Nepal Prt 3. Emo Time

I got my visa! Phwoar! It's about time. Now I can start traveling. I wasted a couple of weeks, but oh well, all this is an experience and part of traveling. I'm leaving in a couple days to Varanasi.

So I was a bit emo the past few weeks. Mainly leaving the boys and knowing that I won't come back to Nepal. Nepal is my #2 favorite country. (Cambodia being #1) When I came back I couldn't see the boys. I was told that it would be too difficult to handle another Goodbye when I was there for only a week. I completely agree because it was a tough Goodbye last week. The kids kept asking me if I would come back again, and I had to tell them No. A volunteer from the same house said that the day after my departure, the boys were sad and were in bad moods. I was surprised. Before I came to Asia I was worried that I wouldn't effect anyone. As in, making a difference, even a small one. I remember writing something like this in my cover letters; I'm not trying to change the whole world, if I can help ONE person, inspire them, make them happy, or to even share a friendship, that would be enough for me. One person is good enough.

Now that I'm back and hearing how the boys were when I left. It touched me. I always wanted to know if my time there mattered at all when I left last summer. I thought they would forget me. Now I know...that I had effected most of them, and it became emotional. I was afraid of that part. Saying Goodbye to them was very sad, I felt like we were all trying to fight back our tears. I'm just so glad that my time so far was meaningful to me and to them.

Goodbye Bangladesh

And good riddance. My India visa application was rejected. I'm a tourist! I'm not looking for a job in India! What a douche. I tried calling the foreign visa officer personally and he hangs up on me, not willing to hear me out. The US embassy can't help me because they have a week holiday until Sunday. I'm not waiting anymore.

I could have gone to the Banderbans, the border of Burma, which sounds amazing where there are Burmese tribes. But I couldn't go because of this stupid visa issue. It was either apply for the India visa and wait 3 days to get it and bone out to India right away, or buy a tour package to the Banderbans and wait for my permit (required) in 4 days, and then I'm allowed to enter the Banderbans for an extra few days. But the India visa was more important so I waited out for the visa. Bada Bing Bada Boom, no visa. But no time to go to Banderbans.

I'm going back to Nepal to get my India visa, find a bus/train to Varanasi and that's that.

Bangladesh...okay maybe I should say - Dhaka, the capital. What did I learn in Dhaka? This country has 89.8% Muslims. The people of Bangladesh are called Bangladeshis (Bandladesheeze) and the language is called Bangla. The Bengal Tigers are widely known around the world because they are from the Sunderbans, south of Bangladesh. And the currency is called Taka, US.68 to their 100.

This was a tough city to get around. Primarily because there are no women. I walked down a busy street full of hotels, restaurants, businesses, and a college! I saw an guess-timate of 200 men outside for lunch and a total of 5 women. 2 of them were beggars and the 3 were probably someone's wife and sisters. Even the florist has male employees! So imagine an intersection with 600 men, and 15 women. That is how I saw it.

I can actually count the times that someone was nice to me; The old man fruit seller that gave me 2 extra oranges, and was cool that I didn't have 30 more taka on me to pay for all of my food and water. One rickshaw biker actually watched the road and tried his best to not scare me when crossing the middle of the highway. My hotel manager gave me a new towel and toilet paper without me asking. The representative that helped me get my air ticket back to Nepal, he gave me my first Bangladeshi red tea. And the female security guard at the India embassy, telling me that I was beautiful.

So, I wish I went to the Banderbans and then I could say that Bangladesh ISN'T the worst country I've been to. But it is indeed memorable. I bought a can of Bavaria, non-alcoholic beer, and I will crack it open midnight tonight. Cheers to a dry country!

Family in Nepal?

Receiving an email from my mom telling me that I have a cousin in Nepal was a shock. I was in Nepal for 5 months...how could I not know this?

For real, I found out a few days ago. My first-cousin is 17 years old. My youngest aunt from my mother's side, married a Tibetan and their son grew up in Nepal. His name is Tashi and I was surprised to know that he lives 25 minutes away from me. So it was quite odd for me to call him, tell him who I was and to tell him that I can come visit. He likes basketball, art, and soccer. He wants to be a stock broker, because he's really good in math. I feel so bad, he's in way more shock than I was. He grew up thinking that he was the only child from his mother's side of the family, I told him that he had 5 other cousins living in the US. We got really close and I wish I knew this earlier, I had so much time in Nepal, and he and I could have hung out more often. At least I got to meet him. He calls me sister.
tashi and me.

Nepal Part 2

So it's been 3 weeks already in Nepal and it's been great. I have become closer to the boys than I did when I was here. I'm just here to hang out with the boys, I have no desire to go back to teaching anytime soon. Considering how intense my last months in McLeod Ganj was, I deserve a break, and this is a great place to do nothing and chill out.

few of my boys and his sisters family

Some problems, my main reason coming back to Nepal was that I needed to renew my India visa but my last one expired November 25th. Problem is that I didn't know I had to wait exactly 30 days to get a new one, that means...I can get my India visa December 25th, but that's a holiday, the Indian embassy re-opens the 29th, my Nepal visa ends 23rd. So I can't get the visa! Now guess what? I'm going to Bangladesh, I don't know too much about what's there, but I know it's similar to India. YES DAD, I WILL TRY TO STAY SAFE. I'm only going there so I can get my damn Indian visa. It's so funny to me, I'm so free...to do what I want, but it's not that easy because I don't have any other options to choose from.

Anyways, I have a week to enjoy Nepal, next blog in Bangladesh!

Yoga & Thoughts

I am in Rishikesh. Yoga capital of the world. I left Dharamsala last week and am taking a couple weeks off before I go back to Nepal to renew my Indian visa. Yeah! I'll admit, I'm excited to go back to Nepal. Many things I missed.

Yes yoga, I might as well get into it. It's like going to Saddle Ranch and not riding the mechanical bull...okay that was kind of dumb. I start a Hatha course tomorrow and will do it for one week. Auuuuuuuuuuuum.

What else, some thoughts...I guess I can say I'm lucky, beacuse I'm not working anymore! Many people have told me that I'm lucky. But I see it as me working hard getting what I want, and that's what I did. I worked very hard to be where I am now, plenty of patience added. However that doesn't make me lucky. I'm just like everyone else, with debt to pay, and future career goals. And I left it. Gone. There are moments collected during my trip where I had felt lucky. For example, yesterday I sat on my balcony during sunset and peeled an apple (still can't peel an apple with one long strip) and I was looking at the river flowing. I was just sitting there eating my apple and looking around. That moment, made me feel lucky. To see this, this beauty. It's hard to explain how I feel when I see beauty. The smallest things move me. Which was why I had it tattooed. Take out all the famine, war, and hate...everything man-made. Look at the world, it's so beautiful...and I know I will never see it again.

27th B-day in India

I'm 27. Fucking shit. 27. I'm on the border of mid-late twenties!! Oy! My birthday, day, was great. When I came to McLeod Ganj, I wasn't expecting to meet anyone that I would be close with and celebrate, considering how many people just come and go within a few days. But, I feel really lucky to have met these 4 people. My time here is almost to an end and I will miss them A LOT.

Let me flash back to the past on my 22nd birthday-my first bday away from home- I was in Prague, Czech Republic. (Karl, can you believe it was 5 years ago!?) I remember not remembering anything. Just woke up on my bed with all my clothes on and oblivious to how many drinks I had consumed the night before. Here's a sample of my bday drunkness; there was a free-use computer at the hostel I stayed in Prague, and I must of had time to write an email to ALL my friends in black-out mode.

"its my birhtday... i'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo drunk that i have free intermet and i have no idea what i'm doing...but though....l i have free intenet. i fridcking miss all you guys and having the ball o fmy life."

Some of you may remember this and I'm sure it is still in your email archives, October 29, 2004. Checking my email the next morning was quite interesting, cause I couldn't figure out why I had so many replies with the same subject line. Anyways, good times.

Okay, back to present time. My birthday, day, was great. It started with breakfast on our balcony (I share a double bedroom with my co-worker Jay, we are FRIENDS, that's it. Stop laughing Przemek) with a candle next to my eggs. Jay and the guesthouse owner was singing me Happy Birthday. Spent the entire morning waiting for the internet connection from all over McLeod Ganj to come back so I could Skype my parents. After the Skype conversation with my parents I relaxed at home, enjoyed the view, and read my book. Drinking/Dinner started at 6pm, at a nice roof-top restaurant Carpe Diem. It felt nice to laugh the whole entire time, have bday hugs with people coming in and out to see me, my tattooist, and ex-neighbor.

Erica, Przemek, Jay, me.

Also, adding to the celebration, we finished the website! LOOK . After a few miserable weeks, we are finally done. We all feel good about it. Jay (England), Przemek (Poland) , and I were working on the website, and Erica (Ireland) was the assistant at the organization. We are all completely different people, but we click so well together. When we're in the same room, it is non-stop laughing, there hasn't been a day where we don't talk about balls and Bruno. I'm really going to miss them. At the end of the night, I had a few beers, a powerful flashlight as a gift from Erica and Przemek, and a paper-mache notebook gift from Jay, and a beaded bracelet from my student Pema. -sigh- good times.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!

Some new things...

Dad...you can't be mad at me. It's done, it's pretty, and forrrrrehhhverrrrrr. I've wanted this a couple years before, so I was very well prepared. It didn't hurt, I enjoyed it. My tattooist is bad ass, his name is Tamding. If you ever come to McLeod Ganj and curious about getting a tattoo, go to Tamding's Studio. There are 3 studios here and I think he's the best.


My right arm: Follow Your Heart, my left arm: Beautiful World. In Tibetan script. Yes, it's red.

I started to do a 2.5 hour Power Yoga class. It isn't like the power yoga back in Cali, which was extremely intense and physical. The one I went to was slow yet challenging. My instructor was great, however he reminded me of someone...remember Dhalsim from Street Fighter? Yeah, my instructor was like that, instead doing crazy knotted yoga poses, he's bendy.

The past few weeks I have been working on Volunteer Tibet's (non-profit organization) website; designing the layout, filling in new information and content, which takes me all day and all week. It also seems that I'm doing other office work as well, such as finding placements for new volunteers arriving everyday. I'm still tutoring in the morning and every now and then I'll attend the conversation classes. I gave my teaching class to another volunteer because I had to spend more time on the website. Which is good, it's beneficial for me and the new volunteer. I don't know when we'll finish the website, hopefully by November.

All in all, I'm fine and loving life. Miss you all.