Post regarding last day living in Kathmandu for the next 6 weeks

So,

It was Sunday, and I planned to meet up with a friend in Kupondol, Kathmandu. His name is Yuyutsu RD Sharma, or Yuyu. He is a writer/poet that I met at UC Davis when he came to do a workshop and poetry reading. I had seen that he was Nepali, so I decided to get because I figured that seeing the flyer in the elevator was an auspicious sign.

I took a taxi out to Kupondol, and it was great to see the guy, we made plans to have dinner with his wife, daughter, and son on a later date. I'm quite excited. He'll be helping me out with some of my information gathering as well, so far we've got plans to go see some shamans who practice a pre-buddhist, pre-hindu religion, I'm quite excited about that.

Alright, after this I left for Banepa.

Swayambhunath

Today I went out to Swayambhunath Temple, which is also known as the "monkey temple". It's known to be quite a hike up, it's about 300 practically vertical steps up this giant hill till you reach the top. The whole area is completely filled with Buddhist and Hindu iconography.

To get there from Thamel (the tourist district), me and my new friend Cara, from Missouri, took a Rickshaw for about 20 minutes. That was quite the experience. I mean, beyond being stared  at for being a tourist,  it was very exhilarating.

Arriving at Swayambhu, we first stumbled upon a Hindu temple of sorts, I took a picture of the main deity in the courtyard, so if anyone wants to identify that for me, please do so! If we hadn't taken a rickshaw and bypassed all that we totally would missed it, so I'm glad we took the rickshaw.

We then walked for a little while and got to Swayambhunath, where we began our trek up the East side of the hill. It's quite the majestic ascent, and at the top is a magnificent stupa with monkeys all over the place. It's quite the site. It's very very beautiful, and to see the entire Kathmandu Valley is quite humbling.

After we hung out for a while at the Stupa at the top, we managed to stumble back down to the ground and walked around the base of the hill, and it was really nice to have some quiet time with the forest and dirt paths away from the huss and fuss of the city. You really can't see the mountains that surround the valley from the inner city, especially the tourist district, haha.

It was definitely a really nice day, but tomorrow I'll be driving out an hour-ish to Banepa, where I'll meet my host family and begin my placement on Monday.

This post will be supplemented by many many photos at a date soon to come. Most of the stuff is better explained pictorially.

Quick post before I forget what it was like to

get lost in Kathmandu for 3 hours. So much fun. 

So a little background. I'm currently in Thamel, Kathmandu, which is where I'll be until I head out to the countryside, Banepa. Thamel is kind of the tourist district of Kathmandu. Lots of catering to Western tastes, it's kind of annoying, Not my favorite idea of a vacation, so I decided to just walk and see where I get to.

It's great to see less and less foreigners, and soon enough, I'm lost and lovin' it. Kathmandu is this giant sprawling town, the people are intense. 

I just took in the sights and sounds of the city, and that's what I really love doing. There was nothing particularly exciting, but I wanted to write this for myself, so that I don't forget the "mundane" stuff that I did while I'm here.

I did however, get to see a funeral procession, which was pretty interesting. It's this huge line of people just walking through stark traffic mourning. The head of the line are the immediate family members, who are banging on drums and cymbals in a rhythmic fashion, signifying the procession. This was followed by the body itself, which was wrapped in an ornate cloth and surrounded by flowers and symbolic objects. The body was carried on a wooden plank by some of the family members. This was then followed by a long line of extended family and friends. It was really an interesting sight to see. 

Alright that's it for now. It is currently 1:30pm on Friday June 11th. I'll probably head out to a bookstore owned by a friend. A writer/poet who came to UC Davis a couple of months back to give a poetry reading. I hope I can find it. 

The View Approaching the Nepalese Border from the Plane

I think I'm in Love

First off, if any of you saw my facebook status about Thai Airways, it was really in relation to the airport in Bangkok, because its pretty nice.

However, that was NOTHING.NOTHING. compared to the flight's descent into the Kathmandu Valley. One minute we're flying over Calcutta and these desolate dry plains in India, and as soon as you near the Kathmandu border, you can see the tops of the Himalayas peeking over the clouds, and that was when I knew I was on the right flight. These mountains were absolutely breathtaking. I was in awe. I just kept thinking to myself. These are the highest points on our planet. These giant snowcapped majestic things.

Beneath us, the desert turned into forests and hills, the tributaries winding around and and around the trees and plains. Heading towards Kathmandu, you just see a drop, these mountains, which had distinct trails and houses on top them (which was amazing), into the Valley and this valley, you guys, seriously, this valley was amazing. It's like this massive self-contained valley and it's not like Sacramento or the Bay. It was more beautiful, and as we approached the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport, you could see the cars and the buildings and I knew I was going to like it here.

This town, Kathmandu, is quite the bustling city. It's not what I expected it to be. It's more low-key, less compact, and shorter than I expected.

There are no traffic lights, people drive on the left. Bikes, people, motorcycles, busses, microbusses, cars all share these narrow roads. Honking your horn or ringing your bell is a way of life. A very pre-emptive get out of my way, way of life.

I'm in Thamel, Kathmandu right now, just absorbing the culture before I head out to Banepa this weekend. I will start my placement on Monday. So far I've met people from California, Canada, Texas, England, Denmark....good stuff. A bunch of the volunteers are heading out to Pokhara this weekend, but I think I'm going to stay in town and just relax. The jet lag isn't too bad since I didn't sleep between Tuesday 7am Pacific time and Thursday 7pm Kathmandu time. Basically about 50 hours, haha.

I'm so excited!!!!

Indian Plains just before the Nepalese Border, clouds and the  Himalayas peeking over the top of the Clouds in the Distance. Taken from a Thai Airways Boeing 777

Update from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

First leg done, two more to go. Flight was good, very nice flight attendants talked to one of them about Nepal, haha.

Ok boarding next flight to Bangkok!

Pre-Launch Briefing

As I sit here in bed, it's 7:30am, I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into. My hands and arms are tingling. The same question ("So why Nepal?") that has been asked of me for months is now just catching up to the little person inside my head that I sometimes have conversations with. I'm finding it harder to give a 100% confident answer that I've been dishing out to my friends and family, but I think this doubt will wear off in the next few hours.

I mean seriously, why Nepal? WHY NOT Nepal? I mean seriously, this little nation is smashed between the world's fastest growing economies, yet it is the poorest country in Asia by several standards. Where else can you climb Mt. Everest one week, and a couple weeks later visit a national park full of tigers, rhinos, and elephants? Gautama Buddha was born in Nepal, and the country itself has a rich cultural and religious history. It is a beautiful clash of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. What about the fact that this nation, in the eyes of the world, has only been a democratic republic for three years? I mean, my mind cannot even comprehend what it must be like to to live in a Hindu state headed by a monarch, and then suddenly be a republic. In the last month, a deadline came and went for the Constituent Assembly of Nepal's government to write a brand new constitution, and with literally three hours to spare, the country avoided imminent implosion when they agreed to prevent the current assembly from dissolving and extend its term for one more year. It's not everyday that one can travel and see a new country forming before your eyes.

What lies ahead of me is the longest time I will have ever traveled.
San Francisco to Taipei. Taipei to Bangkok. Bangkok to Kathmandu.
Boeing 777-300ER --> Airbus A330-200 --> Boeing 777-200
21 hours of flight. 9 hours of layovers. 30 hours total travel time.
I am so excited to fly.

Type into maps.google.com
"Banepa, Nepal"
that is where I will be.
Now, zoom into, look into the bottom left corner of the town for a big windy road on a large terraced hill that leads to a clearing upon which are several buildings with red roofs.
that is where I will be working.

HRDC, or Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children is one of the only tertiary level hospitals in Nepal. It specializes in orthopedic ailments, and provides both surgery and rehabilitation for children throughout the country using a combination of in-patient, out-patient, and community health practices.
As an intern at this hospital, I'll be doing an internship that will allow me to not only shadow physicians, but put into practice and apply what I've learned this year in UCD Athletic Training to a different population.

I will be living for six weeks in a home with a young couple. The first is a 28 year old man who works as a physical therapist at the HRDC, and his 24 year old wife. I will have more to say on them later, but I think this is going to be an amazing experience in and of itself. I am so excited to be living with a person who understands the healthcare system in Nepal. The prospect of being able to have help learning medical terminology in Nepali is tickling my mind.

While the primary objective of this trip is to complete this hospital internship, don't expect all of these posts to be about my hospital adventures. I am for sure committed to exploring and learning and being a sponge to all the culture that the people and country are willing to offer. Expect a detailed account of all the food I will be eating, and the places that I visit. I will update when I can.

After months of waiting and preparing for this trip it is finally here. My first trip to the fabled land of Shangri-La begins now.