Have I explained what I'm doing? I'm volunteering at the Shechen Medical Clinic in Boudha (Boh-dah), Kathmandu, Nepal. It's affiliated with the Shechen Monastary. It offers allopathic medicine, dental care, traditional Tibetan medicine and alternative therapies such as homeopathy and acupuncture [www.shechen.org]. I've got a friend, Mark Jeunnette, who's been living and working here since Fall 2006, so I'm not flying solo.
I arrived safely in Kathmandu Thursday evening. Coming from Western [American] airport security, I was confused by walking _past_ the x-ray machines, but I think I got some sort of special dispensation, as I was the only 5'9" white woman in the airport.
We spent Friday wandering about Mark’s neighborhood, Ekekuntakuna, and Thamel (Tah-mel), the tourist area of downtown Kathmandu. I took frequent breaks in teahouses to get away from the chaos of the city, but managed to stay awake until 2100 before passing out in exhaustion.
Saturday we rode Mark's motorcycle (an American dirt bike, really) an hour to Boudha, which is the town where I’ll be volunteering. We joined in the celebration of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, by walking clockwise around the stupa and admiring the Tibetan ladies’ finery. We found the Shechen monastery and medical clinic, which was a relief to me; I was a bit afraid it wasn’t a real place and all my carefully laid plans were going to be ruined.
I am a little sad to be staring at the end of my vacation (I start at the clinic tomorrow) but I’m going to be certain to negotiate for plenty of time to continue exploring the Kathmandu Valley now that I've gotten accustomed to the craziness of the city. As I said above, on Friday I had to take frequent breaks throughout the day to keep my head from exploding. The lack of traffic laws and lights and the fact that the cars operate on the the "wrong" side of the road, plus jet lag and being short on sleep (and Mark's running me ragged :P ) made for an overwhelmed Jen. I still can't cross the street alone, but I did manage to walk to a cafe by myself the other day.
Ok. Cafe's closing, gotta go.
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