French Pop Bands and Delicious Pizza

I arrived at the Kathmandu airport around 830 AM. The flight was beautiful, the(what I would call mountains but Nepalis would call hills) were verdant and I’m sure the view from the houses nestled on top was amazing. I waited for about 15 minutes by the incorrect conveyor belt for my bag before someone came over and helpfully corrected me. So I waited another 15 minutes before all the bags had been claimed. More annoyed than panicked, I picked up my stuff and began looking for whoever was in charge of missing luggage. Luckily we had tied a neon yellow string to the top of my bag, so I spotted it sitting next to a few other bags by some men speaking rapidly in Nepalese. Walking closer, I looked at the tag and after the men confirmed it was mine, walked out of the airport. I guess someone took it off by mistake and then failed to replace it, but I’m not sure. I’m just glad it wasn’t lost so I wouldn’t have to come back to the airport.

Yanik, my Passage coordinator, met me outside the airport. He had been a counselor the last time I was with Passage, but is now in charge of the whole thing after his Mother passed away, who had founded Passage. I’m not sure what it is about Nepal, but somehow everything smelled the same. It was almost surreal; memories of my last trip came flooding back in sharp focus. I felt ecstatic, if jetlagged, to be back.

View from my hotel room

I’ll be staying at a hotel for my first two days before moving in with my homestay mother. It’s a really awesome room; with a tv that has satellite cable, a cool view, and hot shower.

Abandoned stupa

After I settled in we walked to a restaurant owned by Yanik’s friend, which is in the process of being renovated. There was a really neat abandoned stupa in the courtyard, which I believe they’re going to put tables around. A stupa is basically a Buddhist temple used as a place of worship. They range from being very large to just being used by one family. This one was probably used by a few families before the houses surrounding it were turned into restaurants.

View from Yanik's window

Yanik's garden

Yanik's garden

Yanik's garden

After saying hello to his friend and looking around we went and hung out at Yanik’s house for a bit, which is about a 20 minute drive outside of the main city. It is stunning there, with a lovely garden and awesome view of the hills. It’s far enough away from traffic that it’s actually quiet, which is a nice respite from the constant honking of taxi cabs and motorbikes.

Yes, the drummer is 13

I didn't catch their name, but they seemed cool

I took a very necessary short nap before we returned to the city to see a French pop band perform. They had come to Kathmandu for international music day after touring India. Before they went on a local Nepali band called Blue in Silence preformed, and were surprisingly awesome. Considering the members were all around 17 they played their instruments really well, and had all original songs. After performing around six or seven songs the French band came on and they were also really good, but a little too soft for me, I kept almost falling asleep.

Made with real mango!

We then had some delicious pizza for dinner, and I ordered a mango daiquiri in celebration of my early 21^st birthday. I can’t wait for tomorrow, when I’ll get to meet my language instructor and homestay mother!

To see all of my pictures you can go to my picasa web album- https://picasaweb.google.com/115165015182735784481/KathmanduJuly2011