Day Two in Kathmandu

I slept surprisingly well, only waking up a couple of times and was able to get back to sleep pretty easily. Yanik knocked on my door around 10, and we went downstairs to wait for my language teacher to come by. I ordered a coke in the meantime, which ended up being complementary by the hotel. The soda here is really interesting; it tastes slightly different than the stuff in the US and is a lot more carbonated. It also comes in glass bottles which you return to the people when you’re finished drinking. It makes the soda a lot cheaper, because you’re only paying for the liquid itself. It’s also environmentally friendly, which is definitely a plus.

My language teacher is a very nice woman who seems like she’ll be tough but fair. After chatting for a bit she got out the book we will be using which caused me to double take. I had bought a Nepalese language book in the US to prepare me for my trip(I should have studied much more before I left but was lazy) from Amazon. Turns out, she wrote the book! I couldn’t believe it, out of all of the Nepalese language books on Amazon and all of the language instructors in Nepal I had ended up with her. The coincidences get stranger, it turns out she had taught a New College student a few years ago so New College was mentioned in the book! Our 800 student college mentioned in this Nepalese language book. It’s a small, small world.

New College!

My language teacher

After she left Yanik went to meet a friend to discuss a restaurant he’s planning on opening, so I went to a café to steal their wifi and drink some scrumptious coffee. I’m not much of a coffee person, but the stuff here is DELICIOUS! I’ve only had it this good in one other place, and that was in San Francisco with my sister. Everything is organic and done by hand here, no Starbucks or mass production. They were also playing football(soccer to you Americans) on a big screen tv which was fun to watch.

I managed to get myself lost walking back to the hotel because all of the stores in Thamel look exactly the same, so I got to enjoy the constant solicitations of merchants trying to sell me pretty much everything. Walking to the café I didn’t really experience that, but maybe it was the look of bewilderment on my face that was taken as a sign that yes, I really did want to by a knockoff North Face jacket. After walking up and down the street a bunch of times I finally found my way back thanks to a shop called ‘Black Pashmina Outlet’, which I remembered because I thought selling only one color of pashiminas was stupid.

Yanik came back and I hopped on his bike and we left for my homestay house. Driving in Kathmandu is kind of like a video game, but I’ll need to dedicate a whole post to the chaos to do it justice. My homestay house is really nice, and my homestay Aamaa is awesome. She’s super sweet and warm, exactly the type of person you’d want to take care of you for three months. Her partner seems really chill too, and her son is really cool as well. He enjoys watching tv and playing video games like God of War, so he’s totally my kind of kid. I’m bummed that he’s only going to be here for four more days; he goes to school in India and will have to return.

My homestay Aamaa's partner and son

After meeting them we went and met up with some of Yanik’s friends who are currently living at his house at a cool little restaurant in Thamel. One of them, Megan, is actually a fellow Passage alum as well. Her friend, Ruth, is 18 and has just graduated High School. They’re both from Maine and were super nice, and really down to earth. Ruth actually left the next day, but Megan will be here for another month. I ordered a mango lassi at the restaurant, to continue my quest to drink as many as possible while mangoes are in season.

After leaving we went to see Cars 2 in 3D with a few of Yanik’s other friends(Yanik, btw, seems to know everyone in Kathmandu). They had just built the mall around 5 months ago, and everything was still shiny and new. In Nepal when you buy your movie ticket you buy it for a specific seat, like when you go to a play. The screen went dark about halfway through the movie, which I thought meant that the projector had died, but was merely an intermission like they have for Bollywood films. Cars 2 is a pretty good film in my opinion, but has a lot less heart than some of Pixar’s other works.

To give you an idea of how cheap this is it's about 70 rupees to 1 dollar

After the movie we went to a bar called Jazz Upstairs and listened to some live Bluegrass music, which was really cool. I got to meet another girl doing a Passage program that has been here for about a month. Megan and Ruth were also there, and I had a great time hanging with them. At around midnight we left the bar, and I passed out in the hotel after watching the Britney Spears episode of Glee. Some things never change, I guess. I’m excited to move into my homestay tomorrow and get to go to the NGO where I’ll be interning.

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