My host family building and neighborhood

My host family is located in the district of Jorpati, Bouddha where the school is. Actually there are several schools in this area. The home stay building has several floors to accommodate the extended family. I had the penthouse, a room at the top with a commanding view of the city and its rooftops.





Pictures coming.

Samata School pictures

The children all dress in a light blue shirt with tie. On Fridays, however, the children can forgo the uniform and dress casual-- rather like our "Casual Friday."





The classrooms are individual buildings surrounding the large Buddha courtyard. Notice that on one side of the building behind the Buddha is the alphabet in Nepali and the other side the English alphabet.

Nepal city pictures

Squeezed in at the end of the alley is where the United Planet and Social Tours--Social Treks offices are located.

My first night was spent in a moderate hotel near the offices. From there I would go to a home stay in another part of the city within walking distance from the school.

Samata School

The Samata School which is a five minute walk from my home stay is a school of about 1700 students. The entire school is made from locally grown bamboo. There are several separate classroom buildings surrounding a large courtyard at the center of which is a large statue of Buddha. I stayed in one room which was the school library. There were only a few hundred books, almost entirely consisting of English books about math and science, as well as some story books and fairy tale books. Since my teaching experience is limited, it was decided that I would fair better with a small group of students instead of the normal class size of 45. I limited my subjects to comments about my own life in the United States, my job as a librarian and my personal home environment with my two dogs. During the last session, the students asked about songs and we sang the Wheels on the Bus. We read the book about Going on a Bear Hunt which I explained was typical of the books I read each week at our storytime.

Kathmandu

After landing at the small airport in Kathmandu, I was taken to the offices of United Planet and briefed on my itinerary. The first night I spent in a small hotel next door to the office in the Thamel area of the city. That night I went to a very traditional Nepali restaurant where I was served several courses of authentic Nepali food. Dancers entertained us with Nepali dances which were originally used during Harvest festivals. About four or five men played unusual instruments that gave the music a minor key sound, quite beautiful, similar but different from Indian music. The dancers, two men and one women or sometimes two women and one man, in folk costumes moved with gestures that sometimes mimicked planting seeds and casting blessings over the future crops. The next day a tour guide took me to two of the most sacred places of worship, one for the Hindu and the other for the Buddhist religions. At the back of the Hindu temple which is sometimes known as the monkey temple because of the proliferation of the creatures a tributary of the Ganges river runs. At this sacred river people bring their departed to be cremated and the ashes thrown into the river. Several cremation pyres were burning and two bodies were covered and awaiting cremation. Young boys wade into the water to retrieve the burnt wood which also falls into the river along with the ashes.
Boudha Stupa and surrounding areas





The Buddhist stupa was less theatrical. Next to the stupa were several shops and also a school for painting the sacred Buddhist Thankas which are used for meditation and prayer in the home. At lunch I tasted my first yogurt drink called a lassi. Very good. We then went to the home where I am to stay during the remaining days of my visit. It is within walking distance of the school where I will be teaching.

Changi Airport, Singapore

I'm almost there. I've been in the air for about 17 or 18 hours. Here I am at the Singapore airport using one of their free internet stations. It's about 1 am Monday, March 15th. My last leg of the trip will begin at about 9 am. So, I'll be kicking around here for awhile. I did manage to sleep about 4 or 5 hours and watched two movies, Precious and Two Moons (?part of the Twilight Saga). The seating was cramped but the food was great and the service terrific. This airport is quite something.

Across the Pacific

The flight across the pacific ocean will be a long one. In fact I've never been so far from home. From Hollywood to Kollywood (Nepal's version of moviedom).

Schools

This is a picture created by the children at Hollydale Elementary school thanking me for visiting their school, reading a story and doing some magic tricks.