Today was my first day of actual work here in Nepal, and it felt goooooooood. As much as I enjoyed the fun times and the parties I really came here to help Mike out with some communication and budget issues. So I met with Sushila today at the Citta Nepal office and went over some of he things Michael wanted me to talk to her about.
The Citta Nepal office is located about 10 minutes from a place called Bhouda Stupa, which is a HUGE shrine that you are supposed to circumambulate an odd number of times while reciting a Bhuddist mantra. After a few hours of office work with Sushila she insisted that I must see the Stupa.
It was impressive to say the least. The Stupa occupied about 1 acre as far as I can tell and has huge white walls on top of which sits an extremely large dome. The dome is then topped with a large minaret that appeared to be plated in gold. The eyes of Buddha stare at you wherever you are while walking around the Stupa.
The best part? Getting ripped off by the taxi driver going to AND from the Citta Nepal office. Ke Garne? Which translates loosely to "Eh, Whatever." and literally translates to "What to do?"
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Nepali Socialites, Crazy Scots, Polite Canadians
So the past few days have been kinda crazy.
I went from living in my hotel room only leaving for work, to go to Java for some internet time, or to grab a fresh roll of toilet paper, to going out to weird clubs, meeting Nepali socialites, and hanging out with some crazy Scots. There is no "short story" on this one so I am just gonna go for the long one.
Monday was the first day I started feeling better from my "Delhi Belly" as my Scottish friends call it. So I tried to haed to Bhaktipur to do some work at the Women's Center. I called Binod (Presidend of Citta Himalaya) and asked if he or Prakash would be around today. The short answer was "No." The long answer was if I left for Bhaktipur immediately I might have 20 minutes to do some work. So I asked him if Tomorrow would be good. Turns out Tuesday is the beginning of the "full swing" of Tihar, so all the offices would be closed and Binod said he would not be available. So that completely shot all my hopes of getting any work done there before Friday.
I decided to head over to Java and grab a cup of tea and read my new book, Skinny Legs and All by Tim Robbins. I was working on the internet when I was approached by an Indian guy named Maneesh. He was having some difficulty connecting to the internet and asked if I could help out. I tried, but just as we were getting somewhere the power went off. So Maneesh invited me to sit down and have some company. We started talking and I found out some interesting things about Maneesh.
1. He is originally from Winnipeg Canada
2. He is a Med Student at a teaching hospital in Pokhara
3. He was meeting some Nepali friends
He invited me to hang out with him that night. We met up with a few friends of his and went to a place called the Reggae Club. It is a rooftop Rock Bar in Thamel Kathmandu. The band was simply excellent. The lead singer was a little Nepali guy with a pony tail and he was belting out the Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Marley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others perfectly. I was simply amazed.
After the club closed at 11PM (everything in Kathmandu closes at 11 due to a curfew) We exchanged numbers and Email information and decided to meet for brunch at Java.
The following day I met him and his friend Nabina at Java and we went to a really good Indian food place called Anatolia. Nabs is a very sweet, very interesting, very rich Nepali 20 something who just finished her Nursing school and is planning on moving to New York to be a nurse. She would not be out of place on Park Avenue.
After lunch we met up with a friend of Nabs named Amit and he drove us around Kathmandu. Amit is a well to do owner of an Import/Export company. We ended up at a very chic place called Ga Zebo on the Kings Way. We all sat around and talked and had a few drinks. During the course of this little get together about 10 of Nabina and Amit's friends showed up. All these people are the daughters or sons of very well to do Nepalis. I went from knowing near no one in Nepal to hanging out with the rich hipsters. It was surreal.
I got a ride back to Thamel from Amit and while walking back to my hotel I got stopped in a lot of pedestrian traffic. It was here that I ran into my new Scottish friends. The asked me if I knew anywhere good to eat, and when I responded with more than one option they insisted that I join them for dinner. So we went to the Roadhouse and had some delicious Pizza. Turns out these Scots had been traveling in India for the past month and a half. Needless to say they ravaged the pizza. After doing some club hopping with my new friends it was time to say goodnight. We agreed to meet in the morning at Pumpernickle for some breakfast.
Today (Wednesday) I hung around with the Scots and took them to most of the interesting places that Michael had showed me. We headed down to New Road to try to find an SD card for their camera, hit up the bead market to pick up some trinkets, and even tried to get some of the Samosa's that Michael had boasted to be the best in the world. Everything went fine except for the Samosa. Turns out they shut down the shop for Tihar.
Today everywhere we went was a HUGE party. People had set up speakers in the streets and were blasting Nepali Techno and dancing. The best way to describe it is about 2 steps down from a riot. At around 5pm today we decided to take a break and try to get a nap in so that we could be refreshed for tonight's festivities.
Well the nap never came for me because I headed over to the internet cafe and met up with a very nice Canadian man in his 60's named Ken. He asked me for some help because he was not sure if he was sending email properly. I agreed, but all the computers at the Cafe were occupied. He urged me to accompany him for a cup of tea.
Turns out Ken is 67 and just got back from a 14 day trek around one of the mountains near Everest. This guy was in shape. We had some polite conversation regarding what we were doing in Nepal and wht we did back home and our families. After which he again urged me to accompany him for some dinner. He asked me if I knew any good spots. All I could think was here I go again. I asked him what he was in the mood for and he replied "Pizza." So yet another trip to the Roadhouse for me!
After dinner we went back to the internet cafe and I helped him with his email issues, and that essentially has been my past few days. Michael comes back tomorrow, and I need to clean the hotel room. It got a little messy due to my convalescence. My new Nepali friends insisted that I attend a Halloween Party on Friday, so hopefully I will have time to attend that. And my Scottish friends have just walked in and we are about to head out for my 3rd fun night in a row!
Thank you to everyone who comments, its nice to hear from you guys!
I went from living in my hotel room only leaving for work, to go to Java for some internet time, or to grab a fresh roll of toilet paper, to going out to weird clubs, meeting Nepali socialites, and hanging out with some crazy Scots. There is no "short story" on this one so I am just gonna go for the long one.
Monday was the first day I started feeling better from my "Delhi Belly" as my Scottish friends call it. So I tried to haed to Bhaktipur to do some work at the Women's Center. I called Binod (Presidend of Citta Himalaya) and asked if he or Prakash would be around today. The short answer was "No." The long answer was if I left for Bhaktipur immediately I might have 20 minutes to do some work. So I asked him if Tomorrow would be good. Turns out Tuesday is the beginning of the "full swing" of Tihar, so all the offices would be closed and Binod said he would not be available. So that completely shot all my hopes of getting any work done there before Friday.
I decided to head over to Java and grab a cup of tea and read my new book, Skinny Legs and All by Tim Robbins. I was working on the internet when I was approached by an Indian guy named Maneesh. He was having some difficulty connecting to the internet and asked if I could help out. I tried, but just as we were getting somewhere the power went off. So Maneesh invited me to sit down and have some company. We started talking and I found out some interesting things about Maneesh.
1. He is originally from Winnipeg Canada
2. He is a Med Student at a teaching hospital in Pokhara
3. He was meeting some Nepali friends
He invited me to hang out with him that night. We met up with a few friends of his and went to a place called the Reggae Club. It is a rooftop Rock Bar in Thamel Kathmandu. The band was simply excellent. The lead singer was a little Nepali guy with a pony tail and he was belting out the Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Marley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many others perfectly. I was simply amazed.
After the club closed at 11PM (everything in Kathmandu closes at 11 due to a curfew) We exchanged numbers and Email information and decided to meet for brunch at Java.
The following day I met him and his friend Nabina at Java and we went to a really good Indian food place called Anatolia. Nabs is a very sweet, very interesting, very rich Nepali 20 something who just finished her Nursing school and is planning on moving to New York to be a nurse. She would not be out of place on Park Avenue.
After lunch we met up with a friend of Nabs named Amit and he drove us around Kathmandu. Amit is a well to do owner of an Import/Export company. We ended up at a very chic place called Ga Zebo on the Kings Way. We all sat around and talked and had a few drinks. During the course of this little get together about 10 of Nabina and Amit's friends showed up. All these people are the daughters or sons of very well to do Nepalis. I went from knowing near no one in Nepal to hanging out with the rich hipsters. It was surreal.
I got a ride back to Thamel from Amit and while walking back to my hotel I got stopped in a lot of pedestrian traffic. It was here that I ran into my new Scottish friends. The asked me if I knew anywhere good to eat, and when I responded with more than one option they insisted that I join them for dinner. So we went to the Roadhouse and had some delicious Pizza. Turns out these Scots had been traveling in India for the past month and a half. Needless to say they ravaged the pizza. After doing some club hopping with my new friends it was time to say goodnight. We agreed to meet in the morning at Pumpernickle for some breakfast.
Today (Wednesday) I hung around with the Scots and took them to most of the interesting places that Michael had showed me. We headed down to New Road to try to find an SD card for their camera, hit up the bead market to pick up some trinkets, and even tried to get some of the Samosa's that Michael had boasted to be the best in the world. Everything went fine except for the Samosa. Turns out they shut down the shop for Tihar.
Today everywhere we went was a HUGE party. People had set up speakers in the streets and were blasting Nepali Techno and dancing. The best way to describe it is about 2 steps down from a riot. At around 5pm today we decided to take a break and try to get a nap in so that we could be refreshed for tonight's festivities.
Well the nap never came for me because I headed over to the internet cafe and met up with a very nice Canadian man in his 60's named Ken. He asked me for some help because he was not sure if he was sending email properly. I agreed, but all the computers at the Cafe were occupied. He urged me to accompany him for a cup of tea.
Turns out Ken is 67 and just got back from a 14 day trek around one of the mountains near Everest. This guy was in shape. We had some polite conversation regarding what we were doing in Nepal and wht we did back home and our families. After which he again urged me to accompany him for some dinner. He asked me if I knew any good spots. All I could think was here I go again. I asked him what he was in the mood for and he replied "Pizza." So yet another trip to the Roadhouse for me!
After dinner we went back to the internet cafe and I helped him with his email issues, and that essentially has been my past few days. Michael comes back tomorrow, and I need to clean the hotel room. It got a little messy due to my convalescence. My new Nepali friends insisted that I attend a Halloween Party on Friday, so hopefully I will have time to attend that. And my Scottish friends have just walked in and we are about to head out for my 3rd fun night in a row!
Thank you to everyone who comments, its nice to hear from you guys!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Travel Sick
Ok.
So I am sitting here in Java (my local internet café) and for the first time in 3.5 days I feel like it is ok to eat something. One thing I have discovered from my travels is that when you get sick. Do. Not. Eat. Anything. At. All. The only thing that food will do is feed whatever is making you sick in the first place. So I spent the last 3 days eating almost nothing. I say almost because on day 2 I tried a little bit of food and found it to be a mistake.
Today marks day 10 of my travels. 10 days back home doesn’t really seem like a lot. But here… time takes its time. It is really odd, because when I am walking around going to all these ancient sites in
Street Vendor “Hey, Sir!” “Hey, Sir!”
Me: “No thank you.”
Street Vender: “Very pretty, you take look”
Me: “No thank you.”
Street Vender: “You want Knife/Chess set/Flute/Violin/Purse/Taxi/Rickshaw?”
Me: “No thank you.”
Street Vender: “Where you going?”
Me: - silence – (Never tell them where you are going, they will always try to suggest somewhere better)
Street Vender: “Very good deal! I make you good deal. Only X Rupees.”
Me: “No thank you.”
At this point it is usually best to cross the street or weave through traffic to escape. Oddly enough I find myself missing the subtle advertising of
Its odd how that works, the less people are trying to sell me something, the more friendly they seem.
So I was supposed to start working on some projects for Citta this week while Michael is up in Humla, however I ran into a snag. Tomorrow the festival Tihar starts! The entire country is going to be basically shut down for one week. From what I have been able to gather from people is Tihar is a festival celebrating siblings, specifically sisters celebrating brothers. During this festival all sisters are supposed to give their brothers some kind of charm that will provide good luck for the upcoming year. (I don’t know what it looks like yet, but I bet by tomorrow I will have seen enough of them) So apart from some other work I have to do, It looks like I will just be hanging out in the Thamel section of Kathmandu for a few days waiting for this festival to end so I can get back to work.
The reason I haven’t really uploaded any new photos is because it takes about 10-15 minutes to upload one picture. So when I have a chunk of time to just sit at a computer at an internet café and watch a status bar slowly slide toward 100% I will be sure to show you some of the sights I have seen.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Java
I am sitting in a cafe in Kathmandu called Java right now. Michael has gone with filmmaker David Driver to a clinic that Citta runs which is about 4-5 hours away by jeep. So today I am finally on my own in this really amazing city. So what am I going to do today to celebrate my independence? Work.
Michael has figured out what he really wants me to do here in Nepal. Citta is a fairly spread out organization. And there is A LOT going on in the organization. Many many projects and all of them are growing. But something that has not grown with the organization is the available information on what all the projects are doing, what they have done, and who is involved in them. So I am going to gather information and find a way to communicate this information both internally in Citta, and externally to the general public.
A quick recap as to what I have been doing so far in Nepal.
2 days ago I went to Bhatapur which is an ancient city not too far from Kathmandu. It is where Citta Himilaya's Woman's Center is located. This center takes impovershed women and gives them an opportunity to better their situation by teaching them a trade, and then employing them in that same trade. The women are found from the local community and taught how to knit, sew, weave, and many other crafts, and then they are employed by Citta Himilaya for a wage that will help feed their families, pay for their childrens education, and also improve their general quality of life. It is essentiall the exact opposite of a sweat shop.
One of the other things that is important for the women to learn at this center is their worth. The center does not only train women in their craft, but empowers them to realize that as people, they have rights and privelages, as well as responsibilities. The women who work at this center are very proud of the work they do, and because their needs are being met, they realize that they have a responsibility to help others in need.
While at the Woman's center I spoke at length with the President of Citta Himilaya. He is a well to do man who is extremely good natured. He is the kind of person I hope to become good friends with. He took some time to show me around his shop and I learned about the different qualities of Pashmina and Silk. He and Michael talked about some women that might be good additions to the center and also how to help the center grow and become completely self-sufficient.
Yester day Michael and I stayed in Kathmandu for most of the day and worked on the type of information that he wants me to gather, and came up with a plan of action. I really hope that I am able to get everything he wants.
Today I am sick. A little bit of traveller's stomach it seems. Nothing too serious and nothing I can't handle. The jetlag is finally completely gone, and I have adjusted to the elevation of Kathmand which I have been told is 1,000 meters. The elevation mixed with the jetlag was a debilitating combination. But I seem to have finally settled into a groove. I am going to be posting photo's to my Picasa site after this post and they can be found here:
William's Photo Album
I dont know when I am going to be able to post again, but I will try to keep it every 2-4 days.
Out
Michael has figured out what he really wants me to do here in Nepal. Citta is a fairly spread out organization. And there is A LOT going on in the organization. Many many projects and all of them are growing. But something that has not grown with the organization is the available information on what all the projects are doing, what they have done, and who is involved in them. So I am going to gather information and find a way to communicate this information both internally in Citta, and externally to the general public.
A quick recap as to what I have been doing so far in Nepal.
2 days ago I went to Bhatapur which is an ancient city not too far from Kathmandu. It is where Citta Himilaya's Woman's Center is located. This center takes impovershed women and gives them an opportunity to better their situation by teaching them a trade, and then employing them in that same trade. The women are found from the local community and taught how to knit, sew, weave, and many other crafts, and then they are employed by Citta Himilaya for a wage that will help feed their families, pay for their childrens education, and also improve their general quality of life. It is essentiall the exact opposite of a sweat shop.
One of the other things that is important for the women to learn at this center is their worth. The center does not only train women in their craft, but empowers them to realize that as people, they have rights and privelages, as well as responsibilities. The women who work at this center are very proud of the work they do, and because their needs are being met, they realize that they have a responsibility to help others in need.
While at the Woman's center I spoke at length with the President of Citta Himilaya. He is a well to do man who is extremely good natured. He is the kind of person I hope to become good friends with. He took some time to show me around his shop and I learned about the different qualities of Pashmina and Silk. He and Michael talked about some women that might be good additions to the center and also how to help the center grow and become completely self-sufficient.
Yester day Michael and I stayed in Kathmandu for most of the day and worked on the type of information that he wants me to gather, and came up with a plan of action. I really hope that I am able to get everything he wants.
Today I am sick. A little bit of traveller's stomach it seems. Nothing too serious and nothing I can't handle. The jetlag is finally completely gone, and I have adjusted to the elevation of Kathmand which I have been told is 1,000 meters. The elevation mixed with the jetlag was a debilitating combination. But I seem to have finally settled into a groove. I am going to be posting photo's to my Picasa site after this post and they can be found here:
William's Photo Album
I dont know when I am going to be able to post again, but I will try to keep it every 2-4 days.
Out
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Kathmandu!
So after a rush to the airport and a mad dash for the plane we have arrived in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. The flight was short, only about an hour, but the view for the last 15 minutes was absolutely spectacular. I really wish I had had the foresight to have my camera ready for some amazing pictures of the base of the Himalayas. I will be sure to have it ready for the flight out of here to Delhi.
Dr. Yeshe Lodoe Lama met us at the airport. He is the President of Citta Nepal, and also the primary doctor at the hospital in Humla. He seemed very down to earth and an over all good man.
Michael gave me a brief tour of Kathmandu. This city/country is leaps and bounds different from India. The population is much less dense here than in India. Wheras India has over 1 billion people, nepal has less than 30 million. Kathmandu is a very happening city, with interesting night clubs and fantastic restauruants.
Michael and I went to one of his favorite places called the Roadhouse. This place has the best pizza I have had more than 50 miles outside of New York. It was well decorated and charming, in an west-invades-east sense. After wandering around our area (called Thamel) we went to a dance club/cabaret that didn't really have a name. It was a really hard to get a read on the place. There was traditional Nepalese singing, which seems to be centered around the relationships between men and women. The songs all followed the same structure. First a woman or group of women would sing, then there would be a chorus, then some random drunk man would be handed the mic and sing a verse, followed by yet another chorus. Michael explained to me that they were singing folky tongue in cheek verses meant to amuse. The part I found the most funny was watching the drunk Nepale men try to come up with something witty on the spot. A good time was had by all.
It looks like I am going to be spending about 3 weeks in Kathmandu working with the office clerk of he Hospital.
Out
Dr. Yeshe Lodoe Lama met us at the airport. He is the President of Citta Nepal, and also the primary doctor at the hospital in Humla. He seemed very down to earth and an over all good man.
Michael gave me a brief tour of Kathmandu. This city/country is leaps and bounds different from India. The population is much less dense here than in India. Wheras India has over 1 billion people, nepal has less than 30 million. Kathmandu is a very happening city, with interesting night clubs and fantastic restauruants.
Michael and I went to one of his favorite places called the Roadhouse. This place has the best pizza I have had more than 50 miles outside of New York. It was well decorated and charming, in an west-invades-east sense. After wandering around our area (called Thamel) we went to a dance club/cabaret that didn't really have a name. It was a really hard to get a read on the place. There was traditional Nepalese singing, which seems to be centered around the relationships between men and women. The songs all followed the same structure. First a woman or group of women would sing, then there would be a chorus, then some random drunk man would be handed the mic and sing a verse, followed by yet another chorus. Michael explained to me that they were singing folky tongue in cheek verses meant to amuse. The part I found the most funny was watching the drunk Nepale men try to come up with something witty on the spot. A good time was had by all.
It looks like I am going to be spending about 3 weeks in Kathmandu working with the office clerk of he Hospital.
Out
Friday, October 17, 2008
Arrived
After a 14 hour flight from JFK in NYC I arrived in Delhi International Airport at 4pm local Indian Time(5:30 AM NYC time). The flight was rather uneventful, apart from some minor turbulence. Michael and I sat in the very last row of the plane, and there was an extra seat between us, so we had some elbow and foot room to spare. The in flight movies were all things I have seen, things I did not want to see, or Bollywood Movies. So I ended up watching a very funny, and shamelessly Ironic Bollywood movie called Om Shanti Om. The movie itself was iconic Bollywood. It had shameless dance scenes, and referenced many other Indian Cinema, most of which needed to be explained to me by Michael. All in all I would give suggest this movie to anyone who wants to see an Indian film but does not know anything about Bollywood.
Leaving the plane is always an experience in developing nations or foreign cultures. Everything seems normal and routine until you inhale. That first breath is the first real indication that you are in a completely new world. While European and American airports are sterilized of pretty much everything, the airport in Delhi is heavy with the smell of people. There is no reference in western society for the smell of India.
After passing through immigration, customs, and baggage claim with no problems, we headed over to the duty free shop to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner with our hostess in India. Wine in India is notoriously bad. Not like cheap wine bad, but like undrinkable swill bad. However we managed to find something drinkable and moved on to the Taxi.
Our taxi driver was careless, reckless, and lost the entire trip to Sashi's house. It was pretty much a normal car ride in India. Michael and I counted only 7 times where we almost had a head on collision, which is pretty much as good as one could hope to get from a taxi ride in Delhi. After a few "personal" stops for our taxi driver, and another 10 or so stops for him to ask directions, we finally arrived at Sashi's house in Subhash Nagar. Subhash Nagar is a middle class neighborhood in Delhi, and Sashi has a beautiful home. This area of Delhi can be compared to brooklyn for those of you following along at home.
After a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine Sashi, Michael and I stayed up till about 1 am Delhi time talking about Religion, Politics, Philosophy, Art, Culture, History, Math, and why none of that stuff matters anyway. At this point it was getting hard to keep my eyes open or concentrate. I was perceiving the world through a filter of exhaustion. So We all decided to call it a night. I fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.
Woke up after only 5 hours of sleep (damn jetlag). And now I am writing this blogpost before heading off to the first shower I have had in over 36 hours of travel. Needless to say I am looking forward to washing my trip off myself. More to come later.
Leaving the plane is always an experience in developing nations or foreign cultures. Everything seems normal and routine until you inhale. That first breath is the first real indication that you are in a completely new world. While European and American airports are sterilized of pretty much everything, the airport in Delhi is heavy with the smell of people. There is no reference in western society for the smell of India.
After passing through immigration, customs, and baggage claim with no problems, we headed over to the duty free shop to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner with our hostess in India. Wine in India is notoriously bad. Not like cheap wine bad, but like undrinkable swill bad. However we managed to find something drinkable and moved on to the Taxi.
Our taxi driver was careless, reckless, and lost the entire trip to Sashi's house. It was pretty much a normal car ride in India. Michael and I counted only 7 times where we almost had a head on collision, which is pretty much as good as one could hope to get from a taxi ride in Delhi. After a few "personal" stops for our taxi driver, and another 10 or so stops for him to ask directions, we finally arrived at Sashi's house in Subhash Nagar. Subhash Nagar is a middle class neighborhood in Delhi, and Sashi has a beautiful home. This area of Delhi can be compared to brooklyn for those of you following along at home.
After a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine Sashi, Michael and I stayed up till about 1 am Delhi time talking about Religion, Politics, Philosophy, Art, Culture, History, Math, and why none of that stuff matters anyway. At this point it was getting hard to keep my eyes open or concentrate. I was perceiving the world through a filter of exhaustion. So We all decided to call it a night. I fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.
Woke up after only 5 hours of sleep (damn jetlag). And now I am writing this blogpost before heading off to the first shower I have had in over 36 hours of travel. Needless to say I am looking forward to washing my trip off myself. More to come later.
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