today, things just went better. the lesson this morning wasn’t language, it was culture. off to a good start. following that, we headed off to patan durbar square where the dudes hanging out above were. the place was amazing. as you will see in the pictures below, it was filled with people socializing, filling jugs of water for their homes, and living their lives. the temples were really beautiful, and some of them dated to the 12th century. also, just before getting to the square, we stopped at the golden temple which was just off a dirt street, hidden amongst the homes.

yesterday, i said i wouldn’t chat food – well, that starts tomorrow. today i hit the food lotto. for lunch, the whole group of volunteers went to a wood grill place where i got a cheese pizza. not only was it the best food i’ve had since i left, it was one of the best pizzas i’ve had in a long time (excluding sam’s of course). and if that wasn’t enough, tonight i went back to the garden of dreams and ate at the open air cafe located inside. i went with a super rad couple from england who are here teaching, had a really nice chat, and later met up with a two irish volunteers for a few drinks at a pretty chill bar. sprites – no green beer for me.

tomorrow i’m heading to see one more temple in the morning, and after lunch will be heading out to the orphanage. i ran into a dude that just left my orphanage today who had really good things to say about it, so i’m really looking forward to getting there. and remember, i’ll likely not have access to the interwebs for a bit, so it may be a few days before you hear from me.

i’ll leave you with a few more pictures i made today while out strolling around the city this morning.

after a crap night’s sleep, i caught breakfast this morning at the guest house i’m temporarily staying in. there, i met five other volunteers who are here starting various assignments. most are staying longer than i am, and are teaching or working in medical outposts. there’s only one other gal, hana (sorry if i spelled that wrong), who is also working at an orphanage like me. following a breakfast of plain toast, the six of us met for a brief language lesson. i’d like to have a better attitude about it, but there’s just no way i’m going to learn even 2% of what she tried to teach us today. verb forms after 20 minutes? it’s just not going to happen. i did make a point to learn “no meat” which i had down rock solid during the lesson, but i managed to forget it no more than 10 minutes afterwards. DAMN IT!

a few of us headed out for a stroll following the lesson, and i got to see my first sights of kathmandu. sitting here now, i’m torn. it’s new, but it feels a lot like hanoi. it’s dirty, but that’s not really a bad thing. there are lots of shops filled with really neat jewelry and knitted wear, but those are along side of stores filled with trinkets made in china. while it was only my first day, and i should give it time (yada, yada, yada), i’m thinking i’m sort of glad i’ll be getting out of town on FRI – more on that in a minute. my whole reason to come here was to get way from hassle, get away from the crazy busy life i have been living back at home. here in the city, it feels no different. things are moving a million miles a minute, and i have access to the internet which has me wanting to pull up The Times, check my FB, and put up these posts. don’t get me wrong – i enjoy sharing my pictures and experiences with you – it’s just not giving me the break i was hoping for.

alright, back to my day. while out and about, we did find a place called the garden of dreams, which was well worth the 150 rupee (~$2.00) admission fee. it’s more less a chill out zone in the middle of the hussle and bussle that is downtown kathmandu, and we stayed for an hour or so chatting about our lives back home before returning to the guest house for lunch shortly after 1.

at this point i’ll say this and get it out of the way – i’m not going to talk about the food much during this trip. why? because i just don’t like it. (while that might sound blunt and crass, there’s really no other way to say it) i’ve had four traditional nepali dishes, and i don’t have the taste for them. any of it. don’t get me wrong – i’ve tried them all with a very open mind – they just don’t do it for me. so instead of going on for the next three weeks telling you about the meal that just wasn’t for me, i’ll leave it at that, and say no more. tomorrow, i’ll be stocking up on bread, jam, pasties, and a few snickers to get me through the next few weeks at my orphanage, which will be fine with me. which brings me to my placement:

i’ll be working and staying at an orphanage about 5km outside kathmandu. for now, all i know is it’s pretty rural, has 10 children ages 5 to 13, and i’ll be working with hana, the gal i mentioned earlier. we leave FRI, and i’m pretty excited to get there – it’ll be nice to get to work and out of the city.

i’ll leave you with some pictures of the city, including some from boudhanath (the top image in this post), considered one of the most holiest buddhist sites in the city. i’ll also include one from the airport at abu dhabi which was pretty neat.

oh, and before the pictures, a quick note – after tomorrow’s post, i’ll be leaving for my placement and will not have much access to power and zero access to internet. most likely, i’ll be blogging one or two posts on the weekend, and maybe one during the week if hana and i come into town for supplies. so, my apologies to the eager beavers that are hoping for day to day updates. but for me, it’s a good thing. i had hoped to unplug a bit during this trip, and that’s exactly what i’m getting.

the flight from chicago, while a bit long at 14.5 hours, went fine. in one of those rare moments of luck i see every blue moon, i got an exit row seat which was fantastic. i watched 127 hours and really don’t see what all the fuss is about. later, i nerded out and watched the new harry potter movie which turned out to be pretty good. the best part, though, was that i was able to rest. for what seems like the first time in a long time, i slept.

once through customs (btw photographers – be prepared to explain pocket wizards to customs when traveling outside the country), i caught a taxi to my hotel shown above, and aside from the pizza i had last night that rivaled the “grilled cheese” i had in macedonia for world’s worst, i had a comfortable night. as soon as this is posted, i’m off to terminal three to catch my plane to kathmandu. it’ll probably be a day or two before i get settled and have time to write, but i’ll be sharing pictures of where i’m at in the next update which should be interesting.

my packing list. i’m not sure why i post this before each trip. maybe it helps me to look back and continue to weed out things i don’t need for future travel. maybe it just goes to show you don’t need much to leave home. regardless, here’s what i’m taking. (camera stuff to come in a later post)

clothing:
-4 t’s
-2 button down shirts
-2 pr. shorts
-4 pr. drawers
-1 bathing suit
-2 pr. shoes
-1 pr. flips
-2 pr. socks
-1 beanie (would i ever go anywhere without this?)
-i’m also going to be taking a pair of jeans, a thin fleece, a long sleeve shirt, and a fleece vest which i’ll probably wear on the plane over.

other things:
-13″ macbook pro (with photoshop cs4 and lightroom 3)
-sleeping bag (mine’s pretty small. it’s the black and grey thing below the green shoes.)
–pacsafe 85
-iphone 4g
-ipod shuffle
-earbuds
-cloth tape
-led headlamp
-chargers, outlet converters, cords
-2 check cards, 2 credit cards, copies of passport, immunizations, passport photos, and other travel documents
-trusty timex watch
-mountain hardware belt
-shades
-100 100 nepalese rupee bills. 100 rupee = ~$1.40. so that means i’m pretty much taking a gangster roll of $1.00 bills. the bank messed up, i get to feel like i’m traveling 40 hours to go to a gentleman’s club.
-quick dry towel from REI.
-three books: Inside of a Dog, Running with Scissors, and The Worst Hard Time. while i was only planning on taking one, i just can’t decide which one looks better. so i’m taking all three. (thanks so much MAR!)

toiletries/meds:
-toothbrush / paste
-shampoo
-campsuds
-razor
-compact mirror
-q-tips
-inhaler
-chapstick
-bandaids
-tweezers
-needle / thread (i’ve actually used this on every trip i’ve taken)
-kleenex
-deodorant
-Malarone (anti-malarial RX)
-Cipro (for traveler’s diarrhea. laugh now, but all the Imodium in the world won’t kill the bacteria that cause this illness that affects up to 50% of the people who travel overseas every year.)
-Bonine for motion sickenss
-Tylenol
-Advil
-Pepto tabs
–Hearos. want the best night’s sleep ever? try these.

i always think i’m taking way too many toiletries, but find i use them all. i’ve also found buying stuff on the road is a bit trickier than it might seem, so i’m fine with the little extra weight. (case in point – i needed some eye drops in Japan, and ended up having to choose between the red, blue, or purple bottle due to the language barrier. i couldn’t read a word. i chose purple, which was obviously the wrong color to choose. it felt like i was dropping straight rubbing alcohol in my eyes. hell, it might have been rubbing alcohol for all i know – i couldn’t read the damn label. i did the eye drop motion thingy to the clerk and he pointed them out, but who knows.) plus, there’s nothing worse than trying to find meds when you’re not feeling well. so now, i carry it along.

that’s pretty much it. i left my clothes line in Venice and haven’t yet replaced it. that said, i think i’ll be ok as i’m either staying with a family or in the orphanage where they do their own laundry. i’m sure they’ll have a line to hang my clothes. i still need to pick up a sink stopper – i forgot this in Europe and it sucked. everything pictured fits nicely in the green REI duffel pictured top left. it measures 21″ x 13″ x 13″, and fits everything i need to survive for the month i’m there.

i also should add i had to get a few more vaccinations for this trip. i needed my second dose for hepatitis A, and i was due for my tetanus. what surprised me was that i needed an adult Polio vaccine. i’m not going to lie – this kind of makes me wonder where i’m heading that i need to worry about getting polio even though i was vaccinated as a child. but that risk is now gone, so one less thing to stress about.

i’ll be putting up a post with all the camera / electronic stuff i’m taking shortly. it’s not a ton of gear, but i’ve got a few projects in mind that require a small amount of studio lighting which was a bit tricky to pack for carry-on. i’ll fill you in on those projects in the weeks to come.