Pokhara

We went to the Buddha Stupa today, I believe it is one of the biggest. We were able to watch some monks making candles, and forming rice into little statures that they us for a service they do. The Stupa it in the middle of a large square with little shops all the way around and you are supposed to walk clockwise around the stupa. You can also climb up to the first level and walk around it so you have a better view of the square from there. It’s strange because the Stupa is in the middle of a very busy part of town and you don’t even see it until you turn down a little alleyway and there it is.

We also went to a restaurant and had an authentic Nepali dinner. We all sat at a long table on chairs with no legs so you are on the ground with a little cushion. You start off with a little bowl of popcorn, and then they bring you three chicken Mo-mos (it’s kind of like a filled steamed dumpling) they are very good. After that they bring you are warm plate and small bowls and men come around a serve you Dal Bhat which is rice, lentil soup chicken curry, spinach, green beans and cauliflower. They finish with a yogurt type stuff. It was all very good. They also had some cultural dancing while we ate, girls with candles on their heads, a man and woman dancing.

I also found out that I will be doing my orphanage work at the place called Namaste Children House, in Pokhara. They have 64 kids there ranging in age from 4 to 16. We have to be up at 5 in the morning to have breakfast and get ready for the 7 hour bus ride. I will be staying in a guest house that is just for the volunteers of the orphanage. Here with me is Natasha from Canada, Gavin from Ireland and Diego from Italy.

That was two days ago.

I arrived in Pokhara yesterday afternoon, and the bus ride ended up being 8 and a half hours. Once you get out of Kathmandu Valley and into the mountains it is amazing, the day was a little cloudy so I couldn’t see as much as I’m sure you can on a clear day. But everything is green and the trees are huge. You have little water falls everywhere, and no matter what the landscape is you have little houses everywhere. It’s amazing where the people will find a place to live. They all have little gardens and goats. We made a couple stops on the way, and at the second one we saw the biggest spider I have ever seen, the body was about 2 ½ - 3 inches long an inch wide and the legs were about 6 inches long. Not even kidding!

When we got here we were met by a man who works with guest house. There are two other girls here one is at the same orphanage and the other is working at a sister orphanage. We went and met with the kids this morning because they didn’t have school. They are so great, they call us auntie and uncle, and they just grab your hand a take you everywhere. I ended up the in library with 5 kids reading them books and trying to explain The Pirates from the Caribbean to them. We all had lunch together (Dal Bhat). After lunch we went back to the guest house because the kids had a meeting with there counselor. The walk from the orphanage to the house is about 30 mins. But it isn't really that bad, Pokhara is a great city it has a large lake and i'm told when it's clear you can see the Annapurna Mountains. It should clear up in a couple days and I can't wait. After about 2 hours we walked back to the orphanage and helped the kids with there home work. They are so smart, the young kids 5 and 6 are read Nepali and English very well. When some of them were done they started teaching us Nepali, and they thought is was very funny listening to us try to count to 10. Tomorrow we will be going back to help them get ready for and walking them the 10 mins to school. I am having a hard time learning names, but they are great.

I will let you all know how things are going in the next couple days.

Love you all