Arrival at the Monastery

So today (Wednesday), Dennis and I arrived at the "Siddhartha Foundation" where we will both be spending a few weeks as "Teachers of English" to the monks at the monastery. This was NOT the original monastery that I was supposed to be volunteering at, but as my local guide (Sanju) says "Such is how things work @ Kathmandu"; things just change last minute; and one has to just go with the flow of such changes.

I'm at a new internet cafe, and there is no direct USB port for me to connect my camera to this computer, so I WON'T be posting pictures for this post, but hopefully I can figure something out in the near future (pictures do make a huge difference!).

Anyway, it's nice here at the monastery. It's in the Northern side of Kathmandu; which is a little more quiet; and it hugs closely to some of the hills/mountains. I may decide to do a little one day hike this weekend, we'll see! It is also different than what we Westerners have as an ideal of a monastery in Nepal/Tibet. It's still in parts of the city; yet it's NOT; since it's a monastery. So there's the bustling of the city; yet there is also the serenity of the monastery, all mixed in with sights of local poverty as well. Dennis and I explored some of this, by testing out some of the local foods from the street vendors. I had some roasted corn and some "momos", which are basically Nepali dumplings (beef). Pretty spicy, yet delicious.

Ironically, these locals DID NOT rip me off, unlike some individuals in the Thamel area (tourist zone). I was unable to speak Nepali to find the price, and each time they gave me back change; the local food, costing me only pennies in Canadian currency (well more towards 20-30 cents). I offered to give more money, but they refused. Interesting experience.

Oh yeah, before I forget, bumped into an interesting individual yesterday, Jenny, who quit her job and is travelling abroad for a year, creating a blog to help people find volunteer opportunities on their own as they travel abroad. It's pretty interesting, here's the link: I LOVE Travelling.

Till next time!

- Julius

Random Pictures

These are the view from the top of the Guest House I'm staying @ Kathmandu (Thamel).

Food, I'm Asian, gotta have a food shot.

The Guest House serves breakfast to your room.

Left to Right: Dennis and Sanju

Homesick, Training and Some Sightseeing

Yeah, I was a little homesick a few nights ago (AND jet-lagged). I was out with my volunteer friends and I was starting to miss home! And I just found out from my friend that the Canucks LOST in the Finals, (insert moment of silence! Sad news for Canadians, all over the world!).

Left to Right: Matt (Australia), Tom (Netherlands) , Me (Ju), Chantal (Netherlands), Dennis (UK)

All of our niceties, "Western Culture", friends and family! What triggered the homesickness was the common trappings of a Westerner of Asian descent travelling abroad in Asia. The realization of although on an external level I might fit in (I've been commented quite a few times already that I look Nepali, ha!!); on an internal level I'm a English-Speaking Western foreigners visiting an East Asian Nepali-Speaking developing country. And because of this paradox, it's just weird and it makes you miss home more than the average traveler I guess, since you belong but you DON'T belong.

Anyway, Monday-Tuesday has been pretty damn awesome! I went down to our local volunteer agency's office and started training with Dennis. It was a long morning/afternoon, but by the end of it, I was able to more understand the goals and mission of the agency and learn some basic Nepali as well.

We were also able to do some official sight-seeing as well, see below:

Steps leading up to Swayambhu Stupa

View from the Stupa

The Swayambhu Stupa

Monkeys playing by a pool near the Stupa. I had to take this picture, as they are known to cause a ruckus and steal cameras!

These two photos are from Kathmandu: Durbur Square. The architecture in the picture above was inspired from English/European architecture, from a visiting Nepali. Durbur Square also hosted the Kumari, which is generally a Virgin girl, pre-menstruation who is selected upon her qualities (ie. beauty, features, education, sturdiness of personality) to live in a building "as a goddess"; until she starts menstruation or is cut in a way that releases blood. I'm not sure if that's worth the trade, being labelled as a Goddess, but basically trapped in a "large jail cell" for a good portion of your youth. You tell me.

- Julius

Days 1-2: The Dark Side of Travelling Abroad

So it's Sunday morning over here, at around 9:30 am. And I'm already dreading my lack of planning for this trip, I KNOW I could have done a better job! Little things, like creating this blog in advance, instead of at Nepal (I wish the timestamp said Sunday - 9:30 am, instead of Saturday Night, Toronto Time - If anyone knows how to change this; please tell me!!). I'm also regretting that my laptop started NOT BOOTING up the day before I headed out to Nepal; and I didn't do enough research to confidently bring my cell phone over (I don't have it unlocked; so I wasn't sure if it was worth bringing it over and buying a Sim Card - ie. I'd have to find a way to unlock the phone, I believe?). I'm sure in retrospect, it's going to be all good.

Anyway, I didn't take any pictures, but last night was amazing! One of the volunteer co-ordinators called me up (right after I woke up from my nap @ 6 pm - still a little jet-lag and on Toronto Time) and invited me to have dinner and drinks with a bunch of volunteers that have been already in Nepal for a few weeks! It was quite alright talking to other "Westerners". Although apparently I LOOK Nepali, it's times like last night that I can see how Western I really am. I really have missed our culture in just a mere 2 days.

Here are some pictures of just my own adventures in the first two days of wandering around, while jet-lagged and still in culture-shock.

You know what? I'm feeling somewhat incompetent in my blogging abilities, as I'm not sure how to organize this pictures appropriately!! Maybe I should have used Wordpress instead, I was used to that interface! It seems that each time I add a picture, it goes to the TOP of my post, which totally messes things up! Ah well, c'est la vie! Perhaps someone can give me some tips on this as well?

The circumstances around these two pictures is quite interesting; since it reflects I think some of the darker aspects of travelling abroad and the tourism industry in general. I was walking down one of the main roads of Thamel, Kathmandu (the main tourist place here); and a random local, let's call him "O" approached me. Basically he invited me to walk with him, found out that I was spending most of my time volunteering in a monastery and then told me a story of how he was training to become a painter of mandalas and that he was living in a local monastery (see picture #1 above). He led me to a local store in where he said was his 'teacher' of painting these mandalas, in which I was immediately involved in a sales pitch in them attempting to sell me some hand-drawn paintings for $100 USD (I must say though, the paintings were quite amazing!).

Anyway, long story short. I was able to squeeze myself out of the situation, gave him a little tip for showing me around and quietly went on my way finding my way home. It was quite an interesting experience. As although the local Nepali people are amazing, there is such also an entrepreneurial side to things; as some individuals find it justified to; in my opinion 'con' unsuspecting foreigners (ie. ME).

So that's that, there's so much more I'd like to share in only these two days, but I think that's enough for now and just something to think about. Don't get me wrong, I think travelling abroad is great and I'm looking forward to going to my monastery latter this week; but eh, there is a 'dark side' to everything. I'd LOVE to hear your comments, this will be my main mode of correspondence with the outside world for the next two months, so yes! Please leave a comment and feel free to share this blog with others who are interested.

- Julius

Arrival

After a 30+ hour journey, I have arrived at my destination: Kathmandu, Nepal. It's getting late here and I want to relax, I will blog tomorrow! I had to spend 2 hours waiting for my volunteer team to pick me up from the airport, but they eventually got there, here's a picture of us in the car, driving to Thamel (tourist/DT Kathmandu).

Till tomorrow!

- Julius