Himalayan bus rides, coffee, and transitions...week 1

I don't quite know how to begin this entry.... so much has happened in the short time I've been here that no collection of words seems quite accurate! First off, it's really hard to believe that it's only been a week... Right now I am in Kathmandu and next week I begin teaching at a village school in so-called Bhotenamlang. To prepare myself for what is to come I visited the village school for a few days, stocked up on medicines and necessary vaccinations, and have started lesson planning for my future English and science classes. I've also done some "adulting"...opening a Nepalese bank account and receiving part-time "ownership" of my dad's apartment here. Other than that my days have been filled with hanging out with family and friends in Kathmandu, sightseeing, and spending some quality time hanging out in various cafés, my favorite being Himalayan Java Coffee and Kairos Cafe. I mean just look at this...wow!

Along with spoiling myself with delicious Nepali coffee, I've been reading and writing much more. I've also bought myself a few Nepali language guides and occasionally (by that I mean often) eavesdrop on conversations to expand my vocabulary. In my opinion, however, chatting with taxi drivers is the best way to learn and practice Nepali.

Often times I feel like this is all a dream... it hasn't really sunk in that this is what I will be doing for a year.

However, with a lot of good and excitement this week came a lot of fear and nervousness as well. Transitions are always somewhat hard and this one is definitely not an exception. There have been a few days where this feels less like a dream and more like a nightmare. One in which I will very soon be pretty much alone in a village in the middle of nowhere. One in which, with very little experience, I will attempt to teach English to about 60 kids, all of whom live in crippling poverty and many of any of whom will face sex trafficking, childhood marriage, or be sent to Dubai as laborers. In grappling with this new role I am taking on, I've had some inevitable days of feeling overwhelmed at the newness of everything and the independence that will be required of me. These days, though intense, are few and far between. As I write this right now I'm feeling excited and really hopeful for all I can accomplish this year both with the kids in the village and in the internships I've lined up in Kathmandu.

My brief visit to my future village was exciting, scary, and fun all in one. After a very very very bumpy, jam packed 6 hour bus ride across the Nepalese countryside and a steep two hour hike, I arrived with my dad (who accompanied me... essentially "moving me in") in Bhotenamlang. I visited the school and my homestay and I met the teachers and the principle (who later invited me to her house for lunch!) I met a few families as well and spoke with an old man who in his youth went on treks to Everest with tours of foreigners. I also met a few future students of mine and made a few friends. Nepalese people are generally very warm so I instantly felt at home. This is not to say that it won't be hard once I move there in a few days. I will be living a very simple life of rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Squat toilets and bucket showers are my new reality. I also expect that I will have to grapple with being alone and come to terms with boredom. My brief visit with my dad was already a humbling experience. When I returned to Kathmandu I was already more appreciative of the little things.

I could write so much more about interesting conversations, meeting uncles I didn't know I have, crowded bus rides, the awkward tension of being half-foreigner and half-Nepali, and the inspiring people I've already met here........but I will spare you all these details. Instead, enjoy the photos below!

Thank you for reading :)

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Some photos I've taken in the past few days at the expense of looking like an obnoxious tourist.

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Side Note

some observations I've made about social, economic, and environmental progress in Nepal

I've noticed a huge divide between older generations and younger generations in Nepal. Generally the older folks dress more traditionally and hold more conservative Buddhist practices, while the younger folks are dressed in modern clothing and hold more progressive views. Similarly, Nepalese cities are grappling with balancing holding onto cherished traditions, values, professions and architecture while also modernizing and developing infrastructure. A walk through Kathmandu is at times beautiful but at times plain depressing. Most of the beautiful older brick buildings and temples adorned with ornate wooden doors and windows collapsed in the 2015 earthquakes. Beside these ruins stand these (in my opinion very ugly) purely functional, cement-slab offices and apartment complexes. Often times, older homes are bulldozed to expand the roads in Kathmandu. It seems to me that as Nepal has modernized and commercialized it has sacrificed a lot of its culture. In fact some teens here wear patriotic US baseball caps and shirts. I've walked by at least three KFC's in my one week here! It makes me sad to see how the culture here is homogenizing and adapting to a Western one. However, there are of course great benefits to the development in Nepal. The air quality in Kathmandu is much better than even two years ago and there are even a few electric cars and scooters on the streets these days! Roads are far less clogged and infrastructure is being developed quickly. Socially too this conservative, traditional country has opened up and is much more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community and cross-caste love marriages. Another great thing that I was happy to learn was that Nepal's electricity will be (within two years time) 100 % sourced from local hydroelectricity plants instead of the coal shipped from India. It's really exciting to witness this country's development towards a more equitable and green future!