Hello from Kathmandu!

It is hard to believe I have only been here for eight days, so so much happened I don’t even know where to begin.

We arrived in Nepal last Tuesday after traveling for over 30 hours, needless to say we were all exhausted, disoriented and overwhelmed. The Kathmandu airport reeked of urine and was deserted, with only bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. We walked right through customs and were met by our SIT program staff and a pack of street dogs outside. From there we boarded a bus bound for Pharping, a suburb of Kathmandu located just 30 km outside the heart of the city. It was midnight Nepali time so we drove there in the dark and woke up in a completely new area. Pharping is a small village from which you can see the Himalaya’s, when and if the smog ever clears. In addition, the surrounding hills are terraced for agricultural purposes and dotted with Hindu Temples decorated with prayer flags, hundreds of them.

While in Pharping we stayed at a nice guesthouse and took part in some orientation things, ventured into the village and began our Nepali language classes. There are only three or four of us in each language class, so we are actually learning quite quickly. The poverty in the village is overwhelming, but the people are incredibly friendly and interested in us. We attended two puja’s – religious ceremonies – and saw sacrifices take place as well. It is so interesting to be in a place where the overwhelming majority of the people have such devout faith in their religion. I made friends Asika, a little girl who lived near the guesthouse and was possibly with the most adorable little girl I have ever seen. I taught her how to give high-fives and we were immediately best friends. She taught me lots of Nepali words.

After four days in the village we returned by bus to Kathmandu and were ridiculously overwhelmed. If I manage to avoid getting hit by some kind of motorized vehicle over the course of the semester, I will consider myself lucky. The streets are narrow to begin with and are packed with cars, buses, bikes, motorcycles, rabid and “healthy” dogs, rabid and “healthy” monkeys (which we were encouraged NOT to make eye contact with), goats, cows – which are holy, and people, so many people. It has not rained here since October so the dust is overpowering and air thick with diesel fumes. In the morning the sun is bright orange as it tries to shine through the smog. The Himalaya’s are less than 75 miles away and yet I have never seen them from the city.

Three days ago we were shipped away with our host families. I live with a mother, father, 19-year old sister, and two brothers who are 17 and 15 in a huge house. I have my own room with a balcony and we even have a hot shower (heated via solar power). Additionally I have a western toilet, which is not always common, as many families have squat toilets. Sadly, though, my family does not use toilet paper, instead my bathroom is equipped with a hose that sprays ice cold water remarkably fast. Needless to say, it is an experience. Most of my family speaks English very well, so we have gotten to know each other well and I insert Nepali when I can, which is not often. My host mother has made it her personal goal to make me as uncomfortable as possible though, as she has informed me that she will only speak Nepali with me, to help me learn. It is a nice, thought, but it translates into many long, awkward “conversations” dotted with the longest awkward pauses ever. Load shedding is also in effect so we don’t have power for like 14 hours a day, which isn’t that big of a deal, just means that I often study by candle light. I’m really enjoying learning the language here, it is challenging, but we have already made so much progress.

I hope some of this makes sense. Lots of love.