Women, Prayer flags, and Mountains

A lot has happened since my last blog post. My research project is still under way and we had our first interview on Wednesday with Maiti Nepal. It was slightly frustrating because we didn't get to talk to someone who is really involved in their programs, rather, he was more like a PR person :(. But it was really cool to visit such a great organization and learn more about their presence in Nepal and their work to fight human trafficking. Hopefully our other interviews are more informative and interesting!






In honor of Emma Watson's UN speech, and considering my volunteer project I have been thinking a lot about what it is like to be a woman in Nepal. Of course in the sense of trafficking women and children are overwhelmingly targeted. But there are so many other subtle and not so subtle queues that women are not given the respect they deserve. For example, many married women wear a red dot on their hairline (different from the red 'tikka' on the forehead). You always know when a woman is married but you never know if a man is married. And the scary thing is that I see so many teenagers or very young women with this sign of marriage on their forehead. Another thing that I've learned is that when a girl first gets her period (in some families) she has to spend 15 days in a dark room with no human contact. She is only allowed to eat in her room. And every time after that she has to be isolated for 4-5 days every month. My roommate went through this and it was really isolating and lonely. She was treated as is she had some sort of disease. How embarrassing! It seems to be very normal here, but to me is sounds depressing! Another thing I have learned is that there is a lot of domestic violence and very little avenues to escape. Divorce is basically unheard of here, partly because it is culturally unaccepted, and also because a woman is not allowed to own property, therefore it is really hard for a woman to be independent. The husband is given almost all of the legal responsibilities. The culture and people here are beautiful but I can't help but be frustrated at the lack of women's empowerment. Luckily, there are many organizations, like VIN, who are working to fix this.

On a happier note, the festival Dashain has started. It's sort of like Christmas for them. Our host family bought us fabric and patterns for Nepali outfits and we got fitted at the tailors the other day. This week we get to pick up our outfits so we can wear them for the holiday!
There has been a new goat living in our neighborhood. It took us a few days to realize it was a goat, as he sounded like a screaming man in the middle of the night. I haven't heard the goat since I've been home after the weekend though, which probably means he was sacrificed for the festival...

Yesterday was my favorite day so far in Nepel. W visited a small town called Dhilikhel. It is supposed to be a good place to view the Himalayas. Although it was too cloudy to really see any of the mountains the trip was so worth it. We stayed at an awesome little Nepali style bed and breakfast called the Snow View Guest House. There were seven of us and we were the only guests there. It was run by the sweetest old man and his family and they made us food from their garden :). It was such a homely place. The best part was our trip up the hill to visit the Namobuddha temple and monastery. Our ride up was terrifying but so exciting. I think I laughed the whole time. We drove up a sketchy windy road to the top and there were many times I was sure we would crash into the oncoming vehicles flying around they bend, or fly off the side of the mountain. We walked through the monastery and witnessed some Buddhist prayer, which sounded like praying, chanting, and singing all at once. It was a mesmerizing sound. I ended up at the end of the property where there was a pole filled with prayer flags shooting off in all directions. It was like standing at the center of a million different rainbows. I was alone for about 5 minutes and they were the most peaceful 5 minutes I have experienced in a long time. I could see the colors of the prayer flags, the monastery in the distance, and the hills and villages even more in the distant. I felt like I was on top of the world. But I will let the photos do the talking because the sight was indescribable.






First selfie in Nepal.





Thanks Lizzie for taking this candid!





They stretched on forever.












Inside the monastery.







Preparing for an important Puja (religious ceremony)






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Temples, Mandalas, Monkeys, and Lonely Planet

Om mani padme hum is the Buddhist mantra meaning, literally, "hail to the jewel in the lotus"
We heard this phrase a handful or times in all of the painting shops we visited in the ancient city of Bhaktapur. There are many painting schools throughout the greater Kathmandu area that sell mandala paintings. Each one has a different meaning (peace, good luck, karma, the circle of life) and many have the Buddhist om mantra written on them. The amount of detail in each is incredible.

Our day on Saturday started with our "tour guide", Vishnu. We're still not sure if he was a real tour guide or just a local pretending to be a tour guide and we are pretty sure he received commission from certain tourist shops because much of the tour included walking through side streets between each square to visit shops, where he tried to convince us to go inside and look at the beautiful artwork, scarves, and clothing. Despite our speculations about his legitimacy we decided as long as he took us where we needed to go we didn't mind paying him. If he missed something we always had lonely planet to rely on. After our day in the small city we took a bus up a hill to the temple Changu. It is one of the oldest temples in Nepal and the view is beautiful. We decided to use Lonely Planet, our best friend, to guide us around this time. The view from the temple was beautiful and it was so peaceful inside. The upside of going in the late afternoon was that there were very little tourists and the downside is that when it gets dark in Nepal there is very little transportation available and things shut down very quickly (partly because many places lack reliable electricity). As a result, by the time we took the bus back down the sun had set. Luckily we found a very helpful and very friendly local who led us through the dark streets of Bhaktapur to find the bus back to Khatmandu. An important detail to note is that bus stops and buses in Nepal are not labeled (and if it is labeled it is written in Nepali). You just have to assume that if there is a cluster of buses on the side of the road then it is probably a bus stop and then you have to ask where the bus is going. After a few tries at a few different stops who all told us, "just a five minute walk that way" we were finally on our way back to Khatmandu. When we got off the bus in Kathmandu the driver told us to get in a cab to Thamel (our hotel location) and go nowhere else, implying that the area was not the best place for us to be walking around in at night.

After a long night of worrying about the cockroaches in my bed we woke up the next morning (Sunday) to go to Patan (where we saw even more mandalas) and Pashupatinath, another full day of visiting temples. The most interesting part of the day was seeing the cremations at Pashupatinath. Along the river there was a row of flames. Each flame had a mourning family standing behind and a man tending to the fire. We were far enough away to not see too much but I noticed a body lying on the ground next to one of the flames, waiting to be cremated. From across the river we watched as the people guided their family members through the end of their cycle of life (according to Hindu belief). I took one photo, which I immediately regretted because it felt disrespectful and intrusive. It was hard for me to understand being a tourist in a place that people use to cremate and mourn their dead.

We continued walking along the river to see some temples and and met some monkeys on the way! They were everywhere and we were told that people believe they protect the temples, which I believe because we heard they can get aggressive.
It was a great way to celebrate international peace day, at a beautiful Hindu temple.
After a long weekend of temples, mandalas, monkeys, and lonely planet I was glad to have a nice meal at home and sleep in a familiar, yet rock hard, and cockroach free bed last night.



The national hat of Nepal.


These flowers are used to put on the statues of the gods to worship them.


The old man in the blue tried to get to me drink this water...I thinks would be bedridden for weeks if I did.





Monkeys at Pashupatinath.



One of the main squares in Bhaktapur.

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Inspiring People

So far I have met so many awesome people here in Nepal. Not only are the Nepalis so friendly and generous the foreigners I have met are also fantastic.
Below are the links to 2 awesome organizations that were started by some of the people I have met so far: one, a couple from Denver who absolutely love Nepal and work to help provide shoes and boots for the local tracking guides. I met them in the airport in Dubai and they gave me some great advice about Nepal. They brought 25 bags this time, filled with donations (their biggest load yet)!! The organization is called Shoes For Sherpas. www.shoesforsherpas.org

The other is Filmmakers without Borders, started my my roommate Beth and her friend. They send Filmmakers to other countries and use filmmaking as a creative teaching tool for empowerment of children. Some of the kids in her Nepali classroom had never seen a camera before and had never seen themselves on a screen. developingfilmmakers.org

Their work is so inspiring and incredibly creative and it makes me think about all of the awesome opportunities for international development.

P.S. I am still trying to figure out the blogging thing on the iPad so I apologize for the photos below being attached to the wrong blog post...technical difficulties.




VIN office, where most of my work is being done now.


Omba! A fruit I haven never tries before but it's delicious. It's sort of gooey inside but it's so yummy and sweet.


A view from the top of the hotel in Thamel.


We learned how to write our names in Nepali. My name is written at the top.

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Day One

Yesterday was the end of my first day in Nepal.  After a long journey from New York to Dubai to Nepal I finally made it to Khatmandu! The jet lag and homesickness are slowly drifting away as I discover the opportunities here. My project will include the development and proposal of an anti-trafficking project that focuses on prevention and victim healing. Let's hope I can remember some Anthropological interview and research skills!
Yesterday most of the day was spent doing our orientation.  The most exciting part of the day for me was our walk home from the office.  Walking through the streets of Nepal is a thrilling experience; motorcycles, cars, buses, bikes, and pedestrians coming at me in every direction.  As we came upon an intersection a police man was standing in the middle attempting to direct traffic but really just waving at no one as there is too much chaos for one man to control.  I take a breath, look both ways and run across the street at the next rare break in traffic.  Looking up, the telephone wires look like spider webs that all meet up in a bundle on the makeshift telephone poles or on the sides of buildings.
The roads here are redone every year because of the lack of infrastructure and proper building materials.  We walk through mud and avoid potholes on the side of the road as we dodge the oncoming traffic from all sides. I was advised by my fellow volunteers to buy a face mask for the pollution and once we started walking I understood why.  I was hit by a cloud of fumes, smog, and dust and noticed that even the locals cover their mouths and noses with a scarf or a face mask.
I ended my day with some momos, Nepali dumplings :) they were so delicious! And cheap! Tomorrow starts my first day of work with research about the trafficking situation in Nepal and developing a plan of action for community education. And tonight will be my first night with my first of three host families...
Not going to lie, this is my first blog so bear with me if my posts are jumbled and if my writing is not the best. I'm practicing!!

Two Days 'til Takeoff

As an Anthropology major, it took me a long time to figure out what I was passionate about, besides the fact that knew I wanted to travel and help people.  It wasn't until I read the incredible book Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof that I realized I was inspired by the stories of women who were able to break free from their everyday struggles to make a difference in their community, but also saddened by the many stories of women and girls who are not able to break free and who suffer everyday simply because of their gender.  I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to go to Nepal and work on a women's empowerment project, and more specifically focusing on anti-trafficking efforts.  Human slavery is one of the most unsettling and unacceptable issues of our time and though it is daunting, I am so excited to be able to volunteer for a cause that I am passionate about and to take that passion out of the classroom and into the real world.
I leave for my trip in less than two days, and though I can't stop thinking about how awesome it is that I am fulfilling my dream to travel and make a difference I am also thinking about all the friends and family I am leaving behind.  With butterflies in my stomach, I attempt to suppress my nerves, and take off to my new home for the next 12 weeks.