Hello my name is: "The Enlightened One"

So you are all (hopefully!) wondering what I have been up to. Well, here it is. I am a newly ordained Bodisattva and therefore have been busy doing all my Bodisattva duties. So for all of you that did not click on that link and/or do not know what a Bodisattva is I will tell you. Basically I have taken the vows to become “one of the four sublime states a human can achieve in their life”. Yes, to answer your question I do want to be referred to as “the enlightened one”.

The funny part is I am only sort of kidding. This past weekend (Feb 8^th and 9^th) I went to Dzongsar Jaymang Khyentse Rinpoche give a teaching on the Buddha Dharma and even more specifically on how to achieve Aspiration. To some of you this sounds dull, however it was awesome. Dzongsar Rinpoche is not only hilarious, but a great public speaker and also, yes, very wise. The teaching went from 8am-1pm ever day with a tea break in between. Other than the fact that it took up the greater part of our day (because it starts to get dark around 5:00 pm here) it was really awesome.

What did I do with the rest of my weekend? Funny you would ask. I went to a MOMO FESTIVAL. A momo is a Tibetan version of a dumpling and it is delicious. A few of the other kids on the program and I took a bus to this a park where there was supposedly a Momo festival going on. (Now I must preface this by saying nothing is ever set in stone in Nepal and so when I said that supposedly a Momo festival I really meant that it was a crap shoot as to if it was really a thing or not). Much to our surprise there was actually a Momo Festival going on. We could tell because the second we stepped off the bus there was BLASTING American dub-step music and lots of people flooding the gates. We paid our ticket, got a stamp and headed in. The festival had over 30 different kinds of Momo’s; everything from tofu and pannier to meat lovers to yack milk and chocolate filled ones. For all my veg lovers out there, don’t worry there were plenty of veg options! On top of it being an all-you-can-eat place (sadly I only could manage 9) there were also many different contests. Some of my friends entered into the momo making competitions, momo eating competitions and even a beer drinking contest. The entire festival was catered by “Café Bakery” which was different than I thought—I thought it was going to be a small festival where each family produced their own signature momo. Either way it was all a huge cultural experience and I am very glad I went.

Updates on my host family:

My host “parents” are not much older than me—from what I gather they are about 25-30 years old. (They do not actually know what their birthDAYs are.) This is cool and fun and makes everything a little different then the other kids on the program because I have a different dynamic with my family. However, communication is still tricky. With my lack of Tibetan language and their lack on English language we are limited to talking about “how was your day” and “no I do not eat meat”. They find it THE funniest and most peculiar thing that I do not eat meat and consistently make fun of me for it (in a loving way of course). For example: last night they were eating buffalo off of the bone (like HUGE pieces of buffalo) and they kept offering it to me and then laughing after I politely refused it. Hah. While we are on the topic of food: food= carbs. I have consumed more noodles, bread and rice than I have every in my whole life. Secondly, I have never NOT eaten veggies so little in my whole life. (Yes, this makes being a vegetarian difficult. Perhaps, I should just be a carb-a-tarian.) Don’t get me wrong, I am SO SO SO grateful for all the food that I am eating and it is delicious (bay shimbudue) it is just an adjustment from home that’s all.

On Thursday (Feb 13) I am going to Lumbini and Chitwan. Lumbini is the birth place of the Buddha (although this is a huge cultural debate between Nepal and India). And Chitwan is the first established National Park in Nepal. I am hoping to finally see a real Tiger (refer to previous blog posts in Kenya to get that joke) and possibly ride an elephant! I will be out of communication from the 13^th till the 18^th!

I hope you are all enjoying your abroad experiences and or snow at home! Jay la Jail young (see you).

The Chorden (Stupa) in Boudahnah 

This is not a very good picture but you can see the Himalayas behind those hills around 4:30pm!

The Chorden again. Yes, the white blob behind the mountains is actually the Himalayan Mountains

Momo Festival

Lulu and Zack feasting on Momo's

Spinach Momo's (Each momo came with a complementary sauce too) 

...also the bowls were made of leafs! COOL. 

Drew modeling our complementary beer... Everest

SO many momo fans! 

Slightly out of order, sorry! Sitting on the Chorden doing homework with Emily! 

Lulu, Drew and I LOVE Momo's!

Drew and me...YUMMM!

Horrible picture...but this is where the Rinpoche's teaching was. (We were not supposed to take pictures in the shrine room when he is in there)

The location of the teaching

INTERESTING FACT!!!! Every drink in Nepal is served HOT......... I ordered a 'milk shake' (obviously thinking it would be cold) and it was steaming hot. I tried to capture the steam, but it was some what unsuccessful. 

My life in Pel Yer (Nepal)

These are just a few photos from my time thus far. They are slightly out of order, but it is really difficult to complete anything because of the internet so this will have to do. (I have spent 2 days posting this--internet issues!). 

Enjoy!

The view from my porch at night!

My house. (I live on the 2nd floor--my room is the 3rd window on the right side of the building)

The site right next door to my house (the view from my window)

The Boudah Stupa (a highly religious site that Buddhists come to worship every day. I will write a whole blog post on this beautiful site)

Prayer Wheel at the Stupa

Butcher...!!!

Yes, it is true, prayer flags are EVERYWHERE

My family cooking momo's (dumplings)

Assembly line

Finished product! SOO Yummy. The one I made is faced down because it is so bad hah

I gave the silver YMCA cups to my family and they loved them. However, I said specifically do not drink hot liquids out of it...and that is ALL they drink, tea! oops! 

In Parphing (orientation week)

The streets of Parphing

View from the Buddhist Monistary--look at all the fields and green spaces. SO different than Kathmandu City

My "Drop Off" buddies--Max and Mark

Prayer Wheels

The walk up to the Monastery 

Mark imprinting the script on the wall for our "drop off" souvenir 

Staring contest--I won!

"Eco-Friendly Bottle House" with a trash site right behind it

In celebration of the holiday Martyrs Day in Nepal, people combine rice, red powder and water to create a sticky mixture to stick on their forehead 

The sunset view from my room again

Food Castle Restaurant where I steal my wifi from 

My room!

Walking in Durnbar Square 

Thursday Temple 

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. 

I am in Nepal!

Tashedalek! (Hello, congratulations, good health etc. in Tibetan) I have safely arrived in the beautiful (really, though) land of Nepal. Although my journey here was difficult I could not be happier and more excited to be studying abroad a second time. Lets go back to the journey over here:

January 28^th, 4:23 pm: Leave BOS for JFK. This was a very smooth flight…sat next to a very relaxed baby who loved to play and smile, score!

I arrived to JFK hoping to catch the air tram (the public transportation system that brings you from terminal to terminal) but to my pleasant surprise it was closed down… So I had to find the public busses outside the airport and find the one that was going to terminal 4. Finally I was able to do that got to the International Terminal. I checked into Ethaid Airways and was told that my bags would not check all the was through to Kathmandu, Nepal and that I would have to pick them up in Mumbai, India. Normally I would not be upset about something like that (especially because I had a 8ish hour lay over in India) but I did not have an Indian visa and therefore was not permitted to leave and come back into the Indian country…aka how was I supposed to pick up my bags! YIKES. This had me very worried…and my dad too. (He was helping me figure everything out via cell phone—thanks Dad!) 9:50 pm: JFK to Abu Dhabi. I boarded the plane and was lucky enough to have the WHOLE ROW to myself. I was assigned the window seat but did not have anyone join me so therefore I was able to lay down on the whole seat—I slept for almost the whole 11 hour flight because it was equivalent to a nights sleep for me! I also watched We are the Millers and Mary Poppins!

I arrived to Abu Dhabi around 3:30am (Abu Dhabi time) and managed went to speak with an Ethiad Airways representative to figure out how I could get my bags in India with no India visa. The representative told me that I was to be okay, they would check all the way through to Kathmandu. While this sounded awesome, it seemed too good to be true…and I later figured out it was.

Once I got to Mumbai, India 1:00 am (Mumbai time) I was greeted by a man holding a sign for “Mr. Megan McGregor” I excitedly greeted him and he brought me to a one person holding cell (who knows where) in the airport. I was told to hand over my passport, boarding ticket and itinerary and that this gentleman, Riji, would some how get my bags, check me in and come back to me. What else was I supposed to do?! I VERY hesitantly handed over my entire life and hoped for the best. 4 HOURS LATER, at 5:00 am Riji came back. (I have never been SO excited to see a complete stranger in my whole life). I was guided into the security line where my bag was checked and I was patted down, laughed at (because of my make-shift skirt situation) and then told how to wrap it correctly. After that I was left to wait in the Mumbai airport for 5 hours until we were supposed to board at 10:40 am. I waited, and waited, and ate a croissant, and waited and talked with some friendly Indian men, and waited, and tried to study Tibetan but was too overwhelmed so just waited longer.

Around 8:30 am I was greeted by an American girl, her name was Emily! We made the connection that we were both going to Nepal with SIT (different programs) and that we had a very good mutual friend named Emily! Small world. We exchanged our stories and waited until we boarded the plane. Come 10:00 am all the Kathmandu passengers were asked to go through yet ANOTHER security check point and then we all went on a 30 minute bus ride to where our plane was…(it was very odd). Then we boarded the plane and by this time we were about 45 minutes late. The best part of the whole plane ride was the last 15 minutes as we flew over the Himalayas. Words. Cannot. Describe. The. Beauty. (neither can pictures…because I do not have any SO SORRY:/).

We arrived in the Kathmandu airport 1 hour later than was planned. This put me right on the edge of making the 3:00 pm deadline for meeting with my group. Once I obtained my visa, got my bags (YES, THEY REALLY DID COME!!!!!!!!!) it was about 3:15 pm. I was very worried, but found one of my teachers holding a sign reading SIT! (Oh, happy day, I did not miss my group.)

Three other students, my teacher Tenchou La, and I got into a minibus and proceeded 1 hour 30 minutes to Parphing (a religious sight for many Buddhist and Hindu pilgrimages right on the border of the Kathmandu Valley) where we were staying for the next week. The drive was beautiful, horrifying, exciting, and a whole lot more contradicting emotions. Traffic habits, wandering goats (!), unpredictable foot traffic and the incredible Himalayan mountain range guided us all the way to Parphing.

Round II

Well, here I am again...packing everything I need for the next 5 months into my hiking backpack and day backpack. Unlike last spring, to Kenya I brought a hiking backpack, a duffle bag and a backpack...this semester I have cut it to just a hiking and day backpack. Go me! (See picture evidence below)

This semester is going to be unlike anything else I have ever done. The program I am going on is through SIT World Learning and is not through my university. Therefore, unlike my semester in Kenya, I will not know any of the other American students I am going with! (Nervous, but excited to make new friends!!). The program that I am going on has multiple different adventures and homestays and culminates with a month-long independent study. I am hoping to spend more time in Bhutan or India, but we will see. Here is what the program looks like:

I am leaving tomorrow for a fun 48 hours of traveling...and yes, you did hear me right 48 hours!!!!! BOS>JFK>Abu Dhabi> Mumbai> Kathmandu!

I do not know when I will have internet access next (because we go right into homestays) but I will be sure to update you as soon as I am available!

I wish you all the best and please stay tuned!

Namaste,
Megan