In the days since being here, I still haven't had my orientation, but I have managed to wander around a part of the city, and go to the hospital.

The first day, I met the program coordinator, Scott (from Albuquerque, the heart of the southwest), his wife Sunita, and their children Bibu and Kritan, and helpers Santi and Susila. I also met a few interns, Mike and Nate, who work with me at the hospital.
Since Saturday is a holiday, and nobody works, Nate and Mike and I went to Bhouda, a well known holy area about 15 minutes away from the volunteer house. Bhouda is known for its stupa, a giant concrete mound, often containing the Bhudda's ashes.

We entered through an alley way, so as not to pay the entrance fee, and as we did, a small child followed Nate, tugging at his pants. The child (or 'road-child' as they're called here) was homeless and about 5 or 6, and was carrying his younger sibling on his back. He was covered in dirt and grime, and the sibling was crying. Neither of them really had clothing--just torn pieces of fabric That image is so stereotypical of this country--it's just so poor.
The roads don't have lanes, there are mounds of trash and excrement everywhere, and people blatantly sleeping on the sidewalks. We pass about 3 or 4 slums everyday on the way to the hospital.

The hospital sees many people everyday, and when I first was shown into the examination room to meet Dr. Gupta, there were 3 unrelated people being seen at once. Helping Hands is community hospital for people who can't pay--so people come from all over, including remote villages ( we saw a few Sherpas).

In the exam room, I was allowed to help with the physical examinations--notice: this is my second day in Kathmandu--I haven't even been oriented yet--and I felt a girl's swollen fallopian tubes, met with a woman with dysentery, and watched a man go through alcohol detox. All in about 20 minutes. Afterwards, the other interns and I came home (after a horrible lunch at a place called 'Umbrella 66 Fast Food', which started playing 'Apple-Bottom Jeans' on repeat when we walked in,) played with Bibu and Kritan, and watched the sunset on the rooftop.

Today: Maoist revolution and the buses are closed, so we can't really go out.

Thinking

Maybe I shouldn't have gone outside during a Maoist uprising.
And that moment when the whole crowd started surging towards police? Who were carrying double-barrel shotguns? Tense!

Just a moment

U.S. to Hong Kong--in retrospect: Beef was a bad choice.

Hong Kong airport is one of the cleanest, calmest airports I've ever been in. Which says a lot about the city. Hong Kong is a port city, made up of skyscrapers with varying architecture. Even though it's located on the sea, the hills directly behind it make Hong Kong big, but not spread out. The tropical rainforest really adds to it as well.

Of course, I would have never known this had I not stepped outside the airport during my 12 hr. layover, and I wouldn't have stepped outside, had I not met Jim.
Jim was the quiet, soft-spoken Punjabi grandfather who sat next to me on the ride over the Pacific. We ended up spending the entire day together: taking the train, riding the ferry, going to coffee and eating lunch, all which he bought for me (except the coffee-- I paid for that one.)

After he left to go to Dehli, I got on my plane to Kathmandu. This was easily one of the craziest flights I've ever taken. There were 3 major Nepali families, all with upset infants. The mothers would get up, pass the crying children around, yell at each other and at the poor Chinese stewardesses. I met a girl Alicko (?) from Canada, who was coming to Nepal to study Buddhism. We went through check in together, and almost had our bags run-off with an overeager worker at the airport trying to make some cash. I met the girls picking me up for the volunteer house.

The drive into Kathmandu was crazy--stray dogs, trash and people milling about everywhere, but the volunteer house is beautiful. It has a garden, marble floors, and children running everywhere. I have two roomates, plenty of other volunteers and orientation tomorrow.

(sorry if this is a repeat post--the buttons here just say "?????", so posting is kind of trial and error.)

Thinking...

I wonder what I should eat for lunch.