this and that

I wrote a long something a couple of days ago, but the internet wouldn't post or save it for me. Lame.

It's getting very hot here. I am glad that I am going on trek soon because I'm just not good at this dry heat thing. Yesterday, I walked with Ama-la, the kids, and Tsering Dolma to a gompa outside of the city. Tais and Daniel came by taxi and met us there and we walked to Kopan. I'm glad I finally got to go. It is a really lovely place. afterward we all walked back home. In all I think we were walking for a good 4 hours. It was nice though because it gave me a chance to talk to everyone Diki and I spent about an hour of the walk discussing the art of making animal noises. She has a strange affinity to goats and can mimic their noises so well that some of them actually called back to her.

Today, I was just in a crummy mood. I should have just stayed in bed. We had a walk with Anil, but I just wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy it. The day got much better after I got home and had some alone time. I walked around the stupa for a while and right around sunset a flood of monk, followed by nuns, followed by school children, followed by what seemed like the rest of the Tibetan community all came in through the main gate chanting and carrying candles and protest signs. I called Tais to tell her what was going on and she told me to meet her at one of the roof top restaurants so that we could have a good view of what was going on. It took me about 20 minutes before I could actually wade through all the people and find Tais. It was a really beautiful sight. It was good to see such passion. From now to the Olympics is the time for people to make themselves heard before the world looses interest again.

That said, my moms brought this to my attention:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
~Barack Obama

As someone raised as poor white trash in small town Pa, I'd really like to know how being poor equates to being a gun toting, bible thumping, bigot. It reminds me of hearing people from not so economically depressed regions always say "illegal immigrants take the jobs that Americans won't do." It always makes me laugh at how detached people from higher social standing can be that they actually think that everyone else is so well off that there could possibly be jobs that the unemployed are above. I'm certainly not saying that I have a problem with immigration. The more the merrier. We were all immigrants at one time (except the native Americans, but we don't like to talk about them in polite conversation). Maybe the reason that there is such a small population of recent immigrants in most of pa is that us damn rednecks keep taking all their jobs.

Back to Barack, what the fuck is he thinking saying that just before the pa primaries? Did he not get the memo about how many electoral votes me have? Is he trying to throw the election to the ice queen? Granted, I didn't like either of the dem candidates prior to the above comments, but really, it is times like these that I'm proud to be green.

I think that blaming people's small mindedness on being poor is just giving them an excuse to stay that way. I mean, I didn't let a little thing like money stop me from traveling to the other side of the world. I mean, sure I'll probably be in debt an extra five years or so because of it, but that's life, and as far as I know I have plenty more of it to enjoy. So in June I will go back to working for 90% of my waking hours, but everyone does what they have to to survive so how can anyone complain?

This should have ended a few paragraphs ago and I've just been dragging it out because I'm not tired. But lights go out soon, so night night.

catch up

The other day at the clinic, an American came for treatment because he got punched in the face the day before and he thought the cut on his lip was infected. After, making fun of him for being dressed funky, Dr. Pradham told him to gargle with salt water and he will be fine. He said "but I heard that mouth wounds are really bad, because mouths are dirty." Dr. Pradham looked at him funny and told him that it wasn't a concern when it was his own mouth. I am always infinitely disappointed by by people's lack of knowledge of their own health.

Today is election day, so the only class I have is Tibetan language with Phuntsok, so other than that it is a lazy day and I plan to spend it writing.

Two days ago, Vidhea took us out for dinner to Cafe Mitre. The food was spectacular and the atmosphere was very different from what I have become used to here. The owner and the other people who were there were fantastically entertaining. It was strange being able to chat about American politics with someone who lives on the other side of the world from America yet had very knowledgeable ideas on the topic.

oh, yeahs

I almost forgot something of some note. Miki wanted to pierce her nose and since I can't be in a tattoo parlor without making use of it, I had my belly button pierced. It actually kind of hurt because he went back through the spot where I had pierced it myself, and scar tissue piercings are never fun. What was really cool about it though was that without even asking, he used tornado spray and also he used a needle that was a lot like the ones we use to start IVs because once he put the needle through he pulled it back out and left a plastic catheter in its place so that he could just pull the ring though with that rather than trying to keep it on the needle itself. I was impressed. It was way more professional than any place I've seen in the states.

oi

I'm not so good at this keeping up with a blog thing. Though, I partially blame network connection (though I can't blame it too much since we aren't exactly paying for it most of the time).

Miki and I have both had unhappy tummies lately which makes wandering difficult, so mostly I've just been going to class then back home to curl in a ball.

The weather here has been fantastic. We have had a few thunderstorms during the afternoon and I love I watching them roll in. Then after the rain, the view is becomes very clear and the mountains are visible on all sides. Last night, Tias, Daniel (or whatever the Brazilian spelling or it would be), and I went to Saturday cafe for dinner. The view off the roof was amazing because the mountains peaked out behind the stupa. I tried to get pictures but it was already getting dark and they didn't come out.

I talked to Brenna, and she got into CMU so chances are she will be going there and living we me come fall. I have mixed feeling about it. Part of me is excited, because she is my sister and I will be happy to have a closer relationship with her, but I'm also a little tired of her antics. While I've been gone, she has totaled the Saturn (while driving home from a male strip club no less), come home drunk and gotten Rory to help her cover it up, gone to CD warehouse to try to get Amanda to buy her alcohol, and caught a bus down to Pgh to stay at my house without permission. I didn't ask Nigel, but if I find out that she asked him to buy her alcohol I may strangle her.

Now that I've written all that though...she's no worse than any other house mate that Nigel and I have had. In fact, Nigel may see her as blessed relief from the first one who would stumble into the house at two and start drunk vacuuming and from the current one who left water running in the bathroom and brought down the ceiling in the kitchen. Maybe she won't be so bad after all.

It's kind of funny, but that little house may be the only thing other than my kittens and puppy that I miss.

Anyway, Miki and I are heading out to run some errands soon. Maybe I will have something less boring to write about later.
cheers

April fools day

Yesterday was April Fools day, and Ama-la kept playing tricks on us. First thing in the morning she told Tias that Phunsok called to cancel class, and didn't tell her until a few minutes before Phunsok would be arriving that she was joking. For lunch she handed me a glass telling me it was juice, but when I drank it it was the bitter black tea. I didn't listen to a word she said for the rest of the day, except when she told us that we should play a prank on Yanik.
I called him to tell him that Miki and this boy who likes her, Sid, took off on a motorcycle to the mountains and that she emailed her dad to tell him that she was leaving and he called worried and said he was headed for the airport to come here and bring her home. Yanik seemed more confused than anything, but we all got a good laugh out of it.

Lights are out and my lappy battery is dying.
cheers

less of an entry than a very long ramble

I have to start this post out with an exchange I overheard between Tais and Phuntsok:
Tais-"In Tibetan, do you have the expression 'he could be my father'?"
Phuntsok-(confused expression) "you mean like in another life?"

Anyway, the other day Dr. Pradham asked me to clean out the "surgical cabinet." It seems that things are cleaned on the basis of having someone tall enough to reach them, so often when I go to clean things, the top shelves are much dirty than lower shelves. It makes me feel useful. It was odd for me to be handling suction caths, lidocaine, amniodarone, and so forth in here. I'd gotten used to extremely simplistic medicine, so it was strange to see 'modern' medicine here gathering dust. All the time I've spent at the center, the only medicine that I've seen being given is salve and even that is just a mix of honey and turmeric that anyone could mix up in their own center. In America, those same patients would be packed so full of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, steroids, cardiac meds to protect their hearts from the steriods, and whatever else the drug companies could push the docs into pushing into the patients, yet everyday the patients here get better without all that crap. It's such a ridiculous waste. I'll stand behind most paramedical pharmacology because it gives people the choice of coming back from the dead-which is cool (I'm only half joking), but when you have commercial on day time TV putting ideas of all the horrible things that people could have into the uneducated masses heads telling people to go to their doctor start popping these pills- it's no wonder that most of the country is fat with DIABETUS (that one is for you Mike) and depression, because no one can take responsibility for themselves. I'm gonna stop here because this isn't the direction I wanted to go with this entry.

The weather here is beautiful. Yesterday we had a fantastic thunderstorm. Miki and I sat out doing work while it rolled in. It had been thundering all day, but it didn't rain until late afternoon. The lights kept getting knocked out so Miki and I had to use lamps to read by as we waited the storm out.

I didn't bring any music to save room on computer for pictures, so I'm starting to miss familiar music. I've even gone so far as to get on myspace just to look up bands that I like so that I can listen to any music that they have posted.

I've been very busy, but I'm enjoying it. I started taking yoga with Miki in the morning and it seems to be giving me more energy.
Time for class, I will write again later.

yikes

They finally unlocked my blog, but I don't have time at the moment to post a real entry.
More to follow when time allows.

Cut and paste from email to moms

The clinic that I volunteer for is run by the most amazing lady I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Dr. Pradham does a little of everything, yet starts each morning having a cup of tea with me and making sure that I am eating well and getting enough sleep and keeping up on my studies. She is a demanding person, but through her efforts she seems to move mountains in such a stagnant country.

The leporacy center is a small 15 bed hospital where the worst leporacy cases are brought for more intensive care by Dr. Pradham and her staff. Every morning I start out by cleaning the patients' shared rooms. There are 4 to 5 beds per room and we have a rotation of when each bed sheet is to be cleaned. After everything in the room has been scrubbed with antibacterial wash I help the nurses to dress wounds. In a city with a very primitive water supply system and frequent black outs, sterility is often not even an option. Some of the wounds I dress are older than me. The bacteria that causes leporacy is close in biological terms to the one that causes TB, but luckily, 98% of the population has a genetic immunity to the disease. That unlucky 2% of people without natural immunity will lose sensation in their extremeties as the disease attacks their nerve endings. the ulcers are not directly from the disease, instead they come from the patient not being able to feel pain and thus not realizing when they have burnt or cut themselves. The wound will go untreated for years sometimes as most of Nepal is rural villages where no one is too concerned with hygiene or even know what leporacy is. Many of the patients at the center have ulcers that have festered and now reach to their bone. The disease is curable through antibiotics, but the damage done to the nerves is irreversable so even with daily attention the loss of blood flow to the extremeties will cause the wound to take a great deal more time to heal. After all the patients have been taken care of I usually start doing some of the little chores around the center like making dressing kits or making cotton balls (seriously, they hand me a sheet of cotton and I make the cotton balls one by one to save on the price of ready made cotton balls). Some of the patients make small art projects which are sold to offset costs of the center or to buy them little treats like a radio or new clothes. Twice a week Dr. Pradham takes her staff outside of the city to visist the larger center.

The elder house is another animal all together. Somewhere around 200 homeless, familyless elders live in an old temple that is falling to pieces around them. Row upon row of beds line each hallway and usually the residents are left to fend for themselves medically, but twice a week staff from the clinic go to take care of the sick and give medicines. I can't even begin to tell you what an awful place the home is.

The school is possibly my greatest trial. It is set up for children who otherwise couldn't afford to go to school. I get no instruction as to what I am to teach, I'm just sent into the room full children who want to ask me a million questions and all of them want to hold my hand and hug me. I've been working on thinking up games to play with them to help them learn english since the only books that they have are tattered workbooks that they review the same words in over and over.

I am slowly learning the languages. My family and the area of the city I live in mostly uses Tibetan, but mostly people speak Nepali. Many of the sounds are very different from anything I have spoken before and I get frustrated.

I am trying to keep a good pictorial record of my stay, but it is difficult when every time I bring out my camera all the neighborhood kids try to get in every picture and ask for me to take photos while they pose. It usually ends up that I get one or two good pictures of whatever I'm looking at and the rest are shot after shot of little kids crowding around the camera, giving the peace sign or the finger.

I must say, that I'm rather starting to enjoy handwashing my clothes in a bucket. It is kind of fun to see how much dust I collect just wandering around town.

Miki, Tais, and I have cracked the Hyatt wifi system, and now have really shitty internet in our rooms.

I miss fresh fruits and veg so much. Everything here has to be cooked because of the bacteria, but when I walk through the market all the veggies look so fantastic and are all organic because no one here can afford chemicals.

All the food is cooked in butter. Nepali tea is made with half water and half milk. My stomach is not adjusting well. I have had to get used to a lot diet wise.

The only cats that I've seen here have all been feral and it kills me a little inside. I miss snuggling with my kitties a lot.

It is awesome to be able to walk out of my house and in five minutes be at an ancient holy site. Despite my lack of religion, I love the feeling I get when I'm near the stupa. There is just something relaxing in the air.

Holy crap!

I'm in Nepal. For realz.

This place reminds me of...yeah, nothing. It's like I stepped off the plane onto another planet. I'm getting used to things now though, and I'm very happy here. I know that if I was going to start a blog, I should have done it a month ago, but I really didn't feel like sitting in one place for long enough to type and "entry." Now, however, more friends from home are emailing me asking about what I am up too, and I'm getting tired of typing the same thing 10 times over.
So....
I live with an awesome Tibetan family. They really make me feel like part of the family. Ama-la is like a ball of energy packed into human form. She has a sassy reply to everything, and is always laughing. I love her cooking, but it is a huge adjustment from what I'm used to. Everything is cooked in butter, and I feel like I've gained 80 pounds here. I feel like I want to go on a fast, but it's hard enough saying no to seconds let alone trying to get her accept that I won't eat at all.
I bought a bike which I use to get to the center and to go wondering. I can't even begin to describe traffic here, so I will leave that to the video that I plan to take before I leave. I'll just say that if I didn't completely lack a sense of self preservation, I probably wouldn't be able to bike here.
Speaking of biking, I occasionally get to go places on the back of a cute Nepali boy's ((Yanik) motorcycle and it is basically the most fun ever. I know I've been talking about it forever, but now I'm sure that when I get home, I am selling the VW and buying a cycle.
Today is Holi and we had a giant water balloon fight on the roof of my
Tibetan language teacher's house. I had to change clothes three times already today, so last time I went out I wore my raincoat. Right now though, the neighborhood kids all have color in their water balloons and I just didn't bring enough clothes with me to risk staining any of them red, so I am currently in hiding. Miki (girl from NY who is here through my program) and I have decided that we are bringing Holi back to America with us.
Well, I am getting bored of sitting online, so in conclusion: Every view is beautiful and I am perfectly content and safe. I'll write again soon. Hugs to all.