Now that we are back to teaching, our schedules have been changed. All the activities of Friday have been moved to Sunday, hence Friday is a my new day off :) Papri is taking a class on Friday near Dhaka so she can slowly work towards getting her master's in education. Poor woman has to travel back and forth every week! That's going to get old fast! So this last Friday, I tidied up our room, did a load of laundry, and relaxed. It was "Sunday" after all :)
But the highlight of that day was talking to my friend Abby on the phone. It was so good to hear from her and to feel like I was home for even just a second. It's the first time we've talked since I've been gone and it was so good to touch base with one of my best friends.
Later that afternoon, we opened the gates for one last clinic stint. We were slowly running out of medications, bags, and bottles, but we were going to go until we had nothing left to give. Some people were coming back for seconds but I hope someone got some help that wouldn't have otherwise. For some reason, most of my patients were men with teeth problems. Here's a tip, brush your teeth! If I had a nickel for every cavity I saw on Friday I would be able to pay for my trip back home for a visit! (Well maybe that was a tad bit of an exaggeration but there were a ton of people with bad teeth!)
On Sabbath, we were presented with a unique opportunity. Abiram, the electrician on campus, was getting married at the Catholic church where Sunity (our little disabled girl) used to stay. He used to work at the Catholic mission but left to come work for us because we needed him so badly. Since then he has been studying Adventist beliefs but his new bride was Catholic so they had to be married in the church. We all piled into the back of the Hilux and set off early Saturday morning and were back in the early afternoon.
So that makes for two weddings in one week. I've been here for almost 4months and then bam! Everyone starts getting married lol.
I took a good long nap in the warm sun on the rooftop in the afternoon :) It was splendid! Later that evening, Dr. Becky handed out glo-sticks to all the kids. You should have seen it! They were all running around in their little onesie pajamas, waving their lights in the darkness, tossing them into the air, and laughing wildly. It was adorable! Elle and I joined into the fun until it was time to usher them off to bed. Elle and I got to watch an episode of House afterwards as we chomped down some delicious popcorn from Shati. Twas a good day.
This morning, I had to go to class. Weird for a Sunday, but nonetheless I spent part of the morning teaching the joys of the letter J--my favourite letter! When English class was over, I headed downstairs to the next task at hand. After spending countless hours and days organizing the storage room, we had weeded out old and tattered clothes. They had been set aside for this day. Now the villagers were waiting outside the gate like kids at an amusement park. Our castoffs were their prized possessions.
We took about four in at a time and handed out a dress or two with a sweater and a pair of socks. When most of the children had been tended to, we loaded the rest of the clothes into the Hilux. Most of the clothes left over were baby sleepers and onesies and little little girl dresses. We drove through the villages, calling for all little children (cho-toe bah-cha!!) to come to the road. We tossed mismatched socks to the excited parents and children, along with bibs and bonnets--probably foreign accessories over here. It sounds like an easy project but it actually took a couple hours to do. After all the baby onesies were gone that I had, Shabourna and I fell asleep in the backseat of the truck as it bumped along. But it was another good day, so exciting to see the looks of joy in people's eyes as they grabbed the clothing.
Tomorrow we are going to the grand opening of an English Medium Secondary School. I'm not sure what the Medium has to do with anything but all I know is that they really want English foreigners to be there. lol I'm so ready to go back to being invisible in the States--enough of this celebrity business!
I'll do my best to attach pictures to the last couple posts later... For now it's bedtime! :)
ami tomake bhalobashi
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
of wedding crashers and roosters
This morning after teaching my first grade class the wonders of the letter 'I', we piled back in the Hilux and drove to another village for clinics. Instead of turning left to go to Hili, we turned right and went further than I've been yet. We went to the village Polymul (he helps with maintainance around the campus) is from and set up our work station there.
I'm trying to remember if there were any cases that really stuck out. I had a ton of women with "womenly" problems but Dr.Becky didn't bring over enough medication for that kind of thing. Thus we handed out a ton of vitamins and some antifungal cream to try to help a little. There were a ton of children with coughs. One woman had a huge goiter on her neck. Lots of arthritis and general pain from working so hard. There was one little girl whose pinky finger would swell up so much with some kind of food allergy that her nail was being pushed off by the stretching skin. That was really weird, not going to lie.
There was a lot of cases that could have been treated by one of two simple remedies: drink more water and/or stop eating beetlenut! These people are only drinking a glass or two of water each day so there are so many cases of bladder infections, aching joints, fever, and rashes below most likely caused by such highly concentrated urine. As for beetlenut, that stuff is just plain awful. I don't know if I've told about beetlenut yet, but if I haven't, it's a highly addictive substance that most adults use. You put some white pastey stuff on a leaf and chew it--but there is like lye or something in it that slowly eats away at your mouth. It's so bad for you! It's the stuff that causes so many people to have bright red mouths with a ton of teeth missing or straight up rotting.
We saw over 200patients today! After awhile, Polymul stopped counting because we were trying to pack up and go but people were still crowding around us trying to explain their problems. How can you say no to a baby with a fever or an old wrinkly Baba with joint pain? Dr.Becky thought we saw upwards of 300people by the end but we don't know what the official count was.
On the way back to the truck, we saw two men thrashing rice by hand. At the orphanage, the men used a spinning cylinder to pull the rice off the stalk but these men were doing it the old-fashioned way--smacking it against a board. We took some pictures and then Mary asked me to get a picture of her thrashing the rice.
I have to tell you about Mary. There is just something about Mary (lol yes I just made a movie reference :) ). She is 78yrs old and lost her husband of 29yrs about two years ago. She was left money through a accidental death clause with their bank and has been planning mission trips with the money left over from the hospital and funeral expenses. She is going to Africa, Peru, and Indonesia all before August! She is so full of life.. I'm just in awe of her. Following the cues of her and Mr.Waid (he, at 81yrs old, still beats me at badminton most nights), I plan to live my life to the fullest right until they put me in the ground. Just wait though, I have another story about her coming up....
We got back to the orphanage right at dinner time and I settled into my seat to eat some yummy pasta and bora that Shati had made. Even though we were all full, we decided to take a walk after dinner. Elliot, Dr.Becky, and Tammy started hoofing it down the road but me, Rosemary, Yvonne, and Mary took it easy and strolled down the road. Usually the road to the orphanage is a quiet country road and you hardly see anyone for miles outside the village. This time though, the road was congested at points with crowds of people. We heard drumming in the distance and Rosemary found out there was a wedding about to happen. We kept walking in our normal direction when we came upon a second crowd of people around a minibus. Rosemary told us the groom was inside the bus, waiting to go into the bride's family's home. I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA WITH ME. ugh. The one time... Yvonne and Mary took pictures though.
Rosemary asked us if we wanted to go inside and see the bride. Okay. We crashed a Hindu wedding. No joke. The house was decorated with colourful flags and the inner courtyard had a makeshift ceiling of vines and leaves over a center pole. This pole will come into play later... They brought out the young bride, probably not much older than 15 or 16, who was wearing her first outfit: a bright yellow seloar kameese. Then we watched some men make a headdress for the bride to wear at some point during the ceremony. The drums got loud again and we headed back to the outer courtyard. Some people had started to do some sort of a circular line dance, almost similar to something you'd see at a Greek wedding, with the drummers in the middle. A man came up to us, drunk off his keester from homemade rice whiskey and wanted to dance. I hung back because I was the only young one there but Mary stepped up and started mimicking this guy's dance. She was my hero! She is such a sweet, white-haired but full of life, woman. Everyone around laughed and was so happy she joined in the festivities.
At that time, we saw Banni pushing her way through the crowd. How she found us I don't know, but she took us back into the inner court and then into the house. The bride was now in a bright orange shari and getting all dolled up for the coming events. I think that was her second outfit out of three. She changes into a red shari when she is officially married. By the way, it's customary in the culture for the bride to look pretty morose throughout the day because she is leaving her family to join her husband's family. No smiling. That is definitely not how my wedding day is going to go down! lol
On the way out, we stopped to watch another part of the wedding customs. Just as we were sitting, we saw Dr.Becky, Elliot, and Tammy come into the inner court. Someone from the orphanage had seen us go to the wedding and had directed the others to where we were. Then they pulled out the chicken. Oh my goodness. We all knew immediately that things were not going to end well for this chicken.
After Banni had confirmed that they were going to kill the rooster, some people from our group decided they didn't need to see it go down and headed back to the orphanage. Elle and I stayed though to watch this wedding ritual. Someone held the rooster while the father of the bride knelt in front of a palm frond fence that had been put up around the center pole. He drew three short lines using thick red powder on the ground. Then he sprinkled rice over the lines and added rosemary twigs on top of the piles. He repeated the general process by putting the items onto the rooster, each time standing up and holding the rooster up over his head. I don't know if he was praying or offering the rooster as a sacrifice..? Something...
Before the moment of truth, the father of the bride held the rooster near the ground where the rice piles were. If the rooster eats the rice, the newlywed couple is supposed to have good luck. I hope this couple has good luck because the poor rooster snarked down a couple grains for his last meal. Then someone brought out a sharp carved knife and... well.. poor chicken. I didn't watch most of it but I heard it all go down. Afterwards, water was poured over the rooster's head and blood from the body was sprinkled in front of the fence. Ugh. I still get a little queasy just thinking about the rooster's beak still moving even after it had been detached from the body and a headless body flapping wings and kicking feet.. A rope was brought out and the head was tucked between the legs, which were then bound with the rope and tied to the top of the center pole. And it dripped. And dripped.
*full body shiver* yuck. I'm so glad I'm a Christian!
We didn't stay long after that because it was getting dark and the next events wouldn't be until later. Just when I thought I'd seen it all in these last three months, Bangladesh threw me a curveball. Only in Bangladesh... I'm sad though that I didn't have my camera though! Not to document the chicken murder, but just to take pictures of the bride and groom and the rest of the festivities.
anyways, that was my day :) It was a good one--eventful and mildly traumatizing, but good!
ami tomake bhalobashi
I'm trying to remember if there were any cases that really stuck out. I had a ton of women with "womenly" problems but Dr.Becky didn't bring over enough medication for that kind of thing. Thus we handed out a ton of vitamins and some antifungal cream to try to help a little. There were a ton of children with coughs. One woman had a huge goiter on her neck. Lots of arthritis and general pain from working so hard. There was one little girl whose pinky finger would swell up so much with some kind of food allergy that her nail was being pushed off by the stretching skin. That was really weird, not going to lie.
There was a lot of cases that could have been treated by one of two simple remedies: drink more water and/or stop eating beetlenut! These people are only drinking a glass or two of water each day so there are so many cases of bladder infections, aching joints, fever, and rashes below most likely caused by such highly concentrated urine. As for beetlenut, that stuff is just plain awful. I don't know if I've told about beetlenut yet, but if I haven't, it's a highly addictive substance that most adults use. You put some white pastey stuff on a leaf and chew it--but there is like lye or something in it that slowly eats away at your mouth. It's so bad for you! It's the stuff that causes so many people to have bright red mouths with a ton of teeth missing or straight up rotting.
We saw over 200patients today! After awhile, Polymul stopped counting because we were trying to pack up and go but people were still crowding around us trying to explain their problems. How can you say no to a baby with a fever or an old wrinkly Baba with joint pain? Dr.Becky thought we saw upwards of 300people by the end but we don't know what the official count was.
On the way back to the truck, we saw two men thrashing rice by hand. At the orphanage, the men used a spinning cylinder to pull the rice off the stalk but these men were doing it the old-fashioned way--smacking it against a board. We took some pictures and then Mary asked me to get a picture of her thrashing the rice.
I have to tell you about Mary. There is just something about Mary (lol yes I just made a movie reference :) ). She is 78yrs old and lost her husband of 29yrs about two years ago. She was left money through a accidental death clause with their bank and has been planning mission trips with the money left over from the hospital and funeral expenses. She is going to Africa, Peru, and Indonesia all before August! She is so full of life.. I'm just in awe of her. Following the cues of her and Mr.Waid (he, at 81yrs old, still beats me at badminton most nights), I plan to live my life to the fullest right until they put me in the ground. Just wait though, I have another story about her coming up....
We got back to the orphanage right at dinner time and I settled into my seat to eat some yummy pasta and bora that Shati had made. Even though we were all full, we decided to take a walk after dinner. Elliot, Dr.Becky, and Tammy started hoofing it down the road but me, Rosemary, Yvonne, and Mary took it easy and strolled down the road. Usually the road to the orphanage is a quiet country road and you hardly see anyone for miles outside the village. This time though, the road was congested at points with crowds of people. We heard drumming in the distance and Rosemary found out there was a wedding about to happen. We kept walking in our normal direction when we came upon a second crowd of people around a minibus. Rosemary told us the groom was inside the bus, waiting to go into the bride's family's home. I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA WITH ME. ugh. The one time... Yvonne and Mary took pictures though.
Rosemary asked us if we wanted to go inside and see the bride. Okay. We crashed a Hindu wedding. No joke. The house was decorated with colourful flags and the inner courtyard had a makeshift ceiling of vines and leaves over a center pole. This pole will come into play later... They brought out the young bride, probably not much older than 15 or 16, who was wearing her first outfit: a bright yellow seloar kameese. Then we watched some men make a headdress for the bride to wear at some point during the ceremony. The drums got loud again and we headed back to the outer courtyard. Some people had started to do some sort of a circular line dance, almost similar to something you'd see at a Greek wedding, with the drummers in the middle. A man came up to us, drunk off his keester from homemade rice whiskey and wanted to dance. I hung back because I was the only young one there but Mary stepped up and started mimicking this guy's dance. She was my hero! She is such a sweet, white-haired but full of life, woman. Everyone around laughed and was so happy she joined in the festivities.
At that time, we saw Banni pushing her way through the crowd. How she found us I don't know, but she took us back into the inner court and then into the house. The bride was now in a bright orange shari and getting all dolled up for the coming events. I think that was her second outfit out of three. She changes into a red shari when she is officially married. By the way, it's customary in the culture for the bride to look pretty morose throughout the day because she is leaving her family to join her husband's family. No smiling. That is definitely not how my wedding day is going to go down! lol
On the way out, we stopped to watch another part of the wedding customs. Just as we were sitting, we saw Dr.Becky, Elliot, and Tammy come into the inner court. Someone from the orphanage had seen us go to the wedding and had directed the others to where we were. Then they pulled out the chicken. Oh my goodness. We all knew immediately that things were not going to end well for this chicken.
After Banni had confirmed that they were going to kill the rooster, some people from our group decided they didn't need to see it go down and headed back to the orphanage. Elle and I stayed though to watch this wedding ritual. Someone held the rooster while the father of the bride knelt in front of a palm frond fence that had been put up around the center pole. He drew three short lines using thick red powder on the ground. Then he sprinkled rice over the lines and added rosemary twigs on top of the piles. He repeated the general process by putting the items onto the rooster, each time standing up and holding the rooster up over his head. I don't know if he was praying or offering the rooster as a sacrifice..? Something...
Before the moment of truth, the father of the bride held the rooster near the ground where the rice piles were. If the rooster eats the rice, the newlywed couple is supposed to have good luck. I hope this couple has good luck because the poor rooster snarked down a couple grains for his last meal. Then someone brought out a sharp carved knife and... well.. poor chicken. I didn't watch most of it but I heard it all go down. Afterwards, water was poured over the rooster's head and blood from the body was sprinkled in front of the fence. Ugh. I still get a little queasy just thinking about the rooster's beak still moving even after it had been detached from the body and a headless body flapping wings and kicking feet.. A rope was brought out and the head was tucked between the legs, which were then bound with the rope and tied to the top of the center pole. And it dripped. And dripped.
*full body shiver* yuck. I'm so glad I'm a Christian!
We didn't stay long after that because it was getting dark and the next events wouldn't be until later. Just when I thought I'd seen it all in these last three months, Bangladesh threw me a curveball. Only in Bangladesh... I'm sad though that I didn't have my camera though! Not to document the chicken murder, but just to take pictures of the bride and groom and the rest of the festivities.
anyways, that was my day :) It was a good one--eventful and mildly traumatizing, but good!
ami tomake bhalobashi
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
of painkillers and moldy heads
Day 4 of clinics. We have run out of sandwich bags and vitamins but are still full of general antibiotics and children's Clartin :) We've given out so many vitamins because with the things we can't help (eye problems, heart problems, high/low blood pressure) we have to send them on their way with a handful of vitamins unfortunately. Luckily Dr.Becky brought over a lot of cough medicine and since it's been so cold out, there have been many takers!
But the best part is that I get to help! Most of it isn't rocket science but it still it fun to pretend to be a knowledgeable Doctor. Dr.Jehanna--sounds good. At the end of the patient history (aka where it hurts and how long) it usually comes down to picking between the different painkillers on the table: Tylenol Arthritis, Tylenol Sinus, Regular Tylenol, Advil Liqu-gels, Motrin. But on some level, I am able to use basic knowledge to narrow down their symptoms or know which medication to hand out. The time passes so quickly--I like seeing patients :) Who knows, maybe I'll have my own clinic in the future? Some kind of family practice where I can attend weddings of babies that I delivered.
Yesterday we had a full day of seeing over 150 patients. Unfortunately, we had to turn away a bunch of people because we don't have any worm meds. There are so many ways to get worms around here it's almost fruitless to bring deworming medicine over. Dr.Becky told me to tell the villagers how to grind up dried papaya seeds and take a spoonful or two in powder from. I guess that's supposed to help with worms and parasites. My most interesting patient though was the first boy to come to me. He looked like he had bread mold on his head. Black, green, fuzzy. It was incredible and saddening at the same time to think how far it had spread untreated. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it!
We saw 160 patients today. While most complained of sore joints (these people work so hard, it's understandable that they are in pain), there were a couple interesting cases to come through. One young boy had broken his leg about a year ago but it had never been set so it healed completely crooked. Thus whenever he runs, he's in a ton of pain. It felt so weird... Then there was the old lady with a giant hole in her tympanic membrane--Dr. Becky showed me how to work the otoscope again :) But by far the coolest thing I've seen yet (well tied with the kid with the moldy head) was a man who had a discolouration on his tongue. He had thick black streaks going over the top of it, but the coolest part was that he had NO TASTEBUDS on the first inch and a half of his tongue! It was slick and shiny like the underside looks. So weird!
I haven't been teaching as much this week because Dr.Becky goes back on Sunday to start heading home. I'm trying to get as much time and shadowing with her as I can and then it's back to the classroom, back to the short vowels (which I now rock at lol). Thus, other than clinics, I've been able to catch up on sleep, relax and get the rest of this mission experience figured out. I'll let you know what I know :)
And I'll also put up pictures when I get them from the other ladies. I've been so busy listening to symptoms that I really haven't taken a lot of pictures. I think Dr.Becky has though so I'll be sure to grab her pictures eventually.
stay healthy!
ami tomake bhalobashi
But the best part is that I get to help! Most of it isn't rocket science but it still it fun to pretend to be a knowledgeable Doctor. Dr.Jehanna--sounds good. At the end of the patient history (aka where it hurts and how long) it usually comes down to picking between the different painkillers on the table: Tylenol Arthritis, Tylenol Sinus, Regular Tylenol, Advil Liqu-gels, Motrin. But on some level, I am able to use basic knowledge to narrow down their symptoms or know which medication to hand out. The time passes so quickly--I like seeing patients :) Who knows, maybe I'll have my own clinic in the future? Some kind of family practice where I can attend weddings of babies that I delivered.
Yesterday we had a full day of seeing over 150 patients. Unfortunately, we had to turn away a bunch of people because we don't have any worm meds. There are so many ways to get worms around here it's almost fruitless to bring deworming medicine over. Dr.Becky told me to tell the villagers how to grind up dried papaya seeds and take a spoonful or two in powder from. I guess that's supposed to help with worms and parasites. My most interesting patient though was the first boy to come to me. He looked like he had bread mold on his head. Black, green, fuzzy. It was incredible and saddening at the same time to think how far it had spread untreated. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it!
We saw 160 patients today. While most complained of sore joints (these people work so hard, it's understandable that they are in pain), there were a couple interesting cases to come through. One young boy had broken his leg about a year ago but it had never been set so it healed completely crooked. Thus whenever he runs, he's in a ton of pain. It felt so weird... Then there was the old lady with a giant hole in her tympanic membrane--Dr. Becky showed me how to work the otoscope again :) But by far the coolest thing I've seen yet (well tied with the kid with the moldy head) was a man who had a discolouration on his tongue. He had thick black streaks going over the top of it, but the coolest part was that he had NO TASTEBUDS on the first inch and a half of his tongue! It was slick and shiny like the underside looks. So weird!
I haven't been teaching as much this week because Dr.Becky goes back on Sunday to start heading home. I'm trying to get as much time and shadowing with her as I can and then it's back to the classroom, back to the short vowels (which I now rock at lol). Thus, other than clinics, I've been able to catch up on sleep, relax and get the rest of this mission experience figured out. I'll let you know what I know :)
And I'll also put up pictures when I get them from the other ladies. I've been so busy listening to symptoms that I really haven't taken a lot of pictures. I think Dr.Becky has though so I'll be sure to grab her pictures eventually.
stay healthy!
ami tomake bhalobashi
Sunday, January 17, 2010
of Taco Bell sauce and doctors
I'm sorry. I was blogging almost every day and as soon as I get back to Bangladesh it's back to a blog every 4-5days! I shall try to do better!!
Our last day in Nepal was great. We had to check out of our hotel by noon so we all packed early so we could hit up Thamel one last time. Elle and I bought matching Kathmandu shirts and ended up just walking through the streets, soaking in as much Nepal as we could. Pragun sent us a text message asking if he could see us one last time. It was still morning so we told him we'd meet him for breakfast before checking out.
We met him at Pumpernickle Bakery and ordered some quick breakfast. Elle finally got her bagel and "cream cheese" (it was almost sour cream-like :P) and I had a wonderful bowl of whole wheat porridge. Isn't it amazing that I wouldn't hardly touch the stuff when I was a kid but here I was ordering it for myself as my last meal in Nepal? Weird.
Anyways. Pragun brought us presents. Not even kidding. He said he had enjoyed his time with us so much that he wanted to give us something. What a guy. He even wrapped them! Inside the first piece of wrapping paper were three individually wrapped presents. We each got a chunky bracelet, a classic Nepali hat, and a cool keychain. He gave Elle and me a pretty pashmina too! What a guy! He took time out of his day to be our tour guide and save Elle and I when we were lost, then he takes the time to get us presents as a thank-you. Nepal rocks my socks.
He walked us back to the hotel and we cleaned out our room and headed downstairs to settle our bill. We said goodbye to Pragun, promising to email and call him if we were ever back in Nepal. The ride to the airport was kinda sad in a way... Nepal had been so good to us (well to Elliot and me.. not really to Joe) and it was sad to leave! I really would go back again--so far it's my favourite place in Asia. BUT on the flight back, the plane was really empty so we got to sit wherever we want. We saw Everest in the first couple minutes :) [I don't know if I said this already, but we were told that you can't really see Everest until you get up to the Everest Viewing Hotel at like 14,000ft. Everest is hidden between a couple other tall peaks so flying over was the best chance we'd get at seeing it--we wouldn't have been able to see it from Nagarkot.]
[I think the black peak is Everest... but I got the whole thing on video and never took my eye off the horizon so even if it's not I know I saw Mt.Everest!]
We found out on the flight back that one of the flight attendants lived in Sector 6 right near the dental clinic. When he heard that we didn't have anyone to pick us up (Simson thought we were flying in the next day) he offered us a ride! Free of charge! Such a nice guy. When we got back to the dental clinic in Uttara, we crashed. We slept so much. I don't know, maybe it was the time change from Dhaka to Kathmandu. That 15min will really get you! lol just kidding.
The next day, Elliot and I met up with Litton, Shoburna, and Shushitra at the bus station while Josiah headed to the doctor to get tested for parasites. They found an ova (?) in his stool and I think there were worms spawning in his large intestine. Good times.. But I think he is doing better now. He would wait until Friday to come back while the rest of us piled on a bus and headed back to the orphanage. The coach buses are better than public buses--you have to buy a seat and there is a lot more room than in the normal buses. It was a long ride but I had enough room to put up my feet and sleep a little at least.
School's started now. I'm still teaching grade one and Elliot is teaching my old class in grade two now. Same old, same old. How to write the letters, short vowels, and Dick and Jane. I'm glad these kids are learning English but I really don't think this is my calling in life! Friday we resumed art class and had the kids made butterflies out of Popsicle sticks, coffee filters, and pipe cleaners. They had a blast! (pictures to come)
Later that evening, the van carrying Josiah and four American women pulled in. Dr. Becky Cote, Tammy B___, Mary ___, and Yvonne came to visit Bangla Hope for a week and a half. Dr. Becky and Tammy have been before and brought two friends along for the experience. Dr. Becky brought three big black totes full of medical supplies and Tammy brought new Sabbath School programs.
Sabbath was Mr.Waid's 81st birthday. He can still beat me at badminton too! It's incredible what good health he has. Shati made Mexican food for his birthday dinner complete with homemade salsa and chips. Elle pulled out a bag of goodies her mom sent and handed out Mild Taco Bell sauce. I was in HEAVEN! Oh man I've missed that stuff... I practically drank all three packets--I don't think much more than a couple drops made it onto my japatee burritos lol. Thank-you Candy!! :)
Today, the Doctor was In. We cracked open our gates and had villagers file in about twenty at a time to be seen by Rosemary, Dr. Becky, Elliot, and Yours Truly. That's right. I saw patients! The system was pretty simple: ask where it hurts, long long it's been hurting, and ask the women when their last period was (sometimes they don't know if they are pregnant and Tylenol is better to give than Advil if they are). Dr.Becky brought about ten different medications over, which were separated into vitamins and calcium, antibiotics, topical ointments, cough and cold, allergy, and stomach. Plus we had a whole table dedicated to ibuprofen, Tylenol and all subsequent spinoffs (Tylenol Sinus, Arthritis, Cold, Reg., Liqu-gels, etc.). In most cases we had some solution for the problems but in more serious cases we really had to recommend going to the hospital.
Let's see.. what did we have come through..? Young boy with huge pockets of puss in his ears (Dr.Becky showed me with her otoscope). A 2-yr old girl with one eye (not sure what happened to the other but it was just gone) but both were infected. Lots of arthritis--understandably considering how hard these people work. A couple hemorrhoids. A possible diabetic woman. Many mal-nourished children and adults--one child said she had a cup of tea for the day, that's it. Coughs and colds. Unfortunately, so much of what we can do is just hand out Tylenol to help with the pain. We don't have specific meds and these people can't afford medical care at a hospital. A baggy of 15 Tylenol is the best we could do.
It was an amazing experience though. The four women will be here until next Wednesday and we are going to see people as long as we have things to give them. Dr.Becky is expecting a couple more totes of medical supplies in the next day or so (the airline lost the totes for awhile). Elliot and I have been excused from school for a couple days to help out and I'm so excited to get a taste of my prospective field. I wish I could do more.
I'll be putting up pictures ASAP because you have got to see the 'pharmacy' we have going lol
ami tomake bhalobashi
Our last day in Nepal was great. We had to check out of our hotel by noon so we all packed early so we could hit up Thamel one last time. Elle and I bought matching Kathmandu shirts and ended up just walking through the streets, soaking in as much Nepal as we could. Pragun sent us a text message asking if he could see us one last time. It was still morning so we told him we'd meet him for breakfast before checking out.
We met him at Pumpernickle Bakery and ordered some quick breakfast. Elle finally got her bagel and "cream cheese" (it was almost sour cream-like :P) and I had a wonderful bowl of whole wheat porridge. Isn't it amazing that I wouldn't hardly touch the stuff when I was a kid but here I was ordering it for myself as my last meal in Nepal? Weird.
Anyways. Pragun brought us presents. Not even kidding. He said he had enjoyed his time with us so much that he wanted to give us something. What a guy. He even wrapped them! Inside the first piece of wrapping paper were three individually wrapped presents. We each got a chunky bracelet, a classic Nepali hat, and a cool keychain. He gave Elle and me a pretty pashmina too! What a guy! He took time out of his day to be our tour guide and save Elle and I when we were lost, then he takes the time to get us presents as a thank-you. Nepal rocks my socks.
He walked us back to the hotel and we cleaned out our room and headed downstairs to settle our bill. We said goodbye to Pragun, promising to email and call him if we were ever back in Nepal. The ride to the airport was kinda sad in a way... Nepal had been so good to us (well to Elliot and me.. not really to Joe) and it was sad to leave! I really would go back again--so far it's my favourite place in Asia. BUT on the flight back, the plane was really empty so we got to sit wherever we want. We saw Everest in the first couple minutes :) [I don't know if I said this already, but we were told that you can't really see Everest until you get up to the Everest Viewing Hotel at like 14,000ft. Everest is hidden between a couple other tall peaks so flying over was the best chance we'd get at seeing it--we wouldn't have been able to see it from Nagarkot.]
[I think the black peak is Everest... but I got the whole thing on video and never took my eye off the horizon so even if it's not I know I saw Mt.Everest!]We found out on the flight back that one of the flight attendants lived in Sector 6 right near the dental clinic. When he heard that we didn't have anyone to pick us up (Simson thought we were flying in the next day) he offered us a ride! Free of charge! Such a nice guy. When we got back to the dental clinic in Uttara, we crashed. We slept so much. I don't know, maybe it was the time change from Dhaka to Kathmandu. That 15min will really get you! lol just kidding.
The next day, Elliot and I met up with Litton, Shoburna, and Shushitra at the bus station while Josiah headed to the doctor to get tested for parasites. They found an ova (?) in his stool and I think there were worms spawning in his large intestine. Good times.. But I think he is doing better now. He would wait until Friday to come back while the rest of us piled on a bus and headed back to the orphanage. The coach buses are better than public buses--you have to buy a seat and there is a lot more room than in the normal buses. It was a long ride but I had enough room to put up my feet and sleep a little at least.
School's started now. I'm still teaching grade one and Elliot is teaching my old class in grade two now. Same old, same old. How to write the letters, short vowels, and Dick and Jane. I'm glad these kids are learning English but I really don't think this is my calling in life! Friday we resumed art class and had the kids made butterflies out of Popsicle sticks, coffee filters, and pipe cleaners. They had a blast! (pictures to come)
Later that evening, the van carrying Josiah and four American women pulled in. Dr. Becky Cote, Tammy B___, Mary ___, and Yvonne came to visit Bangla Hope for a week and a half. Dr. Becky and Tammy have been before and brought two friends along for the experience. Dr. Becky brought three big black totes full of medical supplies and Tammy brought new Sabbath School programs.
Sabbath was Mr.Waid's 81st birthday. He can still beat me at badminton too! It's incredible what good health he has. Shati made Mexican food for his birthday dinner complete with homemade salsa and chips. Elle pulled out a bag of goodies her mom sent and handed out Mild Taco Bell sauce. I was in HEAVEN! Oh man I've missed that stuff... I practically drank all three packets--I don't think much more than a couple drops made it onto my japatee burritos lol. Thank-you Candy!! :)
Today, the Doctor was In. We cracked open our gates and had villagers file in about twenty at a time to be seen by Rosemary, Dr. Becky, Elliot, and Yours Truly. That's right. I saw patients! The system was pretty simple: ask where it hurts, long long it's been hurting, and ask the women when their last period was (sometimes they don't know if they are pregnant and Tylenol is better to give than Advil if they are). Dr.Becky brought about ten different medications over, which were separated into vitamins and calcium, antibiotics, topical ointments, cough and cold, allergy, and stomach. Plus we had a whole table dedicated to ibuprofen, Tylenol and all subsequent spinoffs (Tylenol Sinus, Arthritis, Cold, Reg., Liqu-gels, etc.). In most cases we had some solution for the problems but in more serious cases we really had to recommend going to the hospital.
Let's see.. what did we have come through..? Young boy with huge pockets of puss in his ears (Dr.Becky showed me with her otoscope). A 2-yr old girl with one eye (not sure what happened to the other but it was just gone) but both were infected. Lots of arthritis--understandably considering how hard these people work. A couple hemorrhoids. A possible diabetic woman. Many mal-nourished children and adults--one child said she had a cup of tea for the day, that's it. Coughs and colds. Unfortunately, so much of what we can do is just hand out Tylenol to help with the pain. We don't have specific meds and these people can't afford medical care at a hospital. A baggy of 15 Tylenol is the best we could do.
It was an amazing experience though. The four women will be here until next Wednesday and we are going to see people as long as we have things to give them. Dr.Becky is expecting a couple more totes of medical supplies in the next day or so (the airline lost the totes for awhile). Elliot and I have been excused from school for a couple days to help out and I'm so excited to get a taste of my prospective field. I wish I could do more.
I'll be putting up pictures ASAP because you have got to see the 'pharmacy' we have going lolami tomake bhalobashi
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
of hospitals and namaste
Yesterday was the day. THE Day. We were going to see Everest. The transit strike had kept us from doing that on Sunday but we were determined not to leave Nepal unless we had seen Everest. We felt so bad though for Josiah because he was still sick! He had had his heart so set on going to Scheer Memorial Hospital to do some filming for his dad's Sunday morning Adventist talk show. Scheer Memorial Hospital is an Adventist hospital about 3hrs (or so we thought) from Kathmandu in a little town called Banepa.
As we were heading to the bus stop, Elle suggested we go to the hospital and take video on our cameras so we could surprise Joe with even a little footage. I thought about it for a sec and realized I had the little angel and devil sitting on my shoulders... Part of me wanted to see Everest so badly but we had also been told that if there's ANY fog in Nagarkot, we wouldn't be able to see anything. I also thought about how hard it must have been for Josiah to be sick in Nepal pretty much the whole time. My shoulder angel won in the end and Elle and I hopped on a bus heading to Banepa. Surprisingly enough, it only took an hour and a half to get there!
When we arrived in Banepa, we realized we didn't really know where we were going. We had listened to Pragun explain to Josiah how to get there and followed his directions as best as we could remember. We also stopped for directions with any traffic cop we could find. The hospital was about 2km from the bus stop and we found it with relative ease. At one point we actually walked right past it, but some friendly Nepali woman pointed us back in the right direction.
The hospital is so much more than I thought it was going to be. It was a big brick building buzzing with patients and doctors. We found out that about 90% of the doctors there are Nepali, which also means they are Hindu and not Adventist. There are 150 beds in the hospital but they see way more patients than that in a day. We met the man in charge of public affairs (nice older man from Oregon) and he told us to go to the physio department because a Canadian woman works there. We talked to her for awhile and then she had her Nepali husband (she's been in Nepal for 7years!) give us a tour around the hospital.
After the tour, he took us to meet the SM from Union College who was there for the week. Her name is Anna and she's our age. She is so sweet! We spent over an hour with her, just sharing different experiences back and forth. It was so awesome to talk with someone who knows completely what we are going through. We made rice and curry in her kitchen and then headed back to Kathmandu. Such a good day. God even lifted the fog on the way back to Kathmandu and we got to see the snow capped Himalayas :)
So this afternoon we are leaving on a jet plane.. Leaving this place of joy and hoping to bring some of that joy back to Bangladesh with us. My jeans are packed away and have been replaced by my seloar kameese... Sad day. I really loved Nepal.. I hope to come back and have enough money to do a trek--even if it's just overnight. But for now it's back to Dhaka, go in peace, namaste,
ami tomake bhalobashi
As we were heading to the bus stop, Elle suggested we go to the hospital and take video on our cameras so we could surprise Joe with even a little footage. I thought about it for a sec and realized I had the little angel and devil sitting on my shoulders... Part of me wanted to see Everest so badly but we had also been told that if there's ANY fog in Nagarkot, we wouldn't be able to see anything. I also thought about how hard it must have been for Josiah to be sick in Nepal pretty much the whole time. My shoulder angel won in the end and Elle and I hopped on a bus heading to Banepa. Surprisingly enough, it only took an hour and a half to get there!
When we arrived in Banepa, we realized we didn't really know where we were going. We had listened to Pragun explain to Josiah how to get there and followed his directions as best as we could remember. We also stopped for directions with any traffic cop we could find. The hospital was about 2km from the bus stop and we found it with relative ease. At one point we actually walked right past it, but some friendly Nepali woman pointed us back in the right direction.
The hospital is so much more than I thought it was going to be. It was a big brick building buzzing with patients and doctors. We found out that about 90% of the doctors there are Nepali, which also means they are Hindu and not Adventist. There are 150 beds in the hospital but they see way more patients than that in a day. We met the man in charge of public affairs (nice older man from Oregon) and he told us to go to the physio department because a Canadian woman works there. We talked to her for awhile and then she had her Nepali husband (she's been in Nepal for 7years!) give us a tour around the hospital.
After the tour, he took us to meet the SM from Union College who was there for the week. Her name is Anna and she's our age. She is so sweet! We spent over an hour with her, just sharing different experiences back and forth. It was so awesome to talk with someone who knows completely what we are going through. We made rice and curry in her kitchen and then headed back to Kathmandu. Such a good day. God even lifted the fog on the way back to Kathmandu and we got to see the snow capped Himalayas :)
So this afternoon we are leaving on a jet plane.. Leaving this place of joy and hoping to bring some of that joy back to Bangladesh with us. My jeans are packed away and have been replaced by my seloar kameese... Sad day. I really loved Nepal.. I hope to come back and have enough money to do a trek--even if it's just overnight. But for now it's back to Dhaka, go in peace, namaste,
ami tomake bhalobashi
Sunday, January 10, 2010
of chocolate croissants and massages
Sabbath we didn't go to church with our friend Pragun because Joe wasn't feeling well. Instead, the three of us went out for "breakfast" in morning. I say "breakfast" because we ended up going to an Italian restaurant and eating lots of pomodoro pasta, garlic bread, and grilled vegetables. I love how you can have an absolutely fantastic meal in Kathmandu for less than $5. Joe headed back to the hotel to rest while Elle and I hit up the local bakery that makes the BEST chocolate croissants and town and headed to Durbar Square. The square was only about a 20min walk from our hotel and is kinda similar to the Durbar Square in Bhaktapur. We climbed about halfway up the stairs then jumped the railing to sit on one of the many tiers. We pulled out maps to sit on (the tiers were filthy), chocolate croissants, and our Bibles. We spent about an hour there just sitting peacefully in the sun.. It was so great.
We spent some time wandering around the rest of Durbar Square and then headed back to the hotel. The rest of the day followed the same rhythm.. Peaceful and slow. Elliot was still tired from her trip to Spain so she took a nap while Joe rested in his room. I wasn't very tired but I found things to occupy my time and still had a great day. Later that night we hit up some Indian food (mmm curry and paneer masala) and even stopped in a reggae bar for a bit.
This morning we woke up to a transportation strike. I'm not sure what was going on but apparently some political party was mad at another party so all the buses and most of the taxis were out of commission. Thus we all slept in, voiding our plans to go to Nagarkot to see Everest. We hit up a cafe for a late brunch and I got to eat some yummy buttermilk pancakes. Then we took to the market to get some last minute souvenirs. Unfortunately, most people couldn't make it to work (or just didn't want to go to work) and most of the shops were closed. Nonetheless I found the SWEETEST pair of pants for only 250rp that will from now on be known as my Aladdin pants. I'm really stoked to wear them :) We went into a shop and the woman took us upstairs to see different colors and sizes and we met a MESS in her stairwell! No joke. There was a pile about 5feet high of just fabric scraps. And in the storage room we were walking on about a foot of the same kind of scraps. Just incredible!
The best part of the day came when we were passing by the spa by our hotel and saw it was advertising a special: hour long full body massage and facial and 45min foot massage for only 1800rp (about $25). Any woman familiar with North American spas would know this is a killer deal. I decided to give myself an early birthday present (yay only three weeks to 21!!!) and get massages with Elle. We had so much fun. I won't be able to convey the full humour that was those three hours but if you ask me about it when I get back I'll do my best to tell you through the laughing. All in all, it was so relaxing and I feel like I can really return to Bangladesh with a renewed energy to finish off my time strong!
Tomorrow we are catching an early bus to Nagarkot to spend the day trekking about. Thus I should get to bed...
ami tomake bhalobashi
We spent some time wandering around the rest of Durbar Square and then headed back to the hotel. The rest of the day followed the same rhythm.. Peaceful and slow. Elliot was still tired from her trip to Spain so she took a nap while Joe rested in his room. I wasn't very tired but I found things to occupy my time and still had a great day. Later that night we hit up some Indian food (mmm curry and paneer masala) and even stopped in a reggae bar for a bit.
This morning we woke up to a transportation strike. I'm not sure what was going on but apparently some political party was mad at another party so all the buses and most of the taxis were out of commission. Thus we all slept in, voiding our plans to go to Nagarkot to see Everest. We hit up a cafe for a late brunch and I got to eat some yummy buttermilk pancakes. Then we took to the market to get some last minute souvenirs. Unfortunately, most people couldn't make it to work (or just didn't want to go to work) and most of the shops were closed. Nonetheless I found the SWEETEST pair of pants for only 250rp that will from now on be known as my Aladdin pants. I'm really stoked to wear them :) We went into a shop and the woman took us upstairs to see different colors and sizes and we met a MESS in her stairwell! No joke. There was a pile about 5feet high of just fabric scraps. And in the storage room we were walking on about a foot of the same kind of scraps. Just incredible!
The best part of the day came when we were passing by the spa by our hotel and saw it was advertising a special: hour long full body massage and facial and 45min foot massage for only 1800rp (about $25). Any woman familiar with North American spas would know this is a killer deal. I decided to give myself an early birthday present (yay only three weeks to 21!!!) and get massages with Elle. We had so much fun. I won't be able to convey the full humour that was those three hours but if you ask me about it when I get back I'll do my best to tell you through the laughing. All in all, it was so relaxing and I feel like I can really return to Bangladesh with a renewed energy to finish off my time strong!
Tomorrow we are catching an early bus to Nagarkot to spend the day trekking about. Thus I should get to bed...
ami tomake bhalobashi
Saturday, January 9, 2010
of Bhaktapur and jumping off things
Yesterday we headed back to the embassy first thing in the morning to guarantee that I got my passport. And I did! Yay! I can have another three months in Bangladesh, with multiple entries! I was so thankful for the woman behind the desk that argued on our behalf. After picking up my passport, we were about to head of the door when Elle suggest asking the woman how to get to Bhaktapur. She explained it to us, then called the guard at the front gate and told him to put on on the right bus to Bhaktapur. I love Nepal. Seriously...
We jumped on the bus and the promised half an hour ride turned into an hour long ride. No problem, we had allotted time for this. Josiah started feeling sick the night before so it was Elle and Jehanna on a whirlwind adventure! We jumped off the bus when the man said Bhaktapur... And were on the outskirts of town. What we failed to realize is that Bhaktapur's Durbar Square is like a city within a city. So we started walking and asking locals to point us in the right direction. We actually took a really nice walk up some hills towards the square, stopping to take pictures at a pool enclosed by concrete.
What's amazing is that there are tons of fish in this pond. This wasn't a tourist attraction because we saw a lot of locals there, just chilling on the steps or feeding the fish. The fish in Nepal are so different than any fish I've ever seen--or at least the fish in this pond are different. They would calmly swim up and take the food in their mouths, no pushing or shoving, and then slowly swim away. Even the fish take it easy here! Incredible!
As we were heading to Durbar Square, the locals kept saying just go straight. At one point I turned to Elle and wondered if this was some cruel Nepali joke to play on tourists. Just keep telling them to go straight but there actually isn't a Durbar Square. lol But there was! And you couldn't miss it. We had to pay about $10USD to get in but it was completely worth it. Each temple or building was so fascinating and worthy of taking a picture of.
Elle and I headed down a narrow street lined with handmade paper shops, art galleries, pashmina stores, and various other handicraft type shops. We browsed in and out but nothing really caught my eye. I think I am going to hunt down a Nepali paper photo album so that I can scrap book my adventures when I get back. When we finally made it to Potter's Square we couldn't believe our eyes. It was raw. Clay, straw, potter's wheels--this stuff was being made before our eyes. We took pictures and video of different potters then one asked me if I wanted to try. Heck yes please! So I sat down and proceeded to turn a blob of clay into an actual piece. Granted, I destroyed it a couple times just with my thumb slipping but the man helped bring it back into shape. Elle got to do the same thing and made a pretty bowl.
Then we kept walking through cobblestone streets towards.. well we didn't know. We were exploring. And then we got to the temple. I really don't know it's name but it is breathtakingly beautiful. It has a perfect pagoda shape and has steep stairs heading up to the top. Stone statues protect its base and the tiers are wonderful to sit on to contemplate life :)
On the way down, Elle had the fantastic idea of jumping off the last statues platform. lol Being the special kid I am, I accidentally took the picture with one of her feet still on the platform. But I went up and wanted the same shot jumping. I was focused so much on pulling my feet up to make an epic picture that I didn't really think about the landing... lol I kinda biffed it. I think I made it look cool in the end but really I was falling face-first towards a cobblestone street. Awesome. Elle looked at the pictures after she was finished dying laughing at me and realized her foot was still on the statue. So we had to take two more pictures, though I maintain her feet WERE off the statue in the second one... lol So funny... The picture of me jumping off has got to be one of my favourite pictures from this trip!
We wandered around some more before heading back to our favourite temple for lunch. There was a cute restaurant in the shape of a pagoda overlooking the temple square. I ordered just a vegetable soup and we shared a plate of the best freaking fries in the world!
After spending some more time just wandering around the temples, browsing through shops, and taking a ton of pictures, we started to head out. Just as we were about to leave, we saw our friend Pragun that had helped us the day before with getting around to the sites. He offered to take us to the bus stop so we didn't have to wander aimlessly again. He was on a motorcycle and drove slowly ahead of us as we walked towards the station. At one point, there was a long straight stretch to the station so he offered us a ride. Motorcycle is one of the last forms of transportation to cross of our list so we jumped on the back and rode down the road for all of about a minute. It still counts! He put us on the right bus and told us when to get off and how to catch the next bus back to our hotel.
The bus back was more crowded so Elle was on my lap most of the time back but I was so happy from the amazing day we had just had that nothing was going to bring me down :) We got back to the hotel and checked in on Josiah who hadn't really gotten far away from the hotel the whole day. Poor guy... Elle and I left to do some browsing and shopping--moreso arguing in most shops over how much the sellers inflate the prices for tourists. In the end though, we got some absolutely smoking deals!
We ran into Josiah after our shopping was done and the three of us headed to a nearby cafe for some hot drinks. Elle of course got hot chocolate, Joe got water with a ton of straight-up mint leaves throw in, and I made the mistake of ordering a 'milk shake'. Mine turned out to be a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass of milk. :P phooey. We stayed there for about an hour, talking about life and having Joe explain the strategy of cricket to us. I got lost on more than one occasion but overall cricket seems like complicated game!
Then back to our hotel room to bundle up since the power was off. I guess from 7pm-9pm you are pretty much guaranteed to have no power. Awesome :P That means freezing cold rooms... This morning we were supposed to go to church with our new friend but Josiah's really not feeling well so we decided to stick around in case we need to take him to the hospital or something. Tis okay--today will be epic too! :) By the way, I made a new album on facebook {http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178661&id=549112159&l=9678f4ce87} so you can see into my adventures some more :)
Happy Sabbath,
ami tomake bhalobashi
We jumped on the bus and the promised half an hour ride turned into an hour long ride. No problem, we had allotted time for this. Josiah started feeling sick the night before so it was Elle and Jehanna on a whirlwind adventure! We jumped off the bus when the man said Bhaktapur... And were on the outskirts of town. What we failed to realize is that Bhaktapur's Durbar Square is like a city within a city. So we started walking and asking locals to point us in the right direction. We actually took a really nice walk up some hills towards the square, stopping to take pictures at a pool enclosed by concrete.
What's amazing is that there are tons of fish in this pond. This wasn't a tourist attraction because we saw a lot of locals there, just chilling on the steps or feeding the fish. The fish in Nepal are so different than any fish I've ever seen--or at least the fish in this pond are different. They would calmly swim up and take the food in their mouths, no pushing or shoving, and then slowly swim away. Even the fish take it easy here! Incredible!
As we were heading to Durbar Square, the locals kept saying just go straight. At one point I turned to Elle and wondered if this was some cruel Nepali joke to play on tourists. Just keep telling them to go straight but there actually isn't a Durbar Square. lol But there was! And you couldn't miss it. We had to pay about $10USD to get in but it was completely worth it. Each temple or building was so fascinating and worthy of taking a picture of.
Elle and I headed down a narrow street lined with handmade paper shops, art galleries, pashmina stores, and various other handicraft type shops. We browsed in and out but nothing really caught my eye. I think I am going to hunt down a Nepali paper photo album so that I can scrap book my adventures when I get back. When we finally made it to Potter's Square we couldn't believe our eyes. It was raw. Clay, straw, potter's wheels--this stuff was being made before our eyes. We took pictures and video of different potters then one asked me if I wanted to try. Heck yes please! So I sat down and proceeded to turn a blob of clay into an actual piece. Granted, I destroyed it a couple times just with my thumb slipping but the man helped bring it back into shape. Elle got to do the same thing and made a pretty bowl.
Then we kept walking through cobblestone streets towards.. well we didn't know. We were exploring. And then we got to the temple. I really don't know it's name but it is breathtakingly beautiful. It has a perfect pagoda shape and has steep stairs heading up to the top. Stone statues protect its base and the tiers are wonderful to sit on to contemplate life :)
On the way down, Elle had the fantastic idea of jumping off the last statues platform. lol Being the special kid I am, I accidentally took the picture with one of her feet still on the platform. But I went up and wanted the same shot jumping. I was focused so much on pulling my feet up to make an epic picture that I didn't really think about the landing... lol I kinda biffed it. I think I made it look cool in the end but really I was falling face-first towards a cobblestone street. Awesome. Elle looked at the pictures after she was finished dying laughing at me and realized her foot was still on the statue. So we had to take two more pictures, though I maintain her feet WERE off the statue in the second one... lol So funny... The picture of me jumping off has got to be one of my favourite pictures from this trip!
We wandered around some more before heading back to our favourite temple for lunch. There was a cute restaurant in the shape of a pagoda overlooking the temple square. I ordered just a vegetable soup and we shared a plate of the best freaking fries in the world!After spending some more time just wandering around the temples, browsing through shops, and taking a ton of pictures, we started to head out. Just as we were about to leave, we saw our friend Pragun that had helped us the day before with getting around to the sites. He offered to take us to the bus stop so we didn't have to wander aimlessly again. He was on a motorcycle and drove slowly ahead of us as we walked towards the station. At one point, there was a long straight stretch to the station so he offered us a ride. Motorcycle is one of the last forms of transportation to cross of our list so we jumped on the back and rode down the road for all of about a minute. It still counts! He put us on the right bus and told us when to get off and how to catch the next bus back to our hotel.
The bus back was more crowded so Elle was on my lap most of the time back but I was so happy from the amazing day we had just had that nothing was going to bring me down :) We got back to the hotel and checked in on Josiah who hadn't really gotten far away from the hotel the whole day. Poor guy... Elle and I left to do some browsing and shopping--moreso arguing in most shops over how much the sellers inflate the prices for tourists. In the end though, we got some absolutely smoking deals!
We ran into Josiah after our shopping was done and the three of us headed to a nearby cafe for some hot drinks. Elle of course got hot chocolate, Joe got water with a ton of straight-up mint leaves throw in, and I made the mistake of ordering a 'milk shake'. Mine turned out to be a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass of milk. :P phooey. We stayed there for about an hour, talking about life and having Joe explain the strategy of cricket to us. I got lost on more than one occasion but overall cricket seems like complicated game!
Then back to our hotel room to bundle up since the power was off. I guess from 7pm-9pm you are pretty much guaranteed to have no power. Awesome :P That means freezing cold rooms... This morning we were supposed to go to church with our new friend but Josiah's really not feeling well so we decided to stick around in case we need to take him to the hospital or something. Tis okay--today will be epic too! :) By the way, I made a new album on facebook {http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178661&id=549112159&l=9678f4ce87} so you can see into my adventures some more :)
Happy Sabbath,
ami tomake bhalobashi
Thursday, January 7, 2010
of monkey temples and 382 steps
Now where did I leave off...? Right. Last night we had the idea that we wanted to trek in the Himalayas. The hotel/hostel we were staying at was managed by a guy who had climbed Everest TWICE. He seemed like the perfect person to ask about a trek. He told us all about a four hour hike we would take to a village where you can see Mt.Everest! We would stay the night then hike another four hours back. It sounded really nice--only he wanted $95 USD per person... Yikes. I mean, when you break it down it kinda makes sense... But we just can't fit that into our meek budget :P Our new plan is to take a bus to the place you can see Everest because buses are only 10rupees each way! ahhh public transport! Gotta love it!
This morning Elle and I headed out early to the Bangla embassy while Joe did some research into cheaper accommodations. At the Bangladeshi embassy, the man with the rubber stamp was being difficult but the woman behind the desk had been really nice to us and argued with the man on our behalf. Thus, Jehanna now has a three month, multiple entry visa for Bangladesh! How exciting! God is SO good! I'm going in tomorrow morning to pick it up :)
On the way back from the embassy, Elle and I stopped for breakfast at a small cafe and ordered toast and 'hash potatoes'. Instead of shredded potatoes, we got sliced potatoes mixed with sliced tomatoes and green pepper. Not too bad--the whole breakfast got a lot better when I put the tomatoes on my toast, added some salt, and thought of the sandwiches my mom would make me most mornings before school. We caught up on our Himalayan news (lol) and I drank some 'hot lemon with honey' for my slightly sore throat. My goodness--that was straight up lemon. Between that lemon and the garlic from yesterday I feel so much better :)
When we got back to our hotel, we met up with Josiah and he explained what he had found. We had just stayed two nights at a fairly decent place but the power was sketchy, the heat didn't work, and the showers were usually cold (except for this morning when I had a wonderfully piping hot shower!). That place was $10/night each for Elle and I--Josiah was paying $15/night for his single room. The place Josiah found was basically the Nepali version of a Hilton. He hissy-fit his way into $13/night each. And that's where we are now... It is such a nice hotel! At least a 3-star hotel :) It's really safe, clean, and in a really cool place in town.
Then we headed to Swayambhu, aka the Monkey Temple. This temple overlooks the three major part of Kathmandu and has an incredible view otherwise. The pictures I took really don't do it justice! Because the Monkey Temple is on the top of a hill, we had to walk up a ton of stairs to get there. The closer you get to the top, the more steep the stairs get. Also, the closer you get to the top, the more monkeys there are and there are people throwing food down the steps to the monkeys. Thus you have to dodge carrots being thrown at screaming monkeys... In other words, good times are had by all.. lol
When you finally get to the top of the stairs, you are greeted by monks in full traditional dress, another big Buddha dome with 'all-seeing' eyes, scores of dogs and monkeys, and the most amazing view of Kathmandu. Unfortunately, that's about the time my camera battery decided to die... Elle didn't have her camera with her but luckily Josiah brought along his video camera so we still got some decent footage of the monkey temple. We spent a couple hours just wandering around, inspecting the mini temples, and admiring the dedication of the Buddhist monks.
[Funny story: Elle and I were admiring the view of the city when a couple Indian kids came up to us and asked if we would take a picture with them. They turned out to be part of a Tae Kwon Do team competing in Kathmandu. We took pictures with the boys, then the girls, then a mixture. They were so nice to us! They asked our names and where we were from and we asked them to show us some of their moves. They brought forward their 'star man' and he showed us some stuff. You can see by the photo below, Elle couldn't help but join in on the fun. My camera worked for all of the two seconds that it took to take this picture then it shut off again. So funny...]
It was such a great place to see. A lot of these places charge 200rp or 500rp to see but all in all, they are definitely worth it! On the way down from the temple, Elle and I counted out loud how many steps there were. Josiah tried to mess us up a couple times but we are pretty sure there are 382 steps up to the Monkey Temple. lol I've seen more monkeys than I ever thought I would in my whole life and am enjoying experiencing such a completely different culture.
Tomorrow we are heading to Nagarkot to hopefully see Everest. And by 'see' Everest, I mean use my zoom to take a picture of the beautiful mountain about 350km away. Nonetheless, no trip to Nepal would be complete without seeing Everest. :) Tonight Elle and I went into town to look for souvenirs and just to soak in the culture. Thamel is such a tourist hub that the streets are live with music, shops, and lights. It's such a great environment. We even headed up to a cafe and had some hot chocolate :) I'm having the time of my life here--Nepal is absolutely incredible. Just sayin'... lol
Tis bedtime again.. I guess I could sleep on the bus but my 3-star bed seems a lot more comfortable. I just had to share my experience. I don't want to get to the end and have forgotten what all happened. Plus, I'm trying to get as many pictures as I can uploaded while the internet is a million times better than in Bangladesh!
I hope you enjoy reading :D
ami tomake bhalobashi
This morning Elle and I headed out early to the Bangla embassy while Joe did some research into cheaper accommodations. At the Bangladeshi embassy, the man with the rubber stamp was being difficult but the woman behind the desk had been really nice to us and argued with the man on our behalf. Thus, Jehanna now has a three month, multiple entry visa for Bangladesh! How exciting! God is SO good! I'm going in tomorrow morning to pick it up :)
On the way back from the embassy, Elle and I stopped for breakfast at a small cafe and ordered toast and 'hash potatoes'. Instead of shredded potatoes, we got sliced potatoes mixed with sliced tomatoes and green pepper. Not too bad--the whole breakfast got a lot better when I put the tomatoes on my toast, added some salt, and thought of the sandwiches my mom would make me most mornings before school. We caught up on our Himalayan news (lol) and I drank some 'hot lemon with honey' for my slightly sore throat. My goodness--that was straight up lemon. Between that lemon and the garlic from yesterday I feel so much better :)
When we got back to our hotel, we met up with Josiah and he explained what he had found. We had just stayed two nights at a fairly decent place but the power was sketchy, the heat didn't work, and the showers were usually cold (except for this morning when I had a wonderfully piping hot shower!). That place was $10/night each for Elle and I--Josiah was paying $15/night for his single room. The place Josiah found was basically the Nepali version of a Hilton. He hissy-fit his way into $13/night each. And that's where we are now... It is such a nice hotel! At least a 3-star hotel :) It's really safe, clean, and in a really cool place in town.
Then we headed to Swayambhu, aka the Monkey Temple. This temple overlooks the three major part of Kathmandu and has an incredible view otherwise. The pictures I took really don't do it justice! Because the Monkey Temple is on the top of a hill, we had to walk up a ton of stairs to get there. The closer you get to the top, the more steep the stairs get. Also, the closer you get to the top, the more monkeys there are and there are people throwing food down the steps to the monkeys. Thus you have to dodge carrots being thrown at screaming monkeys... In other words, good times are had by all.. lol
When you finally get to the top of the stairs, you are greeted by monks in full traditional dress, another big Buddha dome with 'all-seeing' eyes, scores of dogs and monkeys, and the most amazing view of Kathmandu. Unfortunately, that's about the time my camera battery decided to die... Elle didn't have her camera with her but luckily Josiah brought along his video camera so we still got some decent footage of the monkey temple. We spent a couple hours just wandering around, inspecting the mini temples, and admiring the dedication of the Buddhist monks.
[Funny story: Elle and I were admiring the view of the city when a couple Indian kids came up to us and asked if we would take a picture with them. They turned out to be part of a Tae Kwon Do team competing in Kathmandu. We took pictures with the boys, then the girls, then a mixture. They were so nice to us! They asked our names and where we were from and we asked them to show us some of their moves. They brought forward their 'star man' and he showed us some stuff. You can see by the photo below, Elle couldn't help but join in on the fun. My camera worked for all of the two seconds that it took to take this picture then it shut off again. So funny...]
It was such a great place to see. A lot of these places charge 200rp or 500rp to see but all in all, they are definitely worth it! On the way down from the temple, Elle and I counted out loud how many steps there were. Josiah tried to mess us up a couple times but we are pretty sure there are 382 steps up to the Monkey Temple. lol I've seen more monkeys than I ever thought I would in my whole life and am enjoying experiencing such a completely different culture.
Tomorrow we are heading to Nagarkot to hopefully see Everest. And by 'see' Everest, I mean use my zoom to take a picture of the beautiful mountain about 350km away. Nonetheless, no trip to Nepal would be complete without seeing Everest. :) Tonight Elle and I went into town to look for souvenirs and just to soak in the culture. Thamel is such a tourist hub that the streets are live with music, shops, and lights. It's such a great environment. We even headed up to a cafe and had some hot chocolate :) I'm having the time of my life here--Nepal is absolutely incredible. Just sayin'... lol
Tis bedtime again.. I guess I could sleep on the bus but my 3-star bed seems a lot more comfortable. I just had to share my experience. I don't want to get to the end and have forgotten what all happened. Plus, I'm trying to get as many pictures as I can uploaded while the internet is a million times better than in Bangladesh!I hope you enjoy reading :D
ami tomake bhalobashi
of Buddhas and Hindu gods
Looking back on what happened today, I feel like I can say it was the BEST day I've had in Asia--or at least Top 5. I really should start compiling a list of what makes my Top 5 best and worst days.. But that will have to wait for now. This is how it went down.
We woke up at a reasonable time and took a taxi to the northern part of Kathmandu where the Bangladesh embassy is. On the way, we stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. The food last night was alright.. But this food was freaking amazing! This is the food I thought I was going to be eating when I came to Bangladesh. I love Shati's cooking so much but she cooks a lot of American foods, not so much cultural foods. I have also found that Bengali food is generally pretty bland, but they throw chilis in like crazy and that is supposed to be good enough for flavour. This cafe had naan STUFFED with slices of garlic, chick peas curry, dhal, and an amazing tofu dish. Oh my goodness. I ate until I was soo stuffed and reeking of garlic. The cherry on top is that my slight sore throat went away with all the garlic I ate :)
We headed to the Bangladesh embassy and after filling out the form, I was told by the receptionist that there was another option that I hadn't been offered before. Instead of paying $51 for a single entry, two month visa, I could pay $100 for a multiple entry, three month visa! Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough US cash so we have to go back tomorrow and apply but if we get the visa in before 11am, I can pick the processed visa later in the afternoon on the same day! Awesome eh?
Outside the embassy, we hesitated as we pulled out our Kathmandu map and attempted to ask which way to Pashupatinath temple. Apparently it is one of the most famous temples in the world. It's not just one temple, it's maze of many many many Hindu temples. In other words, it's absolutely incredible! But more on that later. First, I should tell you that we had help. As we were looking at our map feeling utterly confused on how to get from Point A to Point B, a young guy looked over our shoulder and asked us if we needed help. When we explained where we were going, he said he knew the area, was heading that direction and offered to show us how to get there. He helped us get on a city bus (taxi's cost about 200-300rupees while city buses only cost 10rupees) and navigate towards this huge temple. On the ride over, we found out he is a Christian guy in his third year of medical school.
When we got off the bus in the general area around the temple, we all said thank-you and were looking for our way when our Christian friend started walking with us. He ended up spending FIVE HOURS with us, explaining what different things signified, and helped us get the local price (or close to it) for souvenirs. Elliot and I weren't allowed into the actual 'sanctuary' part of the temple because tourists aren't allowed, but Joe and our new friend went in and got busted about 20feet in lol. So we spent about an hour and a half wandering around the hundreds of small shrines and temples set up around the grounds.
HIGHLIGHT: I've officially seen my first monkey, up close and personal, and not in a zoo! In fact, there were like 30monkeys traveling all in a group! No joke, we have photographic evidence! They ran all over the temples, climbing roofs, running up and down the streets. It was sooooo cool!
Also at Pashupatinath temple, they are famous because this is a major site they do body burnings. I have a picture of the next body wrapped and ready to be burnt on a platform. It's pretty gruesome but I guess in the Hindu belief system it's important. We also got some pictures with old yogi men painted from head to toe and chilling next to a shrine. These guys were intense... lol I'll show pictures later when I'm not so tired! :)
After spending a lot of time at the temple and the surrounding temples and shrines, our friend took us to Boudha which is a big Buddhist temple. Our friend had to go for a while, which in my mind meant that he was leaving for good but he said he would come back and find us. We walked all the way around the temple a couple times. This temple is really cool because it has little rolly balls in the wall that surrounds it and you can spin them as you walk by. I guess each time you spin the balls it sends up a prayer of good luck or something. We took a ton of pictures on the temple itself and then went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. As we were just finishing our meal, we spotted our friend walking across the top of the Buddhist temple! He had been looking for us!
On the way out of the temple, we stopped by the road because there were tons of "North Face" puffy puffy jackets being sold. Our friend got them down to 600rupees (about $8USD) and now I am warm! lol I call it my "South Face" jacket but I really don't care--that's how warm it is!
Josiah headed back early to the hotel because he wasn't feeling well and our friend volunteered to take us to the Monkey Temple. It was still daylight, lots of people were around, and this guy seemed really nice. He helped us get on the bus towards Monkey Temple and it started to get dark on the way so he suggested that we head back towards our hotel. We had to take two buses and one extremely overcrowded van but that transportation was still 100x better than anything you could take in Dhaka. Elle even fell asleep on the bus it was so comfortable--and everything smells sooo good here! Yay for incense!
Anyways we got back to Thamel (the tourist hub where all the hotels are) but Thamel is HUGE! We wouldn't have known how to get back but this guy stopped and asked how to get back. He walked back with us in the dark to make sure we got back safely, didn't ask for a dime, said thanks for letting me hang out with you guys, and then asked us if we wanted to come to his church on Saturday! We got his number and are definitely going to check out his church. I can't believe it. He was such a God-send!!!!
I'm really excited to go to a Christian church because I've seen Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim worship but I really haven't seen Asian Christian worship. At the orphanage, it's a American-style church, complete with singing the Doxology every week. We told him we didn't have any church clothes but he said that didn't matter--all that matters is that you have a good heart. Seriously, we were so lucky to find this guy!
there's more to tell but for now I'm going to run...
ami tomake bhalobashi!!
We woke up at a reasonable time and took a taxi to the northern part of Kathmandu where the Bangladesh embassy is. On the way, we stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. The food last night was alright.. But this food was freaking amazing! This is the food I thought I was going to be eating when I came to Bangladesh. I love Shati's cooking so much but she cooks a lot of American foods, not so much cultural foods. I have also found that Bengali food is generally pretty bland, but they throw chilis in like crazy and that is supposed to be good enough for flavour. This cafe had naan STUFFED with slices of garlic, chick peas curry, dhal, and an amazing tofu dish. Oh my goodness. I ate until I was soo stuffed and reeking of garlic. The cherry on top is that my slight sore throat went away with all the garlic I ate :)
We headed to the Bangladesh embassy and after filling out the form, I was told by the receptionist that there was another option that I hadn't been offered before. Instead of paying $51 for a single entry, two month visa, I could pay $100 for a multiple entry, three month visa! Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough US cash so we have to go back tomorrow and apply but if we get the visa in before 11am, I can pick the processed visa later in the afternoon on the same day! Awesome eh?
Outside the embassy, we hesitated as we pulled out our Kathmandu map and attempted to ask which way to Pashupatinath temple. Apparently it is one of the most famous temples in the world. It's not just one temple, it's maze of many many many Hindu temples. In other words, it's absolutely incredible! But more on that later. First, I should tell you that we had help. As we were looking at our map feeling utterly confused on how to get from Point A to Point B, a young guy looked over our shoulder and asked us if we needed help. When we explained where we were going, he said he knew the area, was heading that direction and offered to show us how to get there. He helped us get on a city bus (taxi's cost about 200-300rupees while city buses only cost 10rupees) and navigate towards this huge temple. On the ride over, we found out he is a Christian guy in his third year of medical school.
When we got off the bus in the general area around the temple, we all said thank-you and were looking for our way when our Christian friend started walking with us. He ended up spending FIVE HOURS with us, explaining what different things signified, and helped us get the local price (or close to it) for souvenirs. Elliot and I weren't allowed into the actual 'sanctuary' part of the temple because tourists aren't allowed, but Joe and our new friend went in and got busted about 20feet in lol. So we spent about an hour and a half wandering around the hundreds of small shrines and temples set up around the grounds.
HIGHLIGHT: I've officially seen my first monkey, up close and personal, and not in a zoo! In fact, there were like 30monkeys traveling all in a group! No joke, we have photographic evidence! They ran all over the temples, climbing roofs, running up and down the streets. It was sooooo cool!
Also at Pashupatinath temple, they are famous because this is a major site they do body burnings. I have a picture of the next body wrapped and ready to be burnt on a platform. It's pretty gruesome but I guess in the Hindu belief system it's important. We also got some pictures with old yogi men painted from head to toe and chilling next to a shrine. These guys were intense... lol I'll show pictures later when I'm not so tired! :)
After spending a lot of time at the temple and the surrounding temples and shrines, our friend took us to Boudha which is a big Buddhist temple. Our friend had to go for a while, which in my mind meant that he was leaving for good but he said he would come back and find us. We walked all the way around the temple a couple times. This temple is really cool because it has little rolly balls in the wall that surrounds it and you can spin them as you walk by. I guess each time you spin the balls it sends up a prayer of good luck or something. We took a ton of pictures on the temple itself and then went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner. As we were just finishing our meal, we spotted our friend walking across the top of the Buddhist temple! He had been looking for us!
On the way out of the temple, we stopped by the road because there were tons of "North Face" puffy puffy jackets being sold. Our friend got them down to 600rupees (about $8USD) and now I am warm! lol I call it my "South Face" jacket but I really don't care--that's how warm it is!
Josiah headed back early to the hotel because he wasn't feeling well and our friend volunteered to take us to the Monkey Temple. It was still daylight, lots of people were around, and this guy seemed really nice. He helped us get on the bus towards Monkey Temple and it started to get dark on the way so he suggested that we head back towards our hotel. We had to take two buses and one extremely overcrowded van but that transportation was still 100x better than anything you could take in Dhaka. Elle even fell asleep on the bus it was so comfortable--and everything smells sooo good here! Yay for incense!
Anyways we got back to Thamel (the tourist hub where all the hotels are) but Thamel is HUGE! We wouldn't have known how to get back but this guy stopped and asked how to get back. He walked back with us in the dark to make sure we got back safely, didn't ask for a dime, said thanks for letting me hang out with you guys, and then asked us if we wanted to come to his church on Saturday! We got his number and are definitely going to check out his church. I can't believe it. He was such a God-send!!!!
I'm really excited to go to a Christian church because I've seen Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim worship but I really haven't seen Asian Christian worship. At the orphanage, it's a American-style church, complete with singing the Doxology every week. We told him we didn't have any church clothes but he said that didn't matter--all that matters is that you have a good heart. Seriously, we were so lucky to find this guy!
there's more to tell but for now I'm going to run...
ami tomake bhalobashi!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
of illegal residents and NEPAL
This last Sunday my Bangladesh visa expired. For good. Like the crooked man at the passport office said, I had to leave the country.. or get married. Instead, I left the country. The cruel irony is that I've had one too many debates with my friends at WallaWalla about the illegal immigration problem the United States has on its hands... And now I was technically no better. But Josiah, Elle, and I had a plan.
At the beginning of December I had to leave to restart my (then) 60-day pass to Bangladesh. Elle and I had the brilliant idea of going to Nepal to meet up with friends of hers instead of going into India for the day. We found really cheap flights over and knew we could find cheap hostels over in Nepal. In the end though, we decided we didn't feel safe going with just the two of us. Thus I went into India for the day. BUT that is also around the time that Josiah showed up, feet itching with the travel bug.
After the whole ordeal with the crooked man, Josiah and I started to think about maybe going to Nepal to reapply for a visa. The tickets were still cheap, hostels still available, and Elle was on board too! Thanks to different family members for sending money as Christmas presents, plus money that I earned during the summer, I'm writing this from Hotel Blue Horizon in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal. No joke! :D
Today was quite the ordeal though. Elle booked her flight a day later than Josiah and I and was therefore told she had to fly a day later (apparently they needed a week to process her credit card). We flew with Biman Airlines which is not the most renowned airline in the world and they ended up changing our tickets to fly out an hour sooner and also changed Elle's return ticket to have a 3hr layover in India somewhere. It was somewhat of a mess. Elle wasn't too excited to be separated from us on both flights because we had tried to get the return one all together. While she was in the midst of a heated discussion with the airline people, she looked at the ticket confirmation I had printed out and discovered that our tickets were detoured through India as well! Good times...
Elle and I had repacked our backpacks the night before and were ready to go early this morning. After finding out we were all on the same flight, we headed to the airport. Elle brought all her stuff along in hopes that she could get on the same flight as us. And miracle of all miracles, her flight was able to get switched from tomorrow to today :) PLUS, we got all our flights changed to a day earlier so that we don't have the layover in India. So exciting!
There really isn't too much of a security check point anywhere in the Dhaka airport so we had a lot of time to kill. I was supposed to pay a fee for being illegally in Bangladesh at the immigration desk but smiling really does get you far in this country! So I didn't have to pay any fine! With all our time to kill, we had a snack in a cafe and Josiah and Elle taught me the basics of poker. I think we are going to hunt down some jelly beans and play 'for real'. lol
[Funny story: Elle and I had to pee really badly after going through the immigration desk so we left Josiah and hunted down a bathroom. We followed the sign for toilets down a curvy hallway to only one open door. Elle had to go really badly so I held her bag as she went into the stall. As she was in there, I looked around and then joked that this was a unisex bathroom because there were urinals off to the side. Then I looked on the door and it had the man symbol on the front... AND just then, a airport worker walked in and said "Lady toilets that way" pointing to left. I busted up laughing and said "ami bondue shi-shi" (my friend pee lol). Just after she left and Elle came out of the stall, a confused Bengali man walked in as we giggled past him. Oh man... so funny...]
The flight over was good... nothing too special. Honestly, I was expecting a 16-passenger plane with goats walking up and down the aisle and the pilot serving us our beverages. That's the low expectation I had for this Bangladeshi airline lol. But because it's technically an 'international' flight, we actually got drinks and food! The food was awful... but food nonetheless!
As we began our decent into the Kathmandu airport, the clouds began to clear and mountains littered the ground below us. It was so so so so cool to see! I took a lot of pictures but most of them didn't turn out very well due to scratches on the window. Nonetheless... SO cool! I guess I didn't realize this, but Kathmandu is HUGE. Like Huge Huge! I had an idea in my head that it was small and quaint with little huts and such. Nope. It's kinda like a slightly cleaner, slightly less congested traffic, less people-d form of Dhaka. Really! I'm definitely not complaining. The biggest difference to me is the smells. Dhaka smells like death and exhaust--Kathmandu smells like incense :) BIG difference!
After settling into our hostel/hotel and putting our values in the safe, we headed out for food. Kathmandu is such a hippy-ish place it wasn't hard to find a vegetarian restaurant for Josiah. We ordered rice with about a ton of cumin in it, some masalla dosa (potato/veggie mash in a crepe-like shell), spicy dhal, and a veggie szechuan dish. The food was heavily seasoned but not too bad in the end. It's kinda fun to experience new foods in their original countries.
Then we wandered the streets a little, browsing in shops and such. I swear, North Face has a contract with 80% of the shops to sell its merchandise! Everything here is North Face. Well, North Face or yak hair. Speaking of which, my hands were freezing to the bone so I bought a cute pair of $2 yak hair gloves. I love them :)
Now we are planning our week-long attack on Kathmandu. We have a Monkey Temple to visit, Buddha's birthplace, a visa to apply for, and the most famous temple in the world to see... More to come... :D
ami tomake bhalobashi (dang.. I should learn how to say 'I love you' in Nepalese!)
At the beginning of December I had to leave to restart my (then) 60-day pass to Bangladesh. Elle and I had the brilliant idea of going to Nepal to meet up with friends of hers instead of going into India for the day. We found really cheap flights over and knew we could find cheap hostels over in Nepal. In the end though, we decided we didn't feel safe going with just the two of us. Thus I went into India for the day. BUT that is also around the time that Josiah showed up, feet itching with the travel bug.
After the whole ordeal with the crooked man, Josiah and I started to think about maybe going to Nepal to reapply for a visa. The tickets were still cheap, hostels still available, and Elle was on board too! Thanks to different family members for sending money as Christmas presents, plus money that I earned during the summer, I'm writing this from Hotel Blue Horizon in Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal. No joke! :D
Today was quite the ordeal though. Elle booked her flight a day later than Josiah and I and was therefore told she had to fly a day later (apparently they needed a week to process her credit card). We flew with Biman Airlines which is not the most renowned airline in the world and they ended up changing our tickets to fly out an hour sooner and also changed Elle's return ticket to have a 3hr layover in India somewhere. It was somewhat of a mess. Elle wasn't too excited to be separated from us on both flights because we had tried to get the return one all together. While she was in the midst of a heated discussion with the airline people, she looked at the ticket confirmation I had printed out and discovered that our tickets were detoured through India as well! Good times...
Elle and I had repacked our backpacks the night before and were ready to go early this morning. After finding out we were all on the same flight, we headed to the airport. Elle brought all her stuff along in hopes that she could get on the same flight as us. And miracle of all miracles, her flight was able to get switched from tomorrow to today :) PLUS, we got all our flights changed to a day earlier so that we don't have the layover in India. So exciting!
There really isn't too much of a security check point anywhere in the Dhaka airport so we had a lot of time to kill. I was supposed to pay a fee for being illegally in Bangladesh at the immigration desk but smiling really does get you far in this country! So I didn't have to pay any fine! With all our time to kill, we had a snack in a cafe and Josiah and Elle taught me the basics of poker. I think we are going to hunt down some jelly beans and play 'for real'. lol
[Funny story: Elle and I had to pee really badly after going through the immigration desk so we left Josiah and hunted down a bathroom. We followed the sign for toilets down a curvy hallway to only one open door. Elle had to go really badly so I held her bag as she went into the stall. As she was in there, I looked around and then joked that this was a unisex bathroom because there were urinals off to the side. Then I looked on the door and it had the man symbol on the front... AND just then, a airport worker walked in and said "Lady toilets that way" pointing to left. I busted up laughing and said "ami bondue shi-shi" (my friend pee lol). Just after she left and Elle came out of the stall, a confused Bengali man walked in as we giggled past him. Oh man... so funny...]
The flight over was good... nothing too special. Honestly, I was expecting a 16-passenger plane with goats walking up and down the aisle and the pilot serving us our beverages. That's the low expectation I had for this Bangladeshi airline lol. But because it's technically an 'international' flight, we actually got drinks and food! The food was awful... but food nonetheless!
As we began our decent into the Kathmandu airport, the clouds began to clear and mountains littered the ground below us. It was so so so so cool to see! I took a lot of pictures but most of them didn't turn out very well due to scratches on the window. Nonetheless... SO cool! I guess I didn't realize this, but Kathmandu is HUGE. Like Huge Huge! I had an idea in my head that it was small and quaint with little huts and such. Nope. It's kinda like a slightly cleaner, slightly less congested traffic, less people-d form of Dhaka. Really! I'm definitely not complaining. The biggest difference to me is the smells. Dhaka smells like death and exhaust--Kathmandu smells like incense :) BIG difference!
After settling into our hostel/hotel and putting our values in the safe, we headed out for food. Kathmandu is such a hippy-ish place it wasn't hard to find a vegetarian restaurant for Josiah. We ordered rice with about a ton of cumin in it, some masalla dosa (potato/veggie mash in a crepe-like shell), spicy dhal, and a veggie szechuan dish. The food was heavily seasoned but not too bad in the end. It's kinda fun to experience new foods in their original countries.
Then we wandered the streets a little, browsing in shops and such. I swear, North Face has a contract with 80% of the shops to sell its merchandise! Everything here is North Face. Well, North Face or yak hair. Speaking of which, my hands were freezing to the bone so I bought a cute pair of $2 yak hair gloves. I love them :)
Now we are planning our week-long attack on Kathmandu. We have a Monkey Temple to visit, Buddha's birthplace, a visa to apply for, and the most famous temple in the world to see... More to come... :D
ami tomake bhalobashi (dang.. I should learn how to say 'I love you' in Nepalese!)
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