Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Pictures...Hopefully I can get these into posts in the future

Sunset from my house


An interesting house while driving to training site

A FRUIT STAND!!! Look at all the fruit!!!



Some rice terraces on the walk to my house (seen in the distance)


Some bigger hills in the distance, no mountains yet

Some volunteers at the Teej festival in Saris

A shrine at Teej festival



Hiking down to the river through the rice paddies

On the hike down to the river

The river.


My house

My room.

My room, notice the light

A nice patio in Kathmandu

One of the waterfalls on my waterfall adventure

Walking down to the creek is a pretty steep endeavor

Ther prettiest area of waterfalls

Looking down on the waterfalls pictured above.

Some very green rice terraces near my house

Monday, September 24, 2012

Training Adventure

I’ve had a couple of small adventures recently.  The other day I walked down to the creek near my house with one of my fellow trainees; I was very interested in getting to some waterfalls that I’ve seen from my house.  I had tried previously but I took a fairly direct route and ended up getting stopped at the edge of the rice paddies due to some pretty exciting stinging nettles.  They hurt!!  And the next day my leg was really numb.  We took a sort of short cut down a few steep gullies through the rice paddies.  My plan was to get to the river, and then follow it up to the waterfalls.  Based on my previous experience I figured this would involve wading up the river to avoid stinging nettles.  I was right!!  At the river, my fellow hiker decided going up the river was not to her liking, and decided to bail.  I continued on, and after an hour and a half or so of walking up the river, I got to the first waterfall.  I didn’t completely manage to avoid all the stinging nettles, and I walked headfirst into a number of very thick spiderwebs with some big spiders that did not appreciate my head in their home, I’m sure.  I made sure to duck under them as much as possible.

The first waterfall off the main creek bed on a little tributary and was very pretty, but was not the one I wanted to get to.  I continued up the creek and got pretty far and then was spotted by some people in the rice paddies who immediately panicked and started whistling and waving at me to get me to come up to them.  I wasn’t quite satisfied with my expedition, so ignored them and continued on.  I scaled some steep rice paddies to another tributary and found another pretty fall which was not quite the one I wanted to get to, but they were in levels, and the next level I could not reach.  So I continued up the main creek, and shortly got to a little canyon.  This was the prettiest area.  There was a waterfall at the end of the canyon, and another coming in over the right side of the canyon, and a bit above the fall at the end there was another little fall tricking over the cliff.  This canyon also contained a lot of spiders, but was very beautiful, so worth the effort.  At this point I walked back out of the canyon and up a little trail in and around the rice paddies until I reached the people who had been whistling at me.  I told them there were no problems, and that I was just taking pictures…and by people I mean 13 year old boys.  They still decided I was hopelessly out of my league and horribly lost and so guided me back through the rice paddies to my village.

The next day was Saturday and we had the day off, so a bunch of other volunteers came down to see my village and the one down the road from mine in the afternoon.  I spent the morning washing my clothes and cleaning my room…and by that my host sister and law helped me…a lot.  She just could not bear to watch my struggle with my clothes, and then decided to start cleaning my room so I had no choice but to follow and help. Later, all of us volunteers walked down to the real river.  We took a shortcut through the rice paddies down to the creek I had gone to the previous day.  The Nepali boy who was guiding us brought us to a crossing, and shortly after that we reached the road that we had started on.  We had just cut off a bunch of switchbacks by going through the rice paddies.  And a little after that we reached the river.  It is a pretty good sized river: a bit bigger than the South Platte in CO.  There were a bunch of local men bathing at the bridge.  Public bathing is popular in Nepal.  You have to leave some sort of underwear on (preferably shorts or boxers), and women wear some sort of dress thing.  I went down to where they were, stripped down to my undies, and jumped in the river.  Towards the center the current was really moving and it was pretty deep so I decided to swim across to the other side where there was an overhang that runoff water was cascading over, and when I stood under this overhang it was sort of like a shower.  I was quickly joined by another volunteer, but no one else was quite as into playing in the river.  I swam back across, re-dressed and we all hiked back up.  This was a very hot and humid experience, so we stopped at a little tea shop on the way up which had cold cokes and it even had ice cream!  I didn’t partake as I am trying to hold off on the soda and stuff until I am really desperate.  I learned that soda can be pretty addicting in Mali, so I’m trying to stay more on top of my “flavors of home” cravings. 

Training Adventure


I’ve had a couple of small adventures recently.  The other day I walked down to the creek near my house with one of my fellow trainees; I was very interested in getting to some waterfalls that I’ve seen from my house.  I had tried previously but I took a fairly direct route and ended up getting stopped at the edge of the rice paddies due to some pretty exciting stinging nettles.  They hurt!!  And the next day my leg was really numb.  We took a sort of short cut down a few steep gullies through the rice paddies.  My plan was to get to the river, and then follow it up to the waterfalls.  Based on my previous experience I figured this would involve wading up the river to avoid stinging nettles.  I was right!!  At the river, my fellow hiker decided going up the river was not to her liking, and decided to bail.  I continued on, and after an hour and a half or so of walking up the river, I got to the first waterfall.  I didn’t completely manage to avoid all the stinging nettles, and I walked headfirst into a number of very thick spiderwebs with some big spiders that did not appreciate my head in their home, I’m sure.  I made sure to duck under them as much as possible.

The first waterfall off the main creek bed on a little tributary and was very pretty, but was not the one I wanted to get to.  I continued up the creek and got pretty far and then was spotted by some people in the rice paddies who immediately panicked and started whistling and waving at me to get me to come up to them.  I wasn’t quite satisfied with my expedition, so ignored them and continued on.  I scaled some steep rice paddies to another tributary and found another pretty fall which was not quite the one I wanted to get to, but they were in levels, and the next level I could not reach.  So I continued up the main creek, and shortly got to a little canyon.  This was the prettiest area.  There was a waterfall at the end of the canyon, and another coming in over the right side of the canyon, and a bit above the fall at the end there was another little fall tricking over the cliff.  This canyon also contained a lot of spiders, but was very beautiful, so worth the effort.  At this point I walked back out of the canyon and up a little trail in and around the rice paddies until I reached the people who had been whistling at me.  I told them there were no problems, and that I was just taking pictures…and by people I mean 13 year old boys.  They still decided I was hopelessly out of my league and horribly lost and so guided me back through the rice paddies to my village.

The next day was Saturday and we had the day off, so a bunch of other volunteers came down to see my village and the one down the road from mine in the afternoon.  I spent the morning washing my clothes and cleaning my room…and by that my host sister and law helped me…a lot.  She just could not bear to watch my struggle with my clothes, and then decided to start cleaning my room so I had no choice but to follow and help. Later, all of us volunteers walked down to the real river.  We took a shortcut through the rice paddies down to the creek I had gone to the previous day.  The Nepali boy who was guiding us brought us to a crossing, and shortly after that we reached the road that we had started on.  We had just cut off a bunch of switchbacks by going through the rice paddies.  And a little after that we reached the river.  It is a pretty good sized river: a bit bigger than the South Platte in CO.  There were a bunch of local men bathing at the bridge.  Public bathing is popular in Nepal.  You have to leave some sort of underwear on (preferably shorts or boxers), and women wear some sort of dress thing.  I went down to where they were, stripped down to my undies, and jumped in the river.  Towards the center the current was really moving and it was pretty deep so I decided to swim across to the other side where there was an overhang that runoff water was cascading over, and when I stood under this overhang it was sort of like a shower.  I was quickly joined by another volunteer, but no one else was quite as into playing in the river.  I swam back across, re-dressed and we all hiked back up.  This was a very hot and humid experience, so we stopped at a little tea shop on the way up which had cold cokes and it even had ice cream!  I didn’t partake as I am trying to hold off on the soda and stuff until I am really desperate.  I learned that soda can be pretty addicting in Mali, so I’m trying to stay more on top of my “flavors of home” cravings. 

Training Adventure


I’ve had a couple of small adventures recently.  The other day I walked down to the creek near my house with one of my fellow trainees; I was very interested in getting to some waterfalls that I’ve seen from my house.  I had tried previously but I took a fairly direct route and ended up getting stopped at the edge of the rice paddies due to some pretty exciting stinging nettles.  They hurt!!  And the next day my leg was really numb.  We took a sort of short cut down a few steep gullies through the rice paddies.  My plan was to get to the river, and then follow it up to the waterfalls.  Based on my previous experience I figured this would involve wading up the river to avoid stinging nettles.  I was right!!  At the river, my fellow hiker decided going up the river was not to her liking, and decided to bail.  I continued on, and after an hour and a half or so of walking up the river, I got to the first waterfall.  I didn’t completely manage to avoid all the stinging nettles, and I walked headfirst into a number of very thick spiderwebs with some big spiders that did not appreciate my head in their home, I’m sure.  I made sure to duck under them as much as possible.

The first waterfall off the main creek bed on a little tributary and was very pretty, but was not the one I wanted to get to.  I continued up the creek and got pretty far and then was spotted by some people in the rice paddies who immediately panicked and started whistling and waving at me to get me to come up to them.  I wasn’t quite satisfied with my expedition, so ignored them and continued on.  I scaled some steep rice paddies to another tributary and found another pretty fall which was not quite the one I wanted to get to, but they were in levels, and the next level I could not reach.  So I continued up the main creek, and shortly got to a little canyon.  This was the prettiest area.  There was a waterfall at the end of the canyon, and another coming in over the right side of the canyon, and a bit above the fall at the end there was another little fall tricking over the cliff.  This canyon also contained a lot of spiders, but was very beautiful, so worth the effort.  At this point I walked back out of the canyon and up a little trail in and around the rice paddies until I reached the people who had been whistling at me.  I told them there were no problems, and that I was just taking pictures…and by people I mean 13 year old boys.  They still decided I was hopelessly out of my league and horribly lost and so guided me back through the rice paddies to my village.

The next day was Saturday and we had the day off, so a bunch of other volunteers came down to see my village and the one down the road from mine in the afternoon.  I spent the morning washing my clothes and cleaning my room…and by that my host sister and law helped me…a lot.  She just could not bear to watch my struggle with my clothes, and then decided to start cleaning my room so I had no choice but to follow and help. Later, all of us volunteers walked down to the real river.  We took a shortcut through the rice paddies down to the creek I had gone to the previous day.  The Nepali boy who was guiding us brought us to a crossing, and shortly after that we reached the road that we had started on.  We had just cut off a bunch of switchbacks by going through the rice paddies.  And a little after that we reached the river.  It is a pretty good sized river: a bit bigger than the South Platte in CO.  There were a bunch of local men bathing at the bridge.  Public bathing is popular in Nepal.  You have to leave some sort of underwear on (preferably shorts or boxers), and women wear some sort of dress thing.  I went down to where they were, stripped down to my undies, and jumped in the river.  Towards the center the current was really moving and it was pretty deep so I decided to swim across to the other side where there was an overhang that runoff water was cascading over, and when I stood under this overhang it was sort of like a shower.  I was quickly joined by another volunteer, but no one else was quite as into playing in the river.  I swam back across, re-dressed and we all hiked back up.  This was a very hot and humid experience, so we stopped at a little tea shop on the way up which had cold cokes and it even had ice cream!  I didn’t partake as I am trying to hold off on the soda and stuff until I am really desperate.  I learned that soda can be pretty addicting in Mali, so I’m trying to stay more on top of my “flavors of home” cravings. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Training...


I’ve started homestay for training.  So far, so good.  I must say, for the most part, this set up is much, much nicer than what I had in Mali.  First, the food is good.  It is basically the same every day, but it has flavor… mainly curry, but it is tasty.  Dinner usually consists of rice with lentil sauce, and some sort of curried veggie like spinach and carrots.  Sometimes they throw in these piping hot peppers that really give me a run for my money.  Occasionally we get chicken, and also sometimes dessert.  My favorite so far is rice pudding, but I get banana mushed up in rice that is topped with fresh water buffalo milk.  It is so good.  Fresh milk is super rich and yummy though drinking it is probably a bit of a gamble.  So far no major problems.
My house is a three story house with very low ceilings, but we have pretty constant electricity and a squat toilet inside the house!  Food is eaten with my hands, but not out of the same bowl which is quite a bit more hygienic that Mali.  Obviously it is best not to compare experiences, but that is impossible.  That said I am having a much different experience here.  I am much closer to my host family this time, but that is because I am making an effort to do so.  My host family in my house consists of a mom, dad, younger brother, his wife, the wife of another brother who lives in Kathmandu, that brothers daughter, a great uncle, and a great grandmother.  The little daughter is adorable.  I don’t usually find kids that cute, but this kid is adorable.  She is a happy, happy kid and clearly well loved.
The area is beautiful.  My house is on a ridge, and going down the mountain side on each side are tons of super green terraced rice fields.  I’ll try to post some pictures now.
And of course, that didn't work so I'll try again later today hopefully.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Neato Nepal


Alright, well I guess it is time to start the ol’ blog up again (Notice the change in Title).  For anyone who doesn’t know, which is probably no one, this time I am in Nepal for my new Peace Corps experience.  This is going to be a quick post with a few stories, and some first impressions.

We flew out of DC, early on Friday and spent about 25 hours traveling to Bangkok with a few layovers on the way.  We spent the night in Bangkok last night which was a pretty good time.  We showed up late, and pretty much all of went out for some street food.  So far, no diarrhea from that.  After eating another guy and I went wandering down the street and everyone else went back to the hotel which was a very nice Best Western.  Thank you again taxpayers!!  We eventually found this streetside bar sort of thing with a pickup parked out front pumping some fine jams for the bar.  We sat down and some guys there immediately gave us some what I think was Anise Moonshine.  It had no label but actually tasted pretty good.  Then some hookers sat down next to us, and were sort of touchy which was funny for us.  They asked us if we had wives, we said no.  One of them had a fairly husky voice, and said that she was my friend that she was his wife for the night.  Then after informing us her name was Pat said, “Me boy-girl.”  Then the guy I was hanging out with pointed at me and said, “This guy loves boy-girls!”  Pat was sitting with him, and this explanation brought another hooker over to sit with me who informed me that she was also a boy-girl, though she did not have the voice to match it.  The cops came to the bar a few times; the second time was to move everyone who was outside, inside because I guess that was the rule at 2AM in that district.  Anyways, we just sort of joked around about transvestites among ourselves, and had a few beers and left, but it was a good time.  Stereotypical Bangkok I suppose.

Today we flew to Kathmandu without any hitches, and had some introductory crap sessions.  The city attitude of the city itself is much like Bamako and many other developing cities.  The traffic is crazy, it is dirty, it smells, and there are a lot of random/stray animals.  There are a lot more cows than Bamako, and no one herds them.  They just wander free and people go through great lengths to give them a wide berth.  I definitely did not have the same surreal feelings this time, and a very different sort of excitement.  It was fun to watch the other volunteers’ faces and hear their exclamations as we drove through.  I am looking forward to doing this, but I have a lot insight into this so I am ready to do things a bit different.  I wasn’t quite as excited for the whole experience until I landed in Kathmandu at which point I got really, really excited.  But again, it is a different excitement.

I can’t see the big mountains from Kathmandu, but there are some pretty big, green hills.  The country looks beautiful and I can’t wait to get out and see it.