Another interesting and thoughtful week. My Nepali language teacher gave me the initial Nepali name of "Bhuddimaya" which if said correctly could mean wisdom but if said with the wrong emPHasis on the wrong syLLable (yep, just quoted that movie), means old lady. The good news is the Nepalese people I spoke to got a great laugh this past week as I tried to say my name, the bad news is I do not know how to say it correctly, so I just asked to change it. My new name then became chulbule, meaning small goat, implying someone who is chatty and always moving around (later found out to mean naughty). My teacher laughed a lot and hugged me as she gave it to me, which one would think would imply a good name, but as I slowly started telling local Nepalese people what it was, they were just laughing, no hugging, so it may be time to just stick with Sophie. Finally, a girl in the village we visited gave me the name Imani, which was the name of a princess I am told so that sounds like a safer bet to me.
      The big adventure of this week was bungee jumping off of a bridge about 4 hours from here. Ten of us went and it was quite an exhillerating experience. I went last in my group and spent a half an hour on a bridge with 10 Nepali men, 2 girls from China, and 2 from India. We all did not know each other but had this commonality of potentially jumping to our deaths in the upcoming minutes. There is nothing like a little fear to connect everyone real fast. I suddenly pretended to know meditation as I led a small exercise that people actually followed. We started singing (okay I started singing) "I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, to take a stand.." and the boys started singing a Nepali song. By the end we were all cheering for each other and there is nothing like standing at the edge of  a bridge as 10 random people shout Sophie, Sophie! The empowering moment was slightly interrupted by the man in charge who could see my attempted confidence and properly shut it down with the comment "Great day to fly, even better day to die"....but overall it was completely worth the fear and the free falling feeling is one I highly recommend.
     Yesterday we made our way to one of the villages that 7 people will be working at, Mahadebesi. We danced with the women's group, visited a school, and saw many other products of all of the past volunteer group's work. As we watched how far the village has come, I wondered what work was still left to be done and what could I personally provide that hadn't been thought of already. When we visited the stone quarry, one of the women asked us, " What are you here to actually do? Or are you just here to take pictures?" After spending a day going to so many ceremonies in which everyone was clapping and explaining all of the wonderful things people have done it was a slight slap in the face, but a very honest question that caused many in the group to think about their true purpose here. Hopefully as we actually start working in the villages the answers will become clearer but regardless the village was a beautiful place with lots of strength and lots of potential for growth which was exciting for them to show and for all of us to see. 

The Unknown

Hello again! One week in and things are on a roll, or should I say roti (bread in Nepali). Finally starting to feel like I know the area as I proved today when we were asked to walk around Kathmandu alone for 4 hours and find our way back. So I hopped on a bus and then had to get out because there was a 300 car traffic jam that the driver told me wasn't moving and just continued walking. Found a man and a young boy playing a game called Ludo and over the next hour I became known as the "Ludo masta". As I continued walking someone overheard me asking for directions and asked if I wanted a ride there on his motorcycle as most people ride. I know my mother said to not ride with strangers but he seemed so nice and the walk was far and it really looked so cool. Don't worry mom, he was harmless and took me to his Sari shop where I watched a man embroider Saris by hand and tried one on myself. He may have introduced me to his whole family who may have thought I was trying Saris on for a potential wedding between us but I quickly explained it was not the case and politely excused myself from the store. For those that may know me, I've never been known for my sense of direction and especially at night in a foreign country, but somehow I found my way by constantly saying the name of my town and with lots of arrow pointing, as dark as it was, most people could not see that I was a tourist and for once we were all just people walking through the town.
     Yoga is a common practice here so a couple of days ago a couple of us woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go meet 75 other Nepalese people as they sat near the Monkey temple and did yoga for an hour and a half. A guru sat on top of a large podium and right as I crossed my legs, a large crackling sound interrupted my attempt at finding peace within my thoughts and I realized the guru was speaking into a microphone and there were 3 large speakers surrounding us. Technology certainly has its place but this did not seem right, especially as monkeys were constantly moving around us (and walking one foot from my head) and I felt almost more like a Richard Simmons video than a yoga class. Despite the sound system, I soon stopped thinking about it and focused on my breathing and the poses as people looked at me with encouraging looks as they could tell this was obviously my first time and flexibility is certainly not in my genes. We went to a bar last night in which I met 4 Nepalese men who spoke English and told me they were all "brothas from other mothas" and I find it so interesting how certain phrases make it half way around the world. There is a curfew in the city so we had to sneak out of the bar into an eerily quite road and quickly hopped into a taxi. 10 minutes later, we got a flat tire and attempted to help ( okay the three boys I was with attempted to help, I was there for moral support). Nothing worked so we eventually just walked home and as we walked I thought about the beauty and excitement of the unknown and was grateful for the ability we have (or hope to have) to adjust to almost any situation and embrace it. So much more to say but for now I will just say that I am excited to be visiting all of the sites we will be working at this week to better understand how we will be involved and finally start putting some of our knowledge to use.

Iodide Falafel

Namaste! First blog ever and not known for any skilled or witty writing so bare with me! Arrived in this beautiful country just 2 days ago and have had each of my senses exposed to a whole assortment of culture shock from the deep red saris to the distinct smell of rotting goat meat. By far one of the most surprising images of the day was two live chickens tied upside down to someone's motorcycle as he drove home to....well you know. Not sure how PETA would feel about that.
    The weather is quite pleasant these days, warm in the day and a nice breeze in the evening. The streets are narrow and filled with motorcycles and taxis consistently honking at every person on the street and with no real  road signs or lines in the road, it's really a free for all. Let's just say this is not the place for me to show off my new driving skills if I want to make it home alive. There are many temples with large steps and pagoda like structures,quite serene to look at but somewhat difficult to focus on serenity as homeless men lie across the bottom steps and small children follow you for money.
   Had falefel and chumus for lunch and have heard more Hebrew than Nepali. It is quite humorous to hear the Nepali shopkeepers call out "Shalom" as you walk by. I'm excited to start the actual program and learn more about the culture, history, and social structure of the country and actually get to put that education to good use and really get to know the people beyond what goods they sell or the food they make. I'll write as often as the internet allows and when there are hopefully enough interesting things to say!