I am the frog

6 June 2010                          4:45pm                  Kathmandu

Our first official/full day in Kathmandu!  We had our first day of orientation today, which consisted mostly of introductions to the staff.  We also got a schedule for the upcoming week, which consists of language classes every day.  Thank God, my Nepali is terrible.  There are also lectures almost every day on different topics, as well as field trips to cultural sights.  Some of the staff are also taking us on walking tours of the city so that we can get oriented around the city.

After the orientation we had a group lunch at the same restaurant we were meeting at.  Much of the lunch was still a conversation with people discussing internships and projects as well as general things about Kathmandu and living here.  We put some of our new knowledge straight to use by finding a laundry service- the Tibet group has been running pretty low on clothes.

6 June 2010                          11:37pm                               Kathmandu

It has been a very long and interesting rest of the night.  We met up with Ashok and Kashish around 5:30 to go explore some of the city.  I have determined that I really enjoy traffic laws, as there appears to be none in Nepal.  That and traffic lights (although I suppose you would need the laws first anyway).  Cars and motorcycles seem to drive wherever they want to, whenever they want to.  The horn honking is almost unbearable.  New York is going to seem so peaceful when I get back.  For a city that seems like there are more pedestrians than motorized vehicles, it is surprisingly pedestrian un-friendly.  Basically, crossing streets in Kathmandu is like playing Frogger, except you are the frog.

We got to see much of Thamel on our walk, which is where we’re currently staying.  During our walk we passed by quite a few temples, which are actually fairly small, scattered about the city.  We ended up in Durbar Square, which along with hosting a large number of temples also holds the former royal palace.  Also, the residence of the Kumari [living goddess] is there as well, across the way from the old palace.

After we left Thamel we had much less people bothering us, as it seems they mostly stick to the tourist areas.  We still had some people trying to sell us things, so we learned the useful phrase ‘chaindaina’: ‘I don’t want it.’  I said it to one guy who kept following us, who then quizzed me on what it meant.  He seemed pretty happy that I knew, and then asked ‘Tapaai jaanuhunchha?’  I did know what that means (Where are you going?), so yay Nepali skills!  I didn’t, however, know the answer and probably shouldn’t have told him anyway.

Kashish took us back towards Thamel after Durbar Square, stopping to buy cell phones and eat dinner.  As most stores were closing our options were pretty limited for phones, but we all managed to find pretty cheap ones.  For dinner, we went to a place called Aqua Java Zing, which had the most amazing shake, a Kit Kat shake.  Made with blended Kit Kats and a whole one sticking out like a swizzle stick.  They served a variety of food, but the menu seemed mostly Western.  It really was a fantastic restaurant, and the chef kept bringing out complimentary food for us.  I will definitely be returning there, as it is apparently famous for its desserts.

Also on the way back from Durbar Square, we stumbled into a wedding procession.  For some of us, this was the second one in as many days.  The wedding procession consists of a brass band in front, a parade of people, and then the wedding car.  The last one was pretty tame, but this one was full of people singing and dancing.  As we were walking along, Dee started dancing and everyone started swarming around her, trying to dance with her.  It was ridiculous amounts of fun.