Holy Cow -- pun intended -- I'm in Nepal!!!

Namaste, everyone,

Well, I'm here, and I finally found an Internet cafe with decent computers (we only have one computer with Internet at the program house, and it's the slowest dial-up I have EVER seen). Jessie, Emily and I had a very smooth trip, the highlights of which included:

-Hearing many many amazing British accents during the flight from London to Doha on Virgin Atlantic
-Being in Doha, seeing cool signs in Arabic and women in head-to-toe black and huge expanses of desert!
-Getting amazing Indian food on the flight from Doha to Kathmandu
-Arriving in Kathmandu safe and sound, with all of our checked baggage there too, and finding the Program Director Banu and Program Coordinator Beth immediately upon getting out of customs.

So, we arrived around 4 in the afternoon Nepal time (we are about 11 hours ahead of Eastern US Time), and overwhelming doesn't even begin to describe my first impression of this place! The three of us and Beth piled into the rather narrow back of the program house Jeep for the long, bumpy, and DUSTY ride through Kathmandu. It took about half an hour to get from the airport to Kirtipur, the little town where our program house is located, and I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head from looking around so quickly and intensely!

First and foremost, the traffic (and lack of road rules) is striking. There aren't really lanes, stop signs, stop lights, or any of the rules we're used to, really. People drive on the left (mostly?) and pass each other constantly, even when there is really only one lane. Motorcycles and pedestrians weave in and out constantly, and everyone uses their horn liberally, so it's very loud. Also, there are no emissions standards here - you just drive your car until it doesn't go anymore - so it's quite polluted. People also burn their trash outside, which doesn't help. All in all, one is definitely quite sooty and grimy after going out!

After a few minutes of freaking out about traffic, I realized I should start paying attention to other things, too. Unfortunately, I think I was too tired/jetlagged/overwhelmed to notice the beauty and charm I am only now beginning to see. A lot of buildings are falling apart, there is trash everywhere, it's chaotic, and there were a lot of very dirty and hungry looking children (and stray dogs, too - tons) everywhere.

Finally, we turned onto the narrowest, steepest, rockiest "road" I have ever seen (our driver was driving a standard, and I was in such awe of his mad driving "skillz"!) and pulled up outside our beautiful house! The girls' hostel is four stories tall, with bedrooms on the top two and bottom floor, and a dining/living area in the middle. We drew our roommates' names out of a hat on the way - mine is named Papiya, and she is actually from India. Her name is a type of Indian bird, apparently - it's very pretty, I think. For the majority of the girls here, Nepali is not their first language. Papiya, for example, speaks Bengali at home, Nepali at school, and she also knows Hindi and English. Everyone was shy at first, but after two full days here we are all getting to know each other and having a great time. Last night Katherine and I watched "Project Runway" on her computer with our new Nepali friends Shila and Bishnu, and they really got into it, I think.

Anyway, back to the first night - we met our roommates and unpacked a little, and all felt quite ready for a shower after two days! Nepali bathrooms are rather different from American bathrooms, though, so what should have been comforting and familiar after a loong 40-odd hours of traveling was instead one more new and overwhelming thing. In our bathrooms at home, water is contained in the sink, the toilet, and the shower. Here, you put on a pair of rubber shoes that sits outside the bathroom door, and walk in ready for anything. The shower fixture is on the wall, over the toilet and sink, so the whole bathroom gets soaked after anyone showers. Also, the water isn't safe to drink, so in order to brush your teeth you have to use the safe iodized water from coolers in the hallways. It's already starting to feel more routine. Our bathroom has a regular toilet with a seat, but others are just basically a hole in the ground - it takes some talent to be able to work with those, and I have yet to cultivate it! :oP

After my first overwhelming night, I slept surprisingly well and in sync with the time here (perhaps thanks to the melatonin pill I took?)...the next morning when I woke up, I felt like a different person. Monks were singing in the temple nearby, and what had previously been ugly pollution was now a beautiful, cool morning mist around the Himalayas. I went up on the roof and took a bunch of pictures - with luck I will be able to post some soon, but for now my descriptions will have to suffice!

Right now we are having intensive language classes (4 hours per day), and the routine is basically this: the house staff bring us a little breakfast in bed each day, and we head to class around 8. Emily and I have been studying with Anjala-ji (-ji is a respectful suffix much like -san in Japanese) and having a great time. After two hours or so we have the morning meal (rice, lentils, vegetables, eggs, fruit, tea), then more class and touring around the area. 3 o'clock is kajaa (snack) time, then either homework or more exploring, daal-bhaat again at 7 pm, and whatever we want at night, though we have to be back in the program house by 8 pm or so in order to respect Nepali cultural norms (and to be safer).

I'm in an Internet cafe in Kathmandu right now after an exciting day of class and touring - and I cannot impart to you, dear readers, how EXCITED I am for Internet that works and doesn't take 5 minutes per page to load! I should probably go, since my hour is almost up and I don't want to run over - does this make me a giant cheapskate, since it is 25 rupees (1 dollar is about 80 rupees) per hour? :oP

I am hoping to be able to post at least once, maybe twice per week, but we'll see how the technology decides to cooperate. Even on a good computer, you need electricity, and that goes out with great regularity here...so we'll see.

I hope all is well back in the States, and thank you all for your kind comments and e-mails. They mean so much, especially during my first few days in such a strange and different place.

Pheri bhetaulaa,
Renee/Rani (Rani = "Queen" in Nepali; the Nepalis decided it was the closest fit soundwise with my American name)...