Well, we made it!

Namaste!

We have arrived! We want to start off by saying we saw the top of Mt Everest as we flew into Kathmandu! It was pretty cool. Here's a pic...all that white that you see is the top of the mountain.

We lucked out with our seats and being able to enjoy the view.

As we stepped off the plane, the dry heat immediately hit us. The backdrop of the city was completely different from Singapore, but we were welcomed by a beautiful Hindu sculpture, which we were able to get a picture with. :)

As we journeyed back to the hotel, our senses were completely overwhelmed. We had read about that, and boy was Lonely Planet right!

The sounds...so we complain a lot about traffic in the states, but boy...the Nepali people know traffic. We were struck by the hustle and bustle of cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians maneuvering the street as they see fit, honking their horns all along the way. We had several vehicles almost graze our cab as we weaved in and out of the traffic. 

The smells...the smells of Kathmandu consist of sewage, dust and gasoline (from the multitude of cars and motorbikes) all rolled up into one...yea, overload. 

The sights...we saw a variety of things, people wearing masks due to the pollution, women wearing beautiful, colorful sarees, children half dressed and billboards promising a better life if you bought their product.  There were moments when we exchanged glances of knowingness, and whispered ,"wow." We knew we were going to a third world country, but one can never really know how the experience will feel until you're there.

We arrived safely to our hotel, phew!  The next twelve hours were filled with an introduction to the Nepali culture. First we met with our colleagues from International Child Resource Institute, who presented us with flowers and a traditional Nepali scarf that welcomes their guests. We were honored. Our next stop was a ten minute walk to the ICRI office.

We thought driving through the streets of Nepal was a sensory overload, but walking was a whole other experience. Not that we know what it's like to dodgeball with cars, but dodging those cars and motorbikes felt like we got the gist of it.

As we entered the ICRI office we slipped off our shoes and began the tour of the office. We later learned we would be training 28 teachers in the small venue. We were presented with bottles of water, the itineray and our training materials, both in English and Nepalese. We must admit it was pretty amazing to see Speak To Children's content in another language. We discussed the training strategy and the shifted topics on how we would like to see the Nepali culture. 

Our colleagues took off their business hats and became the utmost estute tour guides. We tentatively followed them though the streets of Nepal, dodging motor bikes, cow dung,and locals. We found ourselves in the middle of a religious celebration looking on to a larger than life chariot with a Hindu goddess perched inside. There was incense, people chanting, candles being lit, and blessings being thrown onto the chariot. It was quite the experience.

Following our tour of the chariot, our colleagues took us to a restaurant in a neighboring district. This particular restaurant provides a cultural Nepali dance show accompanied with appetizers and drinks, and a meal following the show. As the Nepali dancers performed to their folkloric dances, they went around the room, pouring wine in clay bowls, and provided everyone a bindi on their forehead (the Hindu red dot). For some reason, Melanie's didn't come out as well, but it's there! 

Following, the dancers invited all their guests up to dance with them, so of course we participated! We learned traditional folkloric moves with our colleagues, working up an appetite for the main course. 

The Nepali dishes are vey similar to Indian food. The dish consists of curries, pickled radishes, rice and daal (lentils). Yum!

After our meal, we went back to the hotel, sharing a cab ride with our 3 colleagues in a small, Suzuki 4 seater car (felt like the size of a smart car). In the back, we were stacked up, Melanie sitting on Giulietta's lap, and one of our colleagues sitting on the other. Luckily, the traffic dies down at night, so we only had to sit like that for 10 minutes. Upon arrival back to our hotel, we were exhausted and ready for some rest. 

We were up at 5:30am again this morning though! The time change has definitely affected us, but hopefully we will be adjusted by tomorrow. Today we will spend some time practicing and preparing for our training that kicks off tomorrow. We will also try to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing! 

We will check back in tomorrow to let you know how our first day of training goes. 

"I'm available for anything that wants to happen in this moment, including that which is beyond imaging." P. Lowe

Namaste!