A Day in the Life

In case anyone is curious about what I've been up to for the last 6 weeks:

4:30 AM: My day begins with the sound of a rooster crowing very, very loudly outside my window.  I hate this bird more than words can express.  Since I love almost everything else about Nepal, however, it doesn't bother me too terribly much.

8 AM: Breakfast with my Nepali host family.  About three weeks ago I moved in to my permanent living arrangement - a little house on the edge of the city that I share with my Nepali parents and two teenaged brothers.  The house is small and simple, and the family is incredibly gracious and welcoming.  Breakfast usually consists of a boiled egg and some Nepali-style pancakes, but sometimes we have fried potatoes, chow mein, or rice and vegetable curry.

9 AM: I arrive at the MCC Nepal office for a morning of language study with my fellow volunteer.  There are five staff at the office: one Canadian, one American, and three Nepalis.  The main language spoken at the office is Nepali, so we get plenty of practical language practice as well as book-learnin'.

12 PM: Lunchtime!  Every day our office cook prepares a delicious meal of traditional Nepali food: daal bhat (rice and lentils), tarkari (vegetable curry), saag (boiled green vegetables), and achar (spicy relish).  My rice-eating capacity has probably quadrupled since I arrived in Nepal!

Taking a tempo (one of the many forms of sketchy but extremely fun Nepali public transportation). 

1-4 PM: My fellow volunteer and I have language class every afternoon.  In theory, I'm capable of having extended conversations in Nepali.  In practice, I tend to panic a little when confronted with the prospect of actually speaking it.  My teacher, my family, and my Nepali acquaintances are very patient with me as I practice speaking their language, although I think they also get a kick out of hearing my atrocious accent and some of the ridiculous things I accidentally say.  (For example, when I tried to say that someone had gone to the bathroom, but actually said that she was a toilet!)

Walking home from language school

4:30 PM: I arrive at home.  After having chiyya (tea) and khaajaa (snacks) with my host family, I have an hour or two to kill before dinner.  I sometimes go for an evening walk in the big open field below my house, or sit in the rooftop garden to read a book.  Sometimes I help my host mother with dinner (though my task is usually just to watch and learn).  

8:30 PM: Dinnertime!  Dinner is usually more or less the same as lunch - daal bhat and tarkari.  Nepalis say that if they go a day without eating daal bhat, they feel like they haven't eaten anything.  I thought that it would bother me to eat almost the same meal twice every day, but it's actually sort of comforting to always know what's coming.

9 PM: Time for a bucket bath before bed!  We have running water in the house, but water is very precious, and has to be carried in by hand to a tank on the roof, so I almost never waste it by taking a real shower (or by using the western-style toilet, which doesn't work anyway.  Instead there is an "Asian toilet" in a shed behind the house).    

9:30 PM: Time for bed - not only for me, but seemingly for the whole city of Kathmandu.  By this time the normally bustling streets are almost empty of traffic.  I guess everyone needs to go to sleep early, considering the roosters.

The view from  my street at dusk.

A Taste of Kathmandu

Kathmandu was described to me as "charmingly overwhelming", and I couldn't agree more. The city is crazy, thrilling, and full of wonderful hidden places to discover.  Everywhere we go there are a million things to look at, people and animals and signs and buildings, little vignettes of ordinary life.  Every morning and evening hundreds of bells ring as people make offerings to their gods, and the air is full of the smell of spices.  Walking down the street is an adventure, and crossing it is an adrenaline rush. (There are no rules - traffic will move around you, but it won't stop.) Despite the apparent chaos, there is little aggression - everyone seems pretty mellow.  Mellowest of all are the hundreds of stray dogs, who spend their days snoozing peacefully on the sidewalks.

Even if I never feel at home in Kathmandu, I think I'm going to like it.  There are some inconveniences - most notably, the rolling blackouts which leave us without power for several hours every day - but the city is colorful and exciting, the people are friendly, and there's so much to learn.  Already we've gone out for delicious dal bhat and momos - Nepali staple foods - hiked to a hilltop temple, and explored historic Patan Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We even had our first glimpse of the Himalayas.  Here are some photos of our first few days:

Our first dal bhat! (Photo cred: Leah)

View from the rooftop - apparently this was the first time the Himalayas have been visible from Kathmandu since June

Chobar Hill

We climbed Chobar Hill (the small one on the far left of the picture) to visit a temple.  This is just outside the city.

The pagoda was invented in Nepal; the smaller temple in front is built in a style imported from India.

The pots and pans are nailed to the temple in memory of people who have died.

View from Chobar Hill over the Kathmandu Valley

Laura and me with Kathmandu in the background (photo cred: Leah)

Patan Durbar Square

This was where the kings of Patan (the city we live in, adjacent to Kathmandu) had their palace. Opposite the palace is a series of Hindu temples.

He had been feeding the pigeons.

The throne of the kings of Patan, designed to portray the king as an incarnation of Vishnu.

A parade celebrating the 78th birthday of the woman on the sedan chair.  Among the Newari people, who are native to the Kathmandu area, all 78th birthdays are celebrated in this way.

Where I'm Going, When I'm Leaving, What I'm Doing

In less than 6 weeks I will be boarding a plane for Pennsylvania, and a week after that, traveling on to Kathmandu, Nepal.  Kathmandu is a foreign city to me now, but in a few months it will be my home.  I will be there for one year, serving with the Mennonite Central Committee as part of their SALT (Serving and Learning Together) program. My job title is Communications & Storytelling Assistant, and I will be working with MCC and its eight local partner agencies to develop more effective communications strategies.  MCC and its partners are engaged in vital humanitarian work in Nepal, and with improved communications they will be better able to raise awareness of their impact and garner support for their operations. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to serve in Nepal and I can't wait to get started!  I expect this year to be an incredible adventure, a tremendous challenge, and a time of great personal and spiritual growth.  From all I've been able to discover, Nepal seems like a beautiful and fascinating country, and I am so looking forward to living there and being immersed in its unique culture.

I don't expect to post much on this blog over the summer, but wanted to get it started and allow anyone who is interested to find out a little more about what I'll be doing next year.  Once I arrive in Nepal at the end of August, I will start making more regular updates.  For now, all I can say is that I'm very excited, a little nervous, somewhat overwhelmed with preparations, and above all, eager to embark on this journey.

If anyone is interested in supporting me in prayer, please pray that I would be consciously preparing myself mentally and spiritually for this journey, that I would be a real asset to MCC, that I would adjust quickly to life in Nepal, and that I would find friends and community there.

If anyone is interested in supporting me financially, you can find a link to my giving registry here: 

https://donate.mcccanada.ca/registry/katrina-labun-salt-nepal I am still short of reaching my fundraising goal of $5,500 and I would greatly appreciate any support you are able to offer. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and I hope you will continue to follow my progress.