I'm still here in the preliminary phases of Phase II: Ca$hville.
Rejoined Climb Nashville
Bought stone ground rye, whole wheat, and KA Bread flour to bake with this next week. I need to make my third starter since the last became a stinking orange crater after a week's neglect. I may make two, one for all rye sourdough, and one for everything else.
Wikipedia has taken up a lot of my free time, and all of my time is free at the moment. So far I've learned that:
the tongue map showing zones of taste ability on the tongue's surface is a myth
since 1987 the Library of Congress has maintained annually expands a list of culturally or aesthetically important films which include Boyz in Da Hood, and a 43 second scene of actors portraying blacksmiths in the 19th century, shot in the 19th century, who stop working and take a sip of beer.
there exists a fruit, the miracle fruit, that when eaten causes sour things to taste sweet for around an hour afterwards. Or sweet things to taste sour, I forget which. Nope it's sour to sweet because the Japanese use the extract, miraculin, as a non-sugar sweetener.
I've also read about the cambodian killings fields, the copenhagen consensus, The Skeptical Environmentalist, Oliver North, the Fifth Ammendment to the Constitution, the Soviet Underground Press samizdat, icelandic food, the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
I'm here for now
back from a Hanover hiatus, I'm resurrecting this blog for my use as a means of accountability for my grandiose plans. this is my ever dimishing year of freedom before a lifetime of work and so I will spend it like it's my last. I tried a traditional style curriculum of nontraditional subjects in Hanover, and for a variety of reasons have moved on. Right now on the back burner: are beer brewing, fly fishing, competitive eating, and jewelry making. Results: 4 beers, 1 wee fishy, a 4th place krystal placing, and a polite ejection from the jewelry workshop for not being a student. The plan now is to return to Nashville, take classes in Tango, Salsa, Guitar, and Italian. Keep baking, cooking climbing, reading, drawing, carving, ecorche-ing. Planning an adventure starting January. More later. good start.
Monday, July 23, 2007
coming around
Been having bizarre dreams that are a combination of scenes from nepal mixed with harry potter. The new book is perfect and that's all about all I can think to say. I'm still jetlagged and adjusting to real food but have had enough rest so that it's time to start the job search. Just contacted Kaplan in Nashville to teach the SAT and eventually the MCAT and if that doesn't work I might pop in to the restaurant where I worked in High School for what I now realize was exhorbitant pay, to see about a job. It's conveniently located all of 100 yards from Harrison and I's apartment. Speaking of the apt, it's tremendous. At least an order of magnitude better than where we were living last summer in Hanover. It's about twice as big with exactly half as many people, and after Nepali housing seems opulent. I'll post some pics of it up when I take them which might be never, or today. In a few minutes I'm going to try and post all 422 photos from nepal on shutterfly and I'll post the link if it works.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
made it
home and happy. ate cow for the first time in a while. feels good to be back. time to sleep for a bit.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
en transit
1st scheme of the day:
wedging my foot under the scale at the kathmandu airport so our baggage wouldn't be overweight. (don't judge me, they're full of your presents)
2nd
finding an unprotected wireless internet connection in the passenger lounge at the delhi airport.
things are going well so far. now for the 6 hour wait before we board the 12:15 am flight to chicago Saw a brief glimpse of the himalaya during the flight south to india. most beautiful things i've ever seen, i was literally close to tears for a second. time to grab my first of the 33 teas I will drink waiting for this plane.
wedging my foot under the scale at the kathmandu airport so our baggage wouldn't be overweight. (don't judge me, they're full of your presents)
2nd
finding an unprotected wireless internet connection in the passenger lounge at the delhi airport.
things are going well so far. now for the 6 hour wait before we board the 12:15 am flight to chicago Saw a brief glimpse of the himalaya during the flight south to india. most beautiful things i've ever seen, i was literally close to tears for a second. time to grab my first of the 33 teas I will drink waiting for this plane.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Mi casa es mi casa
Might be the last post from Nepali soil (mud). Been a tremendous adventure despite my griping. If all things go well, I'll be disembarking at 8:50 a.m. July 19th at the Na$hville airport. yeehaw. for real. packing tonight. can't wait to see, or call, or at least email at a reasonable speed, everyone.
wish me luck.
wish me luck.
Monday, July 16, 2007
the day before tomorrow
posted Garden pics on facebook.
http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188557&l=fb8ed&id=8815627
Total shot count for the trip is around 450. Dan and I are just gift shopping in the rain today. yesterday I bought presents for most everyone, 90% of which are made of Yak hair by the way.
Very ready to be home after:
53 days
16,000 miles (round trip)
13 troy tons of daal bhaat
64 cubic feet of dug dirt
~200 Nepali words learned
1000+ pages of reports read
10 total words ever understood spoken (yelled) by the house grandmother
1 toothbrush
http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188557&l=fb8ed&id=8815627
Total shot count for the trip is around 450. Dan and I are just gift shopping in the rain today. yesterday I bought presents for most everyone, 90% of which are made of Yak hair by the way.
Very ready to be home after:
53 days
16,000 miles (round trip)
13 troy tons of daal bhaat
64 cubic feet of dug dirt
~200 Nepali words learned
1000+ pages of reports read
10 total words ever understood spoken (yelled) by the house grandmother
1 toothbrush
Saturday, July 14, 2007
just wasting time
that's more of an Otis Redding quote than bitterness/anger by the way. I really appreciate the comments guys and now I'm just resigned to let the time pass until we get on the plane. Daniel was in the room when I came back in the evening; said he'd spent the day walking around. We have money (thanks mom) and I guess I'll do my own thing today. I think I'll go back to the garden.
a hot stupid no-good poop day
woke up tired and sweating. something like 100$ unnacounted for from trip funds. daniel ran off enraged , haven't seen him in... maybe 6 hours now. impenetrable strike today, hideously slow internet, the power has gone out 3 seperate times as I've tried to type this and check email. I'm still tired and sweating. I think something good happened today but I can't really remember right now.
Friday, July 13, 2007
curiouser and curiouser
I'm sitting on a bench on a stone ledge under what else but a mossy oak by a koi pond in the Garden of Dreams. Just outside of the trek shops and cafes of Thamel is a nondescript white archway that just says 'GARDEN' and a ticket booth with a sign '160 Rps. Foreigners, Wireless Internet 30 Rps. 1hr.' So needless to say I went in and found a combination flower garden, arboretum, hedge maze, bamboo grove, of fountains, high walls, and butterflys. The name on the admissions ticket is Garden of Dreams.
I found a statistic the other day that something like 90% of the street children in asia sniff glue or solvents and I mentioned it in passing to Daniel. Today he mentioned that while lost in Thamel he ran across 4 different packs of preteens cracking themselves out on epoxy.
Last winter I read a book, much better than its title implies or just as good depending on what you're looking for, called Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781401359669&itm=1
Written by 3 young U.N. staffers: a doctor, lawyer, and secretary, the book was a pretty big deal when it came out because it didn't mince words when describing the failings, incompetencies, and occasional negligence of the UN as seen by the authors. They were in Cambodia for the first democratic elections, in Somalia during Black Hawk Down, and Haiti which is always in some chaos or other. A few days ago I saw a woman at the bakery cafe that made me do a double take even though I didn't know her. I put 2 and 2 and 1 together and came to the conclusion with 96% certainty that she was Heidi, one of the authors of the book. Today I saw her at the Bakery Cafe and introduced myself and she confirmed my suspicion. Apparently she's here as part of the huge UN presence gearing up for the elections in the fall. She said hello and goodbye and wished me luck and that was that.
I found a statistic the other day that something like 90% of the street children in asia sniff glue or solvents and I mentioned it in passing to Daniel. Today he mentioned that while lost in Thamel he ran across 4 different packs of preteens cracking themselves out on epoxy.
Last winter I read a book, much better than its title implies or just as good depending on what you're looking for, called Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781401359669&itm=1
Written by 3 young U.N. staffers: a doctor, lawyer, and secretary, the book was a pretty big deal when it came out because it didn't mince words when describing the failings, incompetencies, and occasional negligence of the UN as seen by the authors. They were in Cambodia for the first democratic elections, in Somalia during Black Hawk Down, and Haiti which is always in some chaos or other. A few days ago I saw a woman at the bakery cafe that made me do a double take even though I didn't know her. I put 2 and 2 and 1 together and came to the conclusion with 96% certainty that she was Heidi, one of the authors of the book. Today I saw her at the Bakery Cafe and introduced myself and she confirmed my suspicion. Apparently she's here as part of the huge UN presence gearing up for the elections in the fall. She said hello and goodbye and wished me luck and that was that.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Strange Sights
Yesterday there was a random, I think it was maoist, demonstration in the street by the internet cafe in Baneswore. It's probably safe to say that Nepali communists are about the most unintimidating breed of revolutionary imaginable. There were maybe 20 underfed teenageers in Avril Lavigne shirts waving their skinny arms and chanting slogans around a burning tree branch in the road. It was business as usual beyond the 'roadblock' and after a nice meal at the UN haunt restaurant, Bakery Cafe, Dan and I saw a huge cow licking the leather seat of a motorcycle and just started laughing hysterically while watching it for at least 5 minutes.
Today on the way back to Baneswore we passed a caravan of bare steel bus chasis being driven by guys in what looked liked barber chairs percvhed in front of a naked engine block, with nothing else but wheels and a gas tank on the whole vehicle. 5 of them passed by in a strangely nonchalant pack.
Again, we had to get off the bus and walk to Baneswore because of a flaming (in many senses) demonstration. This time it was tires burning in the street, and a guy in all black who was maybe 4' 11'' wielding a broken piece of bamboo making his 'mean face' and trying to puff his chest out. Motorcycles were just driving right between the tires, but the buses were too big to run the 'roadblock' without getting fiery tire goop stuck to them, so we had to hoof it . On the way to baneswore we met another VSN volunteer who informed us that the whole intersection and its shops were closed due to a larger demonstration. So we hopped a taxi past the tires and are now in the tourist mecca of thamel. there ya go.
Today on the way back to Baneswore we passed a caravan of bare steel bus chasis being driven by guys in what looked liked barber chairs percvhed in front of a naked engine block, with nothing else but wheels and a gas tank on the whole vehicle. 5 of them passed by in a strangely nonchalant pack.
Again, we had to get off the bus and walk to Baneswore because of a flaming (in many senses) demonstration. This time it was tires burning in the street, and a guy in all black who was maybe 4' 11'' wielding a broken piece of bamboo making his 'mean face' and trying to puff his chest out. Motorcycles were just driving right between the tires, but the buses were too big to run the 'roadblock' without getting fiery tire goop stuck to them, so we had to hoof it . On the way to baneswore we met another VSN volunteer who informed us that the whole intersection and its shops were closed due to a larger demonstration. So we hopped a taxi past the tires and are now in the tourist mecca of thamel. there ya go.
Monday, July 9, 2007
what it's come to
this morning when my our house grandmother wasn't looking I took a fist full of dhaal bhaat and pitched it out the open door behind me and over the balcony. I swear I can taste the mud from the paddy and the bare feet of the people who picked it.
I jhuto'd the peanut butter
While doing research for my soon-to-be-neglected-in-a-dusty-file Nepal Health Report I came across a pyramid chart showing the caste hierarchy of Nepal, which was nominally outlawed in 1963 but is apparently doing just fine without legal sanction as this story shows. Last week, I was lovingly hugging my ever present jar of crunchy peanut butter, also know as my dietary salvation, when the grandmother of our house start yelling at me, pointing at it, and yelling "Jhuto!" which means ritually impure. Without noticing I had put the butter knife that I had just used to make a sandwich back into the jar, rendering the entire thing 'contaminated' so that I had to keep it in my room instead of on the shelf lest it contaminate the rest of the food there. This was strange because as I had understood it, Jhuto was something like a theological edict against double-dipping, which I hadn't done, and I had just seen the little son of our house do the same exact thing with a jelly jar that morning. Than I saw the chart. Foreigners are exactly adjacent to the Dalit, or 'Untouchable' castes, and are under the 'impure' section of the pyramid meaning that no Hindu Nepali can accept food or water that we offer without becoming tainted.
This also explained the extreme lengths they had gone to to separate our water from theirs, something I had thought was an attempt to keep us from being exposed to kathandu's bowel-disintegrating tap water. Guess not.
(just found it again, we're 'Impure but touchable', and also 'Enslavable', but since no one here eats more that 900 calories a day, I doubt they have the strength or energy to subdue us)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepalese_caste_system
Anyway, there are only 9 days left for Daniel and I here assuming our flight isn't delayed which is quite possible. We're kind of broke because Bank of America has apparently been deducting $5 from our bank account, without permission or notification, for every atm transaction. So we're out about 3500 rupees which sucks because we have to pay exactly that much in airport taxes when we fly out of here next Wednesday.
On a better note, yesterday I made a necklace out of some wooden prayer beads and a medallion that a tibetan lady conned me into buying in Pokhara. I asked our house mother if I could have it blessed by a priest so that it wards off hippies and she said she'd see what she can do. that's about it for now.
This also explained the extreme lengths they had gone to to separate our water from theirs, something I had thought was an attempt to keep us from being exposed to kathandu's bowel-disintegrating tap water. Guess not.
(just found it again, we're 'Impure but touchable', and also 'Enslavable', but since no one here eats more that 900 calories a day, I doubt they have the strength or energy to subdue us)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepalese_caste_system
Anyway, there are only 9 days left for Daniel and I here assuming our flight isn't delayed which is quite possible. We're kind of broke because Bank of America has apparently been deducting $5 from our bank account, without permission or notification, for every atm transaction. So we're out about 3500 rupees which sucks because we have to pay exactly that much in airport taxes when we fly out of here next Wednesday.
On a better note, yesterday I made a necklace out of some wooden prayer beads and a medallion that a tibetan lady conned me into buying in Pokhara. I asked our house mother if I could have it blessed by a priest so that it wards off hippies and she said she'd see what she can do. that's about it for now.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The Coveted Mustard Belt Returns to America
http://www.ifoce.com/news.php?action=detail&sn=538
That news, and the rereading of Don Quixote, have improved my mood substantially. I'm keeping this post short both because I'm lazy and due to the fact that I'm incapable of writing in a normal fashion because of said book. I sincerely almost wrote "due to the strains of affect and prolixity resultant of such a narrative."
I also can't wait to come home and make my return to the professional eating circuit.
That news, and the rereading of Don Quixote, have improved my mood substantially. I'm keeping this post short both because I'm lazy and due to the fact that I'm incapable of writing in a normal fashion because of said book. I sincerely almost wrote "due to the strains of affect and prolixity resultant of such a narrative."
I also can't wait to come home and make my return to the professional eating circuit.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
digging data instead of dirt
http://www.who.int/whosis/
click on 'query the online database'
hold ctrl and click
Ethiopia
Nepal
United States of America
For indicators select
Risk Factors
Health Systems
Inequalities in Health
Submit
Check out under Nepal's 5 growth stunting!!
That's why I absolutely hate daal bhaat with even inch of my person. I'm sick right now, so is everyone else, and I 'm still the only one sick of white rice.
click on 'query the online database'
hold ctrl and click
Ethiopia
Nepal
United States of America
For indicators select
Risk Factors
Health Systems
Inequalities in Health
Submit
Check out under Nepal's 5 growth stunting!!
That's why I absolutely hate daal bhaat with even inch of my person. I'm sick right now, so is everyone else, and I 'm still the only one sick of white rice.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
This blog is plain and white because there's plastic on all the furniture
In my head, and in an eventual reality with a decent connection and more motivation, this site features photos with every substantial post, updated sites, links, and lists, and a bit more quality in terms of ranting. I think that after I'm home from Nepal I'll use the site as a way to manage my thoughts that I forget is visible to a few people, like the moleskine notebook that i leave lying open all the time,but with legible writing.
Earlier in the week I met with the two founder/directors of VSN to discuss my and others' concerns about the health program. I don't feel like rehashing them here for the 4th time. Essentialy the message was that while I realize that the program is only a few months old and has provided healthcare where exactly none previously existed, the level of care could be improved from better-than-nothing to decent with just a few medium term modifications. Rather than resisting what I said, Sej and Sughanda were extremely enthusiastic which was incredibly refreshing after some of the frustrations of trying to change anything anywhere in Nepal.
Long story short, for the remainder of my time here I will be compiling Nepali health statistics, drug trade/generic names with photos, procedure availability and costs andc some other juicy stuff into an orientation manual for all new health volunteers. I will also be visiting a few of the hospitals around Kathmandu and possibly eventually working on fundraising to hire a physician to work for VSN at least part time. Out of steam again, more later
Earlier in the week I met with the two founder/directors of VSN to discuss my and others' concerns about the health program. I don't feel like rehashing them here for the 4th time. Essentialy the message was that while I realize that the program is only a few months old and has provided healthcare where exactly none previously existed, the level of care could be improved from better-than-nothing to decent with just a few medium term modifications. Rather than resisting what I said, Sej and Sughanda were extremely enthusiastic which was incredibly refreshing after some of the frustrations of trying to change anything anywhere in Nepal.
Long story short, for the remainder of my time here I will be compiling Nepali health statistics, drug trade/generic names with photos, procedure availability and costs andc some other juicy stuff into an orientation manual for all new health volunteers. I will also be visiting a few of the hospitals around Kathmandu and possibly eventually working on fundraising to hire a physician to work for VSN at least part time. Out of steam again, more later
there's no such thing as OSHA in Nepal
I spent Friday standing atop a 1/16th of an inch thick piece of corrugated tin 8 feet off the ground while wildly swinging a pick axe to knock off the roof that was supporting my weight. Extremely cathartic. My pick sent 40 pound brick-missiles soaring into rice paddies, heaps of hay and dung, over bluffs, and into the mud surrounding the clinic. It was glorious, sanctioned destruction.
That night dan and I went back to Thamel for another semi-debaucherous night on the cheap that principly involved gorging ourselves at the one restaurant in Nepal with a wood fired brick pizza oven. I ate a leafy vegetable for the first time in months and it felt like some extremely guilty pleasure. We spent the night in a guest house that cost 1/100th the price of the meal. Most of the night I felt like winged demons were sucking the life out of me. The fist sized holes in the window screen meant that for the entire evening mosquitos were in holding patterns over my head.
this morning we had another amazing continental breakfast, and then did some souvenir/gift shopping at the tourist shops. I'm kind of hoping that I end up in a town with a real winter so that I have an excuse to wear this sherpa gear that I bought today.
That night dan and I went back to Thamel for another semi-debaucherous night on the cheap that principly involved gorging ourselves at the one restaurant in Nepal with a wood fired brick pizza oven. I ate a leafy vegetable for the first time in months and it felt like some extremely guilty pleasure. We spent the night in a guest house that cost 1/100th the price of the meal. Most of the night I felt like winged demons were sucking the life out of me. The fist sized holes in the window screen meant that for the entire evening mosquitos were in holding patterns over my head.
this morning we had another amazing continental breakfast, and then did some souvenir/gift shopping at the tourist shops. I'm kind of hoping that I end up in a town with a real winter so that I have an excuse to wear this sherpa gear that I bought today.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
the tail end of things
under 3 weeks left now
yesterday a monkey hit me after a drunk nepali teenager made kissing noises at it and pointed to me. The monkey (a big fangy male) hopped over a railing and palmed me on the shoulder. So I countered his drunk juju by making the same noise and gesture and pointing at him, which further enraged said fangy male into chasing the little punk down some stairs.
The momo count topped out at 51 when we ran out of dumplings.
The internet is back on at VSN after we replaced a rat-gnawed ethernet cable.
feeling better, back to work.
yesterday a monkey hit me after a drunk nepali teenager made kissing noises at it and pointed to me. The monkey (a big fangy male) hopped over a railing and palmed me on the shoulder. So I countered his drunk juju by making the same noise and gesture and pointing at him, which further enraged said fangy male into chasing the little punk down some stairs.
The momo count topped out at 51 when we ran out of dumplings.
The internet is back on at VSN after we replaced a rat-gnawed ethernet cable.
feeling better, back to work.
highs and lows
Today I awoke to a 180 degree panorama of Himalaya that I didn't even know existed in Kathmandu. Apparently everyday, shrouded in the monsoon clouds and smog, the most beautiful view I've ever seen in person or otherwise exists. I had about 30 minutes alone with them as I rode the bus into town for coffee and email. While at the internet cafe I applied for a job as either Paul Farmer or Jim Kim's personal assistant at the harvard medical school. I expect to be rejected shortly but it's something I would lose sleep over if I didn't at least try.
This morning I awoke after sleeping fitfully with a cough, headache, and GI issues. The same lack of cloud cover that made for a stunning mountain view also resulted in a brutal day digging in the sun. We got a lot done but I almost passed out from the heat and my general torpor. Daniel, our friend Christian and I are going back to the monkey temple at sunset since it's his last day here and he hasn't been yet. The internet at VSN is down so I may or may not update again today.
This morning I awoke after sleeping fitfully with a cough, headache, and GI issues. The same lack of cloud cover that made for a stunning mountain view also resulted in a brutal day digging in the sun. We got a lot done but I almost passed out from the heat and my general torpor. Daniel, our friend Christian and I are going back to the monkey temple at sunset since it's his last day here and he hasn't been yet. The internet at VSN is down so I may or may not update again today.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
one day
6:00am wake up to "greg utnos!"
6:30 chia, peanut butter and banana sandwhich
7:05-8:00 gym
8:30 shower
9:00 daal bhat and omellete
9:30-10:20 emails
10:30-11 walk to construction site
11:00-1:00 play in the dirt
1:30 back to VSN
2:00-2:30 walk to Landless Clinic
2:30-4:00 Clinic
4:30-5:30 coffee in Baneswore
7:00 daal bhat in pepsikola
7:30 a beer at the Hut
8:00 type up what I did today
9:00 sleep
Daniel and I made today our photodocumentary day. I'm uploading the pics to facebook as I type this. In bullet point the day doesn't look like much, but I'm totally depleted at the moment.
6:30 chia, peanut butter and banana sandwhich
7:05-8:00 gym
8:30 shower
9:00 daal bhat and omellete
9:30-10:20 emails
10:30-11 walk to construction site
11:00-1:00 play in the dirt
1:30 back to VSN
2:00-2:30 walk to Landless Clinic
2:30-4:00 Clinic
4:30-5:30 coffee in Baneswore
7:00 daal bhat in pepsikola
7:30 a beer at the Hut
8:00 type up what I did today
9:00 sleep
Daniel and I made today our photodocumentary day. I'm uploading the pics to facebook as I type this. In bullet point the day doesn't look like much, but I'm totally depleted at the moment.
Monday, June 25, 2007
47 momo and counting
typing in between plates of homemade buff momo. I'm doing this to shatter an obnoxious Canadian's dubious record of 50 vegetable pieces. Today was fantastic. I played in the mud for 2 hours with a broken shovel leveling the soil for the eventual waiting room of the new clinic. Then I visited the Landless clinic which was absolutely amazing. The setting was what I had imagined when I signed up to come here: sewage flowing through the dirt street of a shanty town of tents, lean-to's, and tin buildings. The clinic is in the heart of what is essentialy a refugee camp of internally displaced Nepalis due to causes ranging from floods to droughts and communists. I'm going back tomorrow with Stef, a senior UK med student, and my camera because the existence of the place is hard to believe given that it's 100 yards from the comparatively opulent 4 story homes of pepsikola.
Things I've stepped over today:
dead rat
marijuana plant
used syringe
broken bricks
discarded sari
baby chickens
stray dogs
ducks
a huge pig
flaming garbage
a 4 inch slug
Things I've stepped over today:
dead rat
marijuana plant
used syringe
broken bricks
discarded sari
baby chickens
stray dogs
ducks
a huge pig
flaming garbage
a 4 inch slug
Sunday, June 24, 2007
something tasty with arteries sticking out
Even though today began at 6am, nothing really interesting happened until exactly 2:29 pm. Construction was a total bust. There were 8 Nepali workers, 5 volunteers, and exactly 1 crow bar so I petted goats. It looks like this will be my last week on the construction project as the 2 people staffing the clinic for landless villagers are leaving soon and I think I will be assisting the new UK med students there 6 days a week.
Anyway, at exactly 2:29 it started raining. ra i N I N G... like a switch was thrown, like the monsoon in Forest Gump, it was raining so hard the puddle drops were counter-dousing my knees. Daniel, our host mom Milan, and I were outside waiting for the bus for a trip back to Patan for authentic Newari food, which apparently is the Szechuan cuisine equivalent of Nepal. After a 20 minute Tuk-tuk ride we disembarked at the bottom of a gravel hill at the top of which was a footbridge over the Bagmati river. As we crossed the river, horns began to blow and I saw this procession of people carrying a large tray of vegetables that I assumed were being sacrificed to the river for some reason, maybe to stop the damned rain. So I asked Milan "Tarkari?", Nepali for vegetables, and instead of the usual Nepali head-bobble of assent I was shot the dirtiest look I think I've ever gotten in this country. It was a funeral procession carrying a body to the pyre by the river. It looked like a huge tray of cucumbers to me.
By the time we made it to Durbar square the rain had stopped. Instead of walking into one of the buildings we ducked into an alley so narrow that we all had to back out again to let a newari man with red eyes, dripping tears, and blowing snot-rockets by as he left the restaurant. If you took the American greasy spoon, wiped it on your shirt, then buried it in a dungeon featuring body parts hanging from the ceiling dripping blood on a dirt floor with walls blackend with soot and smoke and probably some more oxidized blood, that would be the restaurant. I don't think it had a name, or a sign, or a door, but the food was delicious and actually a lot less spicy than the weeping man had led me to believe. I ate ommelettes with buff meat and lentil flour, curried chickpeas with green chili and cilantro, potatoes with coconut milk and masala, and then some other buff dish that consisted of globs of gristle studded with blood vessels that tasted great but took about 3 minutes to chew. It looked like those lung tissue samples from cancer patients that little kids are shown in school as anti-smoking motivation. The 2nd best part was the slogan on the bottle of water we were served, "pure as the heart of a small baby." The best best part was that the entire meal for 4 people cost USD $3.
Anyway, at exactly 2:29 it started raining. ra i N I N G... like a switch was thrown, like the monsoon in Forest Gump, it was raining so hard the puddle drops were counter-dousing my knees. Daniel, our host mom Milan, and I were outside waiting for the bus for a trip back to Patan for authentic Newari food, which apparently is the Szechuan cuisine equivalent of Nepal. After a 20 minute Tuk-tuk ride we disembarked at the bottom of a gravel hill at the top of which was a footbridge over the Bagmati river. As we crossed the river, horns began to blow and I saw this procession of people carrying a large tray of vegetables that I assumed were being sacrificed to the river for some reason, maybe to stop the damned rain. So I asked Milan "Tarkari?", Nepali for vegetables, and instead of the usual Nepali head-bobble of assent I was shot the dirtiest look I think I've ever gotten in this country. It was a funeral procession carrying a body to the pyre by the river. It looked like a huge tray of cucumbers to me.
By the time we made it to Durbar square the rain had stopped. Instead of walking into one of the buildings we ducked into an alley so narrow that we all had to back out again to let a newari man with red eyes, dripping tears, and blowing snot-rockets by as he left the restaurant. If you took the American greasy spoon, wiped it on your shirt, then buried it in a dungeon featuring body parts hanging from the ceiling dripping blood on a dirt floor with walls blackend with soot and smoke and probably some more oxidized blood, that would be the restaurant. I don't think it had a name, or a sign, or a door, but the food was delicious and actually a lot less spicy than the weeping man had led me to believe. I ate ommelettes with buff meat and lentil flour, curried chickpeas with green chili and cilantro, potatoes with coconut milk and masala, and then some other buff dish that consisted of globs of gristle studded with blood vessels that tasted great but took about 3 minutes to chew. It looked like those lung tissue samples from cancer patients that little kids are shown in school as anti-smoking motivation. The 2nd best part was the slogan on the bottle of water we were served, "pure as the heart of a small baby." The best best part was that the entire meal for 4 people cost USD $3.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Long Weekend
6/21
Daniel and I headed back to the construction site without gloves again, which turned out to be a poor decision. We spent the day shoeveling the rest of the dirt into the room to raise the floor and using a metal weight attached to a wooden post to pack the dirt down. The vibrations and splinters knocked my hands entirely out of commision after a few hours. Blister city, so I had to take the next day off looking for work gloves, unsuccessfully.
Several volunteers are leaving in the next week so there was a farewell party at VSN HQ under a tarp over the porch. Everyone was glad to have an excuse not to eat daal bhat, so the party lasted quite a while.
6/22
Although the glove hunt was fruitless, I did manage to make it to the post office to mail some postcards which was interesting because the stamps have this adhesive that only works if the thing is doused in water so I was standing at the counter with a spounge clumsily dabbing my pile of 35 rupee stamps with brown water while trying to attach them before they either dried or dissolved.
After a nap in Pepsicola, Dan and I headed to the local volunteer haunt, The Hut, where the owner was hosting a 'Continental BBQ' for VSN volunteers, which was also popular as yet another opportunity to escape dal bhaat. After eating about 14 pieces of grilled chicken, Dan, 3 of the other volunteers, and I caught a taxi to the tourist district of Thamel which is the only place in kathmandu that doesn't shut down at about 9pm. We ended up staying out late, splitting 2 250 rupee hotel rooms 5 ways, meaning we had clean beds and hot showers for about $1.60, followed by american style omellete, french toast and drip coffee for maybe $3 per person.
6/23
Over the past 2 weeks VSN received a much needed infusion of medical talent. 2 final year UK med students and 2 first year American students are now filling the role of Yet the Dutch G.P., who left last week. On Saturday VSN arranged a 'Health Camp', where a Nepali internist, OBGYN, and Pediatrician saw patients for free at our temporary ward 2 clinic for several hours. The medical students ended up taking over after the doctors left while there were still patents waiting. In all over 120 patients were seen, so the event was extremely successful.
Today
It's back to the c-site with another pair of hands, Pablo a volunteer from the west of Spain. I think we're going to install the new door and maybe knock off a piece of the roof. Just lost interest in typing so I'll leave the rest for later.
Daniel and I headed back to the construction site without gloves again, which turned out to be a poor decision. We spent the day shoeveling the rest of the dirt into the room to raise the floor and using a metal weight attached to a wooden post to pack the dirt down. The vibrations and splinters knocked my hands entirely out of commision after a few hours. Blister city, so I had to take the next day off looking for work gloves, unsuccessfully.
Several volunteers are leaving in the next week so there was a farewell party at VSN HQ under a tarp over the porch. Everyone was glad to have an excuse not to eat daal bhat, so the party lasted quite a while.
6/22
Although the glove hunt was fruitless, I did manage to make it to the post office to mail some postcards which was interesting because the stamps have this adhesive that only works if the thing is doused in water so I was standing at the counter with a spounge clumsily dabbing my pile of 35 rupee stamps with brown water while trying to attach them before they either dried or dissolved.
After a nap in Pepsicola, Dan and I headed to the local volunteer haunt, The Hut, where the owner was hosting a 'Continental BBQ' for VSN volunteers, which was also popular as yet another opportunity to escape dal bhaat. After eating about 14 pieces of grilled chicken, Dan, 3 of the other volunteers, and I caught a taxi to the tourist district of Thamel which is the only place in kathmandu that doesn't shut down at about 9pm. We ended up staying out late, splitting 2 250 rupee hotel rooms 5 ways, meaning we had clean beds and hot showers for about $1.60, followed by american style omellete, french toast and drip coffee for maybe $3 per person.
6/23
Over the past 2 weeks VSN received a much needed infusion of medical talent. 2 final year UK med students and 2 first year American students are now filling the role of Yet the Dutch G.P., who left last week. On Saturday VSN arranged a 'Health Camp', where a Nepali internist, OBGYN, and Pediatrician saw patients for free at our temporary ward 2 clinic for several hours. The medical students ended up taking over after the doctors left while there were still patents waiting. In all over 120 patients were seen, so the event was extremely successful.
Today
It's back to the c-site with another pair of hands, Pablo a volunteer from the west of Spain. I think we're going to install the new door and maybe knock off a piece of the roof. Just lost interest in typing so I'll leave the rest for later.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
from Zoo Keeping to Hard Labor
I'm typing this while I wait for the zoo photos to upload to facebook. The trip was fun and suprisingly hassle-free. Sherpherding 39 nepali kids from the OCRC orphanage onto a bus, around the zoo, and feeding them lunch turned out to be far easier than trying to get money out of the atm today. The kids were adorable, so much so that I ended up spending the money I had brought along for a cold beer on a soccer ball for them to play with after lunch, which is exactly why I hate kids. Because i ended up being the lunch porter, carrying a very greasy and pungent cardboard box of about 100 samosas around a zoo-ful of underfed animals, I didn't have any kids to keep up with so I did the only logical thing and got in line to ride the elephant. Very uncomfortable for everyone involved.
Today construction, or rather remodeling, began on the new Ward 2 clinic for landless villagers. Daniel, 6 town guys, and I spent about 4 hours knocking a hole in a brick wall then shoveling dirt (and rocks, and clay, and water buffalo excrement etc.) from a pile beside the building onto the dirt floor of the building to raise it 6 inches or so. Eventually we will rebuild the wall, construct a bamboo enclosure over the new door to make a waiting area, and plant a vegetable garden. The work should take about a month so hopefully there will be some real progress and tangible improvement for us to see before we leave. My hands are covered with blisters from digging, so even if it turns out to not really be helpful at the very least it hurts like something was accomplished.
Today construction, or rather remodeling, began on the new Ward 2 clinic for landless villagers. Daniel, 6 town guys, and I spent about 4 hours knocking a hole in a brick wall then shoveling dirt (and rocks, and clay, and water buffalo excrement etc.) from a pile beside the building onto the dirt floor of the building to raise it 6 inches or so. Eventually we will rebuild the wall, construct a bamboo enclosure over the new door to make a waiting area, and plant a vegetable garden. The work should take about a month so hopefully there will be some real progress and tangible improvement for us to see before we leave. My hands are covered with blisters from digging, so even if it turns out to not really be helpful at the very least it hurts like something was accomplished.
Monday, June 18, 2007
sherpa work
good news
a new clinic needs a buildin' so Daniel and I are joining the wall-demolishing-bamboo-hut-building-garden-planting team. Should be cathartic. Should be fun. today is the great orphan exodus. will update again tonight. more picks up on face book. http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2177772&l=df6a4&id=8815627
a new clinic needs a buildin' so Daniel and I are joining the wall-demolishing-bamboo-hut-building-garden-planting team. Should be cathartic. Should be fun. today is the great orphan exodus. will update again tonight. more picks up on face book. http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2177772&l=df6a4&id=8815627
Sunday, June 17, 2007
feelin' fine
in a much better mood now. Tomorrow one of the volunteers is taking an entire orphanage of 40+ kids to the Zoo in Kathmandu in addition to feeding them lunch. Daniel and I will form the photo-expeditionary unit, documenting the event for posterity. Our trip is 2 days shy of being half over. Still a bit burnt out but well fed so it evens out I suppose. looking forward to home and hammocks and harry potter though..
Friday, June 15, 2007
rants from the road
A few random observations of Nepal while riding back to KTM:
Machines here have opposite ratios of intended function to side effect. This bus lookalike device, rather than being intended for locomotion, was designed to convert gasoline into internal vibrations and screeching. The rolling effect is only a consequence of imperfect design and entropy. The same thing happens in motorbikes. Motion is an inevitable inconvenience of the internal combustion mechanism, featuring whatever the exact opposite of a catalytic converter is, the true purpose of which is to transmute Himalayan air into tufts of ash.
Nepal is a world leader on developmental forefront of smoke/smog production technologies, spontaneous combustion products, startling noisemakers, and certainly unpleasant smells of uncertain origin. Its consultants in rickitiness are highly paid and sought the world over to teach seminars on the many uses of tape to make things wobble before collapsing.
Also, on Nepalese roads, the pitch of a vehicle’s horn is inversely proportional to its size. Small 3 wheel tuk tuks have terrifyingly deep blasting ricolla pipes compared to the little-girls- pink-bicycle horn of all trucks and large busses. Mid size buses and oil tankers feature what Daniel has dubbed “the world’s fastest mariachi band” horns. And massive flatbed trucks with irregular loads ranging from 1 dozen water buffalo to other flatbed trucks have horns like keychain kazoos. The only exception are the little-funnel-cake-carts full of anything-but-funnel-cakes. Those lack an engine, instead relying on flintstone style sole power. The horn is usually of the cartoonish squeeze bulb variety taped onto the also taped on umbrella.
And if you’ve ever wondered where all the unsold t-shirts from forgotten metal concert tours go to die, look no further than the Himalayan hills where the village elderly are as likely to be sporting a slipknot shirt as a newari hat.
end rant
Daniel and i are back in Pepsicola and tired.
The monsoon is coming and I'm starting to feel a bit burnt out before even having done anything here.
Machines here have opposite ratios of intended function to side effect. This bus lookalike device, rather than being intended for locomotion, was designed to convert gasoline into internal vibrations and screeching. The rolling effect is only a consequence of imperfect design and entropy. The same thing happens in motorbikes. Motion is an inevitable inconvenience of the internal combustion mechanism, featuring whatever the exact opposite of a catalytic converter is, the true purpose of which is to transmute Himalayan air into tufts of ash.
Nepal is a world leader on developmental forefront of smoke/smog production technologies, spontaneous combustion products, startling noisemakers, and certainly unpleasant smells of uncertain origin. Its consultants in rickitiness are highly paid and sought the world over to teach seminars on the many uses of tape to make things wobble before collapsing.
Also, on Nepalese roads, the pitch of a vehicle’s horn is inversely proportional to its size. Small 3 wheel tuk tuks have terrifyingly deep blasting ricolla pipes compared to the little-girls- pink-bicycle horn of all trucks and large busses. Mid size buses and oil tankers feature what Daniel has dubbed “the world’s fastest mariachi band” horns. And massive flatbed trucks with irregular loads ranging from 1 dozen water buffalo to other flatbed trucks have horns like keychain kazoos. The only exception are the little-funnel-cake-carts full of anything-but-funnel-cakes. Those lack an engine, instead relying on flintstone style sole power. The horn is usually of the cartoonish squeeze bulb variety taped onto the also taped on umbrella.
And if you’ve ever wondered where all the unsold t-shirts from forgotten metal concert tours go to die, look no further than the Himalayan hills where the village elderly are as likely to be sporting a slipknot shirt as a newari hat.
end rant
Daniel and i are back in Pepsicola and tired.
The monsoon is coming and I'm starting to feel a bit burnt out before even having done anything here.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I'll trade you your address for a postcard from Nepal...
post it here as a comment and Daniel and I will drop off a card headed your way in the next 7-1012 business days (Nepali postal system is "unreliable").
We are alive, sunburnt but well , and returning to Kathmandu (inside the bus this time) in 2 or 3 days.
We are alive, sunburnt but well , and returning to Kathmandu (inside the bus this time) in 2 or 3 days.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
bus to Pokhara
Daniel and I just completed a 12 hour journey from kathmandu to the laketown of pokhara , 4 hours of the trip on the roof of a bus careening through the himalayan foothills at 50+mph. it was absolutely the most exhilirating experience yet. hairpin turns on two wheel s over rivers and waterfalls fed from the runoff of the 8000m peak snow melt. we passed at least 3 overturned trucks without even slowing down. the last hour we spent crammed into the bus becaus eonce we hit the plains the monsson rains started up again. we're staying in a private stone cottage on lake phewa tal, almost IN lake phewa tal, for 30 usd per night becaus all the other tourists fled with the rain and heat. the trip was so worth it. i'm absolutely exhausted but so so glad to be here.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Eating Lychee on the Roof
That's what I'll remember doing today. I will forget going to Baneswore to do my AMCAS on a 56k equivalent connection. I will forget that 8 year olds are much better than I am at Criquet. I will try to forget seeing an abcess lanced with a bare scalpel blade of questionable sterility, without an antiseptic, analgesia provided by expired lidocaine. But I will remember sunsetish lychees on the roof. I hope.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Me vs. emaciation, Monkey Temple, 1st Clinic Day
So the Nepali diet is not exactly conducive to the maintenance of mass of any kind let alone muscle. 7am tea, 10am rice, thin lentil soup, potatoes 7pm rice, soup, potatoes... delicious, and served in gut busting portions but recently i find myself salivating, unthinkingly staring at cows and fingering the swiss army knife in my pocket. So for the past week I've been on an increasingly desperate search for a reliable non-nasty protein source and a place to exercise. My stop gaps have been pull ups on the crossbeam of the soccer goals and a steady stream of almonds. Solutions: Buffalo meat momos (Tibetan dumplings, 10 for 1 dollar), and the Fitness Gym Club. The absolute total quantity of weight in the gym is MAYBE 300 pounds if some of the nepali kids stand on the bars, but it stopped the cravings.
Saturday is the one day-off in Nepal so some of the other volunteers and I went to the aptly named Monkey Temple for a few hours. http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2172010&l=6e7e7&id=8815627
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath
It was absolutely amazing; Overlooking all of Kathmandu from one of the Himalayan "foothills." (Greg:What's the name of this mountain?, guide: we don't have names for hills.) At sunset the wind was circulating around the base of the hills creating updrafts where as many as 11 hawks would glide in place for 10 minutes without a single wing flap. Also we had the opportunity to observe monkeys in their environment of choice: garbage. They were drinking out of juice boxes, unwrapping leftovers in newspaper, and slurping chowmein with an appropriately inhuman dexterity. Observing animals in their natural habitat is the only way to truly experience nature.
Today I made it out to the Godjihaara (butchered the spelling) clinic with the only doctor at VSN, Yet from Holland. The clinic is one of several that VSN assists and is comprised of 3 rooms: a pharmacy, and exam room, and a TB isolation exam room. The first thing I saw when I walked into the clinic was a cardboard box full nearly to the brim with USED, uncapped needles. Yet nearly had a stroke trying to explain the absolute gross negligence of the situation. (she said something along the lnes of, "you'd be chased off the continent of Europe if you did something like that within a 1000 meters of a hospital in Holland." After that situation was "handled" (I'm buying a sharps bucket tomorrow), we started cleaning and organizing the chaotic shelves of the exam room. In the process we found some badly needed thermometers, bp cuffs, stethescopes, sutures, bandages completely hidden underneath the randomly strewn papers of the post staff. Tomorrow the other shelves are getting the same treatment, so it will be a long but hopefully productive day.
I'm starting to get into a groove here and am really enjoying the country in general and the people in particular. I Miss everyone who's reading this (probably).
Saturday is the one day-off in Nepal so some of the other volunteers and I went to the aptly named Monkey Temple for a few hours. http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2172010&l=6e7e7&id=8815627
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath
It was absolutely amazing; Overlooking all of Kathmandu from one of the Himalayan "foothills." (Greg:What's the name of this mountain?, guide: we don't have names for hills.) At sunset the wind was circulating around the base of the hills creating updrafts where as many as 11 hawks would glide in place for 10 minutes without a single wing flap. Also we had the opportunity to observe monkeys in their environment of choice: garbage. They were drinking out of juice boxes, unwrapping leftovers in newspaper, and slurping chowmein with an appropriately inhuman dexterity. Observing animals in their natural habitat is the only way to truly experience nature.
Today I made it out to the Godjihaara (butchered the spelling) clinic with the only doctor at VSN, Yet from Holland. The clinic is one of several that VSN assists and is comprised of 3 rooms: a pharmacy, and exam room, and a TB isolation exam room. The first thing I saw when I walked into the clinic was a cardboard box full nearly to the brim with USED, uncapped needles. Yet nearly had a stroke trying to explain the absolute gross negligence of the situation. (she said something along the lnes of, "you'd be chased off the continent of Europe if you did something like that within a 1000 meters of a hospital in Holland." After that situation was "handled" (I'm buying a sharps bucket tomorrow), we started cleaning and organizing the chaotic shelves of the exam room. In the process we found some badly needed thermometers, bp cuffs, stethescopes, sutures, bandages completely hidden underneath the randomly strewn papers of the post staff. Tomorrow the other shelves are getting the same treatment, so it will be a long but hopefully productive day.
I'm starting to get into a groove here and am really enjoying the country in general and the people in particular. I Miss everyone who's reading this (probably).
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Patan Pics
http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2170927&l=2ddf4&id=8815627
This should work even for non facebookers.
This should work even for non facebookers.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Patan and Thamel
Went to Old town of Patan yesterday to see Dhurbar Square. Tired then and now so I'll let Wikipedia do the typing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patan%2C_Nepal
I just finished a very hairy motorcycle ride through central kathmandu in the full moonlight. Like escape from LA but with cows. Dodging tuk tuks, pedestrians, cycles, stray dogs, oil trucks decorated like rolling hindu temples. On what might generously be called a 2 lane road anywhere from 4 to 6 ½ (depending on how many cycles can filter through the larger traffic) streams of vehicles intermingle chaotically. Any widening in the road is immediately exploited. Sidewalks, spilled gravel or sand, 10 kilo sacks of rice in the gutter can support the weight of a cycle lane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patan%2C_Nepal
I just finished a very hairy motorcycle ride through central kathmandu in the full moonlight. Like escape from LA but with cows. Dodging tuk tuks, pedestrians, cycles, stray dogs, oil trucks decorated like rolling hindu temples. On what might generously be called a 2 lane road anywhere from 4 to 6 ½ (depending on how many cycles can filter through the larger traffic) streams of vehicles intermingle chaotically. Any widening in the road is immediately exploited. Sidewalks, spilled gravel or sand, 10 kilo sacks of rice in the gutter can support the weight of a cycle lane.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashupatinath_temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhnath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patan%2C_Nepal
http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217049
Photos Above ^
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhnath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patan%2C_Nepal
http://rutgers.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217049
Photos Above ^
The Last 3 days
5/24
3rd hour of 14 between Chicago and Delhi. About to cross the artic circle over Greenland. I jjust ate airline saag and basmati while watching Dirty Dancing (a combo much more than the sum of the parts) and having to change channels on the headrest tv because the 8 year next to me was curious about the lack of clothes in a couple of the scenes. I actually didn’t change the channel but I thought about it. So now my shirt is splattered with yogurt from the dinner/cabin pressure and blood from the mile long sprint through o’hare with 3 bags to make a 7:15 flight from a 7:00 arrival time: 26th row 3 terminals away. At some point in the dash my thumb exploded and when I boarded the 777 I was swarmed by Czech or Argentine flight attendants and shoved into the lavatory with about a dozen bandaids while they made you’vegottheaids faces at me.
Read->sleep time.
5/25
Long flight. Didn’t sleep much but excited enough not to care. The night in the Delhi airport was bad, but it could have been much worse. The AC was thankfully excellent. The airport is about exactly what you would imagine of the jewel of the British colonial empire. Everything was made of dingy white-gone-to-grey marble. No internet of any sort but every few feet a touch screen terminal to get passenger feedback inviting you to “approach and opine.” The only options were “build more parfume store” (there were 4 in the passenger lounge) and “build more duty free liquor” (there were 5). The only places to eat were 2 identical Nescafe stands and a Subway with a local favorites menu featuring hummus and falafel, and chicken tikka. Prices were cheap unless the staff saw dollars and instantly quadrupled them.
5/26 Arrival
5/27 Language class begins, die at night
5/28 dead all day
5/29
Haven’t updated since I made it here because of: a bandha (strike), 1 night of severest Delhi belly + 1 day of recovery, and now a power outage. Actually those are the only bad things that have happened, and they were all to be expected. My host family is incredible; Dan and I are staying with one of the VSN translators/Nepali teachers. We live in a brand new district of Kathmandu called Pepsicola because until 5 years ago the only building amid the cornfields was a Pepsi bottling plant. We’re only 3km from Central Kathmandu and Thamel, the tourist district, but Kathmandu is like Manhattan in that intra-city travel time isn’t necessarily a function of distance.
After language lessons one of the VSN translators took a group of volunteers to two of Nepal’s main temples, Pashupatinah and Bodhnath. Pashupatinah is the principle Nepalese Hindu temple, located on the Bagmati river. Cremations and ritual baths are preformed along the banks and groups of sadhus (holy men) live in cave shelters along the Cliffside.
Bodhnath is an immense stupa, a symbolic Buddhist structure surrounded by prayer wheels and girded by colorful flags. The Tibetan exile community is prominent here. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the structure chanting prayers while tourists ogle them from the terraces of nearby Internet cafes. The whole place smells like an amazing combination of burning, cinnamon covered Christmas trees from the monks’ offerings.
3rd hour of 14 between Chicago and Delhi. About to cross the artic circle over Greenland. I jjust ate airline saag and basmati while watching Dirty Dancing (a combo much more than the sum of the parts) and having to change channels on the headrest tv because the 8 year next to me was curious about the lack of clothes in a couple of the scenes. I actually didn’t change the channel but I thought about it. So now my shirt is splattered with yogurt from the dinner/cabin pressure and blood from the mile long sprint through o’hare with 3 bags to make a 7:15 flight from a 7:00 arrival time: 26th row 3 terminals away. At some point in the dash my thumb exploded and when I boarded the 777 I was swarmed by Czech or Argentine flight attendants and shoved into the lavatory with about a dozen bandaids while they made you’vegottheaids faces at me.
Read->sleep time.
5/25
Long flight. Didn’t sleep much but excited enough not to care. The night in the Delhi airport was bad, but it could have been much worse. The AC was thankfully excellent. The airport is about exactly what you would imagine of the jewel of the British colonial empire. Everything was made of dingy white-gone-to-grey marble. No internet of any sort but every few feet a touch screen terminal to get passenger feedback inviting you to “approach and opine.” The only options were “build more parfume store” (there were 4 in the passenger lounge) and “build more duty free liquor” (there were 5). The only places to eat were 2 identical Nescafe stands and a Subway with a local favorites menu featuring hummus and falafel, and chicken tikka. Prices were cheap unless the staff saw dollars and instantly quadrupled them.
5/26 Arrival
5/27 Language class begins, die at night
5/28 dead all day
5/29
Haven’t updated since I made it here because of: a bandha (strike), 1 night of severest Delhi belly + 1 day of recovery, and now a power outage. Actually those are the only bad things that have happened, and they were all to be expected. My host family is incredible; Dan and I are staying with one of the VSN translators/Nepali teachers. We live in a brand new district of Kathmandu called Pepsicola because until 5 years ago the only building amid the cornfields was a Pepsi bottling plant. We’re only 3km from Central Kathmandu and Thamel, the tourist district, but Kathmandu is like Manhattan in that intra-city travel time isn’t necessarily a function of distance.
After language lessons one of the VSN translators took a group of volunteers to two of Nepal’s main temples, Pashupatinah and Bodhnath. Pashupatinah is the principle Nepalese Hindu temple, located on the Bagmati river. Cremations and ritual baths are preformed along the banks and groups of sadhus (holy men) live in cave shelters along the Cliffside.
Bodhnath is an immense stupa, a symbolic Buddhist structure surrounded by prayer wheels and girded by colorful flags. The Tibetan exile community is prominent here. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the structure chanting prayers while tourists ogle them from the terraces of nearby Internet cafes. The whole place smells like an amazing combination of burning, cinnamon covered Christmas trees from the monks’ offerings.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Itinerary
Thursday, May 24, 2007
American Airlines # 1793
Nashville Metropolitan (BNA) to Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Departure (BNA): May 24, 3:25 PM CDT (afternoon)
Arrival (ORD): May 24, 5:00 PM CDT (evening)
Class: Economy
Seat assignment: choose seats
--------------------------------
Thursday, May 24, 2007
American Airlines # 292
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) to Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL)
Departure (ORD): May 24, 7:05 PM CDT (evening)
Arrival (DEL): May 25, 8:30 PM IST (evening)
This is an overnight flight.
Class: Economy
Seat assignment: choose seats
--------------------------------
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Jet Airways # 262
Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL) to Kathmandu Tribhuvan (KTM)
Departure (DEL): May 26, 11:30 AM IST (morning)
Arrival (KTM): May 26, 1:15 PM NPT (afternoon)
Class: Economy
--------------------------------
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Jet Airways # 261
Kathmandu Tribhuvan (KTM) to Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL)
Departure (KTM): July 18, 2:15 PM NPT (afternoon)
Arrival (DEL): July 18, 3:45 PM IST (afternoon)
Class: Economy
--------------------------------
Thursday, July 19, 2007
American Airlines # 293
Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl (DEL) to Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Departure (DEL): July 19, 12:15 AM IST (morning)
Arrival (ORD): July 19, 5:15 AM CDT (morning)
Class: Economy
Seat assignment: choose seats
Thursday, July 19, 2007
American Airlines # 4166
Operated by: AMERICAN EAGLE -- MQ 4166 - Please check in with the operating carrier
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) to Nashville Metropolitan (BNA)
Departure (ORD): July 19, 7:10 AM CDT (morning)
Arrival (BNA): July 19, 8:35 AM CDT (morning)
test post
Daniel and I are sitting in the Nashville airport awaiting our delayed flight to Chicago. We just found out that we'll be spending tomorrow night in the Indira Gandhi Airport before our 11:30 am flight to Kathmandu. Apparently the current high temp in New Delhi is 113 degrees Farenheit. But luckily the Undertaker was behind me in the security line with a broken arm which everyone knows guarantees 7 years good luck, or at the very least functioning Indian AC.
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