First week in Chitwan

I apologize for not posting a new blog for awhile. We arrived in Chitwan last Sunday and it is quite difficult to find a good time to get on the internet long enough to post a blog. The electricity is only on for a few hours during the day and a lot of the time the internet or computers are broken. I am currently writing this from the internet shack near the house I am staying in...the internet shack is literally a mud hut with two computers operated by a good friend of ours, Bikash...I am very thankful to have this connection to the world as I have never felt so far away from everything  and everyone in my life.

I feel as if I have stepped backwards in history...everything here is very primitive. We wash our clothes by hand, wash our dishes in two large tubs outside of the shack where our food is prepared, take cold showers (after we fill the water tank on the roof everyday), and get our water from a pump in the yard. I am staying at an awesome place called the Library House with 5 other volunteers (Who have quickly become great friends). Our coordinator, Sanjiv, and his mother are our host family. Every morning and every night, Ama (our "mother"), comes over and cooks us enormous portions of daal bhat (they have to be enormous, because many days those are the only meals we eat). Daal Bhat is consists of a lentil soup poured over a heaping pile of rice and is usually served with vegetables and curry. We are very lucky to have Ama because she makes the best daal bhat I have tasted here so far and always finds a way to change it up just a little bit...adding different varieties of vegetables or, on a really great day, chicken or eggs. It gets really tiring eating the same for every meal; the other volunteers and I spend a goodly amount of time talking about food back home, what we are really missing, and planning our first meal when we get home.

Every day, Rachel and I bike to the health post, which is about 20 minutes from our place. I don't really know how to go about describing the health post. It looks like a shack from the outside, but that is pretty standard around here. The staff at the post are trained in protocols. Treatment is based completely on symptoms and protocols for sets of symptoms. The first few days were pretty difficult at the health post due to some major language barriers. That has been the most frustrating thing for me here. Our evaluation and treatment of patients is based on some basic physical assessment, hand gestures and pointing, a few English words that the patient or staff may know, a few Nepali words that we may know, and a lot of hoping that we are all understanding each other correctly. The problems that people have come in with have been pretty basic. We have seen a lot of people with common colds, some ear or eye infections, acid reflux, wounds, and worms. Another frustrating part of the language barrier is that we are not able to assess what patients know about there conditions and we are unable to educate them about their conditions or treatments.  I am hoping to have some more conversations with staff at the healthpost about some of their treatments and education of the patients. I feel like I have so little time to help, and I want to contribute in a lasting way to this place.

I wish I had time to write more about my experience here, but it is getting a bit late, and I have to head back for daal bhat soon. Much love to everyone! I will try to write another post soon :)

Welcome Dinner, Monkey Temple, Tea & Sunsets

Yesterday was our busiest day so far (and, also, our worst day of jet lag...go figure). We spent the morning learning some of the Nepali language and then took a bus trip to Nagarkot to have lunch and watch the sun set over the mountains. Much to our disappointment, the skies refused to clear, and we were unable to see the range. Bummer. The night got better, though, as we moved on to our official welcome dinner. We were served a traditional Nepalese meal consisting of multiple courses of delicious food. The momos were my favorite (they only served us three and I wanted some mo ;-) A group of musicians provided us with some great Nepali music while dancers performed some traditional folk dances. It was a great time to relax and enjoy some Nepali culture!

Today we had a class on Nepali culture and then visited a monkey temple. It was such a beautiful place! We were allowed to go into the temple to a room filled with monks who were sitting around a low table chanting to the striking of drums. We took our shoes off and silently walked around the room (clockwise). The whole place was vibrating to the sound of their voices and the drums, and it left everyone in a state of awe. It was such an incredible feeling and one of the neatest experiences I have ever had.

After our busy day of classes and site seeing, Rachel and I climbed to the rooftop of our guesthouse to relax with a pot of milk tea while we watched the sun set over the Himalayas. Kathmandu is in a valley and most of the time I have been here it has been difficult to get a good view of the hills/mountains. Today, though, was an exceptionally clear day, and we were blessed with a gorgeous view. It is such an incredible feeling to look out everywhere around you and be surrounded by mountains. The sun poured over them in a sparkling gold color that can be captured by neither words nor pictures. This country is so beautiful. As I reflect, I cannot help but see the juxtaposition between this beauty and the poverty here. As I look out at this country, there were unbelievable views--gorgeous mountains and buildings--a panorama of scenery that takes my breath away. Then, looking directly in front of me, within arm's length, is a hill strewn with trash and debris, is a street of decrepit buildings and shacks serving as houses for families, is a dirty three-year-old boy with a screaming 4-week-old baby in his arms begging for money. It doesn't make sense. Such beauty and such disrepair. Such awesomeness and such sadness. It is a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around. Yet I see that even in the most poverty-stricken areas, there is beauty to be found--beauty in a little boy, laying in the dirt next to his shack drawing in a notebook; beauty in kids playing and laughing no matter the place; beauty in the people who work so hard all of the time--chopping wood, fixing roads, fixing houses, washing clothes, always doing something. Most of the people here are so kind, so hard-working, so servant-minded--so beautiful.

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!