Arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal

Rachel and I arrived safely to Kathmandu last night. Wow! It is so hard to describe what this place is like...it is so different from anywhere I have ever been! We stepped out of the airport into mass chaos. Even at 2230 there were mobs of people--taxi drivers, hotel people, panhandlers, and everyone was waving signs and shouting at us. We were desperately hoping that our organization had remember to send someone to pick us up. Fortunately, we quickly spotted some guys across the street holding signs with our names on them. They grabbed our bags and we booked it to our pimp ride. We continued to be followed by a group of guys who kept demanding money from us, and we had to fight our way into the little van-like vehicle that was our ride. As soon as we made it in, one of the drivers grabbed our bags out of the vehicle and said he was throwing them on the roof. We tried to protest, thinking there was no way they were going to make it to our destination. Soon three more volunteers piled into the vehicle, also protesting their bags being thrown on top. We were soon speeding through the streets of Kathmandu, knee-to-knee with volunteer-mates from China, hitting our heads on the ceiling with every bump, and praying that the not-so-healthy-sounding vehicle got us to wherever we needed to go. We made it to the guest house safe and sound--and, despite our doubts, so did our bags. Rachel and I were both so overwhelmed and exhausted that we crawled right into our sleeping bags and crashed. At that point, all I could think was, "well, I asked for adventure." :)

This morning, I awoke to a brand new world. Sounds of the busy streets mingled with chirping birds and a crowing rooster--who we named "Rodney." We peeled ourselves out of nice warm sleeping bags, and headed downstairs for breakfast. It was delicious! The milk coffee was the best I have ever tasted!....that may be partly due to the fact that the place was so cold we could see our breath while we ate.

We made fast friends with our three carmates from China--Danny, Tina, and Audrey. We all ate breakfast and then began to plan our day in the city. As we were planning, we were joined by Rajesh, a guy from our volunteer organization who said he had all day to show us around since we were the first volunteers here. We are all very thankful for his help. He showed us around Kathmandu, pointed out markers for us to remember our way back to the guest house or to various points of interest. He also helped us find working ATMs and places to exchange currency. The streets are so crazy! They are full of people and scooters and little cars, all honking. There are shops everywhere and prayer flags strung across the streets. The smell of incense is everywhere--burning sticks are stuck in flower pots, set on window sills, or wedged in cracks-- and it is wonderful, because when it doesn't smell like incense, the aroma of sewage and burning plastic takes over. We all went to an authentic Italian pizza place for lunch called "Fire and Ice" and enjoyed some delicious pizza and coke--toasting to our sudden friendship.

Later today we will meet the rest of our volunteer group. There are 27 of us (and 21 of the volunteers are from China!). We will spend the remainder of the week in Kathmandu for orientation and they will take us to a few tourist spots while we are here. This weekend we will  head out to our volunteer spot. I am having the time of my life here!