shower by candlelight

Nepal is absolutely amazing! Arriving to the airport was just spectacular... gorgeous views of mountains and trees, everything is so green. The airport was very homey, rather than the modern style, it had wooden carvings and decorations all over. The customs people were so friendly, very quick, and an overall great first impression of Nepal!
We met another VSN volunteer at the airport and got taken to the hotel. Even though our manual warned us not to tip people who help us with the luggage, Rachna and Ryan, another volunteer with us, got suckered into giving twenty U.S. dollars each to people who pushed their luggage carts! That’s more money than they’d probably see in an entire month. Jessi refused to give in and gave twenty Indian rupees (that’s approximately 50 cents in American dollars). Let’s say we all are much wiser now.
The first night we went out to a huge dinner with everyone who volunteered past, present, and future with volunteers services Nepal, (VSN). It was on the top of a restaurant, really cool and gorgeous. The people were very interesting and extremely inviting. We heard about everything from fun nights out to sick nights in bed.

Yesterday morning, July 1, we started our training. The VSN office is very close to our hotel. It is spacious with western bathrooms, and the staff are really warm and approachable. We had our first Daal Bhatt, which is rice with lentil soup on top, the meal we will be having twice a day every day for the next month! It’s really not that bad. p.s., you eat it with your hands and sit on the ground. No silverware!
We had the afternoon off, so we went with a group of 8 volunteers and explored around Kathmandu. We saw “the monkey temple,” a huge Buddhist temple on the top of a mountain. We had to climb up hundreds of stairs after walking curvy dirt roads up the side of the hill. There were monkeys the whole way up, so it held its name well! At the very top were hundreds of butter candles. It was a celebration of the cleaning of the Buddhist temple, so lots of people were gathered in festive wear eating food and doing the rituals. There were spectacular prayer wheels and prayer flags everywhere you looked.
When we returned to the hotel, it was around 7, the time when the power goes out. Therefore, we showered by candlelight!

We had a really fun night going out to dinner and then hookah bar with the other volunteers. We are having so much fun with the people and seeing all of the awesome sights of Kathmandu.

Tomorrow, we leave for the training village, so we won’t be back to internet for at least 3 to four more days. Supposedly our cell phones will work, so we shall see!

Namaste!