Kathmandu/Pokhara!

As always it has been a while since my last blog post. I can't believe it is nearing the end of January. Between our trip to Kathmandu and Pokhara, and the craziness of being back to school has been a bit overwhelming.

First of all our trip was great. We managed to get on one of the first ever flight to Kathmandu directly form Surkhet. Last year a plane crashed at our airport which resulted in a complete shutdown. Thankfully, just prior to our trip the airport reopened for domestic travel and we managed to snag one of the 18 seats on the plane. It was definitely a tough experience for some of the fellows, who had never been on such a small plane. Fortunately, for my job in the states I flew just about every week, and during one trip flew with my boss in his two seater to South Carolina so it wasn't a huge deal. That said, the flight was amazing (particularly) the flight back where we had some incredible views of the Himalayan. Upon reaching Kathmandu, things went much smoother than the first time around. I've learned a great deal over the past 5 months, and one of the biggest lessons has been how to deal with third world travel. Rather than getting bullied into paying porters and huge rates for taxi's I knew how to handle myself much better this time around.

Upon reaching Kathmandu, we stayed at an amazing hotel that is run by a lovely woman from Seattle and her Nepali Husband. They really rolled out the red carpet for us, and one of my favorite things about our entire trip was staying at the Hotel Courtyard in Kathmandu. The hotel was located in the heart of Thamel which is the tourist portion of Kathmandu, which meant we were conveniently located near lots of delicious restaurants. On our first night in the city, Michelle had welcome drinks at the hotel which was followed by a great (and very western) meal at Roadhouse Cafe located down the street. In addition to wonderful people, the hotel had heaters, hot water, and DVD players which was amazing, and just about every night in Kathmandu ended with the heat on and a DVD playing. Beyond the hotel we saw a great deal of sights while in Kathmandu, including the Monkey Temple, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, and the Budha Stupa. We also met up with the Newest Fellow, Nena prior to heading out to Pokhara and at the last minute convinced her to join us on our adventure. On a more annoying note, Safira and I spent hours dealing with the Indian Visa Service Center in Kathmandu, trying to secure a tourist visa for our trips to India. This ordeal consisted of three visits to the service center, and hours of waiting in a huge holding area. To add insult to injury, we never actually received our Visa's, and were forced to have our travel agent in Kathmandu pick them up for us after we left.

Cruising the streets of Kathmandu

Monkey Temple with the Fellows and Maggie!

After a few days in Kathmandu we gathered our belongings and made our way to Pokhara. Despite only being 200 miles away the bus ride took 7 hours and really wiped us out for the first night. Additionally the #1 ranked hotel on trip adviser turned out to be an overpriced dud, which was pretty unfortunate. That said, Pokhara is a delightful little town, albeit a bit too touristy for my liking. Having grown up in Fort Lauderdale I've been exposed to a tourist town for much of my life, and I know that it can be a bit of a challenge to decipher between a legitimate restaurant and an overpriced tourist trap. Griping aside, the town was naturally beautiful and our hotel was located in just a block off of Phewa Lake which is Nepal's second largest lake. The weather wasn't extremely cooperative during our stay, however, we could still see the Annapurna mountain range popping out of the clouds with peaks exceeding 25,000 feet. During our stay we visited the World Peace Pagoda, Canoed on Phewa lake, and saw a sunrise at Sangrikot. Beyond the sights, we also paid a visit to a local massage parlor called “seeing hands”. While there we were treated to treatment, by blind employees who have been taught to make a living by giving massages. This was a huge treat for everyone, and especially enjoyable on a cloudy day in Pokhara. As a result of the weather and a need to get back to the Indian Visa office in Kathmandu I had to skip para-gliding which is the one thing I wanted to do and didn't. That said, due to our need to get back to Kathmandu quickly Safira and I took a 20 minute flight back to Kathmandu. This was a huge treat, especially after we found out that Nena, Ben, and Kelly were stuck on the bus for over 9 hours as a result of the weather.

At the World Peace Pagoda with our newest addition Nena!

Sunrise in Pokhara

Our final couple nights in Kathmandu were wonderful, granted I think we were all excited to get back to Surkhet and see the kids! One highlight from our final night was when Safira, Nena, and I went out on the town with our travel agent. It turns out his cousin is the lead guitarist for the number 1 cover band in the Kathmandu Valley and they were playing at a Hookah bar near the hotel. The band played hits from the last 30 years, which was a treat for our last night in Kathmandu.

Since we've been back things have been very busy, while we've been getting back up to speed. I think another highlight of our trip was the return. We got back to school during last period, and were greeted like conquering hero's. The kids came sprinting out of their classrooms to greet all of us, which was extremely special. As the saying goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and leaving certainly helped put into perspective how fond I've grown of all the kids here at Kopila Valley. On a somber note, it also showed me how challenging leaving will be. 9 days was hard enough as is, I can't imagine how I feel when I leave for a month with my brother, or when I ultimately decide its time to go back to the states. Overall, I realized how fortunate I am to be here at this moment. I was blessed to get a great job out of college, which enabled me to save enough to live without a paycheck for a year...and blessed to have a wonderful sister who took care of all my DC/USA related issues while I've been gone. (Thanks Mary for getting my apartment successfully moved out and into storage!).

Hope all is well at home...Miss you all.

New Years

I feel like it was just yesterday when I typed up my last blog, but turns out its been a week!  Time continues to fly, and the past week has been really exciting.   Since I wrote last, we’ve had a big New Years Celebration with the Uncles and fellows.  That day also marked the arrival of our newest Fellow Mallory OT.  She is a pediatric Occupational Therapist, and has been a welcome addition to the crew.  Additionally, we’ve added Doctor Frank to the mix, which has been really good for the school…Its amazing how many medical problems go overlooked on a regular basis.  The clinic has been flooded since his arrival with some really bizarre ailments emerging.

Beyond our new friends, we’ve been very busy at school.  Kelly and I have been working with the boys and girls, and we officially have a Varsity Boys Soccer Team and a Varsity Girls Volleyball Team.  We’ve had some really good practices already, and are working with some of the other schools in Surkhet to play a few games with some of the other local schools.  Right now the top two teams are the Army School and SOS so we’ll see how it goes.  I’m working with the boys, and Kelly has been working with the girls.  The kids are super enthusiastic, and it’s been a wonderful addition to the school day.  As the boys football coach I’ve been trying to instill the values that helped me succeed in wrestling, which are Discipline and Conditioning.  We’ve been starting practice promptly at 4:30 and I’ve really been working hard to make sure everything is organized and running smoothly.  I’ve called upon many years of sports to establish a practice plan which is both fun, and demanding.  For the first week of practice we’ve been running sprints for the last ten minutes.  As an added bonus for the kids, I’ve been running with them every day…Thankfully my conditioning is still decent, and I’m still able to outlast the players (otherwise I don’t think I’d be taking part in the sprints).  In addition to sports, I’ve been teaching A LOT lately, which has been fun.  I really enjoy most of the classes, and I’m feeling more and more comfortable with everybody’s name.  One of my favorite girls in the entire school, Bipana shows up every morning and runs to give me a hug and give me a present.  Whether it’s a piece of fruit or a little note, I’ve been getting a little treat from my second grade all-star pretty much every day.   

Over the past couples days I’ve also tackled a topic that was very important to me in High School and in College, which is an Honor System.  As a result of their challenging home situations, ,any of the kids at Kopila Valley to not learn the difference between right and wrong and other moral lessons at home.  As a result of this, in addition to a propensity for the children to want to copy answers we’ve instituted the following Code:

Kopila Valley School Honor Code

The Kopila Valley Honor Code is clear

–

I will not lie, cheat, steal, or disrespect others.

Membership in our student body requires a commitment to the Honor Code of Kopila Valley School.

I’ve been going around to the classrooms for the past few days, explaining the importance of adhering to this code, and making them sign a slip consenting to our policy.  While this is over the head of some of our youngest students, we’ve all agreed that is never too early to start learning these fundamental life lessons.

On a more exciting note, Safira, Kelly, Ben and I are leaving for a weeklong vacation on Friday.  We’ll be flying directly from Surkhet to Kathmandu (this service is brand new and we’ll be on the second flight ever).  After spending a couple days in Kathmandu, we’re taking a bus to Pokhara which is viewed by many as the world’s most beautiful city.  We’ll be staying on Lake Phewa which is not only one of Nepal’s largest lakes, but the lake also bumps directly into the Himalaya’s.  During or trip we’ll be embarking on several treks, possibly some paragliding, and enjoying some much needed adult time after spending the past 4.5 months with children 24/7.  I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures from our trip, and post them in my next blog.

Pokhara here we come!

For my final comment…I continue to love life so much over here that I’ve decided to extend my Asian adventure for another month.  Originally I was planning to fly home on April 1, however, with nothing to do during April, and my furniture going into storage soon I’ve decided to stay until the end of April, which is my absolute drop dead date cut-off.  One of my best friends is getting married in Houston on April 27^th, which means I will be back in the states a few days before his big day.

Hope all is well at home…Miss everyone lots.