Yeah everyone! I'm back! Haven't posted for a few days, it's been a little hectic recovering from my sickness (just a little stomach sickness) and then my two roommates returning to their home countries. Hence, I've been back and forth from Thamel and the Monastery. Internet Access hasn't been the best recently as well and just now; the computer was READING my camera but it wasn't detecting the pictures! Facebook hasn't been too friendly with me as well; some of it's privacy settings were having issues with the computers here (figure that one out, eh.). I'll see if I can get a few posts ready and just upload the pictures another day.
So yeah, my roommates Djamilia (from France) and Dennis (from the UK) have both left; and I have a new one, Tyler (from Australia). The past few days at the monastery have been good. I've been settling into the lifestyle more and more and have been bonding and playing with the monks more as well. We've been playing soccer (European Football), ultimate frisbee and cricket.
I'm NOT exactly sure why I haven't been posting as much recently. Perhaps I'm just more well-adjusted now and things don't seem as shocking (hence, the urge to write about it) or maybe it's just because I'm more than half-way done now and I've already started contemplating on how life is going to be again once I return home. I'm considering giving up my Blackberry; and going instead for a leaner plan. Last time I spent a chunk of time outside of Canada (3 months in Hong Kong - Summer 2004); I returned and gave up my cell phone altogether!
It's crazy, the quirks about our spending habits in the West; you especially notice it when you spend time in a foreign country; when it's less developed. It just makes you question more where and how you spend your money; and perhaps change it a bit. I'll blog later more about the monastery; how things work, etc; but I'm considering sponsoring one of the monks there (but in this case, it would also be sponsoring the monastery directly - since it is organized also as an institution as well). We'll see though. There's so many questions and information to ensure that your money is going to the right hands, etc. You just never know sometimes!
But yeah, I have under two weeks left at Nepal and hopefully I'll have at least 5 more blog posts left in me! It's actually quite an investment of time and effort blogging consistently, blogging itself has been quite an experience for me. So please comment and tell me what you think about posts or what more you want to hear about (I'm going to do a more detailed post on our daily schedule at the monastery, one about Quest Volunteer, one about the Internet cafe; and a few others!) and share with anyone and everyone that will benefit from this!
- Julius
I'll definitely agree that people spend money on things out of habit, rather than really questioning whether they need (or in many cases event want) the thing they're spending on.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more about the City and daily life at the monastery. How about a video or picture tour? I'd also like to see more pics! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean about our spending habits in the West? Are you talking about how we spend too much?
I think Mikey articulated it quite fine, "spending habits in the West", not questioning whether we really need or even want the things that we're purchasing. There's alot of money that goes 'down the drain'. Just 20 Euros (or $30 a month) goes a long way here [can provide food, water and some spending money for a month (in Nepal, etc); and yet we can spend that money non-nonchalantly having lunch with a friend or drinks with our classmates.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm articulating something more about the lack of awareness with our spending; NOT just about spending TOO much.
Good to hear from both of you. I'll be back home soon and also back in London in no time.