Orientation Week 2

“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” (Isabelle Eberhardt)

This week was all about presentations and lack of water. We got assigned our thematic groups (there are 4 in TBT: Youth, Women, Education, and Agriculture and all of us were put into one of those to focus on. Then we will get mixed up and put into the villages). I am in the youth group with Sh, O, Sm, M, Al, and C, which was awesome because I am pretty close with all of them. Each group met with the Nepali staff to learn about our subject and then we had 3 times to meet during the week to make a presentation about our subject to present it to everyone else so we could all learn about each topic. Our group divided our presentation into 3 parts: past, present, and future. We had games and a power point and wrote a song. It was fun and very youth-oriented. I had a good time working with my group and getting close to them.

We also had a free day this week, which was awesome! It was Puja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_(Hinduism)) so I went with S, Sh, D, C, and Ab to Kathmandu Dubar Square where we could watch the ceremonies. Then we went and had breakfast at Or2K and everyone left but S and I. We stayed and used my computer for a while and read. Then we went to Patan Durbar Square, which ended up being really awesome. It was quiet and relaxing. I bought a beautiful scarf and we wandered around all afternoon. We ended up walking out of the square and into Patan city, which was pretty intense. We were the only foreigners around and it was packed, dirty, and crowded (kind of how I envision Kalimati to be). We were out most of the afternoon and then took a cab back to Thamel where we looked around and then walked back home.

Another fun thing that happened this week: we ran out of water…twice! It was semi funny and mostly annoying. I was fine having to wait to shower, I could use my water bottle to brush my teeth, but living with 20 other people and every one having to go to the bathroom was definitely an issue. However, this will be good practice for the village. Fortunately I was pretty cool with it.

On Thursday we had a very interesting morning. We had to go somewhere in Kathmandu (a non-tourist area) alone. I wasn’t comfortable enough to go on my own so Sh and I hopped on a bus not knowing where. We ended up in some neighborhood and walked for a while up this mountain and then made friends with a family on the way down. They didn’t really speak English and we obviously don’t know too much Nepali but somehow we managed to communicate and laugh and have a good time. We decided to head back to our neighborhood and regroup afterwards and took a different way home from the bus. We ended up finding a Buddhist temple (about 2 minutes from our house) so we went in to check it out.

The room was completely packed and humming with prayer. Women sat on pillows with shawls draped around their shoulders. They shared prayer books and held prayer beads. Some of the women held mini prayer wheels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_wheel), which they kept in constant motion.  We crept in at the back and were kind of sitting right outside the door but the women made us come in. They gave us pillows and smiled at us. There was no judgment, no confusing looks, just peace and acceptance. They gave us rice to through at the end of the service (not sure what that means yet) and seemed to enjoy our delight in everything.

After the service we felt really happy and relaxed. We decided we had tried a bit to hard to find adventure earlier in the day and the best way to find it was to just wander into it. We ended up going to the Assan Market (fabrics) and picking up amazing fabrics to be made into shirts and dresses. Sh bought a street kite and we spend the rest of the morning walking around and avoiding getting run over by motorcycles.  All in all, an awesome morning!

On Friday and Saturday I ended up in Thamel both nights. On Friday night after Shabbat I went with E, GB, and Al to the Irish Pub. We ended up meeting 2 really cool Australian guys (Ri and Ro). But the best part was that the 4 of us (E, GB, Al, and I) really got to bond, which was awesome. The next night it was only Sh and I who went to Thamel just to have some time away from everyone. We ate at Food Bazar and then hung out with the Aussies. A good weekend, but not long enough! Next week we have an open weekend which means we can leave Friday afternoon and not come back till Saturday night. Looking forward to it!

This week has really made the house and the people around me feel a lot more like home. Although orientation is really intense, and will only get more so before it gets better, I am learning so much and trying to appreciate things around me a different way. Even though I don’t love every thing we learn and I find some of the lectures exhausting, I know that I am getting an opportunity to experience things at a very interesting and awesome level. So I will continue to push through small annoyances and focus on the smiles.

Signed,

Satisfied and Smiling