tonight's sunset

my day begins around 5:30ish with the sound of chants echoing through the courtyard. i finally crawl out of bed at about 7 and hop in the shower, making sure to keep my mouth closed so as not to drink any of the water. afterwards, i have tea and a light breakfast before heading out to meet the world. the guards salute me as i head through the gate and make my way down the small alley to the main road. the dogs wag their tails and come to see if i've brought them any leftover food. i catch a taxi, most days, to school, passing tons of people walking and riding bikes, cows strolling, dogs stretching, chickens in cages, goats tied up, men and women hauling heavy, large items by their heads or propped on bicycles...etc. the road is narrow, but that doesn't stop drivers from trying to pass through tiny spaces to get an edge...car horns beeping all the way. school begins at 9 as the 85 or so kids (grades 1-6) pray and sing at the morning assembly before heading to first period which begins at 9:10. i teach 5th and 6th grade english and my classes are in the morning. periods are 35 minutes or so and they get a break at 11. they eat a snack and have some juice and the teachers get milk tea...a nepali staple. by 11:15 we're all back in class, but back out at 1 for lunch. every day the 'didis' cook rice and some vegetable curry and then, of course, daal. they make the teachers and kids eat with spoons and forks, but otherwise, nepali's eat with their right hand or sip soups out of the bowl. the kids play for a little while after finishing their lunch and then are back in class at 1:30. the school day ends at 3:30. i work with teachers in the afternoon on their free periods and create resources or teaching aids for them while monitoring their lessons. after school i hang out and talk politics or culture with the principal, rambabu and the owner, lalita. it's usually all very pleasant, except today there were workers who were doing construction...with an electric plane saw so the noise during the school day was really distracting and ear piercing. i left school with one of my colleagues who heads in the same direction and usually i make it home around 4/4:30. some days i have language lessons, wednesdays i play soccer and other days i'm just happy to get home and be in the sanctity of my own place. the dogs greet me as i come in, the guards salute and i ascend the two flights of stairs to my apartment. usually kumar is around so we hang out a bit. he is so cute, gentle and unobtrusive that it's always nice to see him. we talk about all different kinds of things and he shows me what he's made or done for the day. he leaves by 5 and then i chill for a little bit until christy usually makes her way home between 5:30 and 6. we grab a beverage and sit out in our newly purchased white wicker adirondack style chairs on the balcony. the weather's perfect at that time...cooling down after the heat of mid day. we catch up and tell all of our funny stories from the day and just exhale. sometimes we'll go downstairs and run on the treadmills, otherwise, we grab some dinner and watch the sunset. sometimes storms roll over the hills and then, some days they're like this photo. every day they're definitely beautiful. just before dark we come back in to escape the mosquitos and either watch some tv, work or use the internet. i usually feel the need to rinse off or at least wash my feet from the day's street funk, but then it's a quick collapse into bed...exhausted every night! there's so much i could tell you about life here, but i thought it might be interesting to hear about the daily life. what's going on with you? i'd love to hear from you. love, j

ghar sita mutu (house with a heart)

for the past 2 sundays we've spent several hours at this orphanage. a woman from christy's temple in the states came to kathmandu 8 years ago, saw 2 abandoned, young brothers and decided to do something about it. beverly has built a wonderful home for 16 children she has adopted, yet can't take out of the country. the legal system is challenging here and also the visa situation. even though she's started an ngo, brought tons of money to the country and has started women's cooperatives and a learning center, she's still only allowed to stay for 5 months a year. shocking. so, she comes with a pocket full of donor money and gets things done. they add onto their facilities, fix things, give away goats because they eat the garden, switch the kids schools when corporal punishment is happening, and have full on production from the women so beverly will have nepali felt crafts to take back to the states to sell. ...after her 5 months is up, she goes back to new york city, works at her antique shop and fund raises---then does it all over again. i've attached the website on the left under 'links of interest' if you'd like to see what it looks like and what programs she has going on. christy's helping her with organizational things and getting more structure to her pieced-together foundation. beverly admits she has done it all maybe not in the best order, but knew she just had to keep doing something. i will help when she is closer to opening up her new language school for destitute children and women. it's really quite impressive to see what one woman can do. it's no small feat in the states, let alone in as crazy a place as nepal. there are certainly problems and with kids ranging from 5-19, a whole lot of issues come into play. but, there's no substitute for love and determination. makes ya feel pretty fortunate, eh? lots of love, j

jingle bells??!

for the last couple weeks, usually towards evening, i've heard jingle bells coming from the park out our balcony. it's undoubtedly a cell phone that's left to ring and ring, cause the song usually completes several times over before stopping. the tone is that high pitched singing card sound, but none-the-less, distinctly jingle bells! what's so funny about this is, well, ...it's april and, also, it's a hindu/buddhist country! and then there's the fact that there's no snow in kathmandu. huh...i guess they just like the melody. i, on the other hand, am over it... : )

sai-baba

http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/

view out my balcony

this view is to the left. it's where the motorcycles lined up during the fuel shortage and the field is where cows, dogs and people congregate, play, sleep and pee. not necessarily in that order and not necessarily all together, but still... : ) notice the lovely display of buses and spare tires in the foreground. the taller building in the distance is the hospital, so we feel pretty safe!
this is the view directly out the balcony, straight ahead. although it was a little hazy when i snapped this photo, the sky is almost always blue here and the mountains visible.  directly below is the open space attached to the sai-baba temple. this is where the children chant mantras, shake tambourines and bang drums...all at 6:30 every morning...really! our friend lives down a floor and her apartment is situated head on with the show and her bedroom is on the outer most wall...brutal. our vantage point is much more advantageous. usually i can sleep through it, but some days...when they use a mega phone...i lay there, half awake and half asleep...giggling! it's so ridiculous. if you go and look out at what's making all the racket? ...it's a little old lady (with a mega phone) and no more than 10 small children, some of which are armed with noise making instruments. too funny!
this is to the right. it's the temple. sai-baba is quite famous and has a huge following here as a guru. he's very distinctive looking and all over town you can buy different photos of him. our favorite is one with him on a white horse! 
this buddhist statue is down in the park. in the middle picture, the edge of it is visible in the lower left corner. despite it being a hindu temple, the buddhist faith is seamlessly integrated. this is true all over nepal. there are distinct signs as to which temple it is officially, but there are always touches of the other. throughout the day we'll hear people ringing the prayer bells as they walk past. i like that...it's like wind chimes, sort of. and, at night, we hear the frogs that live in the man-made pond croaking so loudly it feels like we're living in a swamp! another nice touch is that when the power's out...the stars are fantastic!

happy new year!!

according to the bikram samwat calendar, which the nepali's follow, it's time to celebrate the beginning of 2065! last night i woke up just before midnight and looked outside, across the way at the party palace, as the countdown was happening...i'm pretty sure it was the countdown...it sounded like it, just in another language. i looked at the clock and sure enough, it was midnight. most people don't celebrate at night, but have picnics and get together with friends and family on new year's day. unfortunately, the local paper is reporting, the maoists' surprise lead in the polls has dampened the mood... we're still waiting for results, but so far, it's not looking too promising... in any case, the new year has come and gone, so happy new year! i've added another link on the left side describing more about the calendar, if you're interested. hope you're all well. love, j

more election day photos

my new friend, lydia, who's from d.c., works for an election assistance organization and was out during the nepal's national election. she took these photos, but i thought they do a really good job of showing the process so i wanted to share them with you. remember, there was a transportation ban that day, which allowed only official vehicles on the road...and apparently drive by shooting vehicles, but that's another story. the roads were empty and people were out meandering around. bikes road down the middle without a care in the world. dogs crossed without looking both ways and kids played with their humble toys or rolled tires in the newly opened space. to vote, people put their thumb on an ink pad and literally marked their ballot with thumb prints. i love the photo of the older woman showing her thumb...priceless! two days out and still too early to call, but the maoists are shockingly ahead in the polls. no on predicted as much and now there's a scramble to decide what to do 'if' the unthinkable happens. the official results won't be tallied for a couple weeks, so we once again, wait...nepali's are good at that! : ) bye, love, j

election day

election day seemed to go off without too many hitches. there was 1 candidate killed, a drive by shooting, and about 10 polling stations closed due to ballot 'capturing' where someone would run up, grab the ballot box and throw it in the river so none of those votes could be counted. ??? so, that's considered a pretty successful election day by nepali standards, i guess. it may take up to 3 weeks to tally all of the votes and this is where the unrest may fester a la zimbabwe. again, we wait and hold our breaths with suitcases packed just in case. it's highly unlikely we'd have to evacuate, but apparently, when the embassy says move, you don't have much time. there was a ban on transportation yesterday, except for vehicles with official stickers like seen above. the drive by motorcycle didn't have an official sticker on it, but was able to get quite close for some reason. i don't think he was caught, either. ???  many temples were used as polling stations because they are somewhat open and centrally located. fences were erected, signs were hung and a police presence was assembled outside of each location. christy and i went for a walk in the mid afternoon and it was bizarre that there were so very few cars on the street. people were out meandering about, bikes ruled the traffic lanes and kids and dogs played in the streets. it certainly seemed like the kind of day kids would remember for a lifetime! even today seems quite quiet, although the ban on traffic has been lifted. yesterday was a nice reprieve from the city's transportation noise and pollution. two friends work with the election commission and were out yesterday overseeing the process. one took some really good photos (and saw jimmy carter's convoy) and i'll post those later. this election was to form a constitutional assembly out of 74, yes seventy-four, possible parties (see election link, under links of interest, on the left of my blog) and these people will rewrite the constitution and decide what will happen to the current king and how they want the country to be run in the future. it'll take between 18-24 months to rewrite the constitution and in the meantime some temporary laws will be in place. on the election website link, check out all of the parties and the sample ballot paper (on left once you're in the link). it's so interesting that they have to use pictures to represent the parties because of nepal's high illiteracy rate. some of the pictures are so funny! oh, and the year in nepal now is 2064, but they also use 2008; they recognize both calendars. although the election polls that were forced to close yesterday are trying to let the people vote today, the initial reaction appears to be pretty successful. whew! how was your thursday??! : )  love, j

ahhh...secret service??

ok, so the principal of our school, a very well educated, well respected, highly published man named rambabu subedi [pronounced ROM baa boo su BAY dee] called me in two days ago (teachers are on break until next tuesday). he said he had some books for me and wanted to show me a poem he had written that won a contest here in nepal. my social calendar was free so i hopped over to school and obliged the kind gesture. he is a very sweet man who has travelled to several countries and really wants to come to the states. his english is only ok, but you can tell he is quite reflective and gentle. he reminds me of my dad a bit because of the sparkle in his eye and the way in which he pays attention to everyone in a kind way. a few days before break we had a young boy, maybe 8, come in to take an entrance exam. they had never met, but watching him interact with this young boy was very sweet and endearing. nepali's by nature aren't very touchy in public, but he was very nurturing with this boy and encouraged him to do his best on the test. i couldn't understand the spoken language, but the body language of both struck a chord with me. that's why, when i first read this poem i was blown away... : ) he told me soon after meeting him that he was a huge hillary clinton fan...that she was his 'sister' and hoped she could win the democratic nomination. he also told me that he had written a poem about her back in 2003 (yeah, years ago!) and that it had been translated into english and he'd bring it in for me to read. the man has published copious amounts of texts and is well known throughout the literary community here. he taught for 27 years at a very prestigious nepali high school and is finishing his career trying to develop our school. now, granted, i believe poetry is very difficult to translate and some of the intended meaning may have been lost, but still... wow! all i could think of while sitting in front of him while reading it was...what hillary would have thought if she got this poem?!  ahhh...secret service???? i wrote it exactly as it appears on the printed paper he gave to me. hope you enjoy it as much as i am enjoying it...let me know what your favorite line is...i have several! lots of love, j

HILLARY RODHAM (by Rambabu Subedi)

Women is the primal truth of the world and allurement

The creation whirls around the charming throb of woman

Woman, an infinite rhythm of life, a blossom in the garden

Woman, a gyration within heart and an adornment of this earth

Ever exalted is woman how can I recount her value?

I can view only a single facet of this all enigma

Her heart is filled with intimacy, love and affection

A woman is a perfect art with which run countless civilizations

In her company I forget myself lost in infinity

Home is a woman, and a sweet moment I do with her roam

She is such milk as turns into curd and gets itself churned

The earth does not grow green unless one extracts substance by churning one's soul

A woman's home where she is pleasant, is the holy shrine

She is roaming along the charming dales, the yearning maiden

Sacrificing her own desires she cultivates good omens

In her lie Shiva, within Shiva Uma, and I within this cycle remain

She sometimes veils herself in a clean shawl of motherhood

With an ocean of pure love and devotion rippling in her feeling

She trudges along beautiful expanses spreading service everyday

Our home becomes sweet by pouring our own sweat

Woman is Rodham, a radiant sky and underworld

The earth and water and an enchanting casement of timelessness

Woman is the best companion, in her absence all pleasures disappear

She is the poem and I love to frolic and romp with her alone

With reverence I now compose poems of Rodham

With rhododendron-blossoms of the wild on my humble head

I am the melodious tune of flute for noble purpose

I know not why I love the sweet harmony in the world

Rodham soared high up into the blue sky, and

She is pouring down as fresh shower to sprinkle the barren land

This is the cycle of life they say she has new songs

Women is the best conscience and the pivot of the world

The velvet flower in Teressa-garden from fragrant plant

Dropped suddenly on earth through fresh material reflection

She is surging sweetly producing the musical tone

And feels worried in human suffering the world's dear Rodham

Rodham walks all alone caressing the folds of earth

The eastern flanks, the western banks consoling countless broken hearts

While this kind heart was entreated she went unfurling

Under the wings of this bird a lovely heaven bestows

With moans and groans children shed tears in the street

The whole universe passes out when Rodham hears the agony of the scavenger-children

The earth is never illumined unless we remove this agony

Unless the children are content, our smiles remain uncanny

Where are the children stout and healthy without healthy mothers!

How can the sickly earth smile without healthy people!

May the Rodhams with Chelsea be blessed with happiness

Let Yale Review, Maine and Missouri smile and Dhaulagiri (1) radiate

[(1) a famous snowy mountain in Nepal]

Let me what is law and what rule, what regulation and what injustice

The greatest progress is human welfare, man is the wealth of the earth

Truly, law that saves man is in need now

Rodham fights against hunger and disease, I witness this indeed

What is life, who are countrymen? Tell me what the frontier is

Man is everything yet I don't know why frightened he is!

The horror of caste and creed must be removed from our heart

Rodham says equality and unity must rule the earth

The USA is a far off dream, will I ever visit Chicago?

Nebraska and Indiana including the furthest Illinois?

Rodham believes that true friendship removes all anxiety

Feeling is remote and feeling near if the world is within

Were you satisfied with the fresh cob of sweet-corn and butter of Iowa?

Could you ever glimpse Nepal from the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains?

Rodham, come to Hanspur (2) and taste the cobs of sweet-corn

From our high mountains you'll easily have the world's vision

[(2) native village of the poet in Nepal]

When do you come to tis side, Rodham! Phewa (3) is awaiting

On the warm lap of Rara  you will meet this vast Nepal

Whom does the dear Michigan of your heart invite? 

You may not be there, Huron sadly contemplates

[(3) famous lake of Nepal]

Rising like New Jersey, dear Georgia and lovely New York

Melting like Arkansas smiling Florida, Utah and Texas

Rippling and surging, whirling and smiling within your national tradition

Like this poem of mine, is simple my dear sister Hillary

Chicago! You are lucky to get a star-daughter like Rodham

She melted down from there and again rose to a height

Sometimes she became a scout and ran all alone far away

This young flower of Arkansas is endowed with heavenly grace

The whole sky bent with an adept woman bent

My heart bent and tender affection did bend

Really the mystery of bending is revealed, whoever doesn't bend is left discontent

With one's own inner self illuminated man will be happy.

(Translated by Dr. G. Raj Bhattarai)

learning nepali

amar and i meet up at mike's breakfast a few times a week to not only help me learn nepali, but give me more access to the kitty! we get some tea and i always ask for a container of milk on the side to get her to come over by me. today i was actually able to 'pet' her as she stretched her tongue as far as she could to reach the saucer and lowered her body as if going under my hand like a limbo stick! i touched her, though...i did. : )  amar is delightful and entertains my cat fancy. he is patient, gentle and very eager for me to learn nepali. he is more eager than i am sometimes...truth be told! he comes from a very small village and has climbed the social ladder to become a budding poet, author, master of nepali language, artist and philosopher. his english isn't great, but he brought a eudora welty book today to show me that he's reading american literature. he's really very cute and endearing, going out of his way to buy me beginner's books and make me learning accessories. he teaches me basic words and phrases in nepali and i read with him in english to help his pronunciation...so it works out well for both of us. believe it or not, i actually understand all of the sounds associated with the squiggles that make up the written language and can pronounce them. because the words sound so different, it's taking a long time to memorize vocabulary, but the flash cards and labeled pictures amar has made me help a lot. and, well, there's always the kitty! hope you're all doing fine; we are holding our breaths for the election in 2 days. things are heating up a bit, but they're still scheduled to proceed as scheduled. there's no more campaigning and tomorrow everyone is going back to their home towns to cast their votes. there will be no public transportation or cars allowed on the road, period, on thursday. the government has declared a 2 day holiday beginning tomorrow, which will be followed by another hindu holiday saturday and sunday. then, monday, i believe, is the nepali new year. it all should be very interesting, to say the least. this is nepal's first democratic election and the historic, long time, controversial monarchy will be abolished once and for all. ...and then there are the tibetans! let me know what reaches u.s. airwaves and newsprint. lots of love, j

sports programme

the end of the nepali school year at Wenddy I House went off with a bang and the sports programme for which we've been practicing since i began working there. the kids were all ready to execute their newly acquired marching skills and sports adeptness for their parents. the grounds were set up with white chalk outlining the running lanes for events, tents to keep the attendees cool, a speaker system for announcing, a keyboard to accompany the school song and national anthem, a guest speaker lined up and a prize table full of awards for top finishers both in sport and the newly completed academic year. it was quite a display, yet all the while lower caste workers were lugging bricks and dirt on the side where the new classrooms are being built in the back ground. the students at Wenddy I House (spelled with 2 ds and an I in the middle because a fortune teller said it would bring about more luck than with just 1 d and no I in the middle) come from far more affluent families than where i student taught a month or so ago. it's a private school and the parents pay a more substantial tuition than at the public school level. it's like night and day in terms of resources and facilities. sports day was a good example of this, i suppose. the kids did their best in the mid day sun and were happy when the mother's got involved by playing musical chairs and the father's, by playing a balloon game. afterwards we had awards and refreshments and sent them home for 2 weeks on break to recover and regroup for next year. in the meantime, we can't say exactly when that next year will actually begin because elections are only a few days before the supposed april 14 start date. no one really knows what will happen with all of that...we just wait and hold our breaths that the maoists play nice. the teachers are doing prep for next year, this week and i'm realizing just how unorganized and ill-prepared the teachers are. lalita, the head of the school is giving me full reigns which is good, but daunting considering i don't know that much about the national curriculum, testing, grading policy, and virtually everything else involved with the nepali school system. i definitely can help with teacher training, esl and lesson planning, but the rest is going to take some time! one step at a time... love, j

a birthday to remember

for most of a week i've been battling some sort of bug that has decided to camp out in my intestines. it's the first time i've had any more serious type of symptoms and after 1 week, i'm still not feeling 100%. it's impossible to tell how one obtains such an illness, but it's most likely linked to the water here. if not in filtered water, things can be washed in tap water, but must be completely dried. otherwise, you're at high risk...the water here is that bad. even in the shower it is recommended to keep one's mouth closed.  in any case, thanks for all the birthday greetings. the first half of my birthday was spent going to the doctor, giving blood and a stool sample. par-teeeee! between my boss at work and my boss at home i was coerced into getting checked out. everything looked good and i was told i had the best lookin crap they had ever seen! (that so reminds me of my dad's humor, sorry!) no signs of anything inhospitable, but that doesn't mean anything here apparently. i got a prescription for some meds to conquer the supposed giardia that lurks within me. i decided not to start the course of 4 pills to be taken 2 consecutive evenings cause it said right on the script in all caps-NO ALCOHOL. it was my birthday; i wasn't going to agree to that! my belly's feeling better today though, but my energy is still down and i'm feeling rather weak from not eating as much as normal. the worst part about the not eating is that there's so much good food and just no way i'm able to eat it. i rallied, however, just in time for christy and i to go out to the fancy royal owned hotel soaltee. within the beautiful grounds are a few restaurants, one of which is a 5 star, fantastic, indian/nepali eatery. we got mildly spiced traditionally prepared chicken, lamb, rice, naan, with a plethora of accoutrements and by the end, my tongue was on fire from the 'mildly' spiced dinner. it was really tasty and i was proud of myself for showing restraint. : ) christy told them it was my birthday so they went to the patisserie within the grounds and brought back a small cake decorated with happy birthday text. they didn't sing, but several servers came around the table and wished me all the best and much luck for my special day and then they clapped while i blew out the candle. it was very sweet. when we got home, a friend came over for the cake that our cook, kumar made...see picture above! i still wasn't feeling risky enough to tempt intestinal fate, so i refrained, but i heard it was good! it was a wonderful day all-in-all and i'm crossing my fingers the indian food doesn't come back to bite me in the butt...literally! : ) ...and before anyone even thinks about worrying or feeling sorry for me, i'm totally fine and safe and healthy and happy... love, j