuck with us for the whole trip (well actually one was in a dog fight in a village and we lost her, but the other stayed the whole time). They were great guides down the hillside and were very attentive and watchful for our safety. Reminded me of border collies.
In Gocool's villiage we met his family, which was everyone in town, and saw the new house he was having built for his mother. The old house is a mud shack with clay floors and a clay oven. The goats take up most of the main living area and the second floor is a small communal bedroom for the household (6 people I think). Gocools mom brought out her best dinner plates and made us special rice pudding and curry for lunch, which is usually reserved for extraordinary occasions like weddings. We sat on the floor and ate.
Gocool showed us a monster sized banyan tree that his ancestor planted for the village square. All of the 5 households in the area are descended from him. It was cool to see a villiage centered around a tree that gives shade instead of some building. It really showed what sort of connection the village-folk have with the land.
After lunch it was about noon and 40 degrees out. There was no water in the area, and all of the local trucks were broken down or at the mechanics'. Lucily Nepal has some of the best cell phone coverage in the world. Gocool called up the hill and ordered us a truck to come get us out. The people in the houses we passed all came out to laugh at the rich wimpy tourists that would drive up the hill instead of hike. Isha had hurt her foot though, and we were becoming really dehydrated. The road out was basically a dried stream bed and very poorly maintained. I was scared for my life in some places and actually prayed at one point. Not that I'm religious at all, but it seemed like a really good thing to do.
What can I say, I hate heights and am a nervous passenger at the best of times. Bouncing along cliffs in the back of a pick up truck just isn't my idea of safe.
Last night at the hotel, Garret was wandering the grounds when a group of men rushed past him weilding bricks and stones and yelling loudly. Garret being the daredevil that he is, went chasing after them to see what was up. When he finally gave up trying to communicate with them, he returned to the terrace where the rest of us were hanging out. Alex, our flamboyant host, explained that the men were chasing a big cat from the property (he said cheetah but I think leopard is more likely). He urged us to sleep with the windows shut, so we did.
At 5:20 this morning we woke up and watched the sun rise over the distant Himalayan mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking and I wish I had a much better camera.
After breakfast we hiked for 3 hours downhill via cow and goat trails to Gocool's villiage. The villiage doesn't have a name, but a sign at the top of the first path said "Nirvana" and pointed in the right direction, so for romance sake, that's what I'll call it. Near the top of the trail were two black dogs that decided to join us. In Nepal, dogs aren't owned like they are in Canada, most are wild or wander from area to area. They are usually around people though, by choice. These dogs were homeless but were the gentlest creatures. They stuck with us for the whole trip (well actually one was in a dog fight in a village and we lost her, but the other stayed the whole time). They were great guides down the hillside and were very attentive and watchful for our safety. Reminded me of border collies.
In Gocool's villiage we met his family, which was everyone in town, and saw the new house he was having built for his mother. The old house is a mud shack with clay floors and a clay oven. The goats take up most of the main living area and the second floor is a small communal bedroom for the household (6 people I think). Gocools mom brought out her best dinner plates and made us special rice pudding and curry for lunch, which is usually reserved for extraordinary occasions like weddings. We sat on the floor and ate.
Gocool showed us a monster sized banyan tree that his ancestor planted for the village square. All of the 5 households in the area are descended from him. It was cool to see a villiage centered around a tree that gives shade instead of some building. It really showed what sort of connection the village-folk have with the land.
After lunch it was about noon and 40 degrees out. There was no water in the area, and all of the local trucks were broken down or at the mechanics'. Lucily Nepal has some of the best cell phone coverage in the world. Gocool called up the hill and ordered us a truck to come get us out. The people in the houses we passed all came out to laugh at the rich wimpy tourists that would drive up the hill instead of hike. Isha had hurt her foot though, and we were becoming really dehydrated. The road out was basically a dried stream bed and very poorly maintained. I was scared for my life in some places and actually prayed at one point. Not that I'm religious at all, but it seemed like a really good thing to do.
What can I say, I hate heights and am a nervous passenger at the best of times. Bouncing along cliffs in the back of a pick up truck just isn't my idea of safe.
Wednesday, May 18
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands apon the wheel
The kid who runs the internet cafe loves western music. He is constantly playing Metallic, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin etc. I want to adopt him, is that okay Dan?
Leaving Kathmandu we are driving out on the only road in Nepal with lanes and street lights. It was donated by Japan and built to international standards. It's also the most dangerous road in a country full of dangerous roads, because no-one knows how to follow the rules.
We stopped for lunch in Baktopar (Mmmmmm momos, Nepali fast food), which is a city about an hour out from Kathmandu. It was dirty and looked like an old oriental kung fu movie set. Truck loads of women and children were transported through the town to nearby fields and factories to work. The men work in the city businesses, while the women and children work in menial and dangerous jobs. We travelled from Baktopar, through rolling farmland, until it became tiered fields on hillsides. The fields were being worked by women carrying huge bamboo baskets supported by bands across their foreheads. The tiers became narrower and narrower until we were climbing a mountain along long switchbacking roads. Goats and yaks wandered along cliffside trails as we zipped past them and electricity free towns were sporatic. The last town before we stopped for the night was Nagarkot and then we reached our final destination, at the very top of the mountain, called "The Hotel at the End of the Universe". Thank goodness I brought my towel.
We hike the final three hours back down the mountain tomorrow.
Leaving Kathmandu we are driving out on the only road in Nepal with lanes and street lights. It was donated by Japan and built to international standards. It's also the most dangerous road in a country full of dangerous roads, because no-one knows how to follow the rules.
We stopped for lunch in Baktopar (Mmmmmm momos, Nepali fast food), which is a city about an hour out from Kathmandu. It was dirty and looked like an old oriental kung fu movie set. Truck loads of women and children were transported through the town to nearby fields and factories to work. The men work in the city businesses, while the women and children work in menial and dangerous jobs. We travelled from Baktopar, through rolling farmland, until it became tiered fields on hillsides. The fields were being worked by women carrying huge bamboo baskets supported by bands across their foreheads. The tiers became narrower and narrower until we were climbing a mountain along long switchbacking roads. Goats and yaks wandered along cliffside trails as we zipped past them and electricity free towns were sporatic. The last town before we stopped for the night was Nagarkot and then we reached our final destination, at the very top of the mountain, called "The Hotel at the End of the Universe". Thank goodness I brought my towel.
We hike the final three hours back down the mountain tomorrow.
Bardic Knowledge
Privacy is another foreign concept in Kathmandu. Almost daily we have random strangers walk up to our front door and lat themselves in to meet us. The first of a long string of guests were Babika and her sisters. One day I looked up from my messy bed where I was writing an assignment in my pajamas, and there they were. They were very curious about what we were doing and poked around in our stuff before leaving. Now they yell and wave at us from the window across the street whenever we make eye contact. I'm pretty sure that we are a major source of entertainment for them and the rest of the people living in the nearby houses. We've also had strange men make their way through the house to meet us, as well as the entire faculty and students from the School of Social Work.
Most of the people that we directly know here in Kathmandu (Gocool, Chandra and Gopi) are actually all from the same village and are related to one-another, as are some of our neighbors. Today we are going to blockade run past the strike to visit their hometown, a tiny village 3 hours drive from Kathmandu. As we wait for the private bus to show up, a wandering minstrel has set up shop on our front porch playing a tiny stringed instrument kinda like a lute/fiddle cross. He is singing and gathering a crowd. Very neat.
Most of the people that we directly know here in Kathmandu (Gocool, Chandra and Gopi) are actually all from the same village and are related to one-another, as are some of our neighbors. Today we are going to blockade run past the strike to visit their hometown, a tiny village 3 hours drive from Kathmandu. As we wait for the private bus to show up, a wandering minstrel has set up shop on our front porch playing a tiny stringed instrument kinda like a lute/fiddle cross. He is singing and gathering a crowd. Very neat.
Geckos, spiders and other mobs
I set up my mosquito net over my bed last night for the first time. It was the best sleep that I've had since I got here. I was told by the travel clinic before I left Victoria that I don't have to worry about denge fever or malaria while in Kathmandu, but no-one warned me about plain old fashioned bug bites. Being one of the palest people around, the bright red welts on my hands are very noticeable, and one of the first things that get commented on when I meet people (being tall or beautiful are the other main topics). Other than swarms of mosquitoes, my house is also inhabited by strange, medium sized, flat, spiders that look kinda like cracks in the paint until I get close enough that they jump away. We also have several household geckos, small pale lizards that hang out in corners on the stairs or in the upper areas of the walls. They are almost translucent and blend well into the pinkish paint that the whole inside of the house is plastered with.
Today we went to Themal, the tourist area, to buy some souvenirs to bring home with us. One sales guy decided to try selling me Tiger Balm by standing too close and staring down my shirt, then wiggling his eyebrows at me. delightful. I'll be so happy to be back in the land of people-taller-than-me again.
Near the time for us to catch a cab back home again, a taxi came down the narrow street towards our perch outside of the Pilgrim's Bookstore (famous place, look it up). The taxi had Blues-Brothers style mega-phones on the roof and was screaming something in Nepali. A helpful salesman explained to us that it was representatives from some group (that I didn't catch the name of)calling for another country-wide strike tomorrow. Suddenly people started running out of the shops around us to walk with the taxi and right before our eyes a mob of supporters formed up. Since the procession was bearing down on us from a block away and the atmosphere was getting really freaky, we hoofed it out of there as fast as we could without running.
Today we went to Themal, the tourist area, to buy some souvenirs to bring home with us. One sales guy decided to try selling me Tiger Balm by standing too close and staring down my shirt, then wiggling his eyebrows at me. delightful. I'll be so happy to be back in the land of people-taller-than-me again.
Near the time for us to catch a cab back home again, a taxi came down the narrow street towards our perch outside of the Pilgrim's Bookstore (famous place, look it up). The taxi had Blues-Brothers style mega-phones on the roof and was screaming something in Nepali. A helpful salesman explained to us that it was representatives from some group (that I didn't catch the name of)calling for another country-wide strike tomorrow. Suddenly people started running out of the shops around us to walk with the taxi and right before our eyes a mob of supporters formed up. Since the procession was bearing down on us from a block away and the atmosphere was getting really freaky, we hoofed it out of there as fast as we could without running.
Saturday, May 14
Bantha (strike)
There was no school today as it was a "bantha" or general strike. The 32 ethnic tribes were protesting the lack of initiatives focused on them in the current draft of the Nepali Constitution. The constitution is supposed to be ratified May 23rd. We were told to stay away from Ring Road for our safety as the streets were blockaded in protest. Garret of course, snuck out and took a look early this morning and says that Ring Road is completely still (frightening considering the usual chaos), there wasn't a vehicle on the road except one truck at our intersection full of soldiers with semi-automatic weapons. We all stayed inside for the day and wrote our homework assignments instead.
Tonight, Steph, the girl guide extraordinaire ran a "campfire" for us on the rooftop. She dressed up as a "hardcore camp counselor" with headband, sunglasses and "superstar-practicum-something-or-other" duct taped across her shirt. (Mom, you would love Steph). We ran through as many songs and games as we could remember and come up with to help us teach the kids at practicum with. I did the button factory song and learned a few new ones as well for when I get home. We had an audience from the rooftops of the houses around us and at one point the lady across the street in the blue house serendaded us in Nepali.
Her little girls go to my school and Babika, the youngest, absolutely loves me.
Tonight, Steph, the girl guide extraordinaire ran a "campfire" for us on the rooftop. She dressed up as a "hardcore camp counselor" with headband, sunglasses and "superstar-practicum-something-or-other" duct taped across her shirt. (Mom, you would love Steph). We ran through as many songs and games as we could remember and come up with to help us teach the kids at practicum with. I did the button factory song and learned a few new ones as well for when I get home. We had an audience from the rooftops of the houses around us and at one point the lady across the street in the blue house serendaded us in Nepali.
Her little girls go to my school and Babika, the youngest, absolutely loves me.
Kathmandu Adventure
After a long day of working in the upper kindergarten classroom and then comming home to homework (goal setting, my least favorite), attending a seminar on social justice and a short shop around Samakoshi (our neighborhood) for prizes for the kids at school...Steph, Isha and I took a cab to Themal to pick up Garrets camera from the repair shop there. Except that the cab let us off at the wrong spot, so we had to walk for 20 minutes through several strange areas to find the place! When we finally found it, Garret went into this dark building and we waited outside for him for a half hour. We entertained ourselves by taking pictures of anatomically correct baby dolls and inventing a new version of "punch buggy" except it was "punch buggy, white people" not very politically correct, I know, but we were so shocked to see other caucasians again and to come to the realization that we hadn't in a long time. So naturally we started hitting each other in celebration. We're real mature. Poor Steph will have bruises.
Missing the point
I haven't been 100% healthy since the plane from Hong Kong. Mostly it's just been a cough and stuffy sinus, but yesterday in mid-afternoon I started to get dizziness and chills as well. I passed on Nepali lessons and dinner in order to rest, and at around 8 o'clock my room mate gave me a thermometer and made me check my temperature. It measured in Fahrenheit and read 100.6. When I told my roommate she quickly excused herself from the room and ran downstairs. Shortly afterward the room filled with about a million concerned people and someone had called a taxi to take me to the emergency clinic. "Oh, okay", I thought. I was very confused because I didn't think 100.6 was that big of a deal, but apparently we weren't taking any chances. Robin, Patty, my roommate and I all piled into the cab and about a block away someone asked me how I felt. I don't remember what I said exactly, but my temperature of 106 F was mentioned. Wait what? Okay, everyone, just stop. 100 point 6. My roommate doesn't think I mentioned the point but I know I did.
We turned the cab around and I spent the day today at home in bed. The cook, Chandra has been making me drink this foul ginger/salt folk remedy that has cleared my sore throat and congestion right up. My fever is long gone. Chandra also has made darn certain that I only drink boiling hot water. "No cold!, No cold!" Yes sir!
He's as crazy as my grandmother, but it works :)
We turned the cab around and I spent the day today at home in bed. The cook, Chandra has been making me drink this foul ginger/salt folk remedy that has cleared my sore throat and congestion right up. My fever is long gone. Chandra also has made darn certain that I only drink boiling hot water. "No cold!, No cold!" Yes sir!
He's as crazy as my grandmother, but it works :)
Tuesday, May 10
Walk to school
As I have said before, it takes about 20 minutes to walk to school from our house to the school. Our home is halfway down a deadend alley from a main street. Since none of the streets here have names we go by points of interest to find our way around. At the opening to our alley there is a culvert and a pile of yellow sandbags, which is how we know where to turn in. The neighborhood itself is what would be considered in Canada a slum, but actually isn't as bad as many areas in Kathmandu. Urban decay is extensive everywhere. The brick paved road is crumbling and many buildings are falling down or apart. Make shift housing is built in, around and with the ruined building debris. Between the nicer houses there are garden plots and feilds, usually tended by women who hunch over thier large baskets of who-knows-what. Sometimes they tend to fires which is the only way to get rid of garbage here.
On the way to school we walk along a road that is uneven and piled with garbage. We pass dress shops filled with beautiful silks that sit next to butcher shops with carcusses that hang in the open air and heat. Live animals are tied outside if you would rather make your own selection. I have gone vegetarian now for the duration of the trip.
Yesterday on the walk to school we saw a funny but not uncommon sight; two men were perched on the back of a motorcycle with a large brown goat balanced on the seat between them. All on the way to the shop. I wish I had my camera ready for them.
Along the path closer to the school runs a stream, gray and slow moving with pollution. It bubbles in a sinister way, like little mosquito larvae in a puddle, except there's no way anything is alive in there. The stream smells like rotten eggs. Rickety bridges cross over the stream every few feet to one final row of houses and huts before jungle towers up, high, behind them.
I know that I have used a lot of negative language here, but you must understand that beyond the urban decay it is truly beautiful here. The decay is elegant and measured by the love and use that generations and communities have gained from this area. It has been lived on by the Nepali people for over 1000 years and is very much a part of them. A goal for their future is cleaning it all up.
On the way to school we walk along a road that is uneven and piled with garbage. We pass dress shops filled with beautiful silks that sit next to butcher shops with carcusses that hang in the open air and heat. Live animals are tied outside if you would rather make your own selection. I have gone vegetarian now for the duration of the trip.
Yesterday on the walk to school we saw a funny but not uncommon sight; two men were perched on the back of a motorcycle with a large brown goat balanced on the seat between them. All on the way to the shop. I wish I had my camera ready for them.
Along the path closer to the school runs a stream, gray and slow moving with pollution. It bubbles in a sinister way, like little mosquito larvae in a puddle, except there's no way anything is alive in there. The stream smells like rotten eggs. Rickety bridges cross over the stream every few feet to one final row of houses and huts before jungle towers up, high, behind them.
I know that I have used a lot of negative language here, but you must understand that beyond the urban decay it is truly beautiful here. The decay is elegant and measured by the love and use that generations and communities have gained from this area. It has been lived on by the Nepali people for over 1000 years and is very much a part of them. A goal for their future is cleaning it all up.
Nepal University of Social work
We visited the Nepal University of Social work today to learn more about how they do things here. To my surprise, the concept of social work has only been around for 17 years. The school itself is very new and is busy breaking ground on such topics as sexual revolution, women's rights, children's rights and even traffic patterns and the effect on human health issues. In nepal, 48% of the population lives below the poverty line and there are 67 slums in Kathmandu alone. We spoke about some pretty heavy topics in the morning, and after lunch were invited to attend a course on volunteerism.
Volunteerism is a very foreign topic for the Nepali students. To do anything that couldn't directly benefit themselves monetarily is a waste of resources for most people. The Instructor Simo Galimberti is from Italy and is trying to find ways in which to foster a culture of volunteering in Nepal. He was amazed when I told him about the amount of volunteering that I have done and how early I started. He drilled me afterward about things that seem so second nature to me. The school fund raising activities that Liam and Teresa do weekly, the cub activities, the formats that we use and the national recognition month that just passed in Canada. It all has led to Canada being a culture of volunteering (I corrected him and explained that it is generally a sub-culture) but still by introducing children to the idea young, Canada is looked up to for it.
We have exchanged email addresses and he wants updates from me on volunteering in Canada so that he can gain idea on how to promote it here. If anyone has any suggestions please hook me up. I was flattered that he singled me out, I talk a good game, but I was by far the least educated person in the room.
Volunteerism is a very foreign topic for the Nepali students. To do anything that couldn't directly benefit themselves monetarily is a waste of resources for most people. The Instructor Simo Galimberti is from Italy and is trying to find ways in which to foster a culture of volunteering in Nepal. He was amazed when I told him about the amount of volunteering that I have done and how early I started. He drilled me afterward about things that seem so second nature to me. The school fund raising activities that Liam and Teresa do weekly, the cub activities, the formats that we use and the national recognition month that just passed in Canada. It all has led to Canada being a culture of volunteering (I corrected him and explained that it is generally a sub-culture) but still by introducing children to the idea young, Canada is looked up to for it.
We have exchanged email addresses and he wants updates from me on volunteering in Canada so that he can gain idea on how to promote it here. If anyone has any suggestions please hook me up. I was flattered that he singled me out, I talk a good game, but I was by far the least educated person in the room.
Substitution (may 6th)
6 hours, 8 classrooms, 5.5 subjects. Are we having fun yet? Today I taught as a substitute teacher. I'll take a moment to apologize to every sub that ever taught me, you are way under respected. Today I taught grade 7 English, grade 4 art, grade 3 science (two separate classes) grade 6 physics, homework spare, and grade 3 social studies. There was one other class but I don't remember what it was anymore.
I had one girl tell me that I am beautiful. It's silly, but it made me feel good about myself and I began to feel better about my own abilities from then on. We walked home after school by choice. It takes 20 minutes to walk along one road that runs straight to our house. The only challenge is that it crosses Ring Road, which is the one main, circular artery that runs around Kathmandu. Samakoshi English Boarding School is on the inside of the ring while our house is on the same "wheel spoke" but on the outside. Ring road is what could be considered a 6 lane, two way highway except that there are no lines, lanes, lights or obvious laws and jay-walking is the only way to cross it. No guts, no glory!
For the past 3 days it has been very hot during the day and full on monsooning at night. It starts with lightning and rumbling thunder in the distance and then the sky starts to boil. Soon after, the clouds open up and an entire ocean falls on us all at once. Seriously, without an umbrella you may as well grow gills because it's hard to breathe with so much water in the air. I thought Victoria was wet, but it has nothing on this.
In Nepali lessons today we learned the 10 vowel sounds and a lot of words that use them. It is a good language. Phonetic and obvious once you know the rules. The hardest part is that many sentences depend on who you are speaking with and whether they rank higher or lower than you in the social pecking order. It's only the second day though so there is a lot of time to nail this down. 'G', the instructor says that his goal is to have us "accredited" before we leave. We are his new project and he takes this very seriously.
Subaratri! Good night!
I had one girl tell me that I am beautiful. It's silly, but it made me feel good about myself and I began to feel better about my own abilities from then on. We walked home after school by choice. It takes 20 minutes to walk along one road that runs straight to our house. The only challenge is that it crosses Ring Road, which is the one main, circular artery that runs around Kathmandu. Samakoshi English Boarding School is on the inside of the ring while our house is on the same "wheel spoke" but on the outside. Ring road is what could be considered a 6 lane, two way highway except that there are no lines, lanes, lights or obvious laws and jay-walking is the only way to cross it. No guts, no glory!
For the past 3 days it has been very hot during the day and full on monsooning at night. It starts with lightning and rumbling thunder in the distance and then the sky starts to boil. Soon after, the clouds open up and an entire ocean falls on us all at once. Seriously, without an umbrella you may as well grow gills because it's hard to breathe with so much water in the air. I thought Victoria was wet, but it has nothing on this.
In Nepali lessons today we learned the 10 vowel sounds and a lot of words that use them. It is a good language. Phonetic and obvious once you know the rules. The hardest part is that many sentences depend on who you are speaking with and whether they rank higher or lower than you in the social pecking order. It's only the second day though so there is a lot of time to nail this down. 'G', the instructor says that his goal is to have us "accredited" before we leave. We are his new project and he takes this very seriously.
Subaratri! Good night!
First day of work (MaY 5TH)
I woke up at dawn this morning to the apocalypse. Roosters and bells and slamming garage doors and dog fights and yelling salespeople.....all before 6 am. At 8 am there was a Scottish marching band that trekked through the area (no joke) with full on bagpipes and those big drums. The sound if it was seemed very much at home here.
The practicum was nicer than I expected. The boarding school is Montessorri based and caters to both rich and poor students. Many of the students come from orphanages or group homes and have had rough childhoods so far. When we got there the principals wife, Mauda Mam, gave us dal baat for brunch. We then took a tour of the school and all of the 17 classrooms. We watched some of the children practice thier dances for the up coming Parent's Day festival. It was quite the experience. The children are very good dancers and very excited for us to be here. At that point we asked if there was anything that we could be doing to help out. Mauda Mam sort of did this little head wobble that people in Nepal do instead of nodding and showed us to a classroom. She ushered us in and shut the door.
Here we were with zero preparation, and no teaching degree to speak of in charge of teaching a grade 4 class. We went over some English words with them out of the text book and then fell back on singing campfire songs. Isha brought out a song about a moose that drinks juice and I taught them about Joe and his button factory. After that we worked one more English class and a class about social studies that became very Canada-centric.
When we got home at 4:30 there was a Nepali language instructor waiting to teach us Nepali. It has been a very long and tiring day, I can tell you!
The bagpipes went by again at 8:30pm, I'll be asleep by 8:40!
The practicum was nicer than I expected. The boarding school is Montessorri based and caters to both rich and poor students. Many of the students come from orphanages or group homes and have had rough childhoods so far. When we got there the principals wife, Mauda Mam, gave us dal baat for brunch. We then took a tour of the school and all of the 17 classrooms. We watched some of the children practice thier dances for the up coming Parent's Day festival. It was quite the experience. The children are very good dancers and very excited for us to be here. At that point we asked if there was anything that we could be doing to help out. Mauda Mam sort of did this little head wobble that people in Nepal do instead of nodding and showed us to a classroom. She ushered us in and shut the door.
Here we were with zero preparation, and no teaching degree to speak of in charge of teaching a grade 4 class. We went over some English words with them out of the text book and then fell back on singing campfire songs. Isha brought out a song about a moose that drinks juice and I taught them about Joe and his button factory. After that we worked one more English class and a class about social studies that became very Canada-centric.
When we got home at 4:30 there was a Nepali language instructor waiting to teach us Nepali. It has been a very long and tiring day, I can tell you!
The bagpipes went by again at 8:30pm, I'll be asleep by 8:40!
Saturday, May 7
Playing catch up
I am sitting at an internet cafe one block from the house, Isha and Gerrit just returned from a quest to find "cold beer" and since today is the only day off we get (one day a week) I've got a couple of cold ones next to me now as well. Before I go and let off a little tension, I wanted to say "Happy Mother's day" to my Mom in case I don't get an opportunity to phone tomorrow. I'm thinking of you. Liam and Teresa, you have been a big topic of conversation with the children I've been working with, I brought pictures of you. They all say that you are beautiful and your hair is very pretty. Dan, they all want to know where your hair is, but you are pretty too :) I miss you all very much.
Onto the journaling...
May 4th
We left the hotel moonlight this morning and moved into our new house in the suburbs. This place is huge! There are 5 floors with a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a common room and 5 bedrooms. We also have a hired cook and house keeper. There is also a homeless guy living in our shed withing the walled and locked compound. He was evicted before us but had nowhere to go so the landlord lets him stay. We've been assured that he's safe as long as we don't talk to him, especially when he's drunk. We were supposed to get a tour of the neighborhood after lunch from Gocool, but after waiting for 3 hours we were starting to get antsy. Luckily Robin and Patty showed up before we decided to go exploring on our own. They had just interviewed for all of our site positions. I will be working with Sarah and Isha at an english boarding school for ages 3 to 15. When we finally went on the tour it was starting to get dark and the streets around here are very convoluted. I'm not sure I got any of it. We saw two group homes run by our hosts (orphanages) and were given extensive insight into funding and social politics in Nepal around these sights. However if anyone is interested, a mansion in Nepal rents for $740 US a month here. Comes with solar panels and everything! We returned home by bus via the now infamous Ring Road and had to jay-walk across 6 lanes of chaos to reach our street.
When we got home Garrit had left his wallet out on his bed and found that $100 US was missing. Someone around here won the lottery! I'm glad that we were already locking everything up in our rooms, we have triple lock safes for this reason. The cooks made us spagetti for dinner which was a nice change. The noodles were overdone, but we weren't going to complain!
I'm sorry I was going to type out all of my past entries, but the chair is very uncomfortable, I'll try to finish more tomorrow.
Subaratri! Good Night!
Onto the journaling...
May 4th
We left the hotel moonlight this morning and moved into our new house in the suburbs. This place is huge! There are 5 floors with a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a common room and 5 bedrooms. We also have a hired cook and house keeper. There is also a homeless guy living in our shed withing the walled and locked compound. He was evicted before us but had nowhere to go so the landlord lets him stay. We've been assured that he's safe as long as we don't talk to him, especially when he's drunk. We were supposed to get a tour of the neighborhood after lunch from Gocool, but after waiting for 3 hours we were starting to get antsy. Luckily Robin and Patty showed up before we decided to go exploring on our own. They had just interviewed for all of our site positions. I will be working with Sarah and Isha at an english boarding school for ages 3 to 15. When we finally went on the tour it was starting to get dark and the streets around here are very convoluted. I'm not sure I got any of it. We saw two group homes run by our hosts (orphanages) and were given extensive insight into funding and social politics in Nepal around these sights. However if anyone is interested, a mansion in Nepal rents for $740 US a month here. Comes with solar panels and everything! We returned home by bus via the now infamous Ring Road and had to jay-walk across 6 lanes of chaos to reach our street.
When we got home Garrit had left his wallet out on his bed and found that $100 US was missing. Someone around here won the lottery! I'm glad that we were already locking everything up in our rooms, we have triple lock safes for this reason. The cooks made us spagetti for dinner which was a nice change. The noodles were overdone, but we weren't going to complain!
I'm sorry I was going to type out all of my past entries, but the chair is very uncomfortable, I'll try to finish more tomorrow.
Subaratri! Good Night!
Tuesday, May 3
Moving Day - also, everything gone to pot
I'm posting on a time limit today. We check out of Hotel Moonlight in 20 minutes and head to the house that has been rented for us. I'll try to get as much typed up now, and after that my interenet access will be sketchy.
Yesterday
we met with the most amazing woman Cecile Parush who is the organizer for our pratcicums here in Nepal. She told us her story in a heavy parisian accent for an hour and a half and had most of us inspired and in tears. I'll relate the whole story when I get back, but long story short...she's in her 80's and looks 50. Shw was a fashion designer for Dior and Gucchi and one day felt her life was empty. She spoke with Mother Theresa after much hoop jumping to be able to see her and was given a number of hard tasks to preform in Calcutta. Cecile has helped thousands of children even though she knew nothing about them or how the world really works. She runs an "asam" or home for orphaned children as well as supports past children of her homes as they grow up as adults and go to school.
We had to leave after Cecile's story because the bus was waiting for us. We visited the museum at Patan Darbar (Darbar means palace compound). which is built in an old monestary in the arts district. Here we received an education or various, hindu, vedic and buddist dieties as well as some tantric philosophy. Many of the dieties can be identified by thier body language and hand positions. The more hands and faces represent the more complicated personalities.
We had a traditional curry lunch in the yard and one of the other students peaked over the vine covered brick wall into the yard behind. To her surprise, the weed patch was full of Canibis, literally growing like a weed. I guess it is a holy plant for one day of the year because Shiva was a big fan. I kept my eyes open for the rest of the trip, and sure enough, the stuff grows everywhere, even out of the ditches at the side of the road.
After lunch we traveled to Pashupati, the holiest place in the Hindu religion. Every hindu needs to visit it once in their lives. Pashupati is a temple where Lord Shiva left an artifact thousands of y\ears ago. It is also the place where there are piers built next to the holy river and the dead are cremated and sent off down stream. We watched one get lit in a very solemn ceremony from the other side of the river since we were not allowed on site. The area is crawling with monkeys, dogs and cows which are all sacred animals to Shiva and protected by law.
The temple is so important because a special stone fell to earth here and is a source of fertility and where people and animals origanate from according to Hindu philosophy.
From there we visited a Buddist Stupa which is a large dome with the eye of buddah painted above it. Prayer wheels surround it and monks and people were walking around it three times in prayer. A monk was prostrating himself (laying face down and kissing the ground) every step he took and many tibetans were present.
More than any other holy place I visited, this one actually felt special. Like there was enlightenment in the air. It opened up and rain on us before we left.
Love and hugs. I miss you Liam and Teresa!
Yesterday
we met with the most amazing woman Cecile Parush who is the organizer for our pratcicums here in Nepal. She told us her story in a heavy parisian accent for an hour and a half and had most of us inspired and in tears. I'll relate the whole story when I get back, but long story short...she's in her 80's and looks 50. Shw was a fashion designer for Dior and Gucchi and one day felt her life was empty. She spoke with Mother Theresa after much hoop jumping to be able to see her and was given a number of hard tasks to preform in Calcutta. Cecile has helped thousands of children even though she knew nothing about them or how the world really works. She runs an "asam" or home for orphaned children as well as supports past children of her homes as they grow up as adults and go to school.
We had to leave after Cecile's story because the bus was waiting for us. We visited the museum at Patan Darbar (Darbar means palace compound). which is built in an old monestary in the arts district. Here we received an education or various, hindu, vedic and buddist dieties as well as some tantric philosophy. Many of the dieties can be identified by thier body language and hand positions. The more hands and faces represent the more complicated personalities.
We had a traditional curry lunch in the yard and one of the other students peaked over the vine covered brick wall into the yard behind. To her surprise, the weed patch was full of Canibis, literally growing like a weed. I guess it is a holy plant for one day of the year because Shiva was a big fan. I kept my eyes open for the rest of the trip, and sure enough, the stuff grows everywhere, even out of the ditches at the side of the road.
After lunch we traveled to Pashupati, the holiest place in the Hindu religion. Every hindu needs to visit it once in their lives. Pashupati is a temple where Lord Shiva left an artifact thousands of y\ears ago. It is also the place where there are piers built next to the holy river and the dead are cremated and sent off down stream. We watched one get lit in a very solemn ceremony from the other side of the river since we were not allowed on site. The area is crawling with monkeys, dogs and cows which are all sacred animals to Shiva and protected by law.
The temple is so important because a special stone fell to earth here and is a source of fertility and where people and animals origanate from according to Hindu philosophy.
From there we visited a Buddist Stupa which is a large dome with the eye of buddah painted above it. Prayer wheels surround it and monks and people were walking around it three times in prayer. A monk was prostrating himself (laying face down and kissing the ground) every step he took and many tibetans were present.
More than any other holy place I visited, this one actually felt special. Like there was enlightenment in the air. It opened up and rain on us before we left.
Love and hugs. I miss you Liam and Teresa!
Monday, May 2
Playing in traffic - Day 1
Yesterday was very busy to say the least. We started out by having a meeting with Robin, Patty (Camosun field school instructors) and Gocool our translator/tour guide. I showed up for the meeting without a pad of paper or pen for note taking, and felt ridiculous. We discussed how the marking and course work would be handled. Shortly after,we left as a group to exchange our money looking very much like a group of tourists. For $100 u$ I received almost $7000 Nepali Rupees. Patty assures me that I can live on this for weeks. Although I am planning on buying a few pieces of clothing and gifts for people. The weather here is so hot that even the light fabric clothes that I brought are too heavy. Between the heat from the weather and the heat from the curry I've been chowing down on I'll be losing some lbs before I'm done.
After exchanging money we went for lunch at this great restaurant called "the Yak". I ordered veggie curry regi-something-or-other masala. Very tasty. It looked like kinda like chilli. It was pretty mild though so I tried adding some of the condiments. A strange red gritty paste and some tiny green slices of what looked like jalpeneos. My tongue felt like it was blistering. Fromnow on I'll stick with the soy sauce. We had some great discussions around the table about dreams and nightmares. I think a lot of us are feeling pretty spiritual about this trip.
After lunch we walked around Thamel, the tourist district and looked at all of the stalls selling clothing, wraps, masks, statues, paintings, crystal balls and jewelry, we also passed the Pilgrams Bookstore which is a famous landmark. I'm not sure why yet but you can be sure that I'm going to find out! From there we walked to Durbar Square and past an overwhelming amount of poverty. On most availible ledges, steps and temple platforms there were people just sitting and people watching, often surrounded by filth. Other people wandered thecrowds hawking their wares, usually sandlewood flutes, tiger balm, cheap jewelry and pins. Sandhu (no idea how to spell that) priests dressed in bright red and yellow robes offered us a blessing every chance they could. This meant dipping a marigold blossom into red paint and touching it to your forehead. The instructoe had a story about how the religious customs of the order were being twisted so that the priests could earn a living. Since each blessing garners a donation. There is also a lot of hash smoking that takes place in the order. I won't go by her opinion though, I'll try to get another insight into it. I'll admit that the red and white face paint on the preists was very creative.
Durbar square was incredible. There were so many temples and palaces all crammed into one little area. Most were 500-600 years old and covered in delicate carvings of hindu dieties. The rafters of the temples all had scences from stories carved into them over top of various Kama Sutra posses (*cough* or "yoga positions" works as a description). Pidgeons flew around above the site in great flowing waves and settled onto the roof tops en mass. Salespeople were here as well and werew very pushy. They would follow us around and not take "no" for an answer. By the time we left there was a group of 3 that we almost knew well enough to ask for coffee.
We payed the fee to get into the Temple of the Living Goddess and see Kumari. Every day after 12:00 she walks on her balcony every hour or so. We crowded into a very ornate courtyard and were firmly told by her priests (wearing plaid shirts and holding smart phones I had to be told who they were afterwards) that no cameras were allowed in the goddesses presence. After a short amount of time the Kumari came to her balcony and leaned out. The crowd around us actuallu held their breath. She was tiny and had her dark hair pulled back into a bun. She wore heavy eye makeup and had a red symbol painted across her forehead. She wa very beautiful. But as she looked around the courtyard she was ver reserved and looked to me to be a bored 7 year old girl being told to do something. We briefly made eye contact and I certainly didn't get a zing of mystic powers. She only stood there for 30 seconds before returning to her chambers inside.
The traffic going home again wasd crazy. Cars and rick shaws shared the road with bikes, scooters and pedestrians allmanuevering both ways down narrow streets. The kids were out from school and children ran throughout the traffic jams. For all of the chaos we didn't see a single accident. Rule number 1 is don't hurry and number 2 is don't get angry.
Two little kids around the ages of 2 or 3 years old were dancing on the gutter and kept running out and smacking the sides of cars as they went by. Gocool didn't know of any cultural reason why they were doing this, they were just playing with the traffic. After a couple of blocks they went into a yard. I didn't see any parents around anywhere.
Sunday, May 1
Kathmandu arrival (post 2 of the day)
In the Hong Kong airport my left sinus and ear became stuffed up. Once we hit the air and began climbing to 19000 ft my ear didn't just 'pop' it 'burst' and became unbelievable painful. I jumped up and found my tylenol as soon as the flight seatbelt warning sign went out. That calmed things down a little bit and let me go to sleep finally. But we briefly touched down in Bengladesh and each time we flew up my ear would burst with liquid pouring down the back of my throat and when we landed it felt like packing my ear with stirofoam. I still can't really hear anything on that side. But it feels much better today.
Kathmandu - It's dark outside when we arrived but I can still say that this place isn't anything like home. At the airport there were military uniforms everywhere and running everything, but really poorly compared to Canadian customs. The guy who scanned my bag didn't even look at the screen. I know, becasue I was puuled aside at each airport I'd been too so security could check out my Solar charging bag. I guess all the wired look scary. But I didn't get hasseled at all and neither did any of our group. In fact the officers took one look at us and waved us right past the long security pat down line ups.
In the parking lot we met with the Kathmandu project coordinaters (our bosses for the praticum placements) they brought us over to the private bus that would take us to the Hotel Moonlight. This really nice porter started chatting to me about Canada and what a nice country it is as he loaded my bags up onto the bus. Then he turned to me and said that the custom is to give a tip for the service. I didn't have any nepali money yet and this set off alarm bells in my head as Robin my teacher had said to avoid tipping anyone since services are provided as part of the money spent on the trip. Sure enough, this guy was just someone who saw us and decided to try and make a quick buck off the tourists. He followed us and continued to hassle us for money until the bus pulled away.
From what I saw of Kathmandu so far in the dark, it isn't at all how I imagined it. Everywhere there are brick buildings wall-towall witheach other. The streets are all unpaved and narrow winding things. Horn honking and headlight flashing are almost as important as stearing and fast usage off the break. There was actually very little traffic on the roads at that hour, but we passed several packs of dogs and young men. We also passed a herd of cows that were just wandering along in the middle of the city.
When we got to the hotel, the front desk gave us (Isha and I) the key to our room. When we went to open the door we found someone already there asleep! The front desk then gave us a different key and it turned out to be our classmate Garrets room. Finally they found us an empty room and I am now getting ready to sleep in a real bed for the first time in over 40 hours. It was really nice to find that this room comes with a bathroom as well.
Toto, We're not in Canada anymore!
Internet is a strange ordeal. The keyboard is covered in strange Nepali symbols and it confuses my hunt and peck typing. The period(.) key is where it usually is on the keyboard, but isn't marked. Kathmandu is hot, but not as hot as Hong Kong was. We arrived late last night in the dark and sleept very well. I'm going to type out my written journals from the last few days right now and will post more on Kathmandu this evening after I've had a chance to explore. Pictures will be added as soon as I figure out how to upload them.
May 1st - Hong Kong
So after the 20 minutes flight to Vancouver from Victoria,the 6 hours waiting for our connecting flight to Hong Kong,the 13 hours flight to Hong Kong (in uncomfertable economy class seating!) and 12 hours exploring/window shopping the streets of the Hong Kong fashion district we are finally off on the final leg of the trip to Nepal!
The 13hour flight was a bit much. I was very jealous of the business class seats which were recliners that fell back into beds. It was nice of the airline to start pumping perfumed air into the ripening economy cabin halfway through the night though. The food was excellent,all three meals were some sort of rice with some sort of meat poured over top with creamed spinach. Honestly, I have no idea what I ate, but it was tasty. I didn't sleep well, just doozed a few times and mostly watched an entire season of Nikita. When I hit Hong Kong I wasd running on about 4 hours of sleep.
First impressions of Hong Kong is that it seems very sterile and organized. It was very clean and everything was built to look big an imposeing. The airport had domed glass ceilings high above the crowds below. On the fast rail trip to the city from the airport I saw very little personal vehicle traffic. There weren't many cars, and those that were on the roads were electric. There was a big sign advertising a place to plug and charge your car just as we entered the city. The buses run for free and there are a lot of them! Moving people aroung seems to be a big priority there. The airport itself is located on the end of a big spit of land away from the city and the only way to reach the airport is by taking a rapid transit train. They run every 2 minutes and can pack a lot of people. Outside of the train the area was well groomed and manicured. The grass was green and mowed and many of the bushes and trees are carfully shaped. Outside of the city, there weren't many people to be seen. Those that were around were waiting at train stops or working on construction sites. The sidewalks were empty. Hong Kong is not built for single families. I only saw one house which was a fishermans hut. Honk Kong is mostly sky scrapers built in tight and uniform blocks. Some of these communities were larger than the mountains they were next too.
Once we got downtown we left the bus next to the Chanel fashion show room. Through out the day we wouldwander past and there was always a line up of at least 20 people all wearing really expensive clothes and waiting to get inside. Through the window, the place was packed with beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes. I actually didn't see anyone in Hong Kong wearing sweat pants or baggy clothes or looking down on thier luck. There was no visable homelessness, no addictions or illnesses. Definately some shady characters hanging out aroung the mouths of most alleys though. The alleys are apparently an adventure as it's where the best deals are, but by the time you leave the alley most of your stuff can be stolen. We avoided going there.
We spent most of the day exploring downtown Hong Kong and the waterfront area. The temperature was 28 degrees when we left the airport at 8 am, it got really hot and humid from there but we never saw the sun. Inthe afternoon we spent $10 HK to visit the nice, air conditioned art museum and saw some ancient and contemperary pieces from Chinese history. Very cool, yes the pun can be taken both ways.
May 1st - Hong Kong
So after the 20 minutes flight to Vancouver from Victoria,the 6 hours waiting for our connecting flight to Hong Kong,the 13 hours flight to Hong Kong (in uncomfertable economy class seating!) and 12 hours exploring/window shopping the streets of the Hong Kong fashion district we are finally off on the final leg of the trip to Nepal!
The 13hour flight was a bit much. I was very jealous of the business class seats which were recliners that fell back into beds. It was nice of the airline to start pumping perfumed air into the ripening economy cabin halfway through the night though. The food was excellent,all three meals were some sort of rice with some sort of meat poured over top with creamed spinach. Honestly, I have no idea what I ate, but it was tasty. I didn't sleep well, just doozed a few times and mostly watched an entire season of Nikita. When I hit Hong Kong I wasd running on about 4 hours of sleep.
First impressions of Hong Kong is that it seems very sterile and organized. It was very clean and everything was built to look big an imposeing. The airport had domed glass ceilings high above the crowds below. On the fast rail trip to the city from the airport I saw very little personal vehicle traffic. There weren't many cars, and those that were on the roads were electric. There was a big sign advertising a place to plug and charge your car just as we entered the city. The buses run for free and there are a lot of them! Moving people aroung seems to be a big priority there. The airport itself is located on the end of a big spit of land away from the city and the only way to reach the airport is by taking a rapid transit train. They run every 2 minutes and can pack a lot of people. Outside of the train the area was well groomed and manicured. The grass was green and mowed and many of the bushes and trees are carfully shaped. Outside of the city, there weren't many people to be seen. Those that were around were waiting at train stops or working on construction sites. The sidewalks were empty. Hong Kong is not built for single families. I only saw one house which was a fishermans hut. Honk Kong is mostly sky scrapers built in tight and uniform blocks. Some of these communities were larger than the mountains they were next too.
Once we got downtown we left the bus next to the Chanel fashion show room. Through out the day we wouldwander past and there was always a line up of at least 20 people all wearing really expensive clothes and waiting to get inside. Through the window, the place was packed with beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes. I actually didn't see anyone in Hong Kong wearing sweat pants or baggy clothes or looking down on thier luck. There was no visable homelessness, no addictions or illnesses. Definately some shady characters hanging out aroung the mouths of most alleys though. The alleys are apparently an adventure as it's where the best deals are, but by the time you leave the alley most of your stuff can be stolen. We avoided going there.
We spent most of the day exploring downtown Hong Kong and the waterfront area. The temperature was 28 degrees when we left the airport at 8 am, it got really hot and humid from there but we never saw the sun. Inthe afternoon we spent $10 HK to visit the nice, air conditioned art museum and saw some ancient and contemperary pieces from Chinese history. Very cool, yes the pun can be taken both ways.
Friday, April 29
Leaving on a jet plane
3 am - why oh why can't I sleep?
Just so that you know, the blogs linked to on my side bar have begum to be updated as well. Steph sounds very excited. I think I'm in a state of shock, it doesn't feel like it's really happening yet. I figure that will kick in mid-air, halfway across the Pacific Ocean.
I thought I could do a brief write up on Nepal, so that you know a bit more about where I am going.
(click for bigger map)
Nepal is a small country, that runs along the south edge of the Himalayan mountains. it has an area of 147,181 km2, which is bigger than Vancouver Island (31,285 km2) but smaller than British Columbia (925,186 km2). The guidebook that I am reading relates it to the size of the state of Wisconson. Nepal is sandwiched between the giant countries of India and China and has historical ties to neighboring Tibet.
Nepal is famous for 2 things.
1st, Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world is within the country borders. People have been coming to Nepal to conquer this peak since 1885 but nobody succeeded (and many people died trying) until 1953. Two men, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed the mountain with the help of extra oxygen caches for when the air becomes to thin to breathe. Mt Everest is so high that it enters something called "the deadzone" where the temperature is so cold that it is difficult to move and hypothermia and frostbite are serious dangers. As well, the air contains 2 thirds less oxygen than we have at sea level so it is hard to get enough oxygen going to the brain. Climbing this peak is the altimate challenge for explorers and mountaineers.
2nd, Nepal is famous for it's cultural roots. In modern times, the population mostly believes in Hinduism and Buddism and this can be traced back to the begining of these religions. Nepal was once upon a time ruled by a royal family, 600 years BC as we measure time in North America, after several generations a prince was born named Siddharta Gautama. The story that I read said that wise men warned the King and Queen that the Prince should never be allowed to leave the palace or else he would be destroyed. Siddharta Gautama lived out his childhood stuck in a palace, getting everything he ever asked for. Then one day he snuck outside and when he looked around he saw the poverty and despare of his kingdom. He was so effected that he gave up his name and royal position and left on a journey to find enlightenment. He was known as Buddha.
This story is a very shallow version of what the history and religious books say and a bit of a folk tale. As my Father-in-law says, "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". If you are interested in a in-depth version, Wikipedia has a good collection of ideas on Buddha's life.
As well as Buddhism, Nepal has a rich cultural community. Over the centuries, Buddists have welcomed other faiths into the country and they continue to share resources and temples with Hinduism. In Kathmandu, the Hindu dieties are celebrated on thier holy days with parades and prayers. They even have a living goddess named Kumari who is just a girl around the same age as the Cubs!
Even with all of this neat history, Nepal is a very poor country. The total yearly income of an adult living in Nepal is $522 (US currency) in Canada the average is $46,215. Many families send their children out to work in factories as soon as they are able, because unemployment is very high but kids are better at working these jobs. Most of these jobs are dangerous and many kids get hurt doing them.
So I am still not sure what I will be doing in Kathmandu, but my options are working at an orphanage, in a school or at a family rehabilitation center. I am going with my mind and heart open, but will be trying to practice critical thinking so I don't get overwhelmed.
Stay tuned!
Just so that you know, the blogs linked to on my side bar have begum to be updated as well. Steph sounds very excited. I think I'm in a state of shock, it doesn't feel like it's really happening yet. I figure that will kick in mid-air, halfway across the Pacific Ocean.
I thought I could do a brief write up on Nepal, so that you know a bit more about where I am going.
(click for bigger map)
Nepal is a small country, that runs along the south edge of the Himalayan mountains. it has an area of 147,181 km2, which is bigger than Vancouver Island (31,285 km2) but smaller than British Columbia (925,186 km2). The guidebook that I am reading relates it to the size of the state of Wisconson. Nepal is sandwiched between the giant countries of India and China and has historical ties to neighboring Tibet.
Nepal is famous for 2 things.
1st, Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world is within the country borders. People have been coming to Nepal to conquer this peak since 1885 but nobody succeeded (and many people died trying) until 1953. Two men, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed the mountain with the help of extra oxygen caches for when the air becomes to thin to breathe. Mt Everest is so high that it enters something called "the deadzone" where the temperature is so cold that it is difficult to move and hypothermia and frostbite are serious dangers. As well, the air contains 2 thirds less oxygen than we have at sea level so it is hard to get enough oxygen going to the brain. Climbing this peak is the altimate challenge for explorers and mountaineers.
2nd, Nepal is famous for it's cultural roots. In modern times, the population mostly believes in Hinduism and Buddism and this can be traced back to the begining of these religions. Nepal was once upon a time ruled by a royal family, 600 years BC as we measure time in North America, after several generations a prince was born named Siddharta Gautama. The story that I read said that wise men warned the King and Queen that the Prince should never be allowed to leave the palace or else he would be destroyed. Siddharta Gautama lived out his childhood stuck in a palace, getting everything he ever asked for. Then one day he snuck outside and when he looked around he saw the poverty and despare of his kingdom. He was so effected that he gave up his name and royal position and left on a journey to find enlightenment. He was known as Buddha.
This story is a very shallow version of what the history and religious books say and a bit of a folk tale. As my Father-in-law says, "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". If you are interested in a in-depth version, Wikipedia has a good collection of ideas on Buddha's life.
As well as Buddhism, Nepal has a rich cultural community. Over the centuries, Buddists have welcomed other faiths into the country and they continue to share resources and temples with Hinduism. In Kathmandu, the Hindu dieties are celebrated on thier holy days with parades and prayers. They even have a living goddess named Kumari who is just a girl around the same age as the Cubs!
Even with all of this neat history, Nepal is a very poor country. The total yearly income of an adult living in Nepal is $522 (US currency) in Canada the average is $46,215. Many families send their children out to work in factories as soon as they are able, because unemployment is very high but kids are better at working these jobs. Most of these jobs are dangerous and many kids get hurt doing them.
So I am still not sure what I will be doing in Kathmandu, but my options are working at an orphanage, in a school or at a family rehabilitation center. I am going with my mind and heart open, but will be trying to practice critical thinking so I don't get overwhelmed.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, April 26
Tuesday, April 19
Countdown from 10
“A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse… and thinks of home.” – Carl Burns.
The countdown is REALLY on now. School is done and today is my first day to actually have time to sit and think about what's comming up.
Yesterday:
Dan and I cooked all day. My family won't be going hungry while I'm gone! They have spagetti, and chilli and cannelloni and soup. Not to mention sausages and hamburgers and enough chickens ready for Liam's birthday BBQ to feed the small army that will be attending. The freezer is light on pizza's and tv dinners, but I'm good with that if he is!
Last night was my last Cub meeting before the trip and I admit to being a bit sad to leave at the end. We were so busy with geocaching and having fun at Royal Roads that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I will be sending this blog link out in an email to the pack later today and saying my farewells.
There are a few blogs being recorded on this trip for anyone interested in following our adventures. I'll add the links to the side bar for easy access. I will be keeping this blog as kid friendly as possible during the experience, but I can't promise the same on the other sites. So if you think that there was more going on than what I wrote about, check the others as they might give a more indepth insight, but be warned, it might not be pretty.
Today:
I'll be doing two things at once. Because of school, my house hasn't had a good spring cleaning yet this year so I'm starting in the basement and working my way up this week. Today the computer room and basement get a purge from the junk that has been collecting all winter. Some of that junk happens to be camping supplies, so I'll be doing a bit of packing as well. With serious fuel shortages and 14 hour power outages in Kathmandu right now, my cub camp supplies will be handy. Yay for my new LED lantern!
I'll also be loading up my ipod with enough reading materials and whatever apps I think might be useful while there (currency converter, city maps, translater etc.) and as many ebooks as I can fit on the drive next to all of my pictures of my kids and my music.
Monday, April 4
The "Ready for anything" bag
By popular demand (Steph and Amanda both asked)Here is the list of everything I've fit into my one little makeup bag for the trip to Nepal. Feel free to comment and tell me how nuts I am, or better yet, suggest other items that I haven't thought of! All items are in travel or sample sizes as this is just to tide me over until I figure out what I can find or do without when there.
The "Ready for Everything" bag list...
- 3x Colgate toothpaste
- toothbrush
- bag of biodisposable floss pics
- mirror with stand
- 2x bungy cords
- 4 clothes pegs
- tylenol and advil
- tums
- nasel spray
- sunscreen
- water bottle with filter
- water purification pills and drops for 60 litres (will need more)
- crystal light to cover taste
- 3 small bottles of 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner
- deoderant
- 1 week, pill organizer for all the meds i'll be taking
- 4x hand sanitizers (will need more)
- face scrub for shower days
- face cleanse cloths and makeup remover
- gel bandaids for blisters
- bodyglide for same
- sewing kit
- body mist and deoderant wipes
- kleenex
- 7x soaps
- wash cloth/soap saver
- q-tips
- hairbrush
- hairpins
- tweezers and nail kit
- laundry leaves for handwashing clothes
- several packs of intimate wipes (their name for them, not mine)
- a pack of "Instead" (go ahead ask me I dare you)
- ziplock baggies
- shower cap
- elastics
- pen
- multi-tool
- solar chargers for ipod and camera
Other items that I'm bringing include a battery operated candle for night light (yes I'll need it). Ipod speakers with batteries and my camera. My ipod will be loaded with books, music and pictures of my family and maybe a Planet Earth episode since it never fails to make me fall asleep.
I don't know about you, but my hair is good for about 4 days max without being washed. Hopefully showering isn't a big deal, but if so, I'm bringing a couple of hair extensions so I can just pull back my gross hair into a bun and stick a hair scrunchies over top, looks natural, makes me happy.
Oh! and of course a towel :)
"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
Monday, March 28
Nepal
New post! It's been a while.... I'll be blogging my trip to Nepal here. Right now I'm drowning in homework though. See you here in about a month!
Friday, January 2
Resurrection?
I'm reaching another lull in my life which is usually good for introspection and re-evaluation. Which of course means some juicy inner dialog and the odd episode of psyco-babble and creative writing.
The last few years have been busy for me mentally if not physically, with several online addictions keeping me sane through the toddler years of my kids lives. I look back and wonder if there were times it was overdone (yes), but I feel we've all come out of it okay. I still spent a lot of time developing imagination, and creativity not to mention good manners and a sense of right and wrong. At this point we are all working on reality vs pretend and where that line is between imaginary problems and goals and real ones. Money of course is a very real boundary and one of those that needs to be taught and developed on many levels. We started with a small allowance for Liam and he has surprised us with how single-minded he is when it comes to spending it. He can walk through an entire toy store, but if they don't have exactly what he wants that money stays in his pocket. I wish I had the same iron will!
Teresa is going through a hard time right now because she sees her brother getting a lot of opportunities that she is still too young for. Things like sleepovers and soccer make her pout and behave badly to show how upset she is with us. At the same time she is very overactive when we did put her in music lessons she quickly got bored with it and had to be warned by the teacher for almost spinning into her guitar. *sigh* I'd love to put her into dance again, but until she's 6 the lessons are the same as she's done for the last 2 years and have become bored with. I won't say what she was doing to entertain herself there except to say she was a disruption :(
On the other hand when it comes to picking up new information, or expressing herself on paper or by singing or telling a story, she is absolutely amazing. I hope another year will see her develop a better understanding of appropriate :)
As Dan pointed out to me New Years day, this is the year that I get to decide what I want to be when I grow up. When T starts Grade One in September, it looks like I'll be starting back to school myself. Correspondence didn't work well for me, I lack the focus for it. I'll be enrolling in some adult education and upgrading for college. As for what to aim for, I'm still uninspired. I'd love biology or archeology, but being practical and realizing that I've prolly missed the boats there, nursing is my best bet I think. After all, 4 prior generations of caregivers can't be wrong?
Yeah, still no clue.
Foster care is another thing on my radar, Dan and I would both get into that.
Dan is good as always. Very loyal to his company, very stable. He makes such a great rock for me. I'd probably have washed away on another adventure by now if he wasn't there keeping me on track.
***
Gaming has started up again. I'm slowly getting back into painting and I'd love to try more creative writing. I'll try to post about it and see if we can't get a running dialog going like with the last big campaign.
Cheers!
Lucid
Tuesday, March 11
Migration
Just in case anyone actually reads this anymore...
I've migrated to both myspace and face book as it takes less effort to keep updated. Although now that I'm typing here I might get back into blogging.
Facebook rarely gets checked and I see it as my family friendly site. As in my family knows where it is so I don't usually post there.
Myspace is updated daily, I have an ongoing music blog there. Come pad my friends list :p I also post pics on occasion.
I've migrated to both myspace and face book as it takes less effort to keep updated. Although now that I'm typing here I might get back into blogging.
Facebook rarely gets checked and I see it as my family friendly site. As in my family knows where it is so I don't usually post there.
Myspace is updated daily, I have an ongoing music blog there. Come pad my friends list :p I also post pics on occasion.
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