Struggle with loyalties...

Since we have been in Nepal, or more so the past couple of weeks, I have been struggling with loyalties (among other things). Several taxi drivers have given us their business cards and asked us to call them if we need a ride or a tour etc. My first instinct is to do that. After all you have made a connection. He has taken the time to solicit further business. Every cab ride in Nepal is a negotiation that leaves you feeling like you just stole from someone who has nothing. I feel that I should take them up on their offer. However Nepal is overcrowded and there are a few thousand taxi’s. When you want a cab you just hop in the closest one you don’t wait 5 minutes, Nepali time (which could be an hour) for your driver to come and find you. I bring this up because today a taxi driver took us to the airport as we were going to take a one-hour mountain flight. He was going to wait for us and then bring us back to the house. The flight ended up being cancelled due to poor weather conditions and when we went looking for him he was nowhere to be found. How long were we obligated to keep looking – keeping in mind that the 100 other cab drivers at the airport were all trying to solicit our business? Is there a right & wrong here?

My other struggle with loyalty has been with the church.  The teacher I have been working with belongs to ‘The Church of God’ I think I mentioned this previously. She brought me to her church a couple of weeks back and has wanted me to return for more instruction/teachings. I somehow got cornered into going there today after school. I spent an hour and a half being shown passages in the bible and video’s supporting their interpretation of the bible and the holy mother. Everything they showed me completely supports that there is not just one God but two Gods, the second being the holy mother. Now I’m not saying I don’t believe what I read but I think taking a sentence from one chapter and a passage from another disciple and mixing and matching I could probably make the bible say just about anything I wanted it to. As I sat there for the hour and a half I was trying very hard not to be rude and just stand up and walk out but at the same time I was thinking to myself do you really think I am going to throw away everything I have learned for the past 46 years after two small meetings and start following ‘the holy mother’ who apparently is alive, is Asian, and looks to be about my age.??? Am I being disloyal to my own faith by sitting and listening to all of this…oh and yes I was put on the spot and gave them my address and e-mail so they can follow up with me later. Am I being disloyal to them by politely giving them my information allowing them to think that there may be hope that I will join the ‘Church of God’ and be saved from destruction when it comes? Apparently it is coming soon.

So the only really fun part of all of this is that the ploy to get me to the church was the offer of a ride home after school. I took a walk on the wild side and rode home on the back of a motorcycle without a helmet in the middle of the crazy Kathmandu traffic just like a true Nepali!

This was my last day at Orchid Garden and while everyone else who has left has received a thank you and certificates of appreciation I got a religious book, a video about ‘God the Mother’ and a sermon. Oh well, it was a life altering experience that I will never forget. (The children that is)

I have left my mark on the school. The alphabet has been put up. Managed to learn almost all of the kids names and taught them a few English songs. I held a few hands, rubbed a few backs, wiped a few tears and in the end I think I made a difference. Not exactly the contribution I was thinking of when I left Canada but a contribution none-the-less.

So much for equal rights...

Everyone here has impressed me so much with their knowledge that I have been trying to read the local newspaper and Google everything I have questions on.

Men in Nepal work an average of 7hrs per day while women in Nepal work an average of 15hrs per day.

Looking at the local paper for a job, one position I found would pay an accountant 20,000-30,000Npr’s per month depending on experience. That is the equivalent of $224-337 a month. Although my education and experience would be enough for me to qualify, they were not accepting applicants over 40 years old. Apparently even with long hours and low pay there are no discrimination rules

I AM CANADIAN

Last week when I stayed late at the school Chimmi, the teacher brought extra snacks and shared them with me. All of the children were staring in hopes of having a taste. How could I refuse although I did not want to appear rude and unappreciative to Chimmi. Since then I started bringing cookies and snacks with me to share with the children for their afternoon snack. When we were in the rural community brought home pineapple as a treat for the family to show my appreciation that they were sharing their home with us. Today I brought a new block set for the kids to play with. They had a great time with it. I now have toys, crayons, paper and stickers so they will have something new each day that I have left.

Things I am grateful for:

I am grateful that I do not have to travel far to get food or water and I have never gone to bed hungry.

I am grateful that I have fresh clean hot and cold running water in my house that I do not have to worry will run out before the end of the day or will make me sick if I drink it.

I appreciate that our province and country, my neighbors and friends are all concerned about the amount of garbage that we generate and we don’t pollute.

I am thankful that our air is reasonably fresh and I do not have to wear a mask to feel safe walking down the street. It is unlikely that if I stay in Canada I will suffer from respiratory problems thanks to our governments monitoring of emissions and our public smoking policies.

I am grateful that our government has ensured that I can live in a house with an identifiable address so that I may receive correspondence from anywhere in the world.

I am grateful that we have maximum capacity laws for public transportation.

I am grateful that we have traffic laws in place so that I can safely cross the street.

I am grateful that I can go to the hospital and/or a doctor when I am sick even if I have no money.

I am grateful that we have power and rarely have to go without.

I am amazed at the incredible selection of mattresses we have in Canada. From size, shape, density, number of springs, box spring, type of foam or cushioning used…it goes on and on and even our cheapest and most uncomfortable mattress is more comfortable than any I have slept on this month!

I promise:

To be more mindful of the amount of waste I create in the way of food, garbage, water consumption, electricity, and exhaust fumes. I appreciate the Country I was fortunate enough to be born in and will stop taking it for granted.

Evil eyes

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

After a morning with Jo and Mia in Pokhara on Phewa Lake, at Barahi Temple Island, at Devil's Falls, at the Gupteshwor cave, cramming in as much site seeing as we could before we had to say our final tear-filled goodbye’s.

Looking out the airplane window, flying above the clouds we realized that some of the clouds were not clouds at all but snow covered mountaintops. How amazing is that!

Flying over Kathmandu I am reminded that we have only seen a small portion of this vast city. From the plane I saw a running track maybe at a school and what appeared to be an Olympic sized competitive swimming pool and then the slums…the row upon row of tin shacks crammed together on the dirt ground.

Not so Fun Facts for the day:

A common site among Nepali babies is kohl makeup around their eyes. It is believed the kohl will shield the child from the dangers of the evil eye. The kohl can have a powerful effect, but not in the way the parent intended. Unfortunately, the kohl paint often includes lead that is toxic and quite dangerous to the wearer.

Jumping off a cliff.....

Monday, August 27^th

The language barrier is tiring. Everything we do feels like such an effort because we are never entirely certain whether the message is being conveyed properly. Compared to most of the tourists we have met, Hailey and I have put a reasonable amount of effort into learning at least some Nepali but this allows us to barely scrape by. This morning we were chastised because we had tried to order breakfast at the hotel/retreat centre before we left. The lady we spoke with did not speak a word of English and proceeded to clean the bathrooms after we had asked her about breakfast so we gave up and decided to go to a restaurant. As we were leaving one of the other staff got mad at us because we were leaving after ordering breakfast?? We attempted to explain that we thought she hadn’t understood us but in the end we were just tired and it was an excruciating amount of effort just to get a bowl of porridge. I imagine they must be thinking something quite similar having to deal with multiple languages being hurled at them.

Pokhara is just starting to develop a tourist area/appeal. We got a quick summary of the history of Nepal in the last 10 years from the meditation instructor. As a result of the civil unrest and monarchy problems in 2005/6 there really hasn’t been any tourism in Nepal in years and at the rate things get done it may take many more before this becomes an attraction for most westerners.

Mia and Jo were at the hotel when we arrived first thing this morning. Yeah, one last day of being tourists together. They have been trekking for the past week and have told us about their adventure. I can’t wait to see all the pictures.

Paragliding is one of its main draws. We successfully jumped off a cliff and spent 20 minutes (not the hour that was promised) sailing down to the landing below. What a great experience. It was not near as scary as it looks and what a beautiful life a bird must have! The instructors (if you call them that) spend most of their day flying tandem with tourists like us. It reminded me of the scuba divers in Thailand getting to spend day after day taking groups of people diving two and three times a day. Why did this kind of job never occur to me when I was 20? If you are in your late teens or early 20’s here are some job ideas – scuba master in Thailand, paraglide in Nepal, operate a catamaran in Mexico, be a trekking guide in Nepal, be a yoga instructor anywhere...live life large!

Went to see the World Peace Stupa way up on the top of a mountain!

PS the new hotel is worth the $20. A hot shower with great water pressure has become priceless to me at this point.

Meditate...Yoga...Meditate...Buddhism...Meditate

Sunday, August 26^th

Our Buddhist meditation and yoga weekend was interesting. The meditation and Buddhist teaching was interesting but a lot of it was a repetition of what Our Buddhist meditation and yoga weekend was interesting. The meditation and Buddhist teaching was interesting but a lot of it was a repetition of what I have already learnt. I also did not enjoy the monk’s method of teaching. He was trying a more philosophical approach and trying to make us think about things. Question what is real what is not, how do we know what is real. He asked us to define ourselves; he asked us what we thought happiness is etc.. All very great questions that promote discussion only he laughed at and argued every answer by every person. It was intended to make you think but for me it was making me angry and I felt he was treating us like idiots. I know this was not his intention however I couldn’t get beyond the emotions it was stirring up.The yoga was extremely basic so it was disappointing. Five of the group of 13 of us left after the first night as they had come primarily for the yoga.I really enjoyed the meditation teacher. He did some yoga and several meditations with us every day. It was a good experience and I hope I can continue it at home and bring some of the yoga exercises to my own students.

We are learning that ants and small insects are everywhere however as part of our Buddhist weekend we made a promise not to kill anything. The bed was comfortable; there were two main toilets for everyone to share and three showers (two of which were in with the toilets, this is very common in Nepal). No towels were provided so now despite Hailey’s criticism that I always over-pack, I’m glad I threw one in at the last minute.

They have power outages here in Pokhara just as they do in the rest of Nepal however this place is well set up with solar panels so it is less noticeable.  It seems only certain things turn off. Nobody seems to rely on electricity for cooking, as everything stays open. There are however certain foods that cannot be prepared when the electricity is out.

I learnt over the weekend that hotels in Pokhara are as cheap as 150Npr, which is about $2 per night. The meditation centre that we are staying at right now only charges 200Npr per night (about $3). We booked our hotel for Monday night through a travel agency in Kathmandu. We are paying $20. Per night! I’m thinking it had better be a palace! I guess that’s not very Zen of me is it after a weekend of meditation, Buddhist teaching and yoga. I don’t even want to know how much we should have paid for the paragliding.

Noise bugs – There is some kind of weird bug in Pokhara that attaches itself to an object and then vibrates. They make a tremendous amount of noise. Like a metal gear that needs oil?? Or breaks that need to be replaced?? Anyway it goes on for a long period of time and then just stops.

We said our goodbye’s Sunday night as Monday morning we were heading out first thing to go paragliding. I received several compliments/comments that it was very nice to see mother and daughter travelling together and participating in this weekend retreat together. Made me feel good about myself and the choices I am making.

Aaaaa...Uuuuu....Mmmm (Om)

Friday, August 24^th

Today we are flying to Pokhara to attend a Buddhist meditation and yoga retreat for the weekend.  We finish the retreat Monday morning and have booked ourselves in for paragliding. What I didn’t really give much thought to is how do you actually get started parasailing. Well, the answer was pretty straightforward. You have to run and jump off a cliff!

The Internet at Mountain Fund went down last week on the 18^th or 19^th. They figured out while we were away that someone had hacked into the account. So since we have been back everyone is going over to the Pro World house, another of Scott’s volunteer houses, which is right beside the Mountain Fund house. The Mountain Fund house now seems somewhat deserted. Between the departure of all of our closest new friends and the house staff migrating over to the other house, the main house seems somewhat deserted. We have been staying in the Family house all along but head to the main house for meals and to socialize. Katia is now the only person in the main house. As a result her entire experience is and will continue to be quite different than ours has been. She was also going to volunteer at the Orchid Garden however on her first day they put her in the classroom that I had been working in. That was about all she could take of that. She quickly realized that as I was saying, there is very little we have to offer these young children and that work in that classroom is mostly helping the teacher keep things under control so that she can try and work with the children individually. It turns out that there is another school which deals with older kids 10-14ish (I wish I had known this sooner) anyway Katia has asked to be moved over there. Like me she too feels that she has come all this way to try and contribute and that is not happening in the Orchid Garden’s pre-school class.

Hailey was not too thrilled at me when we arrived at the airport two hours before our flight. She said I always do that, I get anxious and we end up showing up well before we have to. That being said last week I heard that one of the volunteers headed to the airport two hours before his flight thinking that would be plenty of time but then got stuck in traffic and almost missed his flight. Our flight only took about 20 minutes so we were settled in and having our first meditation lecture and session by 3PM. The location is nice and the accommodation modest as are most places in Nepal and it is clean but I put my laptop on the shelf and as I sit here typing there are little red ants crawling out of the keyboard. That can’t be good for it?? It is an early day tomorrow and we are suppose to be focusing on our internal selves so I think I’m going to shut down for the rest of the weekend. 

I'm going to Kathmandu....

Thursday, August 23^rd

We said our goodbyes to the family and headed back to Kathmandu this morning. I made up a goodbye card and left the boys with our deck of cards. This brought a few smiles and a few laughs to everyone.

Before we left Kathmandu last week Chimmi, the teacher I have been working with at Orchid Garden took me shopping one day after school. We picked out some material and found a dressmaker to get an outfit made. Hailey and I went to pick it up today as it was finally ready.  

We went to Orchid Garden to put up our alphabet. It looks like an alphabet border paper around the classroom. We didn’t bring our cameras so we will have to take a picture next week when we go back.

Namo Buddha in Thamel, our favorite restaurant was our destination for dinner as spaghetti with plain sauce was on the menu back at the house.

Ants in my pants!

Wednesday, August 22^nd

When I picked up my pants to get dressed there was a spider and, of course, an ant in my pants. How do you keep from getting eaten alive when there are bugs everywhere.

We were back at the school again today for a couple of hours. 41 kids in the class today!! I have no idea how they handle that many. There are 1,000 kids in the school, which ranges from nursery age to grade 10. There is also another school right across the dirt courtyard for less fortunate families. Up the hill a way is another school for the blind, I think I was told there are currently about 45 kids in it but don’t quote me on that.

I asked to visit the clinic that some of the volunteers have been working at. There is no hospital in town, just the clinic that can only treat minor problems. There is one doctor and two assistants. The assistants position takes 15 months of schooling, I think it is similar to a nurses education down here.

I’m pretty sure I am not drinking enough. Hailey and I have both been a bit sick but not too bad. It is difficult because you don’t want to drink or eat too much and find yourself nowhere near a bathroom or at least a bathroom you would dare to use although my standard for this has gone far lower than I ever imagined.

We have been very tired the last two days. I’m not sure if it due to illness, lack of water or elevation??

Fun facts for the day:

• -       Despite the fact that this family is living in what I would consider a low-income situation (that’s putting it mildly), they have a rechargeable bug swatter! Ha-ha and a laptop computer (I think the dad needs for business). Good luck with keeping it charged!
• -       The cows are in a stall only about 5 feet away from the house so fresh milk is nice and easy for this family and I am loving the Masala tea!
• -       They only eat two meals a day. Tea is served at 6AM, Breakfast/lunch of noodles with something mixed in at 10AM, a snack of corn or something small around 1PM and then dinner of Dal Bhat at 7/8PM
• -       There is plenty of rice and corn around. The corn is more starchy than ours, not sweet and juicy at all. We have had it cold on the cob. We have had it fried in butter (YUMMY) and we have seen it popped.
• 
  

Even small bugs take big bites!

Tuesday, August 21^st

Our room is very basic and I will never again complain about the bed at Mountain Fund. Our bed’s here have one very thin mattress if you could call it that. It is more like a comforter on a wood frame. I normally sleep on my side and let me tell you I thought I had fat hips but now I wish I had a bit more padding! It feels like bone on wood! I tried to give my body a break and lay on my back but that led to some nasty snoring that woke even myself up (sorry Hailey)!

There are no screens on the windows so we have screens hanging around our beds. This keeps the mosquitos out but there are little red ants everywhere. Let me tell you that for an insect that you can scarcely see it’s bite is pretty vicious! Not to mention even the bugs you can hardly see you can still feel crawling on your skin.

We went to a school in the town today for a few hours but they put us in with the youngest group of kids again so there really isn’t much that we can contribute. Although I am sure they appreciate some of the one on one attention with their letters. There were 35 kids in the class.

On our way back we picked up some fresh pineapple as a treat for everyone at the house. Yummy. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of fresh fruit around. Swaita told me about one fruit, similar to an apple, that was recently in season but it wasn’t familiar so I’ll have to ask her again. We have seen red apples, pineapples that are smaller than ours at home and plantains (small starchy bananas).

Back at the house we took out our pad of paper and markers as Hailey and I were making an alphabet for the Orchid Garden to put up in the classroom that I have been working in. We waived one of the boys in and Swaita to come help. This was a great icebreaker and also got the task accomplished a bit faster. We then brought out a deck of cards and taught Swaita and the boys how to play go fish, spoons and signal. It was quite fun. The power goes out every night so we had to set up flashlights in order to see but this is the routine for everyone in Nepal.

Catching up

Monday, August 20^th

We are going to the rural placement in Mahadebbesi today. They say the Muslim holiday is today so we are not leaving until 1PM. I’m not entirely sure about some of these holidays… I think the Orchid Garden was open.  Oh well it gave Hailey and I the morning to spend with Michael as this was his last day and everyone else (from our initial group) has already left.

Hailey, Michael and I went to Thamel so he could do his last minute shopping then we all went to OR2K for lunch. Take care Michael…will miss you.

The bus ride to Mahadebbesi was the usual Nepali adventure. Two over crowded busses and 3 or more hours later we finally arrived. We certainly are in the hills. There are houses way up on what we would call mountains but of course in Nepal these are merely hills.

People here use the strength of their heads to carry everything. This was what we did in India when we were carrying bricks for the house that we built. In Nepal they have big baskets with straps around them. They have the strap over the top of their head and then fill the baskets with whatever… On our bus ride here I saw a man carrying a piece of furniture using one of these straps! I will attach a picture I took of a number of men coming into the village to fill up their milk jugs.

Other things I noticed on the ride:

-       I saw a boy filling his pop bottle with water using a cloth do drip it into the bottle so that none would get spilled. Resourceful but not very sanitary.

-       There is corn planted on the hills, I would hate to be the one picking that!

-       The road is very windy and hilly

The house we are staying in is large; there are two brothers, their parents and grandparents, their wives and children.  We spent all of our time with the one brother and his family (Gokarna, Nirmalas, Madhusugan, Niranjan & Sumitra)

The lack of anything else to do gave us plenty of opportunity to finish reading “the Kite Runner”. Great book but now I need a good laugh. I think the family took some joy in watching Hailey and I taking turns reading to each other.

You say goodbye, I'll say hello...

OMG worst sleep ever! I had to get up at 5AM this morning, as Jo and I wanted to go to Kopan to see a Puja at the Kopan Monestary. This is the second time I have had to get up early and both times I hardly get any sleep because I’m worried about oversleeping. I am going to buy an alarm clock today so that I can settle my overactive brain!  The Puja if you read my earlier posts is a puja is a ceremony (by monks) in which prayers are offered to the Buddha’s to request their blessings or invoke their While there the monks offered us breakfast, pulau, it was rice mixed with raisins, coconut & nuts and then some kind of tea which was more like a broth of some kind. Afterwards we looked around the monastery, took a tour around the prayer wheel then slowly made our way back to the house.

Tomorrow we leave for Mahadebbesi it is about 40Km away. We will be staying there until Thursday morning. This is a rural posting so that we can experience what it is like to work in the hospital and school in the rural community. We will not have access to Internet.

We were going to leave first thing in the morning but apparently it is a religious holiday again which means there is no school and therefore no real rush to get there to teach. There seem to be a lot of religious holidays and festivals here and as a result the schools get closed. I can’t remember what this one is and I’m not sure why nobody seems to know about them in advance?? Actually I think this time the question is whether it is on Sunday or on Monday, I guess it changes every year??. It is the Muslim Eid. Muslims all over the world mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Saturday‬. It is a festival of sacrifice to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep to sacrifice instead. Now having read a bit I realize that this is marked on the lunar Islamic calendar which I would imagine not everyone is familiar with.

Six of us went into Thamel for the afternoon to spend time together, pick up last minute things for the people that will be leaving etc. Charlie and I totally mastered the bartering routine. Shop barter, get your base mark then shop some more, eventually you will get what you want without feeling totally taken advantage of.  We got some more mindi (also spelled mehndi) and experienced a small flood after yet another rain storm.

We are having a little celebration tonight to welcome the three newest arrivals (Alex, Cashem?, and Thomas) and say goodbye to those that are moving on. Michael is leaving to go back home tomorrow; Amelia, Joanna, Charles and Thomas are all going trekking. Hailey and I are heading to the rural community until Thursday and Rachel leaves on Thursday. 

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.                        By Dalai Lama

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.

We arrived home from Nargarkot to find the house empty. Everyone was already out seeing the sights, as Saturday is the one and only day off school and work. We took advantage of the sunshine and did some laundry.

Hailey and I went to a local restaurant for lunch. Momo’s are not what I thought they were and I won’t be ordering them again – Yuck! Hailey’s pasta had bacon all through it so it was a pretty unsuccessful meal. Our first so far I think.

Our evening was spent in Thamel, we booked our flight to Pokhara, the hotel and some entertainment. I’ll let you know about it when the time comes if I don’t chicken out.  

We have only been gone for two days and one night but it was like a grand reunion when we came home from Thamel. It was fun to hear about everyone’s adventures and to share our own.  One of my meditations was about family. It defines family as two or more people that reside together whether they are related or not. For this month these people are our family. We eat together, we work together, and we share our experiences together. It is a unique experience and it will be quite a change when we start going our separate ways.

Yesterday's missing post - we were at the end of the Universe

Hailey went to a place called Mother Theresa this morning. It is an elderly home for people who do not have families and/or are less fortunate. She and one of the other volunteers spent the morning doing laundry by hand, cleaning dishes etc. We have been told that this is one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs as you really feel like you are helping someone. Without the volunteers the small staff that work there would have to do it all themselves.

After a morning at work we took the public busses to Nargarkot to go to The Hotel At The End Of The Universe (One bus from Maharanjganj to Bhaktapur then a second from Bhaktapur to Nargarkot). It took 2 hrs 45 min hours on the way home vs. almost 4 hours on the way there. It is about 32Km away from Kathmandu.

On the first bus on our way to Nargarkot the bus got so crowded that there was standing room only. A lady put her grocery bag on my lap. The bus attendants collect the money as you get off the bus but they also continually yell at people to move back so that they can squeeze more people on. He got in quite the yelling match with this particular lady because she was blocking people from moving back. She of course did not want to go back any further because she was quite happy to have her bag sitting on my lap. LOL well at least I didn’t have to stand for the hour and a half.

On the 2^nd bus I sat beside a lady with a young child. She was sitting a bit sideways which I realized when I sat down because there was barely enough room for me to squeeze my big hips into the seat which I normally fit in quite easily. Eventually when she decided I wasn’t so bad she eased up and gave me some space. Her son was very cute. At one point she gave him a bag of cheeseys to eat.  When he was done she just dropped the bag out the window. This is not at all uncommon in Nepal (or India for that matter).

We arrived in Nargarkot which has a significantly higher elevation 2,195 meters than Kathmandu 1,400 meters and the view of the mountains is amazing, that is why we chose to go there. The hotel was only 1,500Nrs (about $17) and included breakfast and dinner. Breakfast and dinner included means there is a restaurant where you can buy your food! The sunrise and sunset here are suppose to me amazing however it was rainy in the evening and foggy in the morning so we were unable to experience either. After breakfast the fog cleared and we were able to see the peaks of many of the mountains for the first time. We have been seeing ‘mountains’ all around us however the Nepali’s have told us that those are not mountains, they are hills. Now that we have seen the snow peaked mountains I understand.

We spent the evening relaxing and reading ‘The Kite Runner’ which I had brought on my Kobo (Thanks Nancy). The bed was very comfy, there was a hot shower and we had our own bathroom with a real western toilet. 24 hours of heaven.