I am in Nepal part 2

I decided to split this VERY long post into two because that way you all can take a breather, maybe a cup of tea (that is ALL I have been drinking) and then come back to the second post!

Once we were in Parphing (at our “resort”) we were lead to our rooms (Lulu, Drew—a girl were my roommates) and then we quickly were whisked into orientation mode. Name games, get to know you’s, and cultural do’s and do not’s were our mission (Ally, you would have been a STAR at the get to know you games!).

We were promptly in bed by 8:00 pm because we were all SO (so so so so so so) tired from all the jet lag/traveling. I have never slept that well in my whole life—did not wake up once!

Now, I will explain my past week in brief because, for you and I both, it is a lot.

Orientation consisted of a “drop off” where I and two boys in my group (Mark and Max—“Tripple M”) were given a piece of paper with a Nepali name on it and were told to go find it. We had NO idea what we were looking for…was it a persons house, a restaurant, a holy place? After very little difficulty we stumbled upon Vadrayogini Temple. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. With remaining time we also visited the near by Buddhist monastery which was equally, if not more, beautiful.

The very next day we had a chance of a lifetime. We visited a Buddhist monastery (one of the MANY) where students (foreigners and locals) come to practice and study Buddhism. The teacher and great master of this establishment is THE Guru Rimposhea. Most of you, myself included, probably have NO idea who this guy is. WELL he is similar to the Dalai Lama and is a very high up teacher in the Buddhist faith. To be a Rimposhea means that you have been reincarnated and so the Guru Rimposhea that we met was the 5^th one. He gave us a (short) 1 hour and 30 minute teaching on Buddhism. This was one of the coolest and most inspirational things I have ever done. Imagine meeting and being taught by someone with SO much knowledge—I was speechless when he asked for questions at the end.

Every morning we woke up and had 2 hours of INTENSVE (this really does not even come close to explaining it) Tibetan language. For those of you who have ever taken Arabic, Sanskrit, Mandarin (Chinese) I give you SO many props. Characters are SO difficult to learn. I almost have the alphabet down (which is NOTHING like our alphabet…because they are not letters, but sounds). We are taught for one hour (grammar, exceptions etc.) and then have one hour where we work one-on-one with a Tibetan language partner. This is one of the coolest parts about this program because we have the opportunity to speak, test out and mess up the language with native speakers! Overwhelmed with the language does not even come close to describing my feelings, but I am ready for more.

Orientation was very much on the go, but it was the best way to assimilate into the culture. Based the rigor of the orientation week I know that this whole semester is not going to be a walk in the park—but I am ready for it.

We left the INCREDIBLE area of Parphing and drove back to Boudha (in Kathmandu) where the SIT program house, as well as our homestay families are. Boudha is predominately a Tibetan community and thus the reason why we are staying there. Our homestay families speak very little English and all have very unique stories.

My homestay family is cute, but quiet, small but kind, and speaks very little English. Saturday (01/01) I was greeted my by Amala (mother) and her friend at the SIT program house. We trekked my bags 25 minutes to where my house is. The walk is up and down hills, through winding roads and you always have to be careful of motorcycle and car traffic. (Although the street looks like a sidewalk in the USA…you would never guess you could fit two cars side by side.) I was served tea (sweet, milk tea) and then given time to “rest”—unpack my bags. I met my pahla (father) and we ate dinner. The dinner was a soup/stew with greens, onions, cilantro and beef. It was easy enough to pick around the beef, but my family noticed and hasn’t made a meal with meat in it since…:/). We had an elaborate conversation about how the entire family escaped from Tibet and came to Nepal (they trekked for over 4 months). I hope to find out more information on they’re trek, and maybe even about their friends. My family lives on the 3^rd story of a freestanding apartment building and shares the floor with a mother and her two children. I have my own room that has the communal porch attached to it. I cannot complain about the view at night because I watch the sun go down behind a beautiful “hill” (which I would call mountain).

We are staying in Boudha for the next week and a half then we leave to go to Lumbini (the birth place of the Buddha, in Nepal). I am very excited for that, but there is still a lot that stands between now and then. I will try to keep you all updated but Internet is VERY scarce here and the time difference is a bit tricky. (I believe Kathmandu is 11 hours a head of the East coast in the USA).

Simjanango (good night and good sleep)! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or want to fill me in on your life.