Living Goddesses, Yoga, and Monkeys

Well, I have only been here for a little over a week and I already feel like I have too much to write to keep up this blog. But I will try to do my best to give an overview of what things are like here and what I have been doing.

I was pretty nervous the whole way here on my flight from Delhi. The flight was delayed about three hours and to be honest I was relieved to be able to just sit in the airport, despite the many hours I had already been traveling. I did not have anywhere to be and was feeling very anxious about the reality of landing in Kathmandu, getting a visa, collecting my suitcase, getting a sim card for my cell phone, choosing a hotel, and finding a way to get there. The flight was short and I did my best to distract myself by watching Modern Family episodes on my personal T.V. At one point the captain came on the loud speaker and told us that the weather was better and visibility would not be a problem, but there was a lot of air traffic so we would be circling until we were able to land. He thinks we have enough gas but we might need to land somewhere else, "hopefully it will not come to that". Awesome. I just thought it was funny that he shared this with all of us. 

Anyway, the views of the mountains were beautiful flying into Nepal. The huge green hills and snow capped mountains in the distance were unlike anything I had ever seen. As we were landing and seeing this aerial view of the city I just kept saying "Oh my G-d, oh my G-d, Oh my G-d". Wow, it was just this crazy overwhelming feeling of excitement and anxiety all in one that I was actually finally here, in this foreign, beautiful place. The Kathmandu airport looks like a long wooden barn. Everyone walked right off the front or back of the airplane onto the ground where we got on buses to drive us to the terminal. Inside there were booths to fill out forms for a visa, a line to hand in that form and pay the visa fee, and then you walked straight over to the baggage claim. Pretty simple. It didn't seem like anyone checked the forms or information too thoroughly at all. Just a formality and way to make money. 

The baggage claim area was a huge warehouse with a long luggage belt, with bags and boxes strewn all over the floor. Literally all over. There were people everywhere and it was hard to find a place to walk. By some miracle I happened to see my bag close to where I was standing. When I walked over to get it a Nepali man came over to me and began picking it up and leading me out. I told him I still had another box I needed to wait for. He waited for the box, picked it up, and then motioned for me to follow him with all of my things. I am not sure where he came from or how he singled me out but I really didn't have much of a choice about any of it. He led me in front of the whole long line of people waiting to put their stuff through the security machine and got me all the way out in about two minutes. I told him thank you and it was okay I could take it from here, feeling a little unsure of this service, wondering why it was okay for me to just cut the entire line. He then looked at me saying, "tips? tips?". Ooooh. So this isn't just part of the airport service.... In hindsight it is very obvious to me but at the time, my very sleep-deprived, nervous self was just trying to take it all in. I gave him an American dollar (all I had at that point) and hoped he would be satisfied. 

Something I have noticed about this country is that either everything is done for you, and you are surrounded by people imposing their services on you, or you must not accept any help at all and assertively refuse all gestures so that you are left to figure everything on your own. I am not sure what I expected. I imagined leisurely finding my way and stopping to ask people directions or get suggestions from the man at the front desk at my hotel, I guess more like the way it works in the U.S. It turns out Nepal is a little bit different. I must have had 3 men standing around me, waiting for me to come in their taxi or go to their hotel,  while I tried to understand and make decisions about buying a sim card at the airport. As soon as I was done one of them took my bags and walked out to the street, threw my bag in the back seat of a little white car, what I realized after a minute was a taxi which was at a standstill in the biggest traffic jam I have ever seen. His friend jumped in the seat with my suitcase and they all yelled at me to get in the front of the car, on what we are used to as the drivers side. 

The only rule that I can see about driving here is everyone honks their horn to let all around know that they are coming. Other than that, it is kind of a free for all with motorcycles, rickshaws, taxis, and buses packed with people zooming inches away from one another - literally inches. I was in awe of everything I was seeing around me on that first taxi ride. I could not stop looking out the window, taking in my new surroundings. It was amazing and I don't think I'll ever forget how I felt that day.

I'm realizing that if I go on in this much detail I will be writing forever. I am not sure how many of you are still reading this. The next few days were filled with ups and downs. The first night I found the Chabad house, met a few Israelis who were traveling, and ate dinner there. I was tired, overwhelmed, and a bit lonely to find myself in a very foreign place without anyone. It was hard to know who to trust so I realized I needed to be assertive with the young man working at my guest house and insist that he leave me alone. I could do things on my own. 

My first day in Nepal I woke up, walked out of my guest house, wandered the streets of the Thamel for about an hour, and somehow found my way to the "monkey temple". All I could think when I got there was "Wow, I am freaking awesome". There are very few signs, and streets are not marked so maps are close to useless. I could not even stop for a second in the street to make sure I was going the right way because there would be multiple men yelling at me and everything is so fast paced. But somehow I did it and I was so proud! The temple was beautiful and there were tons of monkeys running around. 

Later that day I met two girls from Germany with whom I spent the rest of the day. We had tea at a cafe and then went to Durbar Square. We let a Nepali man take us on a tour of the temples there and learned a lot about Nepal and Buddhism. We saw a living goddess who lives in the temple with the priest from the time that she is 3 yrs old until she gets her period. She is chosen based on physical and mental criteria and only shows her face through a small window twice a day. The tour was supposed to be an hour but lasted two hours and ended with tea on a rooftop cafe overlooking the city.

Later that night I met up with a girl from the program and three friends she met in India to get a drink at a bar in Thamel. We ordered beer that comes in a jug to which you add hot water to and wait to ferment. I just kept thinking.. how did this happen?! Last night I was alone, a little nervous and sad in a country that is totally unfamiliar and now I am sitting on a balcony drinking beer with a bunch of people after a long, fun, interesting day. It was awesome. I think I got a small taste of what it is like to travel alone and it is a little addicting. 

I have been working on this entry for almost a week now. I plan to be more brief in the future although it is hard because everything is so exciting and new and interesting. I have been with the program now since Monday and am having a great time. We are living in a house together for the first month. The first morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m with a few people to go to a yoga class outside one of the nearby temples. It was an awesome experience. There were over 100 people there practicing yoga in the pitch black before sunrise with booming Nepali music. There was even a dance session at the end. I kept looking over to my left and seeing the monkeys on the side and remembering that I was doing yoga in Nepal?! What?

We take daily Nepali lessons and classes on community development. We just visited the first out of three places that volunteers will be placed for the volunteering. Each place has it's own issues and challenges. Every volunteer requests a specific area that they want to work on (Women's Groups/Agriculture/ Youth groups/Education) and his or her preference for which village to work in. 

I'm working hard practicing my Hebrew and learning Nepali at the same time! Not always easy. But Im really happy and having a great time. Please stay in touch! I love hearing from everybody!