(a few hours before leaving for Budhanilkantha)
(settling in at the monastery)
...Oh boy. At least I have a friend for the first two weeks. Lucille is French and travelling around the world for a year. It is both better and worse than I expected. I have a bed, thats cool. The bathrooms look better than the ones at the hostel. There's a whiteboard in the classroom. I finally get to nest...
Okay, permit me a moment here. This is going to be a hard one. I'm really not sure what to think...
Now it's after dinner and I'm feeling a little better. Not quite as panicked but still the homesickness factor is higher than before. Even meeting someone that speaks okay English calmed me down. Also, the kids know a lot more than they let on.
Here's my schedule for the next few weeks.
7:00 Breakfast
8:30-12:00 Class
12:00 Lunch
6:00 Dinner
Friday and Saturady free
Sidenote: Ahh! Lucile just showed me my first spider that's as big as my hand! I just hope he's too big to fit under the door. (shudder)
We really are at the top of a hill. My assignment said the internet and market are about a 15 minute walk away. They didn't mention that was just on the downhill. It will take me an hour to climb back up! The hill is spectacular, though. We have a superb view and everything is green and nice. Of course I got three mosquito bites within the first half hour and thwarted two others. I told Lucille I feel bad killing bugs while in a Buddhist monastery but she says mosquito don't count, and I must agree.
We watched a chanting session soon after arriving. Notre Dame has nothing on this place for intricate architecture and overwhelming splendor, and this is just an out-of-the-way monastery on the top of a hill. This might not be the meditation retreat I had in mind but hopefully I can engage in and learm some of the teachings. Everything is so dang ritualised and complicated. Kay, help me!
Earlier today a person or person who shall remain nameless pointed out that I haven't once remarked on the striking poverty, heaps of trash or other general differences between Washington and Nepal. In response I say anyone who doesn't know that the USA and Nepal are worlds apart is an idiot and of course I noticed. I came over here thinking of metal shacks, deathly ill children wandering the streets and whatever else. What is remark-worthy is the large absence of these things. For the most part people seem to live happy lives here. Yes the trash is everywhere but I expected that. There is a movement to start making trashcans more widely available in public areas which would be an improvement over the total of two that exist now. There are schools everywhere and most kids you see during the day are in uniform. Nearly everyone has a motorbike, electricity, and a backup generator in Kathmandu. There are rolling blackouts nearly every night but they last for an hour at most. Some of the beggars do nearly kill me but I barely ever get asked for money. Even the merchants aren't too obnoxious when they call out to you on the street and only one in ten tiger balm guys follow you. Every time I look out over any part of Kathmandu I think I want to live here some time in my life. I adore it here. Of course I adore Thamel but I grew to love Kalanki and I'm sure Budhanilkantha will be the same.
Tomorrow I'll work on cleaning my bed so I'm not afraid to touch it but for now my sleeping bag is my friend.
(settling in at the monastery)
...Oh boy. At least I have a friend for the first two weeks. Lucille is French and travelling around the world for a year. It is both better and worse than I expected. I have a bed, thats cool. The bathrooms look better than the ones at the hostel. There's a whiteboard in the classroom. I finally get to nest...
Okay, permit me a moment here. This is going to be a hard one. I'm really not sure what to think...
Now it's after dinner and I'm feeling a little better. Not quite as panicked but still the homesickness factor is higher than before. Even meeting someone that speaks okay English calmed me down. Also, the kids know a lot more than they let on.
Here's my schedule for the next few weeks.
7:00 Breakfast
8:30-12:00 Class
12:00 Lunch
6:00 Dinner
Friday and Saturady free
Sidenote: Ahh! Lucile just showed me my first spider that's as big as my hand! I just hope he's too big to fit under the door. (shudder)
We really are at the top of a hill. My assignment said the internet and market are about a 15 minute walk away. They didn't mention that was just on the downhill. It will take me an hour to climb back up! The hill is spectacular, though. We have a superb view and everything is green and nice. Of course I got three mosquito bites within the first half hour and thwarted two others. I told Lucille I feel bad killing bugs while in a Buddhist monastery but she says mosquito don't count, and I must agree.
We watched a chanting session soon after arriving. Notre Dame has nothing on this place for intricate architecture and overwhelming splendor, and this is just an out-of-the-way monastery on the top of a hill. This might not be the meditation retreat I had in mind but hopefully I can engage in and learm some of the teachings. Everything is so dang ritualised and complicated. Kay, help me!
Earlier today a person or person who shall remain nameless pointed out that I haven't once remarked on the striking poverty, heaps of trash or other general differences between Washington and Nepal. In response I say anyone who doesn't know that the USA and Nepal are worlds apart is an idiot and of course I noticed. I came over here thinking of metal shacks, deathly ill children wandering the streets and whatever else. What is remark-worthy is the large absence of these things. For the most part people seem to live happy lives here. Yes the trash is everywhere but I expected that. There is a movement to start making trashcans more widely available in public areas which would be an improvement over the total of two that exist now. There are schools everywhere and most kids you see during the day are in uniform. Nearly everyone has a motorbike, electricity, and a backup generator in Kathmandu. There are rolling blackouts nearly every night but they last for an hour at most. Some of the beggars do nearly kill me but I barely ever get asked for money. Even the merchants aren't too obnoxious when they call out to you on the street and only one in ten tiger balm guys follow you. Every time I look out over any part of Kathmandu I think I want to live here some time in my life. I adore it here. Of course I adore Thamel but I grew to love Kalanki and I'm sure Budhanilkantha will be the same.
Tomorrow I'll work on cleaning my bed so I'm not afraid to touch it but for now my sleeping bag is my friend.
Sounds better then NY, NY
ReplyDeleteGive the rituals and culture of the monastery time; don’t try to absorb them overnight. I am sure that by the time you leave the intricate complicated meditation chants will seem as right and natural as getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth does now.
ReplyDeleteI can’t wait to see photos… Buildings constructed over multiple generations with manual labor just have a different quality to them. If you are concerned about creepy crawly things coming under the door spray some deet along the bottom edge of the door or soak a length of rope in it and lay it along the threshold. I assume that the partition walls are made of masonry? I’ll keep an eye out for something that’s non-toxic to mammals and more suited for persistent anti-arachnid duty.
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ReplyDeleteI don't know why I didn't think of it before! I'll send you some borate salts. You just dissolve them in water and spray, ok well in your situation pour / sponge, them onto a surface you don't want creepy crawly things on. They are non-toxic to mammals and are natural / environmentally friendly. I wouldn’t eat them though, might give you a bad stomach ache.
ReplyDeleteMan mails unknown white powder news at 11
Grammar deletion and repost.