Finding My Bearings

Another adventure filled day in the city! Yesterday, Sunday 5/27, a friend and I set out on a journey…with a goal of orienting our selves a bit. Ya…easier said than done. Rather than taking the bus, and saving the equivalent of about 80 cents, we set out from our home in Maharjgunj. One hour, a mile and a half, and 7 blisters later we arrived at our destination of Thamel! Thamel is one of the most tourist-run areas of the city, with various street vendors and Hindi temples. The stray alleyways of street vendors demand some brutal bartering. It really is an art form, and I’m learning to love it! You set a price far too low, and then the fun begins! There’s a balance of engaging in the deal without acting too interested in the product itself. It’s best to not show any emotion…this is where I struggle. This particular seller and I ended in a fit of laughter as I motioned my disapproval of the deal we had reached by slowly walking away. He beckoned me back and the competition continued. We came to a very reasonable deal…He’ll know to not assume an easy sale the next time a smiley American girl shows up to his booth.

The western influence is actually a bit disturbing, especially in Thamel. There was a KFC 3 blocks long…don’t get me wrong, I do love those biscuits, but who eats that much fried chicken! Right next door there was Facebook Restaurant who claims to “Reconnect people in one roof.” Clever.

All day I’d been in search of a bookstore of some kind for my Birds of Nepal field guide. After 4 hours of wandering we finally decided to catch a cab home. Two minutes into the cab ride we passed a book store with a “All Birds of Nepal” book on display….figures. I’ll find one again, and in the meantime I’m taking copious notes and descriptions of all the birds I’m seeing (don’t worry Ross.)

One of the sisters told us about a yoga class offered in the park every morning at 5 am 15 mins away from our house. So this morning a few of us gathered our towels, we didn’t bring our yoga mats, and strolled down the Ring Road, the main street that runs around the whole city, and arrived at the park. Apparently we were late because about 30 Nepali residents, all over the age of 60, were all seated in the middle of the park meditating. We attempted to sneak onto the tarp without anyone noticing. Who were we kidding?! We are three American girls, carrying towels instead of yoga mats, and clearly unaware of the process…of course the whole class was going to stop meditating to stare, laugh and rearrange the circle so that we each had our own private tutor. It was a great class, lots of heavy breathing, stretching, impromptu Nepali dancing, and random animal growling and humming. The class ended with an uproar of laughter…hopefully with us and not at us. Well either wer did a great job or we were an incredible source of entertainment because they all asked us to come back tomorrow!

Also, a whole entry to come regarding the current Constitutional situation of the country. So far no uprisings in our part of town, but we are warned of bandas (stirkes), in which all streets are closed to cars for protests, in the near future. Don’t worry mom, we are quite safe here and will be given fair warning of anything so that we know to stick around our house. This is not meant to worry you, but can’t be overlooked by the massive KFC and yoga experience!

Today I am headed to my first day at the Koseli School, where I will be teaching English and help run the afterschool activity program. I’ll update you all later.

Thanks so much for reading!

-Allison

Photos from Thamel:

The view from my roof where I have been writing these entries

New friends (yes I have been making friends) at the cafe right next to our house: