Nepal- Week Two

Nepal- Week Two
Kathmandu, Nepal
November 13, 2017 to January 9, 2018


I am in Nepal for 8 weeks, teaching for the World Academy for the Future of Women.  I will be teaching college women how to be global leaders with the focus on the UN Sustainable Goals.  I am going to travel a little bit during this time.  This should be an enjoyable 8 weeks.

Monday, Nov 20- I take a long, long bus ride to Pokhara.  What should have taken 5 hours takes 9 hours due to a truck that slide off the side of the mountain.  This town is filled with trekkers from all over the world. There is a strong western-world influence on this town.  All businesses cater to us.

Tuesday, Nov 21- At breakfast, I meet a couple from Scotland. They are my age and both are overweight but they are going on a two-day hike in the mountains and looking forward to the challenge.  I am looking forward to the arrival of my taxi driver and guide.

I take a city tour today.  The first stop is a 300-year-old Hindu temple.  We go to Debbie Falls and the glacier waters where we wash away our unknown sins.  But the highlights for me today were the visits to the Tibetan Refugee Camp and the Everest Mountain Museum.

Wednesday, Nov 22- I was picked up at 530 AM for a ride up to the top of a mountain to watch the sun rise over the Himalayan Mountains.  The view was spectacular.  I spent the rest of the day in search of a cup of Himalayan coffee and a good massage.  I was successful on both accounts.

Thursday, Nov 23 -I return to Thamel and wait for Laura, Nirmala and Jubin to join me for Thanksgiving dinner.  We are resigned to the fact that we will not have a traditional meal but we are committed to overeating.  However, we do find a restaurant that is offering a Thanksgiving buffet which immediately sparks a nostalgia in me.  I eat turkey and something that resembles stuffing and yellow pumpkin pie.  My two Nepali guests convince the waiter to let them split a Thanksgiving dinner and he does and they eat way too much and are satisfied that they had a Thanksgiving moment.

Friday, Nov 24- I sit in on my first session of classes and am impressed with the students.  Their English is so much better than many of my Chinese students. They seem to be bigger dreamers and more exposed to world issues.  They are commitment to improving the lives of women.

Saturday, Nov 25- there is a farewell ceremony for Laura, as she is finished her teaching assignment and a welcome ceremony for me as I will start on Monday. We all participate in a public awareness project to highlight the damaging effect of violence against women

Jubin comes to get Laura and me and she takes us to a local private school.  We sit for an hour as I question the school administrator on every aspect of his school. Students pay $25/month to attend and all classes are taught in English. Students go to school six days a week. The conditions are substandard and bleak. But the students don’t seem to mind.

She then takes us to a weaving factory.  It is now dark and the women are working under a dim light.  It is cold and the day surely has been long but it doesn’t appear as if anyone is going home soon.  There is still work to be done.  One woman is 76 and she has occupied her bench for 40 years.  She talks to Jebin and her old, arthritic fingers weave silk through the warp of her loom.  I am overwhelmed with sadness for this woman.

We finish the day at a fast food dumpling restaurant. There’s lots of food, lots of dumplings and nan and good company.

Sunday, November 26- We spend the mornig at TEWA, a conference center funded by NGOs that focus on women’s issues. It was so hopeful to see how many organizations there are in Nepal to address all of the abuses women face in this country.

Laurel and I head to Thamel from the night. Laurel is headed back to the USA tomorrow. So, we take a last-minute jaunt to the infamous Monkey Temple.  As we roam around, we wander in to a small shop that sells nothing but singing bowls.  An old, toothless man, with limited English, shows us the magic of these ancient bowls. He presses a large bowl on my back and ever so slightly, taps the side of the bowl.  Sound waves vibrate through my body and I can hear that vibration for several minutes later.