Bungee Jumping √.............Paragliding by the Annapurnas √.........Motor biking through the Himalayas √ .........Recovering from a tick bite __.....

I should first clarify that my extracurricular activities here in Nepal are merely for research purposes…... The Waterfall family, who I met on a Choice expedition last year to Africa, will be coming to Nepal in a few weeks so I need to be able to offer educated, first hand information on all that Nepal has to offer. I have to say that the paragliding and the motor biking were absolutely amazing. The paragliding takes off from a place called Sarangkot, which sits high above Pokhara; you then fly high above the foothills with phenomenal views of the Annapurna Mountains. You end by flying over the lake then landing on the shoreline. It was an experience to remember and I will try posting some pictures.

At the recommendation of my friend Landon, I rented a motorcycle in Pokhara and set out to explore the mountain villages, lakes and country side that surround Pokhara. In the end I don’t know how many miles I traveled on the motorcycle today, but I do know that the sights and scenery were enough to completely overwhelm my all of my senses. Try as I might with my camera, I was unable to even in part grasp the essence of what I saw. I have always known that Nepal is a beautiful country….but today I realized just how beautiful of a place it is.

Late one night after returning from a day hike here in Pokhara I noticed that my left sock was covered in blood. After a closer look I realized that a creature of some sort had dug itself into my skin and had severed a superficial blood vessel. I am not sure how long my foot had bled, but there was a good amount of blood on my sock and in my shoe. It took about 15 minutes to dig the bug out from under my skin and by the time I got it out it was unrecognizable. We are assuming that it was a tick that bored its way in, then got decapitated while I was walking. I am not sure if it was the bug, or something else, but about 3 in the morning I woke up with fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and horrible stomach cramps. That was 3 days ago and the symptoms come and go. When they are gone I feel great, then 10 minutes later I can be deathly ill. It is the weirdest thing. I have talked to several different doctors here and have gotten varying opinions. To make matters worse, I came down with a cold last week and am still recovering from that. So needless to say things in Pokhara didn’t end on the best of notes. But fear not…I am back at it and looking for the next great adventure.

Santosh

On a previous trip to Nepal I had a similar village experience in a village about 2 hours away from the village we were in this time. It was during that trip that I was given the opportunity to sponsor scholarships for several kids in the village. One of the kids in particular was a 15 year old boy by the name of Santosh. He came from a very poor family and I was told that he would not be able to study past the 8^th grade without a scholarship. (although the government provides the teachers, the students need to pay for school books, uniforms, school fees etc.. This amounts to about $50.00 a year to study…a small amount to us, but an impossible amount to a Nepali family who only makes $200.00 a year) So for about $50.00 a year I was able to provide an opportunity for him to stay in school.

Santosh and I have kept in contact over the years via mail. He was always kind and gracious and made sure to tell me thank you for making it possible for him to go to school…..a reward that far exceeded the small amount that it cost me to help him. I had sent him a post card upon arriving in Kathmandu just to let him know that I was in the country. I had considered trying to get back to his village to be able to see him in person again after 5 years, but I wasn’t sure how I would be able to make that happen.

Yesterday as we were walking down a path to a villager’s home I heard footsteps running up behind me. I thought little of it and continued with the conversation I was involved in when suddenly I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around to see a man standing there with a smile from ear to ear he grabbed my hand and said hello Erik sir. My brain went into overdrive trying to figure out who he was and what was going on……then it hit me…it was Santosh.....all grown up. He had heard that there was a group of Americans in a local village and he knew it was me. He said he dropped what he was doing with out even telling his family where he was going and ran for 2 hours straight to come find me. This is another one of those experiences where the words needed to adequately describe the experience elude me. The whole experience was…well…overwhelming. We ended up sending word to his family where he was and that he was going to spend the next couple of days with us in the village. As it turns out he is currently working on what would be the equivalent to our Associates Degree at a local college about an hour from his home. He wakes up at 4 in the morning to do his chores, then walks the hour to school in the dark. He goes to his classes, and then walks the hour home later in the day. He says he wants to be a doctor, so he can help the people suffering in his village and others like it. He is, and will continue to be an amazing force in Nepal.

The Village Experience

Part of my itinerary in Nepal included leading an expedition for Choice Humanitarian. Choice is the group that I have traveled with over the past couple of years and they focus on supporting sustainable humanitarian projects such as water systems, school houses, biogas systems etc. Like I mentioned in my last post the group had arrived and we were headed off to a small village called Pasachaur to work on a school house. To get to the village we had to first make it to a small town called Besisahar which is located in western Nepal and is one of the trailheads for the Annapurna Loop, one of the more renowned treks in Nepal.

We arrived to Besisahar on Monday afternoon after a 6 hour ride in a microbus on a road that rivals the road to Hana on Maui. What makes it worse than the road to Maui is that it is the only road that connects western Nepal to Kathmandu so the road is shared by motorcycles, cars, semi trucks and busses both large and small. That coupled with the lack of any rhyme or reason to how people here drive makes it one of the craziest roads I have ever traveled. I have traveled the road probably 8 times in my travels to Nepal and I have yet to not see an overturned vehicle or two…..This trip was no exception. I always love the adventure. (Nancy...don’t read that last part)

Speaking of adventure...did I mention that the Choice group is comprised of 3…yes three single women? They are well traveled and easy to get along with. So far things have been great. The only challenge might be sheer amount of luggage that they are toting around Nepal. I brought less luggage for 3 months than they brought for 2 weeks. I completely understand the need for hair dryers, curling irons, and make-up when you are traveling to a remote country and into a village where there might or might-not even be electricity (NOT….I barely comb my hair here), I need to convince them that they might want to leave some of their stuff at the hotel in Besisahar. (I will never be able to let them read the blog after writing that…) Having gotten all of the mean comments out of the way...I should now say that they are great. We get along well and they are almost as sarcastic as I am…life will be good.

Pasachaur

The hike into the village was a bit of a challenge for us Americans who are not accustomed to hiking steep trails day-in and day-out….but we made it…with the help of a strong village kid to carry the suitcase filled with soccer balls, crayons, and miscellaneous stuff for the school and with the constant support from other villagers encouraging our every step. I think the women were loving me the whole while because I was successful in convincing them to leave a big portion of their stuff at the hotel.

As we rounded the last bend and the village came into sight, we saw all of the school children waiting in a line for us with flower leis and fruit in hand to gift us as we walked passed. By the time we had worked our way through the long line, we had flower leis up to our ears, handfuls of flowers and fruit, and a tika on our forehead. I have always seen these very small and strategically placed tikas on the men and women of Nepal. In fact I have worn them on occasion myself and again they have been…well…..appropriate. Needless to say the tikas we received in the village were neither small, nor strategically placed. To be honest, I don’t know if big, sloppy tikas are saved for the most special of guests, or it they were doing it so they could laugh at us later…..In light of the rest of the greeting ceremony and welcoming party I am certain that they were given with the deepest of respect and appreciation, but we sure felt and looked ridiculous. I probably cannot complain too much as mine was the smallest of the bunch. Poor Lorraine had one that started at the top of her nose and went to the crown of her head. I think she is still washing it out of her hair even a week later. Despite the fact that my brain is telling me not to post pictures of all this…I will do it anyway….but there needs to be an understanding that they can never be used against me for blackmail. We then went and sat with the headmaster of the school and the 4 teachers eating oranges from the recent crop. We talked about the new school and the impact it will have on the village. We were told that it had only taken them 2 months to build the school, a feat that everyone told them was impossible. It is a 4 room school house that will be home to 100 primary aged school students.

After spending about an hour at the school, we were lead down a path to take our belongings to the home where we would be staying for the next 4 days. As we walked and passed other small houses along the way people came rushing out of their houses to place more flower leis around our necks and gift us handfuls of fruit and flowers. We were able to politely shed the previous leis in the school house as they were causing us to itch like crazy and even break out in rashes…only to be greeted with more and more leis. As we rounded one of the bends in the trail, we came upon a large group of villagers standing in a line with more leis, fruit and flowers. The kindness and the respect that they showed us throughout our stay in the village was overwhelming to say the least. I doubt that I am capable of adequately describing all that we experienced in the village. From a family giving up their beds so we had a place to sleep, to the 4 young men that spent endless hours daily preparing us amazing meals, to the hours of dancing and singing (and I mean hours…like up to 6 hours a night) to both celebrate and entertain us, to many invites to come visit homes and eat meals with the different families. I have been into many villages with Choice in many different countries….but I have yet been able to put into words the feelings, the emotions, the thoughts, the experiences of spending time in a village. I will write more about this experience later.

Choice expeditioners arrive

Choice Expedition: Well, the Choice Expedition arrived yesterday morning. My life of leisure has come to an end. It actually is a very small expedition relative to the others that I have lead for Choice and consists of only three people (women as it were)…..They are all very nice, well traveled and very accommodating. I think it will be a great two weeks. We depart for the village early tomorrow morning, where we will be working on a school house. It should be a great experience and I am confident that we (the group) will get along perfectly.

So having said that, it is likely that I will not make a post for at least a week. I will do my best to keep track of experiences in the village that might be of particular interest and I will also take pictures and post them when I get to either Pokhara or Kathmandu.

Should I stay or should I go now

….hey those would make lyrics for a song: Choice has informally asked me to stay on in Nepal for a couple of months longer. I am not sure what I will do. There are plenty of reasons to go home, but for some strange reason I have this yearning to stay. I am very excited about the hospital and the medical college, and the idea of being involved in something that will have such an impact to Nepal, makes it easy to justify away all the obvious reasons not to stay. I have not had to make a final decision yet, but will likely have to do so soon.

Stop me if you have heard this one…….. An Aussie, a Nepali, two Brits, and a rather large American get into a taxi to go to see Everest:

Yes we (Ryan, Rich, Nige, the taxi driver and myself) finally made it to see Everest from high atop a vantage point in a village on the outskirts of Kathmandu Valley named Nargakot. It was a long, cramped, bumpy ride on a very narrow, windy road…..Point being, it was a less than comfortable ride, but worth every second once we made it to see Everest. From our vantage point high above the Kathmandu Valley we sat and watched Everest and its companion mountains go from white, to pink, then to a dark purple as the sun quickly escaped behind the mountains making up the horizon on the opposite side of the valley. It was Rich and Nige’s last night in Nepal, so we went together along with Ryan who is leaving Nepal today to see that highest point on earth. It was very deceiving as Everest from that vantage point was far smaller and far less impressive that the mountains around it. But after much help from a few of the local who were their selling pictures and maps of the mountains, we were able to figure it out. I will post some pictures when I have some time.

Tiger Balm, Bracelet, Marijuana?

Hymalayas at breakfast: I went to the top of Helena’s today. This is another restaurant that I frequent, but have not given it due credit. It is a great place where I often go early in the morning to sit in the roof top café. I am not sure how many flights of steps I have to travel to get up there, but it is always worth every step. From my vantage point atop one of the tallest buildings in Thamel (the part of Kathmandu where I am staying) I could see forever. With the air being particularly clean and the skies amazingly clear I was able to eat my breakfast looking at the Himalayas in the distance. It was quite amazing. I was mistakenly told by one of the waiters that one of the mountains I could see was Everest. I was able to get clarification on that layer in the day.

Tiger Balm: Upon entering the Thamel are of Kathmandu, likely the first person you will encounter will be someone selling something. They are everywhere. I could likely predict with a high percentage of accuracy that the first thing offered would be tiger balm, and when you politely tell him that you are not interested in tiger balm, he will reach into his pocket and pull out a wire contraption that, quite honesty, I have not taken the time to figure out what it is. It starts out as a flat labyrinth of wires with an occasional bead here and there, and then magically, with one tug on a wire, it opens up into a basket, then a bracelet….and so on. (It will be my goal today to find out exactly what the contraption is…..it will be painful, and I may end up having to buy the damn thing, but I will take one for the team to provide you with accurate information). I digress…back to the salesmen that inundate Thamel. After you have said “no” twenty-seven times to the tiger balm and then also to the magical bracelet….someone will walk up behind you and whisper in your ear “hash, marijuana…smoke?” Their voices are almost musical and seducing and it is done in such a surreptitious manner that you might be left wondering if you are hearing voices in your head…… or, if the message were different, if perhaps the voice was from on high. On many occasions I have turned around to see who it was whispering in my ear only to find the street behind me in its normal state of hustle and bustle, with no obvious whisperer close behind. I did, however, catch one intentionally last week during Tihar. After much convincing that I did not, in fact, want hash or marijuana, I asked him if he had any fireworks or if he knew where I could buy some. He looked at me as if aghast, and said “no way man, those illegal” …….but I have hash. The irony of that exchange gave me something to laugh about for hours. (fyi, drugs are very illegal in Nepal, and many foreigners sit in Nepali prisons for drug possession charges)

Tactical Error: I had decided prior to arriving that I would not shave while in Nepal. It is not often that I have the luxury of not having to shave everyday. After two weeks, it got to be intolerable. Not only was it incredibly itchy, but I found myself pulling and twisting incessantly. So I decided to shave it off. What a mistake! Let me interject quickly here that the longer I have been in Thamel the less I get pestered by all the street salesmen. I assumed that it was because they recognized me after seeing me day after day. But no……I have figured out their tactic…..The morning after I shaved I walked out on to the street and I was nearly trampled by salespeople offering me tiger balm, treks, various jewelry etc… It was the lack of the beard. I looked too clean shave and well kempt to have been in Kathmandu for any period of time. So, I have not shaved again, nor do I comb my hair in the mornings….and it makes all the difference.

Pictures of Tihar and other randoms

More pics from Chitwan

Random Pictures from Chitwan

Hodgepoge of Thoughts

Hodgepodge of thoughts and occurrences: I have received many email responses to the blog. I am glad that friends and family are reading it. I was a bit surprised to find that some “unknowns” are following it as well. With that in mind I went back last night and read through some of the posts and decided that people must think I am nuts….both those that know me, and especially those who do not. That being the case, I will continue to write, trying to be as candid about this experience as possible. Some of the email responses are worth noting, so I will try to include some of them.

My laptop is not allowing me to post pictures or even email them. I am not sure what the problem is, but I will try to get it taken care of today as there have been many asking for pictures. A side note about pictures….I have not taken that many pictures since I have been here. On a previous trip I was here three weeks and took nearly 1500. I will try to get the problem resolved with the computer and get some uploaded.

Laundry?...NOT! After returning from Chitwan I decided it was high time to get my laundry done. Things were getting….well bad…if you know what I mean. So knowing that the festival was coming right up I decided to take all of my laundry to a three-hour guaranteed place and pay a little extra. I dropped it off, that part went well. When I went to pick it up, things did not go as well. Here was the conversation with the store owner.

Me: I am here to pick up my laundry, number 318.

Him: Oh it not ready.

Me: Hmmm when will it be ready?

Him: After Tihar(the festival)

Me: That’s three days.

Him: Yes, late in evening.

Me: But your sign says three-hours guaranteed.

Him: Guaranteed?

Me: Yes, What is the guarantee?

Him: What is guarantee?

Me: That is what I am asking. What is the guarantee?

Him: What mean guarantee?

Me: I walk out of the store dumbfounded wondering if I was just on candid camera.

Needless to say I have had very limited options pertaining to my clothing choices over the past 3 days. Tonight is the night and words cannot describe how happy I will be for a change of “clothes”.

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi: One of the interesting things they do here at restaurants to maximize profits is to sit single people together whether previously acquainted or not. I was sat next to an Aussie guy last night. We had a great conversation and decided to do a little sight seeing together. We went out today and decided to take a rickshaw (the three wheeled bicycle). Unfortunately, KC was no where in sight so we ended just selecting some random guy out in front of the hotel. Ryan (the Aussie) is about my size so the two of us together in this rickshaw was quite the sight and likely an unfortunate load for this poor driver that could not have weighed more than 120 lbs. He was a trooper though, and we only had to jump off twice to get up steep hills. In the end we paid him about 1500 Rupees….a small price for the hard work the poor driver did.

On a positive note….I did get my laundry back, and what a great day it was.

Reoccurring themes

Reoccurring themes: I don’t know if you might have noticed in your own life or in that of someone close to you, but it seems like some people have reoccurring themes that present in their lives. Some of these themes might be positive and others might be negative. We of course know people who have the most amazing luck, and again others that have the worst luck. My brother tells the story about this poor kid that had this long string of accidents that kept putting him in the hospital, and then I know a guy that can do no wrong when it comes to making money….he has the Midas touch and everything he touches turns to gold. These are just a few examples, but there are many more out there of how one person can have incredibly similar situations that constantly reoccur. It has confounded me for a long period of time.

An acquaintance once offered her opinion on the subject saying that it was her belief that “the universe” (whatever or whoever that might be) is offering up these lessons that we need to learn. And until we learn all that we need to learn from these repetitive lessons, we will continue to have them served up to us. In the end she believed that we all need to learn very different and very personal lessons for our betterment, thus explaining while some were becoming wealthy, while others were spending their days in a hospital.

That was all said as a prelude to this next comment......I am constantly putting myself in situations where my prejudgments of people and situations, my narrow-mindedness, and my wanting or expecting some unfair advantage over others comes around full circle to slap me in the face. For example one time not too many years ago I walked into the SLC international airport preparing to take a short flight to Reno in a small Skywest plane. There in the lobby of the airport was a very, very large individual. My first thought was…wow the sorry sap that has to sit by that person on a plane. Two hours later as my plane was preparing to depart and the isle seat next to me was empty, I thought wow….it is my lucky day I am on one of these tiny planes and I am the only one on the plane to not have someone sitting next to them. Then it happened…..I learned very quickly who the sorry sap was to be.

There are hundred such stories I could tell you of such experiences in my life. I even mentioned some in the last post about the bus ride. Well here is yet another one. Several posts back I wrote about the same gender affection that you see here in Nepal. Knowing that I would get crap from certain individuals about being open minded to it, I made a preemptive strike by saying something like….be narrow minded if you must. Yep, I did it again…… I was in Bharatpur the other day and was walking down the street with a group of doctors from the hospital, when one of the older doctors reached out and grabbed my hand and started to talk to me. The conversation distracted my attention from the fact that he was holding my hand, but when the conversation ended he continued holding it. I was so unprepared for it and I didn’t know how to react. It absolutely unnerved me. My first thought was to look around to make sure there were no Americans nearby. When I realized how ridiculous that idea was (even though I had already checked and ascertained that there were none) I took a deep breath and started working through the long list of prejudiced feelings, emotions and discomforts I was facing at the time. It was by far one of the most challenging experiences I have had in for quite some time. It forced me to go head to head with some of my own insecurities, prejudices and discrepancies in what I am truly accepting of. I really was okay with the idea that Nepali men openly express their appreciation, respect and concern for other men in this manner, but I was apparently not okay with it if it included me. The battle went on for what was like 5 minutes as we continued to walk…… then suddenly, as I walked down the street in Bharatpur, I came to realize that I was grateful that this man, who I had only met a few days earlier, felt comfortable enough to express those feeling towards me by holding my hand…..and everything was okay.

I hope that if her belief about these “lessons from the universe” is in fact true, that I hurry my dumb can up and learn the dang lesson already!

OR2K

Or2k: The inside cover of the menu says that OR is Hebrew for light and that 2k stands for the year 2000. Like I mentioned before….strange name, but great food! I need to cap how many times I allow myself to go there each week. Not only because it is expensive, but also because I need to branch out and try all the other amazing restaurants that this area has to offer. Hmmmm, I think I will start the cap tomorrow. I went there tonight. It is such a crazy restaurant, with crazy patrons. Even though I have a full beard and my hair has grown out a little, I am typically the most straight laced person in there. Most look as though they are right out of the 60’s or like they just spent 6 months on Everest. In fact tonight the guys sitting at the table next to me were planning their trek to Everest. It was cool to sit and listen to them talk and feel the mixture of excitement and trepidation as they discussed their trip….

The one downside to the restaurant is that a lot of people smoke in there. I am not sure what all is being smoked, as there are smells I don’t recognize. Mixed in with the unknown smells are several smells that I do recognize, and I know that it is not tobacco they are smoking. But if you can put up with the smoke, it is an amazing place…….. It is amazing how I always walk out of there feeling so relaxed and happy….it must be the great food.

Compilation of the last three days

I just returned from a three day trip to the Chitwan area of Nepal. This is the area that the hospital is being built. What an amazing trip. As I lay here on my bed with the fireworks going off outside the hotel (long story that I will attempt to explain later) I find myself almost confounded as to how to write a detailed narrative of the last three days. In the end I think I will refrain from trying to write chronologically and instead write about events that occurred and how the relate to other events that occurred. I hope it makes sense to you as you read it.

The bus ride: I was told that the best buses leave for Chitwan at 7:00 am. Tourists typically take these buses, and so the newer, more comfortable buses are used at that time. However, because I had only found out about the trip late in the evening the night before and since I didn’t bring a back-pack along with me (I had just planned to buy one here since you can buy a 70L North Face for $20.00), I decided I would just take a bus that left at 10:00am instead. This would give me time to buy a back-pack, make some last minute trekking arrangements for the Choice group which will be arriving next week, and to get my laundry back from the cleaners. I was able to get everything accomplished and I was on time to meet Kiran at the bus station at 9:45am. He helped me find the right bus and negotiated my fare which was a whopping 120 rupees ($2.00 US). I walked onto the bus and was delighted to find that there were only five of us total. This allowed for me to have the seat of my choice, and to keep my newly purchased back pack off the top of the bus. So I threw my bag on the back seat and sat in a bulk head seat where I was afforded a little extra leg room (which was none really to speak of). Kiran asked the bus drive if they expected many other passengers and how long the trip would take. The answers were “no” and “5 hours” respectively. Kiran then excused himself as he had to get home to work on the expedition. (Have I mentioned that Kiran is the in-country director for Choice Humanitarian? If I have not, that is who he is and he has gone above and beyond in helping me during my time here. He is a great man!) As I sat on the bus waiting for the 10:00 hour to arrive so we could get on the road I had time to observe the four other passengers. First and foremost was"smiley”....this guy was sitting directly across from me and every time our eyes met(which was often since sitting sideways in the seat was the only way my legs would fit) he got the hugest ear to ear grin on his face. I said hello and proceeded to ask a few questions in English to ascertain his speaking abilities, but quickly realized that "hello" and "no" were about the extent of his vocabulary. I could not help but smile every time he smiled at me. I was happy to be sitting next to him. Especially in light of the fact that the only other adult passenger was a man who picked his nose for the entire time we sat there waiting for the bus to depart. I will say no more. The other two passengers were a young brother and sister pair that were obviously headed to their home village for the festival (correlates with the aforementioned fireworks). They were cute kids that kept peering up over the seat to catch a glimpse at the big American sitting behind them. Awe, this was going to be a good bus trip….well as long Mr. Nosepicker would run out of things to pick! But alas, true to form, I jinxed myself once again. I always do that. The bus finally left the station at around 10:45am but we didn't get out of Kathmandu until 1:00pm. The bus must have stopped 50 times and four passengers quickly turned into about 50, and 10 or so had to stand as the seats were spent. Thus I understood why it is recommended that tourist take the earlier bus. Because I was in the bulkhead, there was a horizontal railing by the doors attempting to push my knees up to my nose. This horizontal bar was an obvious spot for a standing passenger to lean against. It didn't take long for me to end up with a guy essentially on my lap. He started out just leaning against the bar and before you knew it he realized that my knees were far more comfortable. As if his butt on me wasn’t enough, another Nepali man decided my shoulder was a good resting place for his tail bone. All I could think about was 5 hours; just 5 hours…Yep I did it again. No such luck with the 5 hours…it ended up being 7 hours. By the time I got to Bharatpur where I was to get off the bus, I was covered in sweat, most of which was not mine, along with quite a bit of dust…..and I was tired and a little bit irritable. As I was preparing to step off the bus a Nepali man asked me at which hotel I would be staying. I responded that none, I was there to meet a gentleman by the name of Dr. Harish and all I had was the name of a hospital where I would find him. The man smiled and said “ Dr. Harish is a good friend of mine and I will take you to him”……ah my faith in humanity was restored. He walked across the street, grabbed his motorcycle and away we went to the hospital…(yes Landon I did get on the back of a motorcycle with a perfect stranger.) Within 5 minutes I was face to face with the famed and illusive Dr. Harish. What a trip!!! Here is an aside to the above story. I was in Bharatpur with Bishnu Adikari who is also a Choice employee. He decided that we should fly back to Kathmandu instead of taking the bus. I agreed. I paid about 4,800 rupees ($75.00 US) for my plane ticket. We boarded the plane at 3:46pm and arrived in Kathmandu at 4:11pm. A little quick math tells you that the trip which took me 7 hours in a bus took me just 15 minutes in a plane. I will be returning to Bharatpur in about 2 weeks and I think I will take the same bus again.

Dr. Harish’s family: Dr. Harish invited me to stay with he and his family while I was there. In all my visits to Nepal I have never really been a guest in a Nepali family’s home. I was a bit nervous about fitting in and being sensitive enough to their culture and beliefs. When I arrived I was introduced to Ayush his son, Abhinash a cousin, Amisha his daughter, Grandma, and an as sundry of other people that I was eventually able to understand how they fit into the picture. Ayush and Abhinash are cousins and best friends. They both speak really good English and we had a great time teaching each other words and sayings in each others respective languages. I was grateful for them, as they helped me understand what was going on around me. Amisha is just a cutie. She didn’t speak much English, at least not to me, but we laughed a lot together. She did a Nepali dance for me the first evening of my stay, but I didn’t have my camera at the time to record it. Ayush and Abhinash both like to sing, and they were excited to sing for me, especially when I pulled out the camera. I will try to post video of it. Late that first evening Dr. Harish, his wife, and Bishnu returned from meetings. I was able to be formally introduced and we sat in the living room talking. While they were talking in Nepali and I was off in my own world, I witnessed the most moving events ever. Around the corner into the living room came an elderly gentleman. I immediately figured out that it was the grandfather. He stopped in the middle of the floor and the young kids in the room jumped out of their seats and went over, bowed down in front of him and put their foreheads on his feet, then arose and went back to their seats. (In Nepal many show gratitude and respect for something by placing to their foreheads). I was so taken aback by this. I have yet to see such a powerful display of honor and respect as this, and its impact left me little other to think about the rest of that night as they spoke Nepali and I was lost in my thoughts. I know then that I was going to enjoy my stay with this amazing family.

Ground breaking ceremonies: We awoke early the next morning to go to the ground breaking ceremonies for the new hospital. This would be my first formal introduction to the hospital and to the people involved. The morning was overwhelming. I had no idea how significant of a project was going to be. Not only in size, but in impact it will have on the people of this and other areas of Nepal. It is a 700 bed hospital (very significant) and will be a teaching hospital. It will have a medical school and a nursing school associated with it. All in the entire project will cost in excess of $10 million US dollars, and a good portion of the funding is already in place. There must have been several hundred people there for the ceremony, including politicians, religious leaders, community leaders, medical providers etc. It was an amazing ceremony, and where I understood very little about what was going on, it was a privilege to be a part of it all.

Hours of discussions: Where I will not bore you with the minutia of our discussions and what my involvement and choice’s involvement will be, I will say that I was pleased to have the opportunity to participate in discussions with very intelligent and open minded individuals pertaining to future goals of the hospital as it relates to care for the extensive population of poor in Nepal. Additionally, it was gratifying to be able to provide a potential solution to the problem of the shortage of doctors in Nepal. Currently there is 1 doctor for about every 64,000 people…an atrocious figure. I was told that greater than 50% of doctors that are trained here in Nepal leave the country pursuing higher paying jobs in more developed countries resulting in this disastrous shortage of medical providers in this amazing country. I was able to present the idea of a mid-level provider to a group of individuals who were very open-minded and accepting of such a solution. The wheels for implementing such a program into their medical university have started in motion, howbeit very slowly. I would be happy to see such a program be started here in Nepal. There is such great potential with this hospital. I would not be telling the truth if I said that staying in Nepal to be more involved in this incredible project has not crossed my mind hundreds of times this past couple of days.

The Festival: There is a festival going on as I type this. It is called Tihar. I would be lying if I said I understood what it is all about. This is what I know…..Yesterday they paid tribute to dogs. Most of the stray dogs around town had flower lays around their necks and a tika on their brow. Today, they are to pay tribute to cows. In addition, there are Christmas type lights and strands of flowers up all over the place…..it is amazing to see. Children then go around singing in people’s doorways and they are given money for their songs (something similar to trick or treating maybe). There are firecrackers and what must be M80’s or quarter sticks of dynamite going off all over the place. The mood is definitely festive. People are partying in the streets and store owners have decorated their shops to the hilt. I have taken some pictures and will include them with this post.

In addition to all of this, part of the festival is that they construct these huge swings out of bamboo and rope. The kids decided this morning to take me to one such swing not far from their home. I sat and watched as they stood on the seat and got themselves going so amazingly high in the air. They were then doing these crazy tricks and showing off. Well it was my turn. Me thinking that I am 19 still….I jump onto the swing and start going. I am contemplating as to what kind of a crazy little trick I can do to outdo these young guys….so I decide that I will in mid-swing step off the swing seat, kick my feet out and slide down the ropes until I am in a sitting position on the swing seat, then perform a flying dismount like we did in elementary school. I think I must have left my good-judgment in the USA or at least in Kathmandu…..as this idea was certainly doomed from its inception. The stepping off the swing seat part went well. The sliding down the ropes with my bare hands is where things went terribly wrong. Before my hands had slid maybe 6 inches they were on fire. I don’t know what that rope was made of, but I had the worst rope burn going. I knew instantly there was no way I could ever keep holding on…..next thing I knew I was on my back in the dirt with hands that were on fire. I looked up to see the laughing faces of all the kids who had gathered to see the big, dumb American have a go at the swing. Trying to save what small portion of my pride which was left, I jumped up and laughed with the kids a little, then jumped onto the swing doing everything I could to hold onto the ropes with hands that were ablaze. Now, twelve hours later I can count 14 blisters on my fingers and 5 on my palms. Seriously, what was I thinking?

Off to Chitwan

I got a call last night and I am to leave Kathmandu this morning to head to the Chitwan area of Nepal to meet with Dr. Harish. It is about a 5 hour trip on bus, and where that is not to appealing, I am looking forward to getting out of Kathmandu. A week here is a long time. The Thamel area of Kathmandu is very crowded, full of street merchants, and street beggars. Some time away from all this will do my soul good. Chitwan is a jungle area and has amazing animals like elephants, rhinos, tigers, etc. I don’t know if I will have the opportunity to go on tour to see these animals, but I have never been to this part of Nepal and I am excited to go.

I do not know if I will have internet there, so am not certain if I will have the opportunity to write in the blog…but I will try. I have a lot to write about so when I get the chance, there will be a long entry.

Cricket....please explain it to me........again!

I have started reading two new books. One is Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl and the other is entitled Leadership and Self-Deception. I had started reading both of them years before, but got side tracked with school and all. It is nice to have guilt-free time to read books I have been meaning to read for years. What a good decision to come to Nepal.

I was supposed to hear today from Dr. Harish. He is the guy I am to be working with on the hospital. Apparently he is a leading Nephrologists here in Nepal. I am looking forward to meeting him and starting out work together on the hospital. Perhaps I will hear from him tomorrow.

I went and got a sim card for my cell phone so it will work here. That will give me the freedom to head out during the day and not worry about missing any calls. I would post the number on here, but I doubt anyone would call. So we will just have to resort to email to keep in contact.

It is amazing how progressive this country in becoming, especially as it pertains to the women. I don’t recall ever seeing a Nepali woman in jeans before. Now it is a pretty common occurrence. This is in just 5 years. Also for the first time today I saw a Nepali man and a Nepal woman walking down the street arm in arm. Any sort of public affection between man and woman has always been forbidden. I asked Kiran about it, and he said things are changing quickly in that area as well as others. It is interesting to note that where public affection between man and woman was always frowned upon; public affection between individuals of the same gender, especially men, is very common and very accepted. It is common to see men walking together arm in arm, or holding hands or embracing. I was a bit taken aback by it my first visit to Nepal, but quickly learned that it is not shrouded with it the same negative connotations that would be placed upon it in the states. Where it is not something that I am accustomed to, I think it is great that a society accepts and encourages open displays of affection between individuals of the same gender. I will probably take some crap for saying that, but whatever…. be narrow minded if you must.

Rich and Nige came by last night to pick up their bags. They had left them in my room while they went on a rafting trip. Apparently their raft flipped over in a dangerous stretch of the river and they both came back pretty banged up and feeling lucky to be alive. They ended up coming up to my room to watch some soccer and cricket that Rich was interested in. Rich struggled to explain Cricket to me but try as he might, I just was not getting it. I am not going to lie to you, I felt pretty retarded and I am sure that is what he was thinking of me at the moment. We went back to watching soccer, which makes perfect sense. I think they are headed out on a trek today. They will be gone for 12 days, have a week to recuperate and then they head home. They have been traveling for about 6 weeks now, and have just three left.

I have to say, I came here thinking that nine weeks in Nepal was a very significant amount of time for a “vacation”. What I learned is that we as Americans get hosed when it comes to vacation time, and that 2 months is pretty standard for travelers from other counties. I have found that most of the Europeans I have met get two to three months off a year as paid vacation. As Americans we are obviously obsessed with work, and I think we need to look to our European cohorts for an example of how to structure vacation time. I will have to keep this in mind as I go home and start negotiating contracts……yeah right!

Do the Dew

Ahhhh..........need I say more?

Could it really be?

Spam: The meat that transcends cultures and bridges all borders....you gotta love it!

Everest

I was walking down one of the back streets of Thamel today. I looked ahead of me and noticed a group of people who looked to be Chinese being followed by a group of what were obviously sherpas. All their faces were appeared to be very weathered. I noticed that one of the sherpas was wearing flip flop type shoes and each of his toes were individually wrapped in gauze. I noticed that several of his fingers were wrapped also. Apparently my casual gaze had turned into a curious stare, as the sherpa said the word Everest. I looked up to see that he was looking at me. It was only then that I noticed that his nose was black as charcoal. Being a bit caught of guard by the act of our eyes meeting all I could think to say was “excuse me?”…and he pointed to his toes and said “Everest.” At that moment it all made sense. He obviously was a sherpa to the Chinese people he was following around Kathmandu. They had just returned from Everest. He had not fared as well as the foreigners he had helped on Everest. I wondered if he would lose his fingers and toes. It was at that moment that it really dawned on me how close I am to one of the most amazing mountains in the world. I have seen Everest many times from the comfort of an airplane and know it exists, but it has always been in the abstract, seeing these people who had just returned from the mountain and the injuries they sustained........made it very real.

I was finally able to make contact with the Doctor with whom I will be working on the hospital. He will be coming into Kathmandu tomorrow or the next day and we will meet. I have heard quite a bit about the hospital, and am excited to be involved on what ever level. Even though the conversation was short, it made the day feel productive.

A Nepali friend of mine told me that the airlines pay you money if they misplace your bags. I have never heard of this. When he told me it was like $50.00, I decided I it would be worth my while to go find out. So I headed out to find the Thai Airways office today. Once I finally did find the office, I was told that in fact they do pay for delayed bags. I walked out $40.00 richer than when I walked in. $40.00 is significant in US terms and multiply that times 10 for Nepali terms. I could have been rich from all my bags that have been lost over the years.

Rich and his girlfriend Nige stopped by today. He apparently got really sick last night. He appears to be doing well today. They were headed out to Swayambhunath, one of the many temples in the Kathmandu Valley. Later today we are going to hang out at a Jazz festival that is going on in Durbar Square. I feel like such a bum, not doing anything really productive. Ah whatever, I am over it.

Rich, Nige and I went down to Durbar Square, but could find no sign of a jazz festival. We ended up walking over to a little shop where the have amazing chocolate cake. We sat and ate cake, drank tea and talked for an hour or more. We then came back to my hotel and sat in the garden and played cards. I am not a big card payer as my family will attest, but it was so enjoyable to sit there enjoying the night and the company. We then went to get some dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant. The food was good, but none of us could finish what we ordered. I guess my mom was right....I'll ruin my appetite by eating chocolate cake before dinner. Rich and Nige take off tomorrow to go rafting for a couple of days. The ended up bringing their back packs over to my room so I can keep an eye on them while they are gone.

Bungy pictures

KC and his bike

What day is it anyway?

Chris and Liz left yesterday. It was kind of a weird feeling realizing that I am alone in a country several thousand miles from my home. I am fortunate to have quite a few Nepalis as friends, so I am not really alone, just without my American friends. Besides it is easy to meet other foreigners here. Rumor has it that this is the best tourist season for Nepal in like 8 years. It is notable in the streets with all of the foreigners you see and the many different languages you hear spoken. I am lucky that English is the mainstay. As I have spoken with other foreigners it amazes me how many languages they speak. One guy from Israel spoke like 5 languages. Back home I think I am cool because I speak 2.

Things with the hospital are obviously getting off to a slow start. The individuals that I need to meet with are both very busy and have not had the time to get together. That has left me a lot of free time, which is not such a bad thing. I brought several books that I have wanted to read for quite some time, and am about half way through them already. Fortunately there is a book store next to my hotel. You can buy a book from them and when you are finished reading it, they will buy it back for half the price. A pretty good deal since in the states I buy them, read them, and then give them away. I finished The Count of Monte Cristo, a book I have read several times, but one of my all time favorites. I then read The Alchemist, a book given to me as a graduation present. I finished it last night.

I went yesterday and had lunch at an Israeli restaurant that has quickly become my favorite. The name is OR2K. Weird name, but the food is amazing. It is a little on the pricy side. I think my meal yesterday was 180 rupees so a little less than $3.00. There are other restaurants where you can get a meal for about 50 to 75 cents. I went to a monastery the other day with Liz while Chris was in a meeting and for both our meals it was less than $2.00. Anyway, while at OR2K I met up with a couple of guys that we met out at the Bungy site. They had been out there for a couple of days and had made multiple jumps. One is a Brit and the other a Canadian. We had a good long chat. They will be around Kathmandu for a while so maybe we will run into each other again.

Part of the deal of getting my airfare paid was that I will lead an expedition for CHOICE humanitarian. It will arrive in about three weeks. It is a rather small group, I think maybe three or four people which will be the smallest I have ever lead. It is all women too. I think it will be a good experience. I spoke with Kiran (the in country director for CHOICE yesterday and it seems like the expedition will be focusing on building a school house. I guess I will find out more as it gets closer.

Here in Kathmandu there are these three wheeled bicycle things that can carry two people. I am not sure what they are called…not really a tuk tuk but also not really a rickshaw. Anyway, there is a driver of one of these that is always outside the hotel in the morning when I leave. His name is KC…he says jokingly that it is because he is from Kansas City. He has made me promise that one day I will let him take me for a ride around the city. He reminds me of that promise every morning. One of these days I will go for a ride.