[ Swayambhunath ]

This will be a quicker update than the week-long posts I've been doing lately!! :) 

[ Saturday Cont'd ]

Saturday night, Neha invited me over for dinner, along with some of her other friends! :) She cooked soooooo much food, and every bit of it was delectably delicious! It was Indian food, so some of it was too spicy, but with the help of some lactose I made it through! :) 

[ Swayambhu Sunday! ]

Sunday morning, Prabesh and I headed out early to Swayambhunath (Swoy-am-boo-not) aka Swayambhu aka Monkey Temple! :) A huge thanks to Prabesh for not only taking me but also letting me use his phone to take pictures!! I hadn't been able to recharge my camera batteries since the power was out, so the photo-taking device was immensely appreciated! :) That being said, Swayambhu is an incredibly photogenic stupa. I would recommend doing a Google Images search of it -- there are a lot of neat pictures out there! :) But for now, the ones we took!

Swayambhu is on a hill, so there were many steps to go up!

Pictured are the prayer flags and the valley!

Although you can't see it in the picture very well,
the hills surrounding the valley were visible on all sides.
It was so cool. :)

Me with the valley!

Me with the stupa!

Me with a Buddha!

Me with another Buddha!

These are some of the souvenirs that are sold at Swayambhu!

Everything was so nifty!

A monkey! There weren't as many as expected, but when
we did run into some, we hastily retreated!
(This one was at a safe distance though!)

The lower stupa had even more prayer flags fluttering overhead. :)

Just as it is in other places, fountains seem to be coin magnets!

The World Food Prize asked for the videos I've been posting of the surrounding!
They aren't exciting, but they are a glimpse into the motion of life here. :)

After Swayambhu, Prabesh and I went to the National Museum of Nepal (what a name!). It had three main buildings: an art gallery with metalwork, wood and stone carvings; a Buddhist art gallery divided into the Terai, Kathmandu Valley, and northern Himalayan regions; a the historical museum with preserved animals, weaponry, and coinage! There was a lot to see! While it didn't have the atmosphere of the Patan museum (or the eloquent placards!), there were many ancient and interesting artifacts! :)

We think that this car might have been the first in Nepal!

This is the picture (from National Geographic) of the car being carried to Kathmandu

They had stone spouts! :)

On the whole, the museum was really interesting! We drove back through Kathmandu Durbar Square, and while I didn't get any pictures, I am very excited to actually go back and walk around it (hopefully this weekend!). The rest of Sunday I did just that -- rest. It wasn't until I woke up around 8 pm that I decided it would be good to have dinner! I also skyped with my parents for a bit before falling back asleep. I was exhausted!

[ Monday ]

Mondays seem to be my best days for accomplishing things! I set off to work with a fiery vigor and whipped up not one, but TWO reports! That's right folks! I was on an urban-water-supply-reporting frenzy! With Kohima and Shimla finished, I now have four more cities (I previously miscounted -- there are nine cities total!).  After work, I took Banker to the Poor over to Cafe Soma and enjoyed a chocolate thickshake and a club sandwich! :) Later on, Borris and I went to play futsal! There were so many people there tonight -- enough for four teams! During the time off the field, we watched and cheered on the teams on the field. It is a lot of fun with so many people there, even if you do not get to play as much! :) During one of the breaks, I met Bips (or at least I think that is his name!). He is also 18! I hadn't realized how much I haven't been around people my age here; it was really refreshing talking with him and relating in the which-college-to-go-to experience. I had also done really well as goalie -- not letting any shots through -- and managed to finagle the ball away from some of the star players on occasion! :) My dribbling definitely has room for improvement, but I still have really enjoyed playing. I may even take it up as an intramural at Colby! :)

On a gloomier note, Monday marks exactly two weeks until I leave Nepal. I am already anxious about accomplishing all my assignments and for the presentation I will be giving at ICIMOD before I leave! Still on the to-do list is visiting Pashupati, Kathmandu Durbar Square, and souvenir shopping (please let me know ASAP if you would like something!). Each day brings an adventure, and I am not quite ready to leave that yet. With only 14 days, I will just have to make the most of it! I hope you all have a fantastic week -- we only have so much time on this planet! (Unless you believe in reincarnation, that is!) :)


Peace and love,
Abby