Food in Kathmandu

People keep asking me what I'm eating so here it is. I have this dish and fruit practically every day. Me and Flat Stanley that is. The food is really great.

Say yes to life, Britney Spears.

Yesterday it rained, which was really nice b/c it cooled everything off. It’s like Kathmandu is this huge frying pan, and we dropped it in a sink full of cold water. I’ve been really sick for a few days. Let’s not go into detail, but it’s bad in every way. I also discovered that my collective fees for using the ATM is 12 US dollars a transaction and I've already had 3 transactions, so $36. boo

I went to Bhaktapur on Saturday and loved it. It’s this really old (14^th century?) city with cobblestone streets and no cars. I found a lot of great souvenirs there and saw a lot of wonderful temples. The tallest temple in Nepal is there and they say that each level hold a figure 10 times stronger than the one below it. They also have this creepy green pond that has 2 large snake statues in it. They say that a priest went down to the water to become a serpent and he was supposed to scare off the real serpent or something. His assistant was supposed to feed him this food so he could become a priest again, but when he saw the snake he was so scared he ran away, leaving the priest a giant snake forever. (I knew you’d like that Elizabeth). Excuse the picture of me, I was sick, and it was at least 100 degrees and my pants are 2 sizes too big.

This group of Nepalese people stopped me, and I thought they wanted me to take their picture, but then they posed next to me while one of them took a picture. It was like I was Britney Spears or something, which, might I add, is still the hottest pop star in Nepal. Along with her, the teenagers wear shirts with Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and well, more Britney Spears on them. Another really weird thing is these cigarette adds everywhere that say “Say yes to life” and underneath them say “Smoking is injurious to your health”.

It’s been a pretty quiet weekend. Next week starts the work on the World Day against Child Labor Newsletter, the week after that I’m finishing up. The week after that I’m going to Chitiwan and Pokhara for a 7 day “holiday” and then I come back and work until I leave. I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you.

P.S. I sent everyone who sent me their address or whose address I knew postcards yesterday. Maybe you'll get them before I come home.

Valley of the Bandhs

monk on cell phone
Originally uploaded by Mr. Mark

Okay, so there's another strike today. I can't go ANYWHERE, even work. I stayed home and have now officially typed up 73 double-spaced pages of school health survey report. I know, I'm ridiculous. One of the questions was "What would you use if you were in an accident" Most of the answer choices were normal like, medicine from home, a faith healer, medicine from a doctor, but one of the answers to choose from was dung!??? Thankfully no one picked it. I have no idea why anyone who was hurt would say"hey, let's put some poop on it."

Kathmandu is this weird paradoxical place. There are strikes and demonstrations w/ no government action, Buddhist monks with cell phones, and concrete commercials with effeminate men singing in bollywood style about building material. Like right now, I'm in an internet cafe, where there are no women, and the power goes out frequently, and everyone has tikis on their heads and "I Ain't Mad at 'cha" is playing by Tupac. It makes me laugh and baffles me all at the same time. It's this incredibly overwhelming experience that is really quiet and peaceful at the same time. I was standing on the Boudanath stupa and the wind was blowing and massive amounts of people were all being really quiet and walking around the stupa in the same direction, and I could see the Himalayas in the background and it was this really amazing, serene experience, then I walked out onto the street into absolute chaos and hailed a minivan with at least 22 people in it and rode home. All the kids couldn't go to school b/c of the strike so when my back hurt too much from crunching numbers I would get up and watch them play soccer. Sometimes they stop and look at me and point and laugh. I'm still not really sure about what's so funny. People are always asking me "What is different about America?" and my consitent reply is "Everything".

Attack of the 50 ft woman

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So I know that I'm tall, but I haven't been this self concious about it since I was 10. I am a giant here. The average Nepali woman is 5'3" and probably weighs 100 pounds, the average Nepali man is 5'6". I can hardly fit into door frames, I have to buy the biggest size male flip flops they have, they make my cortas and have to let them out and everyone groans when I get on the microbus. My head touches the ceiling. Most of the buses are really crowded with people standing. They point me to a "seat" that is maybe 2 inches wide and I have to try and not fall out the door. Putting bangles on my huge hands is an ordeal and the cook and my house mother both have to help.
On another note, after work I went to the famous Boudanath Stupa. It's a huge Buddhist temple with several monastaries around. It was beautiful. I took some pictures and here they are. The air was clean and people weren't trying to sell me things. It was really nice. My work right now isn't exciting. I am just typing up the numbers from a survey into written form. I have almost 40 pages now and have a lot more to go.

There is supposed to be another strike tomorrow with no driving. This time the indigenous people are mad about thier representation in the government. I might be stuck at home, but I can type numbers there. I bought some toilet paper. You just don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. I had to go to a fancy store :).
I tried to register with the embassy today. I took a taxi there and then they said to go to this hotel. I took a taxi to the hotel and they said to come back later even though they are open. I guess things just work differently here, but I'm out 6 bucks and I have to go back later. Boo. I'll update in a few days. I"m going to Bakthapur on Saturday. It is a very old place where cars aren't allowed inside. It'll be nice to leave the pollution.

There is also a picture of my workspace. Yep, in Nepal you sit in the floor and the Didi (big sister) is always giving us tea. We don't drink coffee; we drink tea. I'm not gonna lie, I miss my coffee.

Just so everyone knows, Shanti, Prakash, Krisna, Milan, Ritu and Smriti are taking excellent care of me. They help me with everything, give me food to eat and water to drink and send people with me everywhere. They also know my cell phone and will call if I am late. I feel very safe, so DON'T WORRY about me, okay. Besides, I'm a huge person, I'm like the Chuck Norris of volunteers. I miss you , I love you, and I'll be home soon.

P.S. I am the worst self-portrait taker ever, but I don't trust anyone with my camera :) here's to countless pictures of half my face, which makes it about the size of a Nepalese face.

New assignment

Hey guys,

Everything is really good here, despite missing everyone desperately. I have started working and have already typed up 20 pages of the school health report. It's nice to be able to do work during work hours. It's scheduled, I'm not used to that. I walk everywhere and everywhere is uphill or downhill so I'm getting plenty of exercise. The clothes I had made are not saris, but cortas (I didn't know). They are still pretty, but kinda tight in the chest area. I'm going to have to get them let out a bit. I am also my own photographer, so excuse the pictures. I'll have to get a sari made before I leave. In addition to the work I already told you about, June 12th is world day against child labor. I get to travel to all of the CWISH drop in centers and child clubs (yes ladies and gentlemen, youth organizing... my practicum team will get it). I'm going to be collecting interviews and photographs to create a CWISH newsletter about the event.

Every time I walk down the street, everyone stares at me, all the little children shout "HI!" and I shout back, "Namaste", and i almost am killed by A. a bus B. a taxi C. a motorbike or D. a micro bus. Send me an email w/ your address and I'll write you a postcard.

The gallant Ozzie, the best watchdog in Kathmandu

Flat stanley and I stuck in my room b/c of the strike.

"Oh Flat Stanley, what would I do without you to keep me company? David can never know; do you understand? It's only for the summer. Our love is a secret love."

No cars go

I'm back at the cafe b/c of this, story courteosy of nepalnews.com

Agitating teachers call valley bandh

Protesting the police intervention in their sit-in on Friday, the agitating teachers led by Nepal Educational Republican Forum have announced valley bandh on Sunday.

Guna Raj Lohani, president of Forum, said that the bandh has been announced to protest the 'tyrannical oppression' against peaceful agitation by a democratic government. He said five dozen teachers were injured in the incident.
The meeting of the Forum, Saturday, had announced the bandh. The meeting also decided that if the eight parties show their willingness to resolve educational problems, they would be flexible enough to withdraw school strike.
The Forum has accused the Education Minister of making provocative remarks. It has asked Minister Pradeep Nepal to apologise for calling Forum as terrorist outfit.
Furthermore, Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Students Union (ANNISU-Revolutionary) has warned to intensify its agitation and lock up accounts and administration sections of private schools if the government does not fulfill their demands. It has also warned to lock up government education offices and department.
At the strike call of Forum, 7.8 million students of over 35,000 schools across the country have been affected. The schools have remained shut down since last ten days.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has arranged shuttle bus service for national and international air passengers from airport to various hotels and vice versa today from 10.00 am 4:00 pm.

www.nepalnew.com

Here are pictures from my trip yesterday, and the view from my room.

Me with my tiki blessing

Here are some kids at the temple.
This is the view from my bedroom.
this monkey tried to scratch me and this is the picture where I narrowly escaped.

Enjoy these, they were a pain to upload. Love you guys.

Buddhas and temples and monkeys, oh my

Hey guys,

Upon revisiting my project, CWISH and I have decided to revamp. For 2 days a week I will be working on a school health report that is completed and compiling the results into a final report. 3 days a week I will be interviewing child domestic laborers with interesting stories of hardship and success to create a booklet of case studies. I'm really excited.

I'm getting much more used to everything, but my stomach isn't. Also the heat and the altitude, not to mention how hilly everything is, is very tiring.

Today I went to the Monkey temple. Unfortunately, it was almost too hot for the monkeys. You climb 365 steps to the top of a natural hill, said to be a gift from the gods. Once you reach the top you see a large buddhist temple, 2 monistaries, and a hindu temple, not to mention a monkey swimming pool. As I was climbing, i must have looked tired b/c a holy man came over and blessed me with a tiki, those red dots on the forehead. He said it brought good luck, and then later I got really sick, so maybe not. In fact, I still do not feel great.

I have a cell phone now, but its crazy expensive to call the states. If you have something like skype on your computer, you can buy a little credit and call for .2 cents a minute. My number is 009779803441959.

today in the market and older hindu woman told me, (in mostly nonverbal language) that my chest was very big and was I going to have a baby.