Migyoung and I have finally arrived in Kathmandu after an unexpected yet most welcome one night stopover in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. We’ve had a few days to explore the city before jumping into our VSO briefings and Nepali language study.
Kathmandu is as much the medieval and antediluvian city it was some ten plus years prior during my first visit here, albeit there are more cars, auto rickshaws and other two and three wheeled, smog belching vehicles on the roads and back alleys alongside all of the pedestrians, sidewalk and makeshift markets, bicycles and cycle rickshaws. It is at once one of the most sublime, colorful, chaotic and ghastly cities on the face of the earth. It remains—as is one of her charms—a city of sensory overload: the mélange of shit and sandalwood, temple bells and tuk tuk horns, curry and ciyah (chai).
The Nepalese that we have come in contact with have been warm, hospitable and helpful. Our limited Nepali has been greeted with charm and curiosity, and our overall experience has wholly positive. The weather has been mostly sunny and warm during the day and crisp and chilly during the night, mostly due to the fact that indoor heating is quite rare and our supply of hot water is limited.
We had an introduction to our language lessons this afternoon, which proves to be challenging for the both of us. After the first three weeks we are slated to go out to the countryside to stay with a family for about 2 weeks as a kind of culture and language immersion. That will be followed by a weeklong visit to Bardibas—the village where we will be residing over the next two years—for some orientation work with my colleagues at the Women’s Culture Development Centre. The President of WCDC is also planning to visit Kathmandu before that time, and so we will hopefully have an opportunity to meet and discuss some work-related matters.
The Mahashivaratri festival takes place in about a week. Devout Hindus light bonfires in and Naked Hindu Sadhus from all over Nepal and India make their way to the Kathmandu Valley to do some hashishing in reverence to Shiva.
We arrived in Katmandu with some other folks—from the UK and Uganda—who will be working in various parts of the country, and we’ve also had some brief opportunities to meet with some NGO workers who have been here for the past year and in some instances longer. These contacts may prove to be incredibly helpful once my actual work begins.
I am still figuring out the internet situation here… Internet shops abound although few offer the opportunity to upload pictures from a disk, but I will keep searching for ways to get some photos uploaded to this page. Be patient as we continue to settle into our new surroundings. You can always send us your love via the post if you like. Send those letters C/O VSO Nepal, PO Box 207, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal.