Filling in the Details of the trip..

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Wed, Oct. 3, 2012:
NEPAL
OLD WORLD MEETS NEW WORLD, TAKE ONE:
One of my new Nepali friends told me that her marriage was an arranged one. It is still frequent in today’s society. Although they would go on one or two dates before they were actually wed, once they talked on the phone, they “Facebook Friended” each other so they could see what each other looked like right away.
THE PEOPLE
Lifespan:
…the average in Nepal  is 64 yrs old. 
Indiginous People:
One of the many is the “Taru” of the Chitwan area.  They built their homes of cow dung & mud.  They don’t smell & look sturdy.

THE DRESS & THE WEATHER:

It is offensive for a woman to expose your shoulders or wear anything above the knee, which  has made for burning a lot of calories due to the heat & humidity up til now.  I got here at the end of monsoon season & it rained for a week.  Now it’s sunny daily, it the mid 80’s during the day with high humidity.  Cools off at night now that it’s Oct, but spent many sweaty nights at 1^st.

THE HOSTEL:

..is run by a couple in their 20’s.  They have an adorable (mischievous) 3 yr old who manages to get into everything.  It sleeps 14 people.  The rooms are co-ed.  Most volunteers come through for a day or two on their way from the airport to their project (hospital, orphanage, conservation—weeding gardens).  Some stay a week for the language program, which is 3 hrs/day for 5 days. Since I have a problem using a hole in the ground as a toilet, I’m the only person here for 5 weeks who isn’t moving on to a host family for the duration.  It is fun to constantly meet new travelers from all over.  There are no tempurpedic beds here & it took a few weeks of AM stretching for my back to adjust to the 2 “ mattress on a board..

THE FOOD:

“Dahl” (rice) -“Bhat” (lentils)  is the traditional food eaten 2-3 meals per day in Nepal.  They eat mostly a vegetarian diet.  Cows are sacred.  We get served protein ever y 2-3 days..  At the hostel we have a good variety of potatoes in curry, sometimes mixed w/ eggplant.  Eggs, pancakes, & cornflakes for breakfast.  Chicken soup for dinner & noodles w/ a taco like shell. 

 For the Foodies:  The Taru people make a snail soup, where they soak the whole snail in flour 12 hours so it shits, then make the soup w/ tons of garlic & ginger.  They suck the snail from the shell .

 (I have found the Oreo’s & Twix at the grocery across the street)

HOW MUCH THINGS COST:

The bus is 15cents.  A cab is $2.50 to the tourist area.  I got a traditional dress w/ lining & pants  made from material I picked out & sewn at the tailor for $14.  I can barter (which is fun) to get a 100% Cashmere or Pashmina shawl for about $11, which would cost about $90 in the states. 

CUSTOMS:

Smoking:
Women aren’t allowed to in public..
SUPERSTITIONS:
Snakes on the buildings:
Our hotel guide said that some buildings have carved snakes over the entrance to the building.  Since snakes are  poisonous, they can absorb & take away poison & evil. .They absorb the poison & purify you as you enter the building.

NEW WORLD MEETS OLD WORLD, TAKE “II:

 As I was walking down the street in Chitwan shopping, I saw a horse & buggy stopped in the road.  Traffic had come to a halt as there was, at the corner, a  Nepali MTV music video being shot complete with scantily clad lead girl singing & a group of back up boy dancers, doing moves something like Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.  The horse & buggy patiently waited as the music blared, director said cut, & make up was touched up.

SIGHTSEEING:

Bouddhanath Tibetan Buddhist :
This is an area of Kathmandu where most of the Tibetan  refugees live.  It has stores built in a circle around the temple, almost looking like a city of it’s own.
Jabar Park:
…. a very nice park with a river running through it,  not far from the chaos of Kathmandu.  

OVERNIGHT WITH A HOST FAMILY IN THE VILLAGE OF LAMITAR:

Village of 7,000 people in the stix.  20 people lived in the house.  Very quiet, simple life,( but of course the teenagers were on Facebook in the bedroom we were staying in).  They had 5 or 6 local teenage girls come at night & do a top 40 Nepali style MTV dance of sorts (to music on  an I Phone b/cause the power was out)

VACA WITHIN A VACA: GETAWAY TO CHITWAN:

I took 4 days/3 nights to Chitwan National Park, a 6-7 hr. bus ride away.
Geogrpahy:
The gorgeous (post monsoon), green countryside was breathtaking.  We wound around, up and down, lush green mountains where water ran down all around from the rains.  Although it was a start contrast to Kathmandu, the amount of dust from the roads was still incredible.
White Water Rafting: Pushing my comfort zone:
In light of the fact that I’m simply terrified of water & can’t swim, the decision to go white water rafting  (it was the lowest of grade) was really pushing the envelope for me.  When the guide was in the middle of explaining that if the raft capsizes, to get out from under it, I actually did try to bow out, but couldn’t because our tour guide had already taken off.  It was such a paradoxical experience b/cause the scenery was simply beautiful, to see,  but I was scared every second. ( Didn’t help that I was w/ 14 people from Spain who didn’t speak English & didn’t understand the commands on which way to row the oars.)..lol
Canoe Ride looking for Crocodiles: (Round 2 in the water)
I was actually fine not seeing any.  The canoe made from a hollowed out tree, was only a few  inches above the water & if any of the  6 people moved even  a little, the entire thing rocked quite a bit. 
When a male (bull) elephant disobeys the “Alpha” male in the pack he is ostracized & kicked out.  The most dangerous animal in the jungle is a lone male bull elephant.  He is a crazy one & will rip your head off in an instant.  There was one spotted the morning of our canoe ride, so our guide did not canoe back up the river. He took a car instead.
Bathing wi/ elephants:
By now, I could get in the water.  This was the most fun of my excursion. We sat on the elephant’s back as they dipped their trunk into the river & poured the water over us again & again.
Riding Elephants:
We saw a rhino.  It was 2 & ½ hrs & really cool.
Elephant Breeding Center:
 Each elephant has 3 keepers.  It takes 6 yrs to train to be an eolephant handler & it is a profession passed down from father to sonThe term having “a memory like an elephant” is true.  Our guide told a story of a trainer who had somehow blinded an elephant.  The trainer hadn’t been around the elephant for years & later went back to it.  The elephant remembered the trainer’s scent, picked him up in his trunk, & smashed him to the ground, killing him.
Jungle Walk:
When the guide said it was a “walk” (versus a ride in a jeep), I said, “Well, the guides with us will carry a gun, right?”  The answer was no, they carry a stick.. I was sick & didn’t go. (3 bouts of diarrhea in 2 & ½ weeks in the overall adjustment…knowing what you can & can’t eat).  The other volunteer had 2 guides.  They saw a rhino & 1 guide ran.  The other stood there so the rhino wouldn’t charge. A tiger won’t attack a human unless he’s had a taste of human blood.  Then he becomes addicted to it, & leaves the jungle to hunt humans.  The guide said we were fine & not to worry.  Then said they just killed 2 tigers recently who came into the village.
Cultural Dance:
I’ve seen numerous cultural dances around the world in the countries I’ve been to, but none was more fascinating than the Nepali one.   I now understood why they don’t need guns in the jungle.  It’s done with sticks that move so fast all around their bodies & you know it’s self defense dancing as with other cultures.

**UP & COMING**

The coordinator for my Buddhist Monastery Teaching project said he’d take me in Nov. when it cools off  to the actual city where Buddha was born, which is about 11 hrs. away.  It is a small city where all countries who practice Buddhism are currently building shrines.

MUSIC MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND, TAKE II:

As we sat on the city bus the other week, a Nepali man in his early 20’s struck up a conversation w/ the volunteer next to me.  It began w/ “Do you know Bryan Adams?”  As the volunteer was 24, she vaguely knew the name.  The Nepali man began to rattle off Bryan Adam’s hit songs beginning with “Summer of ’69.”  I guess Bryan Adams came to Nepal & did a show. A conversation ensued between the two of them on 80’s pop singers .