In summation

I left Nepal on Sunday night on a Qatar airways flight bound for Doha, Qatar. It took me some 33 hours to fly home. I can say that I am glad to be back in Michigan but I also miss Nepal and all the people that I met. In the three short weeks that I spent in that amazing country I grew really close to the staff and other volunteers and the kids that I was working with.

While in Nepal I saw a country which was vastly different than ours. Nepal, while a wonderful country is stricken by poverty in many areas, and I saw this poverty up close. Previously i had not been exposed to so many people in need and so many people that we would consider below the poverty line. I would say that many of the people were far below our "poverty line", especially those who I saw living in the country-side. Then there were the slums by the rivers, and the communities of "river children", kids who have no parents but make a living together by a polluted river on the outskirts of Kathmandu. I can only guess that there are more communities such as this elsewhere in the country.

Besides this I also saw the amazing working spirit of the Nepali people. In the country side I saw farmers planting rice. I also saw men, women and children hauling tall grass, and other loads on their shoulders; or on a sort of backpack which was slung to their head, walking up a mountain road to their home. In the city or even on a roadside community on the main highway, which led through the mountains, there were small businesses everywhere trying to sell what they could to make a living. There is something to be said the the entrepreneurial spirit of Nepali people. They will set up a shop almost anywhere.

Something also has to be said for the rickshaw drivers. These guys(I say guys as I didn't see a single female driver)work HARD. It may seem easy to drive what looks like a bicycle with a seat, but try doing that on 90+ degree day. Not to mention if there are two people sitting on it there could possible be over 300 pounds, and to top it off some of the roads are unpaved adding to the difficulty. But they do it, they charge you more as a westerner but at times it beats walking.


How can I talk about Nepal with out mentioning the scenic beauty. The mountains are breathtaking and the country side is gorgeous. The Himalayas are amazing, and from where I saw them mystical. On most days the mountains were concealed by large thick clouds. But when they came out last week it looked as if these enormous mountains were floating on the clouds, and I for a while couldn't take my eyes off of them.

Now to talk a bit about the amazing organization that I worked with, the Esther Benjamins Trust (EBT). I of course knew that they rescue children and help them until they are old enough to help themselves. But when I got to the childrens home the kids seemed to me to be your average kids. I knew they had stories but I wasn't going to pry and ask them. It was only until one of the staff members at the house told me about them that it really clicked with me about what amazing work that the EBT does.

Many of the kids were rescued from the streets and the and the horrible condition in-which they had to live. The street kids in some cases have parents but they cannot take care of them so they have to go to the streets. Other kids are called "jail kids", these are kids who have to go to jail with their parents as the kids have no other relatives who can care for them. So these kids languish in a filthy jail cell on account of their parents. There were a brother an sister at the kids home, ages seven and nine years old who had to sit in jail because their father was a drug dealer.

Down the street there are girls who were rescued from the circuses, not only do they have to do dangerous acts which leave scars but they are also abused while there.

So when I learned all this i was able to get a true picture of the amazing work that the EBT does. All these kids, weather four years old or 19 and above, on account of the EBT are safe, given a home, a bed to sleep in, fed regularly, educated in public or private schools, given vocational training and looked after medically.

With all this in prospective, it is an amazing thing that the Esther Benjamins Trust does, and has been doing for years now. For me it was an honor to work with them and I want to go back again next year for two months if possible.

In closing I would like to say thank you for following this blog, and I hope that you enjoyed it. As I really enjoyed Nepal and sharing my experiences with all who read my posts. Now that this trip is over I don't really know what to do with this blog, I guess I will think of something...

On the path to Buddha

This morning I went out on a walk with another volunteer and some kids from the kids home by Kathmandu. We ventured out to the BIG golden Buddha in one of the mountains, well its really a foot hill compared to the Himalayas in the background beyond Kathmandu.

It took about 45 minutes to reach the Buddha and wow was it big, it only looked like a little golden speck from the room where I had been sleeping. But upon reaching the Buddha in all its majestic glory, we discovered from a local man that it is in-fact 27 feet tall or higher. This was a holy site so we had to take our shoes off.

It was a good experience and I was able to see Kathmandu in the distance. You cant really get a good idea of just how big the city is until you look at if from a mountain, or in my case Buddhas perch. Kathmandu is a huge city which appears to occupy the entire valley, and is hemmed in on all sides by mountains.

Flollowing my meeting with the golden Buddha (which isn't really gold, I think its concrete with golden paint, as it is starting to bubble in some areas; but none the less amazing to look at) we continued to a botanical garden. On the way, we went through some smaller villages and I saw something pretty amazing. A countryside rife with pot plants, in some areas it reeked of Mary Jane. Around that area its like, well, a weed...ha, ha, ha, ok bad joke. I got some good pictures of some pretty large plants. I had to pick a leaf and pose with it just for fun.

The Botanical garden was nice, and I was able to get back to the house and do my final packing for my return trip. Which brings me to my next point, right now I am in Doha, Qatar. I have about a ten hour lay over, so I will have to bide my time somehow. I have one MRE (Meal Ready to Eat- military food ration) left and plan to eat that sometime soon.

The flight went well though, and now I cant wait to get back in the states, although it was a bitter sweet exodus. I love Nepal, its a beautiful country and I worked with alot of great people, and the kids both young and older were great. The people of Nepal are really nice and very helpful.

Infact when I and another volunteer arrived back outside of Kathmandu at night, we were helped by some local people who showed us where the kids house was. They were just nice enough to help us when our bearings were lost and we clearly needed the help. Great people.

Well its time to sign off, hopefully I can write again when I get to Washington DC. LATER.

Sacrifice time

This morning the goat that was residing in the house for the last day or two was ritually sacrificed. The method of dispatching the beast was by sword, and quite a large sword.

Earlier the man who was to do the deed was looking around for a sharp instrument, but could only come up with smaller knifes. So he had to go to the house next door in order to get a proper sword.

The beheading went quickly, he sharpened the sword and with one quick fell of the blade it was all over. It was interesting to see this, although the back of the "executioner" was to those watching, so we didn't see the blade do its work. Apparently this is quite a big deal as part of the celebration as most of the kids were watching.


On a brighter side, some of those living near by made an enormous swing out of bamboo poles. The swing must have been thirty feet high, and the kids were all waiting their turn for a swing, and it looked really fun.

This morning I also got some good pictures of the snow covered mountains in the background beyond the city. Normally the mountains are shrouded by clouds but this morning the clouds moved away and revealed the huge Ganesh Himal portion of the Himalayas.

The mountains are amazing to see, they are so big and stretch on for quite a ways. Their sheer size even from a distance is breath taking. This was also the first time I was able to see them and was totally taken away by them, I just had to stare for a while in amazement.

Back in Kathmandu

Well, here I am back in Kathmandu, I am actually on outskirts of Kathmandu, about 45 minutes outside the city. After being in the smaller and less busy city to the south going into Kathmandu was a bit overwhelming. Like I said when I got here, Kathmandu was and is a mad-house of people, residents and tourists. The fact that the Hindu holiday of Dassain is here, Kathmandu is that much more busy.

While in Kathmandu this morning, there seemed to be more police and Special Force (the para-military arm of the police) and Army personnel about. I saw some Special force guys in riot gear with their large assault rifles, so they are ready for some unrest if it comes, but nothing will happen. Kathmandu is sort of wild but its and organized chaos. I also finally saw where the US embassy is, didn't see in, the walls were pretty high.

So for Dassain, from what I understand it is tradition to sacrifice a goat. So on my way up to Kathmandu, which took about 10 hours, I saw trucks and buses not only carrying passengers but also goats on the roofs, lots and lots of goats.

It was funny, this other volunteer noticed that there was a goat being off-loaded at the kids home that we are currently at. He said "I wonder if the goats gets the point, since it is being off-loaded with vegetables". Brilliant

Aside from that I got a book for the return flight, since I read an entire Stephen King novel on the way here (The Gunslinger). The book that i got today is about Tsarist Russia and the British Government sending agents to the border of China in order to influence the trade routs. It is a true story and its pretty cloak and dagger, so I will be looking forward to starting that. Beside that I got some presents for my niece and nephew. I found some little wooden elephants with ornate carvings on them. So the are pretty indestructible, but I wouldn't put it past a 2 and 5 year old to break them :)

At the moment it is raining pretty heavily and we are planning some activities for the kids to keep them busy. The kids home that I am at is really close to the mountains, so that's nice, slow and quiet.

Through the mountains again

By now all but two kids are left at the children's home, yesterday we drove four n' a half hours east to drop three more kids off. As I had mentioned earlier the Hindu holiday of Dassain and all the kids go home for about 15 or so days.

To get to these kids houses we went through two mountain chains an I believe that I was the highest up that I have been yet. The road wound up and over a large mountain and it looked as if I was over a thousand feet up from the looks of it. Like most of the roads that go through the mountains there are some medium sized concrete blocks on the side of the road, set up as barricades to keep you from flying off the side of the mountain. It sounds nice but these blocks would really only slow your fall down the mountain, so traveling through the mountains at times is not for the faint of heart.

I was especially unnerved as the driver seemed to like to drive a bit fast. All I could think was "is it possible for you to slow down just a little bit?" Because there wasn't much to stop us from having a roller coaster ride down the mountain side.

So aside from a couple frightful moments I did see some more interesting communities in the mountains and the forests proceeding the mountains.

The forest communities were what I noticed first. These people lived about an hour and a half outside of the large town/city of Butwal. There must have been 15 or more houses and a stable. The houses were bamboo framed, adobe walled and the roofs were made of cut tall grass. As I said these houses were in the forest right by the side of the road. I would imagine that in the US or any western country this might be considered illegal squatting. These people seemed to keep to them selves as they did not have any small shops for attracting passer-by's, as most small towns or individual residences do.

The communities in the mountains were just as interesting, the homes were very similar if not of the same build. The difference was that these people for the most part were more commercial oriented. Many houses had small shops where you can buy pop, snacks, hot tea, and similar products. Some of these communities had hotel/restaurants, where the truckers can stop for the night. The trucks that you see all over Nepal are not the 18 wheelers that were used to in the US but smaller 2 1/2 to 3 ton trucks.

One of the most out of place things that I saw were several of these adobe houses or hotels with their thatched roofs, and a solar panel sticking out of the roof. I was interesting to see the contrast of the very old look of the house and the new technology of a solar panel protruding from the roof.

At one of these wayside stops we took a travel break and had some milk tea. There were some kids playing a betting game with rupees. From the looks of it the boy placing his money down was not doing so well, but it looked like it was all in good fun.

Lizard...post mortem

So about two days ago a lizard seemed to have decided to lay down and die in such a fashion and place so as to let all those in the children's home know its time had indeed come. That little lizard could not have picked a better place to lay down and pass onto another place of existence or consciousness.

The little reptile chose to die, belly up eyes open at the base of the water pump, in doing so it made its reptilian corpse available for all to see. Seeing as that the water pump is where everyone washes their dishes, clothes, and in some cases the children take their bucket showers, it would inevitably be noticed.

Would you know it, it was noticed, however like mice none of the female staff members or children would get near it. So I decided to take one for the team and give it a proper burial.

Then a thought occurred to me: Why not chase the women and children around with a dead lizard? So doing what any decant person would do, I proceeded to chase them around with it. They were screaming and running around, like the place had caught on fire, it was great. I could have had them run up the stairs but I decided that I had put them through enough. So finally I did in-fact give the lizard back to the earth by tossing it into the swamp next to the house.

Here ends the tale of the pump lizard.

Saying good bye to some of the kids

The Hindu holiday of Dassain is begining very soon (or it has already began) and all the kids from the kids home will be going home to spend time with their families or extended families for about 12-15 days.

So today I went by van with five of the kids who were going home. Not only was it a bit sad to see them off but it was also pretty sad to see where some of the kids lived.

One of the girls were dropped off, her family lives in a slum by a river. This little girl who is five, her mother lives in a "house" with a bamboo frame and the walls and roof are made of tarps much the same as the other homes near by. The river they live next to is not by any means clean and the river I was told floods, so her house of course floods and the floor of dirt probably turns into mud. But despite this she had a beaming smile on her face as she was playing with her friends when we dropped her off.

The other kids we dropped off are the older of the kids at the home and they are family (brother and two sisters) and they lived farther off into the country. Their home was much better than the four year old girl mentioned above. The house in the country was made of clay or adobe and the roof was framed with bamboo and the roof itself was made of corigated steel. They had a small amount of live stock and a water pump.

Every kid at the childrens home has a sad or tragic story, I was told about most of their backgrounds and its enough to make you want to cry. But the bright side is that the Esther Benjamins Trust saves these kids from the conditions that they would have almost assuredly been condemned to.

So learning their backgrounds made it that much more amazing that they now have food to eat everyday, a nice place to live and they are being educated, which is so important in Nepal.

The rest of the kids are leaving tomorrow and Tuesday, so its jerks at your heart to see them leave. They are all great kids and I am priveleged to have spent time with them.

Street cows

I took me a little while to make this observation, only because I had to go through town a few times and similarly go out into the Nepali countryside.

So about the street cows. If you go through town you will notice cows and water buffalo (but there are also goats and dogs as well) roaming about freely with no concern for the 2 1/2 trucks, cars, motor cycles, bicycles, rickshaws and pedestrians. They walk to and fro milling about eating trash or food if they can find it.

So here is the observation that I was able to make, in the countryside farmers or families actually own the livestock. While in the city the cows and other animals are urban and ownerless, just making a living day by day on the rough streets.

It was just last night that I saw a family of pigs by the side of the road and about five or six cows laying, and completely encircling a van on a side-street.

I think since this city is smaller than Kathmandu it is more possible for these homeless animals to exist. Kathmandu is much more congested with traffic for the free roaming animals. Although I did notice a cow in Kathmandu munching on a plastic garbage bag.

I'm sure that my dad, a former farmer himself would be interested in these urbanite
animals.

Kids and responsibility

I just wanted to say a word about the children here at the kids home. As I think I have said before, the age range for the kids is from 4-13 years old.

All the kids from what I have seen are so responsible, its really remarkable. Every child and young teen here wash their own laundry, help prepare vegetables for their meals, clean around the house and take turns cleaning the bathrooms. Similarly, after their meals they all clean their own dishes. To top it all off they study their school work.

Its really great to see this, has anyone seen a four year old wash their own clothes, at a pump water none the less?

Home visit

On Wednesday I went out into the beautifully peaceful country side with a group who run a school for special needs children. Their main facility is pretty good sized, with two floors with class rooms and workshops where they teach the kids to sew, make envelopes, candles and other things like small stuffed animals.

So on Wednesday myself and an employee of this volunteer organization went out in the country side to do some home visits for a couple of the special needs kids. The main school in town has so many kids enrolled that not every child can attend school in town. Another factor playing into the need for home visits is the fact that some of the children live so far away from the school that its just simply not possible to go to the main school. I say main school because there is a smaller satellite school run in the country side in-which about 9-12 children attend.

The home visit took me about and hour out of town, and the area we were at was pretty remote. I was about half a mile or less from some mountains that are only visible from form a great distance at the children's home where I usually spend my time.

Aside from the mountains there were rice patties every-where you look, as rice is the main staple food in Nepal. There were only dirt roads and a little market at the edge of this village. All the houses were pretty weather worn and some of the houses were made from branches. Many of the houses were made of brick and plaster. Some of the houses had corrugated steel roofs and others had ceramic tile shingles.

Most people of this village are subsistence farmers or small time merchants. Most people here and elsewhere grow their rice or vegetables then sell what is left over at the market. I notice a woman in her house weaving a basket which I assume she will later sell.

This little village in particular struck up an image of a border town reminiscent of sometime long past. To me it seemed that this village could have been from the early 1800's, with the way the homes and roads looked.

This is not meant to take away from these people, all of whom are extremely hard workers and very kind. The homes we visited, all the families were very cordial and offered us water and food. At one particular house we had some water and chopped cucumber, which was great as the sun was beating down on us and showing no mercy.

Time

So my dad asked me if time felt as if it was going slowly or quickly.

At first it seemed like time was going extra slowly, as if weeks had passed by in just a few short days. When I got to Kathmandu I stayed in the Courtyard hotel (amazing place by the way), there I felt like I was in purgatory...waiting, and time didn't seem to exist to me, I was just waiting to see what I will do next. I think that feeling was due to the fact that I was so out of my usual routine and in such a different place.

Now that I have settled into a regular predictable routine at the kids home time is going by much faster and new it is unbelievable to think that I will be leaving in just a little over a week.

When I asked to volunteer for three weeks I thought that was a long time. I later learned that most volunteers stay in Nepal for 3-6 months. So at that thought I was sort of taken away.

Well, I hope the last seven posts (which I did this morning and last night) have been a good recap, so now the computer is recharging. Ok its back to the kids house.

These kids are amazing

So I didn't mention this earlier, but all of the kids here at the kids house know how to do the sign language alphabet. So a few days ago they began to teach me as-well. So after a few days of working with my little professors I can now do the sign language alphabet, pretty cool.

I had help from 4 year olds through 13 year olds, which is amazing, the fact that they all know it. The older girls from the house down the street (also run from this non-profit), some of which are deaf have taught the kids the alpha bet in sign.

The girls house is where the mosaics are made and they are such great workers and artists. There is a room where they have piles of mosaics. Amongst other smaller projects, they have a room dedicated to making a large table sized mosaic for a wedding. The detail is amazing.

Also, yesterday or two days ago one of the kids gave me a Tika, that little red dot that you sometimes see on the foreheads of Hindus or Bhuddists. So I thought that was cool that she did that for me.

Time with the kids

So...even though I don't speak Nepali I can still joke around with the kids which is what I tend to to alot. Sometimes I will try and mimic the girls and their Nepali dance, which gets a good laugh, as I cant do it very well. Nepali dance is actually a very beautiful art, with very delicate movements.

Other times I let the kids pretend to rob me which they love to do. They usually have me sit in a chair with my hands up and I pretend to give them all my money, clothes, rings, ear rings, watch, shoes and finally my "under panties" as they call them. So then I pretend to be standing their naked which they think is absolutely hilarious.

Other times I have played volley ball with them, which consists of using a basketball and a pretend net. I have also played some "football" or soccer to us. The boys are amazing at soccer, they really have some impressive moves.

I also throw some of the littler ones into the air, they love that, or put them on my shoulders and spin them around, that is also a favorite for them.

Weather

So a typical day starts out cool in the morning and at times there is a thick fog, so thick that you can't really see past the houses on the other side of the street.
Then it gets REALLY hot in the after noon, but luckily since I'm from Michigan, our summers prepped me for this heat pretty well. Most Brits that I work with aren't used to the heat so its a pretty big shock for their systems (some deal with it better than others). So YAY for Michigan summers.

So usually if you do anything more than walking slow you begin to perspire like its your job. At times I will drink some water and just as quickly it will be in my shirt and pouring from my forehead and arms. I have become used to wearing a shirt that is completely soaked. As nasty as that sounds. There is not respite at night either, my pillow is wet and so is the sheet that I sleep on top of. But luckily I have a fan that considering if the power doesn't go out (which it does periodically during the day and sometimes at night)I can stay relatively cool.

So the fans are great, although they tend to circulate hot air for the most part, but without them the heat and humidity would be almost unbearable.

Which brings me to another point, air-conditioning here is a room with a fan or several fans. So experiencing air-conditioning for me when I get back will be like...well I dont know, I for got whats that like :)

Lawn mowers...think again

I didn't think to mention this earlier, but "mowing" your lawn, is quite a bit different than us westerners are used to. Some people enjoy mowing the lawn while others lothe it. In either case both groups of people are spoiled when one takes into account how the lawn is cut in most places that I have seen in Nepal.

When you want to cut the lawn here you get on your hands and knees or squat. Then, using a miniature hand held scythe you begin the slow pain staking process of cutting the grass. If one does not fancy pushing a lawn mower then cytheing the grass wouldn't be your cup of tea.

Today the kids and staff were taking turns cutting the grass and I got down and did a little bit of cutting my self. I definitely would want to do the whole yard.

Thursday morning art

This morning I went down town to buy some tissue paper for an art project with the kids. This project is something that we do at the preschool (where I work if you didn't know). So I got the paper with relative ease, I walked to the shop where they sell paper, and all sorts of other office and school supplies, which was about a mile and a half. Just like anywhere I go here in Nepal people look at me like I just stepped out of a space ship, they just look and look and look some more. Its pretty interesting to be looked at like that, I should get my space ship up and running as soon as possible.

So I cut the tissue paper into squares and mixed some glue with water and gave the kids some paint brushes and let them have at it. Being that I usually do this art project with four year olds I wasn't really ready for what they where going to do.

Many of the kids made flowers and one of them made a house, so it was really amazing, their creativity is wonderful. I also got plenty of great pictures of this project. I have taken many great pics of the kids so far.

So tomorrow I am going to begin on a kite making project with the kids. We already got some made to order bamboo sticks for the frames, now all we need is wrapping paper and then we will let the kids have at it. They are pretty experienced at making kites, I think that flying kites is pretty big down here and possibly all over Nepal.

Ok im back and I got some stuff to tell yall

Sorry I havent posted in a little while, but I have been busy and I have to go about a quarter to a half mile down the road to get on the internet. So its been difficult finding the time to do this.

Well where do I begin, I just did all my laundry this morning in a bucket utilizing a well water pump, thats a first for me. I was able to get all of it done in about an hour. The kids at the refuge helped me rinse half of my laundry load and hang them on the clothes line on top of the building.

There have been quite a few firsts for me down here, I have ridden on the back of a motorcycle through town a few times. I have also ridden on the back of a bycicle which is anything but comfterable, to be blunt it kills your ass. Especially since the roads are bumpy.

I guess another fist is seeing water buffalo, goats and packs of dogs here and there walking at will around town. Not sure if anyone owns them but they seem content to walk down the road and through traffic.

Ummmm...what else, food, my daily eating at main meals consists of dhal bot, which is rice with a lentel soup (more like broth with a few lentals) and there are some potatoes. I eat "lunch" at about 10:00 typically and have dinner at 8:00. There are snacks in-between. I also have milk tea in the morning at about 7:00 with cookies. The milk tea is great.

So I have had alot of good food while here, its to bad that I have absolutely no idea the name of the particular meal is or how to make it. I think that I have managed to lean the Nepali secret behind the milk tea though.

So literally right now I am down the street drinking some mint tea in the other volunteer house. These particular volunteers are some English blokes, infact all the volunteers are from "across the channel" as this organization is based in the UK. I was told that I was the first American to volunteer for this organization.

Coffee, I dont really have access to that black amazing drink from the gods. I had my first cup yesterday in a restaraunt with some dinner. I was like a party in my mouth and everyone was invited. I really miss coffee...and PIZZA...and sane orderly driving.

Driving anywhere in Nepal is insane and not meant for the faint of heart especially if your driving on a mountain road with a sheer drop less than a meter away. But the good news is that the Nepalese have mastered that art of controlled chaos which dominates all the roads that I have seen here in Nepal.

Down south

I got into town here last night I am now in southern Nepal about 30 or so miles form India. The town is quite a bit smaller than Kathmandu but similar in that there are quite a bit of motor cycles and kids in their private school uniforms, walking to or from school. I guess that the public schools are pretty low quality so if a parent can get their kids into a private school that is the best option.

From what I can gather, the routine is the kids get around 6:00 and they have school until about 5:00 in the evening. The kids also go to school from Sunday through Friday and they typically have Saturday off. They have a brunch at around 10am then dinner at about 8pm. Their meals usually consist of lentals and rice, although I bolieve that they also have potatos and onions in their traditional meals as well.

The kids here are also great, very very polite, hard working and just generally fun to be around. My only regret is that I dont speak Nepali.

Right now the kids are having their exams so I have not been able to do much with then as of yet. Although I will be planning some art activities for next week.

I also have noticed that i am considerable much less hungry since being in Nepal. I had some tea and crackers for a breakfast snack then some scrambled eggs with another volunteer a little later. That completely filled me up. Maybe its the thiner air, I have no idea. But the food here is great, I had a large dinner of rice and vegitables, which was great.

On the way down here, the driver stopped at this mountain wayside resteraunt, which there are alot of (restaraunts and shops) in the mountains. The food there was amazing, I had some chic peas, potatos and soup all had great spice. So ya there are these little villages all along the road running from Kathmandu to This southern town that I at (cant remember how to spell it). There are for the most part all similar, lots of shops, markets in the larger ones and people selling food like bananas and other items like jewelry or cloths.

The weather here now is overcast, and a cool, gentle breeze. It also rained once, I bolieve we are exiting the rainy season.

I dont really know when I can write next as my computer doesnt work and I am on an office one.

Talk to ya later.

Spirituality

It is interesting to see so many religious shrines in Kathmandu, and on a whole the peoples embracing of their faith in the public. This is something that we don't get in the US and don't see a whole lot of. Faith no matter which one, on a whole is given the back seat in the states. You go to church, mosque or temple, then tuck your faith in your back pocket and carry on. There are exceptions to the rule of course.

That is completely different in Kathmandu. Alot of people,while busy with their lives still stop at a shrine and pay their respects. There are these prayer wheels made out of wood, cylindrical and slightly smaller than a milk jug. There are prayers carved on it in Nepali. So when you spin it you are doing a quick prayer. Which is pretty interesting.

Right now its about 2:15 am and I got all my stuff packed up and ready to leave for Southern Nepal; about 20-30 minutes drive from India.

Later

Visiting a refuge outside Kathmandu

Yesterday I went to one of the refuges where they work with their rescued kids. At this particular site there were kids aged anywhere from 4-18 years old. There was also a toddler,I think that he is a recent arrival.

The kids were great, they are extremely nice and really interested in you. They are also really interesting themselves. They also are really nice to each other, they are like one big family.

So While I was there I played volleyball with some of the boys and they are VERY good. I cant even remember the last time I played, so needless to say I didn't play very well, but it was really fun none the less.

The kids there also have the option to learn karate or gymnastics. A couple of the boys there have won gold medals in Nepali competitions.

This particular refuge was also about an hour outside of Kathmandu. The refuge consists of about three or four buildings. The kids are live and are schooled in these buildings. It was a really nice place, and from that area you could see all the mountains really well.

So far the weather has been pretty cloudy and at times rainy. Tomorrow I will be going to another one of their refuges in southern Nepal, about seven hours away. At this particular refuge, they make the mosaics which the EB Trust is also well known for.

Tuesday

Thank you all the prayers and support. Everything has gone perfectly, I haven't had any problems so far. Today I am going to be goingto one of the camps, just outside Kathmandu. So that will be nice.

Oh, and about not being jet lagged. I was supposed to meet Philip Holmes the guy who runs the EB Trust. BUT...I slept in until about 4:30 in the afternoon on Monday, and missed my meeting. My body just shut down on Sunday night, I got alot of sleep which was great.

The hote is great the owners are amazing.

WEll im off for the day

I'm here...not jet lag either

Well I got into Kathmandu sometime this morning, I lost track of all conception of time and space somewhere between Washington Dulles airport and Kathmandu. But I am here. The flights went fine without any problems.

Kathmandu is a very busy city, it seems as if there are advertisements on every building, a very cramped city. The traffic was insane, I thought the driver from the hotel that picked me up was going to either be hit or hit someone. I have also never seen so many motor cycles in a city before, they really made the traffic situation that much more hectic. That and it seemed like noone cared about how they drived.

I will meet someone from the program tomorrow and start to work.

Later.

On being nervous

I am under three days from leaving for Nepal, and I am starting to finally get nervous about leaving for a foreign land. Not to mention a land at the farthest reaches of the world, that I could imagine at-least...Nepal. Sandwiched in between the northern right hand of India and southern China (or Tibet depending on how you want to look at it). Until I brought up that fact that I was going to Nepal, several people didn't know were it was, or even that Nepal was a country.

About two weeks ago my friend Jeremy asked me "so are you nervous?". At the time I really didn't feel nervous at all. I had not put much thought into that fact that I would be LITERALLY, oceans(Pacific or Atlantic depending how you want to take your approach) away from anyone I knew. Not to say the least about the fact that I would be in a country that I had only seen scant pictures of.

The only thoughts I had during this whole time were that I was going to be volunteering my time with an amazing group that rescues and rehabilitates children from an evil, immoral and inhumane market. That was my soul motivation for my trip, no regrets about that, naturally.

Now that I am under three days away from leaving, I have been feeling a bit nervous. Can you blame me? I have been as far North as Ontario Canada, where I was born, and as far South as Tijuana Mexico, and that was for about an hour. I would hardly constitute those excursions as international travel.

Aside from that, I have spent the majority of my life in low key East Lansing Michigan where life is pretty tame. Unless Michigan State nearly gets to a championship then loses. In which case, watch out for hordes of angry students, police in riot gear and tear gas canisters. Aside from that its pretty casual.

All respect for Michigan State University (MSU) and MSU sports. I want nothing more than to see MSU win every game (ESPECIALLY FOOTBALL), most notably against the University of Michigan...GO STATE!!!

I guess if you don't take some blind leaps of faith and a some risks, you cant really make forward movement in your life, which is true. I think that my brother Jeff said something to that effect at sometime in the last year or so.

I have a few things left to get, including shaving cream, don't want to be dry-shaving, I'm no masochist.