[ 3...2...1...Lift Off ]

The last weekend, like much of the last few weeks in Nepal, was full throttle. This will be the last post on my activities in Nepal (and the second to last post for the blog in general!), so sit/stand/lay back and enjoy! :)

[ Saturday ]

Do you remember how I slept 13 hours Friday night? Those 13 hours took me right up to 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. At that exact moment, I recall slowly waking in bed and admiring how lovely the sunshine was as it came through the curtains. This peaceful thought only lasted a fraction of a second as I realized I hadn't woken up to an alarm. An alarm on a Saturday? Why yes, because I had planned on going on a hike with friends from Futsal. Well, what time were we supposed to leave? 7:30 a.m. Yelling frantically I leaped out of bed, threw on what I reckoned were acceptable hiking clothes, and ran across the street to our meeting place, Cafe Soma. Luckily, everyone was still standing around, and they did not appear to be waiting on me either. In my second stroke of luck, Cafe Soma was open so I was able to get a light breakfast! And in a third stroke of luck, a friend of mine had also slept in, meaning that I wasn't late to our meeting either! I considered myself one of the luckiest people alive that morning, surrounded by friends and rather good fortune, as we took the cabs up to Nagarjun National Park.

It was a beautiful morning for a hike, and, although there were initially many stairs, the path eventually turned into a much more enjoyable trodden trail. All was going smoothly, with one horrific exception: the leeches. I wore what would have been, next to flips flops (or thongs or sandals or, as they are called in Kathmandu, slippers), the worst possible shoes. They had large openings all over the foot, creating quite easily accessible areas of flesh for the leeches to latch on to. The first bite I realized I had was something of a shock. I had tried to mentally prepare myself for it, but it got to me nonetheless. I stood, stricken and shaking, as the others helped put salt on the three leeches feeding on my feet. Nicole, who probably saved my life that day (not really but I am honestly that grateful), had brought an extra pair of socks and "leech salt," both of which she generously let me use. Along with wet wipes and band-aids. A few more times up the trail, we would stop to shake out the leeches in our shoes. Once we made it to the top, we all stripped off our shoes and socks, comparing the size of the suckers that had managed to make it that far. Bips took home the prize with what was basically a monster that must've been in his shoes since the beginning. I hadn't felt any leeches, so I hadn't partaken in this ceremony until 20 minutes later, when we were all sitting around on the benches. I wouldn't have, either, if I hadn't noticed that my shoe had a tinge of red at the toe. Reluctantly, I also emptied a huge leech from between my toes, and we watched and laughed as it drunkenly inched around in circles.

The top was really beautiful -- it was the highest up I had been my entire time there. Luckily, Ash agreed to take a few photos for me (thank you thank you thank you!).

There was a huge metal tower that overlooked everything!
That is where this picture is taken from. :)

It hadn't struck me until then just how vast the valley is!
I couldn't see the other side because it was so large (and cloudy!).

I almost ran the entire way down and only hesitantly stopped in a hastily-determined-very-safe place so as to avoid any further bites. It was 1 p.m. when we were finally finished! Even with the leeches, we all had a ton of fun. It was great talking with people while also getting to see a more natural side of Nepal.

Later that afternoon, I went to Nikesh's birthday party! Even though I arrived half an hour late, I was still the first one there by about 20 minutes! Such is life in Nepal (and thankfully the same mindset had saved me that morning!). That night, to honor Nick's Canadian roots, we played curling! You may be wondering How do you play an Olympic sport involving ice in the middle of summer in Kathmandu? -- which is a very valid query. On the cleared-off roof top of their house, a large tarp was laid down and then covered in water and soap. Buckets with rocks in them were tossed across the slick surface towards a bulls-eye drawn at the other end. There were broom used as well (although this was more for visual entertainment than anything else!). It was a brilliant remake and was pulled-off beautifully! Later that night, Nikesh received his major birthday present -- a guitar! He and Ash sang Californification; it was absolutely fantastic. At almost every live venue in Kathmandu I have heard Californication sang, making it a song that now always reminds me of the city. Nick played a few more songs on his new guitar -- all of them were so good! It was a great way to end the night. :)

[ Sunday ]

Sunday morning I went with Neha, May, and some of the other Germans working at GIZ to the Yellow House to enjoy breakfast and the guitar players. :) Afterwards, I tried to find a few more souvenirs in Kupondole before heading out with Prabesh! We went to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Pashupatinath (the most sacred Hindu shrine in Nepal, dedicated to Shiva, where they do cremations) and Boudhanath (one of the largest stupas in the world). A huge thank you to Prabesh for (again) letting me use his camera and for also taking pictures!!!

Seeing Pashupati was perhaps one of my most uncomfortable times in Kathmandu. There were many more beggars there than I had seen elsewhere, some had body defects, others mental. Bodies were being burned on one side of the river while children swam naked on the other. A crowd had gathered to see a newly dead body about to be set on fire. There were more monkeys there than at Monkey Temple! They ran around in packs, and a few times we hastily walked past so as to avoid any confrontation with the seas of fur beside us. The magnitude of this temple was astounding, though, and it had a beauty in its own way. While I wasn't allowed inside the main temple (because I am not Hindu), there was a lot to see around it!

Boudha was next! It is essentially a huge dome surrounded by shops and houses. The whole area is so peaceful! The mood and atmosphere were drastically different than the solemn stillness in the air at Pashupati.

The irony is not lost on me.

Sorry about the weird angle, someone
had started closing the door!

It all perfectly timed out so that I was back in time for my last futsal match. It was great playing with everyone again, for the last time! Afterwards, I went on a walk with Bips, and then had dinner at Cafe Ghangri with Prabesh (chicken momos became a tradition for farewells during my time there). That just left one day in Nepal...

[ Monday ]

I am just going to go through this systematically. Suffice it to say that there were many difficult goodbyes on Monday.
Monday morning, I woke up bright and early (because she was going to work (but I had the day off!)) to have breakfast with Neha at Cafe Soma (where I did order the magnificent browniccino). I packed and Skyped with my parents for a bit, then went to Moksh with Prabesh (where I ordered Nepali tea and discovered that it is immensely better with sugar!). A little more packing later, I went out to lunch with Bips (where I once again got beehun and pow!). A little more shopping and then packing later and I was finally done packing! I had a few hours to kill when I received a call from Bips, saying that he had a friend over who would be going to school in Iowa! We met up and I was introduced to Anushka, who will be going to Grinnell!!! It was great to meet her and spend my last hours in Nepal with friends.

Thanks Anushka for taking this picture of Bips and I!
Also, it captures the dog in the bottom left corner,
which had become too playful and was biting both the shirt
in my hands (thanks Mama Shakya) and my pants!

I quickly gobbled down my last chicken and apricot curry with naan as the ICIMOD driver showed up. We collected my bags and it was on the drive to the airport that it really began to sink in (especially since it is the same road Prabesh and I were on Sunday!). To be frank, it was really depressing counting all of the things that I would never see in the states as we drove along. At the airport, families waved good-bye to everyone around me. It was shocking to see all the people there, and luckily my driver guided me to where I needed to be. After that (and with a lot of questioning) I finally made it on to my flight.

With that, my friends, we reach the end of my time in Nepal. Without getting too sentimental, I will remember my time there fondly and grew from the experiences. But sentiments are what the next post is for -- this one was simply to recollect what all I had done. Look forward to one final one, where I will reflect more in depth on what this internship meant to me.


Until next time,
Abby