[ Kathmandu Durbar Square ]

Hello all! :)

I am safely back in Iowa! However, I have a little bit of catching up on this blog to do before we get into what it is like to be home. Unfortunately, the last week of work was insanely busy for me (as you will soon read about) and thus I did not have sufficient time and energy to dedicate to blogging. I am going to try to recall as much as I can in my currently jet lagged state (happy 3 am, to everyone who is awake here!).

I left off on Thursday, July 24th, and it is now August 8th. Let me see how much I can remember. :)

[ Last Friday Night ]

On Friday, July 25th, some friends from the guesthouse, other ICIMODers, and I went to Thamel! We went to see the Rock Heads,  a Nepali rock band, perform and cover many popular songs. It was thrilling, with people cheering and screaming at the opening guitar riffs then hearing all of the voices rise in a glorious chorus. The noise was overwhelming, but I couldn't stop smiling at the sight of everyone else being so happy. :)

Please don't mind the sparkles! My camera was accidentally turned to "Magic" setting.
I have no clue why that setting even exists...

From left to right: Solene, Vinod, Me, Borris, May, Neha! Bikul came later!

[ Saturday ]

On Saturday, Sonika and I went to Kathmandu Durbar Square! This was last on the list of the three royal palaces, and let me tell you it was no let down! :) The "square," as I understand it, is really many temples along an isolated section of road. Sonika and I walked in and began to make our way towards the museum when a guard rushed after us. He herded us back to the ticket booth, where I paid for a ticket while Sonika was able to enter for free (note to future interns -- always take at least 2000 Rps with you to make sure you can cover entrance fees haha. Natives, no worries, usually 100 Rps covers it if you have to pay at all!).

Once cleared for take-off, we explored the inside of the museum! Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in most areas, but here are some choice shots that we were able to capture! :)

The entrance to the Durbar Museum

A video panoramic of the main square!

On our ascent of the 9 story temple!

The views from the top were absolutely incredible. :)

A huge thank you to Sonika for letting me use her camera!
Mine died at the top...and I haven't been able to turn it on since.
Sorry Mom.

You can see the mound which Swayambhu sits atop just
right of the center!

This was back outside the museum!

This temple is where Kathmandu, meaning Made of Wood,
gets its name from! It is entirely
carved out of one tree as legend holds it!

Thank you Sonika for such a great day! :)

That night I went over to Neha's again for another delicious meal! There was a Nepali couple there who had recently had an arranged marriage; they were able to tell us a lot about the culture and their perceptions of their own country! A lot of their ideas were strikingly new to me -- the first being that arranged marriages are still so common! Also, some of the traditions associated with marriage, like the family washing the man's feet and the giving away of the bride, had caused a lot of stress for them as it clashed so much with modern culture. They had claimed that NGOs were the curse of Nepal and that poverty didn't exist in Nepal before the word did. Both were addressing how Westerners perceive poverty and how the monetary system works differently in Nepal, with services being exchanged for other items or services and not always cash. I was really grateful that I had gotten to hear such an opposite side to the views I had held to that point -- it is always better to hear another side to each story!

[ Sunday ] 

Sunday morning I went out with Borris and May to a miniature market that sets up at the Yellow House every Sunday morning. It is absolutely adorable. The market is geared towards the expats, as is the restaurant (the Yellow House), and offers fine wine, cheese, sausage, dried fruits, pastas, and fish among other things! They also have these two guitarists playing through the lunch hour; Borris told me they were playing Gypsy Improv, which apparently is really difficult! Their playing was mesmerizing, though, and we listened for awhile after shopping. May and I then headed out for the rest of the afternoon to check out the shops on Kupondole! If I may say, we got quite a few great finds. :) We also made it back just in time for Futsal! 

On to the next post! :)

Peace and love,

Abby