Taste of Nepal.
Namaste, friends!
where to start, where to start?
I feel like I've been so lax about writing since I've gotten to Nepal, I don't even know where to begin!
Here are some choice titles for this blog:
"Deedee, you are a little bit fat, yes?"
"If you don't know suffering, how will you know happiness"?...I hear ya brotha.
I stopped counting mosquito bites when I found more than 20 on just one limb.
Plane ticket to Nepal: $1500-ish dollars.
Entrance to Buddha Stuppa: 100 rupees ($1.25)
Anti diarheal meds, baby wipes, and 2-lpy toilet paper: PRICELESS.
Here goes:
I arrived in Nepal, and as I said before, have a lovely apartment, thanks for the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory. If you'er a jazz friend and you have nothing to do, you should come teach here. You'll have no other possibility other than to love it. Ranjan, the kid I told you about before, takes care fo the apartment, and lives in the flat one floor down. He has hot water in his palce, so I have to go down there every time I shower. This suits me okay, since there's no seperate shower stall, and showering means yuo get the whole bathroom wet...so mine stays dry, and he doesn't seem to mind. Well, I guess it's his job not to.
When I wake in the morning he comes up and asks me if I want tea. No? Water? Toast? Egg? Won't I take something to eat? The weather is so hot, it's tough to stomach more than just one meal a day. I'll go ahead and assume I've not turned to skin and bones because the above fat comment was from Ranjan. It's my favorite thing he's said, along with the phrase "mind blowing".
The day after I got here, there was something called a "banda". The Maoist political party was takingn revenge or something...someone got kidnapped and killed...therefor there were no roads open and every place was closed. No matter to me, as I was up at like 6 a.m. and didn't know any of this before the hot 15 minute walk from my place in Lalitpur to the Patan Durbar Square (Palace square). I'd stay I ran into Uttp, but I know he ran into me. Uttp is a Newari of Tibetan descent who works as un (unofficial) tour guide and part time Thanka painter. Unfortunately you're going to ahve to do with my verbal communications for a while, as I can't figure out how to get my pics down to a size that's reasonably uploadble. Suggestions are welcome.
Uttp showed me the Temple of Jaganarian. There are all sorts of kama sutra positions depicted on this temple, as young people who were to marry would come to it so they'd know how to have sex. We reasoned that that part is obsoltet now due to MTV. I couldn't get any good erasno why there was a horse doing a woman from behind, nor why all of the depicted positions were from behind. Put that in your pipe and ponder it...
Every temple we go to, we walk around clockwise. It's much more auspicious and for good luck. In fact, lots fo things here are auspicious, but the definitions of WHY they are so vary depending on whom you ask. It's pretty funny, actually. Most of the answers one gets are that you just do it, because it's good luck. I should mention that Nepal is a melting pot of Buddhism (people who came down from the Himalayas) and Hinduism (people from here, India, the lower part of Nepal, ie. Kathmandu valley). One man said it's like a masala (mixtuer of spices). So in fact most places you go have a huge Buddhist stuppah, next to which are several Hindu god statues...Vishnu, Hanuman...etc, in various incarnations, or vehicles (all of the Hindu gods have animal vehiclesn through which they are depicted). Uttm took me to the Goden Temple, the oldest in Patan, there was a gorgeous mandala on the ceiling that I think was from the 13th century!
Back at KJC (Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory), I met Nick Jost and Eric Slaughter, two jazz musicians who are at the end of their 3 months teaching here. They are absolute master jazz musicians, and it was a pleasure to hear and play with them. We're plannign to try and do a little mini tour of the midwest, as they're from St. Louis. I'm thinking the Bistro, Green Mill in Chitown, and a couple places ni Michigan. We gave a concert two nights ago in Thamel, the toursty distrcit of the city. The place was packed, hot as an oven, and totally jumping with both foreigners and Nepalis.
Yesterday we accepted an invitation do be on a radio show! Kantipur FM 96.1. Lovely! What I didn't realize was that it was basuically going to be the Sara Leib show. And for that matter, ot was a 2 hour show. For those of you have have been on the radio, you'll know...2 hours is a LOT of space to fill. By the end of, we were all torn up and in need of a rest.
Good thing the day before I found a massage parlor, where, for $8 U.S. I got a massage by a man so awesome that the very first massage was like he knew me...like a lover you've been with for a long time. It. was. awesome.
Then it was off to the Kathmandu Hyatt, where the boys had a gig playing a concert for the World Bank people. I'm not kidding. There was booze, food, and Laura (Nick, the bass player's girlfriend who'd also visiting) and I went to the Buddha Stuppa, a huge mecca-like stuppah just a few minutes wakl from the Hyatt. It was amazing! Wait til you see the pictues. People walking around it clockwise there times. Doing mindful prostration on the ground (they repeat this 108 times!!!!)...it was amazing.
The Hyatt is the only place I've been in KTM that a) has airconditioning and b) it like a hotalo you'd see in the states. That said, it's completely weird and out of place do drive from the rocky, uinpaved streets into a marble and granite palatial place that looks more like a clean temple than anythign else. THAT said, I was grateful for the AC. But the BEST part was the concert! My tummy was acting up, and there's no better place to have the runs than a fancy hotel (sorry for the gross detail), so Laura and I cam back in time for the concert, which was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. It was a well known group here, a trio or sitar, tabla, and Sarangi, a sort fo Nepali violin, with four strings but only tuned to two notes a fifth apart. The tricky part is that tyou don't put your fingers on the fret, you use your fingernails. It's HARD! I tried... Anyway, this trio (the Sarangi plater had come to our concert the night before and was very complimentary) was joined with Nick on bass, Eric on guitar, and Mariano, the head of JJC, no soprano sax. The outcome was something so amazing, I wanted it to never end. It was the kind of concert you'd pay $65 to see at UCLA Live. AMAZING. The buffet afterwards (with cesear salad you could actually EAT!) was pretty sweet, too.
Now to today. Today was amazing. Yadav arrived to pick me up just as I rolled out of Ranjan's hot shower. People keep catching mere in my towel, which seems like it must be awfully inappropriate, but no ones ever seems to flinch. Anyway, today was the day that I was off to train to learn how to install my solar lighting panel system! Yippee! We were off to lotus energy company, Adam Friedonsohn's non NGO company that makes and distributse solar panel systems all over Nepal. The place was amazing. It was a plant, like the one my dad had for furniture when I was a kid. But this place makes solar energy systems that help people help themselves! They have systems for homes, more major systems, and even a solar vaccine erfridgeration system! Amazing. Maybe that's what I'll install next time I come. Or maybe YOU should come and install one! Anyway, a had a 2 or three hour lesson that involved using a wire cutter, remembering which wires weer positive/negative (red means positive, just like on your car battery), stripping wires, nails, scrwes, washers, electrical tape, light switches...etc. Do I have any technical knowledge? No. Did I get the system to work, and light up the lights we attached? YES. It was gleeful, exciting, and joyous, even in the extreme heat. So that was a success. Thanks to those of you who donated to this project as well...please see previous email if you'd like to. Your contribution will make a big difference, as I'm undertaking (read: underwriting) this myself, and it's a cost usually shared by a group. Plus you get to be a part of, and keep up by blog! Yay.
After the successful training session, it was off to the "monkey temple" ( i acn't remembr it's real name, as it's reALLY long and i left my postcards with the name at the apt) with Yadav's brother Ram, who, conveniently, is a tour guide!. There were monkeys (macaques, Linda), stuppahs, prayer flags galore. The place was gorgeous, and up at the top *once we'd walked around the whole thing clockwose, which I kept forgtting to do and had to keep being reminded of) there was a view of the entire Kathmandu valley, surrounded by mountains. Stunning. I strolled through shop after shop, and finally, exhausted we picked up my laundry in Thamel and I came back. That bring me here to the internet cafe. Tomorrow it's onto a place to Phaplu, where we'll stay the night before walking to the solar installation health center site. I'm excited that it's supposed to me much cooler up there. and supposedly there aren't mosquitos. Which is good because I'm scratching like a...someone who scratches a lot...like that monkey at the temple earlier.
Anyway...I'm exhausted and I have to get up early to catch the place. Be sure to donate at Paypal to saraleib@yahoo.com, and follow my blogs! Seeing as how there's no electricity up there, I won't be updating for 4-5 days. After that, I'll put up the picstures and the rest of the video (check my facebook profile for videos, btw).
Love you lots, and thanks for coming on my journey with me!
love,
sar
where to start, where to start?
I feel like I've been so lax about writing since I've gotten to Nepal, I don't even know where to begin!
Here are some choice titles for this blog:
"Deedee, you are a little bit fat, yes?"
"If you don't know suffering, how will you know happiness"?...I hear ya brotha.
I stopped counting mosquito bites when I found more than 20 on just one limb.
Plane ticket to Nepal: $1500-ish dollars.
Entrance to Buddha Stuppa: 100 rupees ($1.25)
Anti diarheal meds, baby wipes, and 2-lpy toilet paper: PRICELESS.
Here goes:
I arrived in Nepal, and as I said before, have a lovely apartment, thanks for the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory. If you'er a jazz friend and you have nothing to do, you should come teach here. You'll have no other possibility other than to love it. Ranjan, the kid I told you about before, takes care fo the apartment, and lives in the flat one floor down. He has hot water in his palce, so I have to go down there every time I shower. This suits me okay, since there's no seperate shower stall, and showering means yuo get the whole bathroom wet...so mine stays dry, and he doesn't seem to mind. Well, I guess it's his job not to.
When I wake in the morning he comes up and asks me if I want tea. No? Water? Toast? Egg? Won't I take something to eat? The weather is so hot, it's tough to stomach more than just one meal a day. I'll go ahead and assume I've not turned to skin and bones because the above fat comment was from Ranjan. It's my favorite thing he's said, along with the phrase "mind blowing".
The day after I got here, there was something called a "banda". The Maoist political party was takingn revenge or something...someone got kidnapped and killed...therefor there were no roads open and every place was closed. No matter to me, as I was up at like 6 a.m. and didn't know any of this before the hot 15 minute walk from my place in Lalitpur to the Patan Durbar Square (Palace square). I'd stay I ran into Uttp, but I know he ran into me. Uttp is a Newari of Tibetan descent who works as un (unofficial) tour guide and part time Thanka painter. Unfortunately you're going to ahve to do with my verbal communications for a while, as I can't figure out how to get my pics down to a size that's reasonably uploadble. Suggestions are welcome.
Uttp showed me the Temple of Jaganarian. There are all sorts of kama sutra positions depicted on this temple, as young people who were to marry would come to it so they'd know how to have sex. We reasoned that that part is obsoltet now due to MTV. I couldn't get any good erasno why there was a horse doing a woman from behind, nor why all of the depicted positions were from behind. Put that in your pipe and ponder it...
Every temple we go to, we walk around clockwise. It's much more auspicious and for good luck. In fact, lots fo things here are auspicious, but the definitions of WHY they are so vary depending on whom you ask. It's pretty funny, actually. Most of the answers one gets are that you just do it, because it's good luck. I should mention that Nepal is a melting pot of Buddhism (people who came down from the Himalayas) and Hinduism (people from here, India, the lower part of Nepal, ie. Kathmandu valley). One man said it's like a masala (mixtuer of spices). So in fact most places you go have a huge Buddhist stuppah, next to which are several Hindu god statues...Vishnu, Hanuman...etc, in various incarnations, or vehicles (all of the Hindu gods have animal vehiclesn through which they are depicted). Uttm took me to the Goden Temple, the oldest in Patan, there was a gorgeous mandala on the ceiling that I think was from the 13th century!
Back at KJC (Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory), I met Nick Jost and Eric Slaughter, two jazz musicians who are at the end of their 3 months teaching here. They are absolute master jazz musicians, and it was a pleasure to hear and play with them. We're plannign to try and do a little mini tour of the midwest, as they're from St. Louis. I'm thinking the Bistro, Green Mill in Chitown, and a couple places ni Michigan. We gave a concert two nights ago in Thamel, the toursty distrcit of the city. The place was packed, hot as an oven, and totally jumping with both foreigners and Nepalis.
Yesterday we accepted an invitation do be on a radio show! Kantipur FM 96.1. Lovely! What I didn't realize was that it was basuically going to be the Sara Leib show. And for that matter, ot was a 2 hour show. For those of you have have been on the radio, you'll know...2 hours is a LOT of space to fill. By the end of, we were all torn up and in need of a rest.
Good thing the day before I found a massage parlor, where, for $8 U.S. I got a massage by a man so awesome that the very first massage was like he knew me...like a lover you've been with for a long time. It. was. awesome.
Then it was off to the Kathmandu Hyatt, where the boys had a gig playing a concert for the World Bank people. I'm not kidding. There was booze, food, and Laura (Nick, the bass player's girlfriend who'd also visiting) and I went to the Buddha Stuppa, a huge mecca-like stuppah just a few minutes wakl from the Hyatt. It was amazing! Wait til you see the pictues. People walking around it clockwise there times. Doing mindful prostration on the ground (they repeat this 108 times!!!!)...it was amazing.
The Hyatt is the only place I've been in KTM that a) has airconditioning and b) it like a hotalo you'd see in the states. That said, it's completely weird and out of place do drive from the rocky, uinpaved streets into a marble and granite palatial place that looks more like a clean temple than anythign else. THAT said, I was grateful for the AC. But the BEST part was the concert! My tummy was acting up, and there's no better place to have the runs than a fancy hotel (sorry for the gross detail), so Laura and I cam back in time for the concert, which was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. It was a well known group here, a trio or sitar, tabla, and Sarangi, a sort fo Nepali violin, with four strings but only tuned to two notes a fifth apart. The tricky part is that tyou don't put your fingers on the fret, you use your fingernails. It's HARD! I tried... Anyway, this trio (the Sarangi plater had come to our concert the night before and was very complimentary) was joined with Nick on bass, Eric on guitar, and Mariano, the head of JJC, no soprano sax. The outcome was something so amazing, I wanted it to never end. It was the kind of concert you'd pay $65 to see at UCLA Live. AMAZING. The buffet afterwards (with cesear salad you could actually EAT!) was pretty sweet, too.
Now to today. Today was amazing. Yadav arrived to pick me up just as I rolled out of Ranjan's hot shower. People keep catching mere in my towel, which seems like it must be awfully inappropriate, but no ones ever seems to flinch. Anyway, today was the day that I was off to train to learn how to install my solar lighting panel system! Yippee! We were off to lotus energy company, Adam Friedonsohn's non NGO company that makes and distributse solar panel systems all over Nepal. The place was amazing. It was a plant, like the one my dad had for furniture when I was a kid. But this place makes solar energy systems that help people help themselves! They have systems for homes, more major systems, and even a solar vaccine erfridgeration system! Amazing. Maybe that's what I'll install next time I come. Or maybe YOU should come and install one! Anyway, a had a 2 or three hour lesson that involved using a wire cutter, remembering which wires weer positive/negative (red means positive, just like on your car battery), stripping wires, nails, scrwes, washers, electrical tape, light switches...etc. Do I have any technical knowledge? No. Did I get the system to work, and light up the lights we attached? YES. It was gleeful, exciting, and joyous, even in the extreme heat. So that was a success. Thanks to those of you who donated to this project as well...please see previous email if you'd like to. Your contribution will make a big difference, as I'm undertaking (read: underwriting) this myself, and it's a cost usually shared by a group. Plus you get to be a part of, and keep up by blog! Yay.
After the successful training session, it was off to the "monkey temple" ( i acn't remembr it's real name, as it's reALLY long and i left my postcards with the name at the apt) with Yadav's brother Ram, who, conveniently, is a tour guide!. There were monkeys (macaques, Linda), stuppahs, prayer flags galore. The place was gorgeous, and up at the top *once we'd walked around the whole thing clockwose, which I kept forgtting to do and had to keep being reminded of) there was a view of the entire Kathmandu valley, surrounded by mountains. Stunning. I strolled through shop after shop, and finally, exhausted we picked up my laundry in Thamel and I came back. That bring me here to the internet cafe. Tomorrow it's onto a place to Phaplu, where we'll stay the night before walking to the solar installation health center site. I'm excited that it's supposed to me much cooler up there. and supposedly there aren't mosquitos. Which is good because I'm scratching like a...someone who scratches a lot...like that monkey at the temple earlier.
Anyway...I'm exhausted and I have to get up early to catch the place. Be sure to donate at Paypal to saraleib@yahoo.com, and follow my blogs! Seeing as how there's no electricity up there, I won't be updating for 4-5 days. After that, I'll put up the picstures and the rest of the video (check my facebook profile for videos, btw).
Love you lots, and thanks for coming on my journey with me!
love,
sar
posted by sara leib at 9:30 AM
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