October 3

6:22 AM

Yesterday we saw Lubhu. Hamish (one of our fellow volunteers) made the walk with us. He showed us the town and the internet cafe. He also showed us the Lubhu Supermarket (very swanky 'round these parts) where we bought snacks and chocolate. On the walk back, we stopped at one of the street stores for some drinks. We again stopped at the Lankuri Phedi Cafe, just the way down from the orphanage, for spring rolls and fried buff (buffalo) momos. Momos are a traditional food here in Nepal and are much like dumplings or pot stickers. We returned to the orphanage for watering the fields/plants. Kids and homework. I'm getting more comfortable already. Dinner. More kids and homework. Sleep. First really excellent night's sleep. And I feel fantastic.

Right now, at 7:11 AM, I hear:

• Pigeons cooing on the tin roof
• Their feet scratching on the tin roof
• The chickens crowing on the rooftop "next door"
• Distant yelling from two different directions. One direction is accompanied by occasional honking
• Someone in the village hitting some kind of metal, perhaps hammering a pipe
• Distant music (Nepalese and very faint)
• The opening of a screen door here in the main building, its creaking
• A breakfast bell just went off somewhere in the village
• Every few minutes I'll hear someone on the grounds talking

I smell:

• Burning plastic and wood
• The sweetness of my tea that Chanel made (I also added a piece of chocolate and some instant coffee)
• The smell of curry is starting to break through
• Chanel a few minutes ago pointed out that her fingers were stained yellow from the food. I looked down to see that mine were too. They eat with their hands here in Nepal. And it is always Dhal Baat or some kind of rice, which is fun to watch and we discovered last night (after a rigorous hand wash and sanitizing process) quite fun to do!

I am really fond right now of pigeons cooing. It's calm, relatively quiet, and peaceful. Along the lines of listening to someone else's heartbeat.
 
Also, the kids gel their hair before they go to school. Adorable. They have one set of clothes that they wear outside of school. After breakfast, they change into their school uniforms (a violet or red-striped long sleeved button up, with a navy tie, and depending on the gender and age, pants or a skirt, white socks, and nice black shoes. So cute!

Pictures!

This silly little box of a computer we brought with us is not terribly strategic when it comes to uploading photos. So, please be patient as I figure it out. 

The view from the plane

These are in Kalanki, a smaller part of larger Kathmandu valley. This is the view from the hostel we first stayed at upon arriving in Nepal.

Pictures from the side of the road as we starting heading out of the city..

And this..this is our daily view. The view from our balcony.

Painted images from past volunteers on the balcony walls

The view along the walk to the kids' school

This is the cafe which we are spending more and more time at. Something to eat other than Daal Bhat!

Walking to Lubhu one day

Stray cows getting their eatin' on

The view from our normal seats at the cafe!

This is what we look out on every afternoon :)

The white building to the left is the  main house, the one Chanel and I stay in. The house more elevated to the right is the orphan house.

The entrance

October 2

7:15 AM

Yesterday we arrived at the orphanage. We had to drop off two girls first. Each stop getting further from the noise, the smog, the chaos, and to my ever-growing excitement, further up in altitude. In my head, "Yes! Keep going! Keep going up!". Squeezing Chanel's hand tighter and tighter. Such excitement to find ourselves more and more in the image I had of Nepal pre-arrival. The amount of green in the landscape growing. The amount of rice fields growing. The sputtering of that poor van trying to get up that mountain slope with us, our bags, and over 80 pounds of children's clothes for the orphans, growing. And any doubt that this orphanage would be anything but perfect and of our perfect dreams fading, waning, ceasing. And any left stopped the moment the car did in front of this place.

We were brought in. But before I could even walk up the stairs, an orphan boy, Sugam, ran up to me. He put his arms out and as I bent down to his height, he wrapped his arms around my neck, hugged me and kissed me on each cheek (left, right, left, right, etc.) until I had to stop him because I was being left behind. I asked if he wanted to walk with me. He grabbed my hand and in English screamed, "Yes! Yes! I come!".

I put my booksack down and walk back outside to see where the orphans stay (different building) but before I walk up to the stairs, again, I was grabbed. Mousam, another orphan boy, says, "Sister! Sister! You play. You play badminton. Sister! You play." A declaration, not a question. Yes. You bet I play. When Chanel came out she was pulled into a game of cricket. Afterwards, we both came around the corner and decided we were not very good at either game.

A few games later, I needed some moments to myself. I needed to process the massive amounts of in-coming information. I excused myself and went to my room.

Chanel and I shared a few minutes together before an orphan came up the stairs, "Sister! Sister! Introductory program. You come." We walked to the orphan house and are shown around the three-story building. We are shown our schedule. After all that is done, we go back again to our rooms to try to understand that we are finally here.

Chanel and I share some thoughts before being pulled back again. "Sisters! Introductory program!"

When we walk up the the orphan house, they have laid out a large tarp and have all the children sitting around it.  One by one, everyone (including the other 2 volunteers and the host mother and father) tells us Namaste, their name, their favorite color, favorite animal, which grade they are in, and which of the orphanage's three groups they are in.

I was placed in the Sagar Matha group. Sagar Matha (I think I'm spelling that correctly) is their name for Mount Everest. Chanel was placed in the Sunflower group.

Afterwards, we do our introductions. Both holding back many tears as we explain what it means that we are here. Then came time for us to give them the 80+ lbs. of clothes and school supplies we brought for them.

They were so happy. So happy. Giddy even. Running around and posing in their new clothes for us, all diva-like. Then we helped them with their homework. Then, we got alone and we cried. Cried like babies. It may have qualified as sobbing on my part. We finally made it. Over a year of planning and we were finally here.

I couldn't even explain the feeling to myself. And I really tried.

I missed the one I love and went to sleep.

October 1

7:00 AM

Happy Birthday Sidonie!!

Yesterday was great fun! We woke up to see the sunrise at 4, only to find there was no sun until 6 AM. Around 7 (I couldn't sleep), I finally went next to Chanel's bed and told her the world was awake. Hinting that we should be too. I would have sang it but we are staying in a hostel with all other volunteers for our organization. May not have made so many friends that way.

We woke up and walked around. Though the world is very much awake and alive--the english academy's children playing basketball and, from my view on the rooftop two courtyards away, what seems to be some mash-up of tennis and foursquare, the cooing of pigeons, barking, banging of pots, more honking than I've ever heard in one place (what a sign at their airport called a means of self-expression), lots of distant talking, screaming, laughing, with all the hustle and bustle of a US metropolis but with a much different feeling--the street vendors (what it appears all businesses are here) do not open until 8 AM. They were all outside sweeping with their funny lookin' brooms.

We decided to wait for breakfast at 8 and then we'd try again. For breakfast we were fed a crepe-like pancake that Parkhas (sp?), the cook/host father, put bananas into. The actions of everyone else told me I was supposed to put some version of Nutella (white and brown chocolate swirls) onto it and fold it up. It was delicious. A sweeter breakfast than I am used to but it worked out for me.

Ever since we've arrived here I have been craving and enjoying chocolate like it's one of the world's beautiful wonders and it is only found here. I very rarely crave chocolate at home. So, given its rarity, the breakfast was perfect. It was served with a chai-like tea. Also very good. That curbed my craving for my other chocolate-colored love, coffee.

After breakfast, we left the hostel again in search of a bank. The one bank we found did not open until 10, so we walked a bit to buy a phone. We got it for 1400 rupees. And it has a lovely icon of Michael Jackson on the back. We came back to the hostel, attempted to make a few calls and then made our way out the door.

We wanted to go to Thamel, the tourist capital of Kathmandu. We were told to take two buses. The first from Kalanki to Ratnapark. That one went okay. Squeezed in to what I can only explain is a mini cooper version of an astro van with at times 13-14 other people (makes you seriously question the difference in concepts of personal space). It was fun to do it the right way, the true Nepalese way. Then we go to find the bus to Thamel. We are directed by our very adorable "bus boy" to the Thamel-bus corner.

Now, I guess I should explain this. The traffic is bonkers, just to start you off. There are no rules. We find ourselves in a land where if you can fit, you have a right to be there. And on the busy corners there are these blue mini buses. There is a driver and, what I am calling, a bus boy. The bus boys, who all seem to be under 20, call out the names of the cities they are dropping off to, rapid fire. Quicker than any foreigner could ever understand, not to mention its mostly an effort to try to understand them when they speak English. So, you see our problem.

We say Thamel. They say Thamel, like its a question. We say Thamel again, like its an answer. They shake their yes, with one last Thamel, directing us into their bus. And off we go.

We ride this bus for about 45 minutes, the number of people ranging from uncomfortable (though we were happy to be there :) ) to if this cute old Nepalese man denies the existence of my foot under his for two more minutes...no forget it. He's too adorable. I'll deal with pancake feet.

We get off the bus and start wandering around. We got lunch at The Bakery. Both of our waiters were deaf and the man who brought us our food was part albino. It was a very pleasant lunch. When the small person came up to us to ask us where we were from and so on (and that the fact that we came from the US and ended up eating at his restaurant made him happy), we asked him if we were in Thamel. Yes. We asked another. Yes. We go to an internet access room located in a Japanese-English language academy. We then pull up a map and ask them to point out where we are on the map. The real answer? No. By an hour east of Thamel, no.

We got lost! It was great fun. The people at the academy laughed at our story with us. They were so kind. And eager to practice their English. "Please, if you don't mind, how did you get here? Why did you come?" So sweet.

We found a taxi--to be sure we ended in Thamel--and were off once more.

We went to their New Orleans Cafe. A menu complete with Hurricanes and Jambalaya. We walked around. Got lost some more. Went to Pilgrim's Bookstore. Ate at the Funky Buddha. Taxi home. Bliss.

September 30

6:30 AM

We slept the first night through pretty well. I had so many strange dreams.

We are going to explore Thamel today! Yesterday, we saw a monkey climbing down a building, freely. And many stray cows. Stray cows. This place is different, alright.

September 29- Approaching Kathmandu

8:55 AM

We are 327 miles to Kathmandu. I'm still seeing spots. It's blinding white outside the window. Like the sun I've known is always been somewhat dulled by clouds. But there are more clouds here. I don't fully understand these mountains' magic.

And mountains. "Have you ever seen such a thing?", Chanel asks me. No. I want you to see this. I realize in this moment you will never know. That makes me sad. And as I tear, I have to be happy that I can see it. I will always know and never forget this first moment that I see the land more beautiful than I've seen it before.

I can't believe someone loves me this much. To bring me to this place. I am a blessed soul.

 I finally understand.

"No one will understand."

6:00 PM
In our host beds, just woke up from our five-hour nap. I feel better from earlier. Less overwhelmed. Will write more later.

September 28 (We think)

Since everyday posting is not possible, I've been writing daily and I will just type what I've written.

September 28 and I say say we think because honestly we weren't really sure what day we were in. The time travel that we've been doing is more math than we feel like doing at times.

We've just landed in Doha after my first international flight. That plane was huge. The flight wasn't nearly as testing as I thought it would be. Chanel and I watched "Safety Not Guaranteed", "Sword In The Stone", "The Borne Identity", "Five Year Engagement", and  "Prometheus". For dinner we had lamb curry and an omelet with spinach for breakfast. There are about 6 hours between us and our flight to Kathmandu. I hope I get more sleep.

Qatar Airways gave us free food, drinks, socks, toothbrushes, ear plugs, headphones, eye shades, movies, video games..that ride was so good it released the words "bomb diggity" from where they have safely been locked away in my voice box since the late 90's.