I am so upset!!

Our plans for Tibet have been thwarted by a incompetent agency and the Chinese government. Supposedly there was a threat of some sort regarding some person with a British passport with a certain description and there happened to be someone matching that description submitting an application this week so they decided to deny all visas until Oct. 6. It is maddening. I had looked forward to this trip for so long and it's so disheartening to have those plans fall through/postponed. Added to that is the horrible weather we've been having (5 days of rainfall) which makes the roads so muddy that it's hard to walk around to sightsee, and I see little kids fighting for glue to sniff at all the corners. It makes me really sad.
I'm going to have a good dinner tonight and hopefully a warm shower to cheer me up.

I Heart Elephants

I just came back from the most fantastic weekend. I am so sad that I'm back in Kathmandu. We went to Royal Chitwan Park in the south of Nepal. It's in the Terai region which is a hotspot for the Maoists. Our volunteer organization was so worried and repeatedly told us not to go because of the recent Maoist activity in Nepal. However, we didn't feel that we would be at risk because usually the activity is focussed on locals and government not at tourists. So, we signed a waiver and then set off early Friday morning.
It was a long busride through the many hills and valleys. We got to the plains of Terai and it was boiling hot!! We watched the sunset over the river the first night and got prepared for an eventful next day. The next day we took a 3 hour hike through the jungle and I was so glad we had guides because they usually heard unusual noises and made us wait until they figured out if it was safe or not to proceed. I made a fool out of myself at one point because at the beginning they told us the best way to avoid rhinos was to hide behind a large tree because they are relatively stupid animals. So, during the hike, our guide hid behind a tree and said something, but because I'm also a bit deaf I started imitating him and hid behind a tree as well. My friend started laughing at me when she saw me doing that because the guide was taking a leak and not hiding from a rhino. Anyways, afterwards we went bathing with the elephants which is so much fun. They just blow water on you when you're on their backs and they try to flip you in to the water. Great fun after a long, sweltering walk. Late afternoon we had a 3 hour elephant ride through parts of the park. It is so beautiful especially when you reach the grasslands and the setting sun reflects off the water and the white elephant grass. It is spectacular. We also saw rhinos during the ride! They are very cute, but didn't seem like the brightest animals.
I am so sad as a write this right now, I wish I could live there for the next few months.

same same but different

Thought I'd keep it short this time and just reflect on a few differences between Nepal and home:
1) Men are VERY affectionate with each other here, lots of handholding, fondling of earlobes, quite a difference from home
2) Traffic is mad, road rules do not apply here
3) Schedules during work are only loosely followed, punctuality is not really enforced (although I try with my patients)
4) Political situation here is very volatile, Maoist party has threatened to leave the parliament. This makes for much more interesting politics and watercooler talk than back in Canada.
5) Lots of rice consumed, in different forms! puddings, beaten, cooked, fried..

I'll think of more, my time is running out at the internet cafe.
Oh! another interesting thing, I rode a motorbike for the first time yesterday! Very weird coincidence, meeting random people in Kathmandu. Anyways, it was an exhilirating experience, you all should try it! Especially in crazy traffic during rush hour!!

Swayumbunath and Teej Pt. 2

Wow, it feels like such a long week! I'm basically living on 20 minutes of sleep at this point. I will elaborate later. Yesterday I tried to get to work but couldn't so ended up going to Pashupatinath to see the celebrations for Teej (women's festival). It was really lovely and we got special treatment because we had a volunteer pass so we bypassed all the lines to get onto the temple grounds. When we got near the gates all we saw was a sea of red saris, it's really quite the sight, all the women are lining up to get into the main temple. Unfortunately I wasn't wearing red that day, I felt out of place.
We had a great dinner at a very posh hotel (Dwarika) and the food was just fantastic. Definitely worth the 800 rupees (equivalent to approx. 12 USD). I wish I could go back more often! At the spur of the moment I was swayed into going to the the Monkey Temple at sunrise meaning I had to spend the night in Thamel. We ended up renting this really dirty room infested with roaches the size of a mini chocolate bar! Needless to say I was absolutely disgusted and appalled. We tried to kill as many as we could but one was burrowing in my bed. Therefore I had no sleep all night worrying about roaches crawling into my hair/mouth/ear etc. Really, you should see the size of them.
At 4AM we set off to go to the Monkey Temple which is about a 40 minute walk from Thamel. It's really different to walk the streets of Kathmandu in the middle of the night, it's so peaceful, the air is so much cleaner. There are supposedly 365 steps up to the temple and you have to climb all the stairs for good luck... which I did... very slowly and breathlessly. There are a surprising number of people who are at the temple at this time of day and the number of people exercising as well. We watched the sunrise over smoggy and cloudy Kathmandu and was satisfied. I am now craving a warm shower and clean comfy bed.

3M: mice, mould and mites

Our house that we're living in is infested! After being warned of mice in our rooms 2 weeks ago, we've finally had our experience of out in our room!! Actually it was Louise, my roommate who had one sitting on her foot in the middle of the night. I sleep in fear every night. Also all our clothes and sleeping bags smell of mould and I'm sure that's not helping with my respiratory problems.
Enough complaining, I have a day off today!! I was planning to go to work but the street that I normally take was blocked off and no buses were going up there. Also it's women's day (Teej) and I really am not supposed to work anyways!! Yay! We're going to go to Pashupatinath to see all the women dressed up at the temple today. It is only a 10 minute walk away from where we live which is so great! Another volunteer arrived today from the States so it's getting to be a crowded house which makes it more lively! I like how you get to meet so many different people when you travel and work in a different in a city and really get to know them. Tonight we're going to a fancy dinner at the Dwarika hotel for a buffet bbq!! I'm really excited to eat charred meat, I don't think I've eaten meat for a week. This hotel is so beautiful, it restores old Newari architecture and incorporates it into their hotel. I will definitely post pics as soon as I can.

Teej and Pashupatinath

Today I wore my first sari ever! The coordinators at Projects Abroad organized this get together at the HIV centre to celebrate Teej, a women's festival. It's not really a feminist friendly festival. Women all over Nepal get together during this festival to pray for the success of their husbands. They fast (the men don't) and this will hopefully ensure the future happiness of the husband! If you're unmarried, you fast and pray as well in hopes of ensnaring a wonderful husband. Not quite the type of festival we would normally have in Canada. However, it's quite fun because of the dress (all women have to wear some red/pink) and supposedly it's going to be so busy at the temples on Friday (national holiday).
After the celebration at the centre, decided to go to the holiest temple in Nepal - Pashupatinath. My housemates see this place everyday because they walk to work. I can't walk because I work so early so I have to resort to the microbus. This place is definitely one of my favourite places in Kathmandu. It's kind of magical and you feel like you are in another time and place. Upon entering the area, I first encountered a show in front of the ONLY elderly home in Nepal. They had beautiful folk music playing for the residents and I had a great commentary from one of the staff in the home. Then I entered the actual temple grounds and observed the cremation ceremonies amidst the old temple buildings. It was one of the most touching things I have ever seen. It's really an experience you all should experience, I can't really put it in words and as I think about it tears well up. Am definitely going back.

Sunglasses at night

so. there is a massive outbreak of conjunctivitis in Nepal. Supposedly 20% of the population has it and pretty much all the members of my host family has had it or is having it. scary. You can tell the infected by the fact that they wear sunglasses all the time. not sure how effective it is in containing the virus except to ward people off. am always making mental notes not to touch my eyes and to always use purell. hopefully that works.
Just finished my first week of work, it was an unusual week because of the spinal cord injury conference and there really wasn't real work done because of all the presentations etc. My head of department is 25, a new grad and is a male chauvinist who likes to assert his power. He keeps on asking me if I've read his rules, and I kinda nod and then ignore him. I figure the best way to deal with him is to smile and nod and then ignore him as best I can. He is also a poor therapist, he gives all his patients standing hip ex and then expects them to stand on one leg. He is not hands on at all. Personally I would fail him if he were my student. Yes, that bad!! Then today he tells me I have to do 2 presentations on SCI syndromes and proper management. I think it's more because he's not sure what to do. I thought I was done with presentations! Plus I have to work 6 days a week!! on another note, this conference was really cool because I met many interesting people. There's this Bangladeshi doctor who seems quite amazing, he is a neurosurgeon/urologist/plastic surgeon/neurologist/physiatrist all in one!! How cool!! And his son goes to York university so I think he took a liking to me (being Canadian and all). And!! I met this really cool PT who is involved with Handicap International who basically implemented this SCI network in Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand. He is so interesting and has accomplished so much in the time he's been there, and he's invited me to come visit early next year when I'm in Cambodia and he'll take care of my visas and all!!
I'm slowly getting over my culture shock, it has taken a while which surprised me because I thought I was pretty easy going and all. But all the pollution, dirt, throngs of people, noise and bustle really got to me. Added to the fact that I may have sinusitus and feel like crap. So, if anyone has good remedies for this problem, please let me know becasue I don't trust the doctors /chemists here in giving me the right meds.
Whew, long post. Will hopefully have pics up soon!

Start of work week...

Went to Bhaktapur yesterday to look at the old town and the temples and carvings. The craftsmanship is really amazing. However, i think the Lonely planet guide is dated because this town is getting much more touristy (not the untouched city as it's described to be) and it's really only in Durbar Square (very small area) where there are no vehicles, otherwise, you are still honked at and many many vehicles around (although not like Kathmandu). Getting back was quite an adventure, bad one because i was feeling very sick at this point because of all the pollution around and lack of sleep (the host family's dog was whining and barking all night, giving me only 3 hours of sleep ahhhh!!!).

Started "work" today to find out that there is a spinal injury conference going on the next 3 days. Thought I would join in and get to see differences between approaches. Interesting thoughts: mechanisms of injuries are usually due to falls (into wells), falling off poles/ladders (oftentimes, poorer people climb up to the electricity poles to steal electricity and then fall causing SCI), falls off overloaded buses, trains, cars. Couldn't really stay much longer because volunteer coordinator wanted us all back to our host families' home by noon because there are strikes and road blocks today. There were 3 bombings yesterday but I don't think we were around those areas. We'll be avoiding public buses for teh time being though and resort to taxis and walking.