10,000 Steps

Today was a lazy day. I decided to stay home and enjoy the morning. I had set up a meeting in the afternoon with Janaki and Tara and Dilli at Tara’s home.

Since I haven’t been getting my 10,000 steps in each day, I decided to walk from Baluwatar to Bouhda. It is a very long and dusty walk. It took me over 2 ½ hours, but I did not get lost, which is a great accomplishment.

The incentive was that I wanted to buy the Yak wool blanket that I saw there awhile back. It is really nice. I had to really negotiate because it was at a shop in the Bouhda Temple, which is very expensive. I think I did a good job, mostly due to the fact that I bought a kurti and a beautiful stone for Eric. It always helps to buy volume.

Kari, my daughter, told me about a book, the Hunger Games, and I have been so engrossed that I can’t seem to put it down. I will have to check out the video store to see if I can buy the DVD. Remember that I can get all the current movies.

The weather is beautiful today after a thunderous rainstorm last night. It is good to clean the air, but the roadwork is making the dust unbearable. I finally had to give in to wearing a mask while walking.

I have my blessed Buddha and am very excited. Now that it has mantras and incense inside and been blessed by a Llama, it is a living statue and I need to treat it as such. I am concerned about carrying it around and hope that it will not be damaged. One of the justifications for buying the blanket was to wrap my Buddha so it will be safe.

Well, back to reading my book.

Namaste

Dead Man Walking

Today started out by walking to the bus and stopping at Mike’s breakfast for eggs and coffee. On the way to the bus I passed a group carrying a dead person to the river, where they will burn the body. The person was only on a plank of wood with a small cover over the body. Not the best start of a day.

I completed all the tasks and now am in the process of reviewing it with management before the next step. This is always the tricky part: getting time and attention so that what I am doing will really make a difference. I am scheduled for Sunday at 11am with Rita, the founder of Tewa.

Janaki and I left Tewa early and went to her senior care center. It is really nice. Most of the time the elderly just sit home and do nothing, so Janaki is starting a day care center for seniors… wouldn’t you know some of the seniors are in their 60’s. Now I feel really old.

I was glad to get home early because it started raining and I needed to wash my hair so I do not go to bed with a wet head. It is unusual to have rain in March, but at least I am home in my bed nice and warm.

I decided to take tomorrow off. Janaki is coming to Tara’s home (where I am staying) and meeting her and Dilli in the afternoon, so I can sleep in. I have a new book on the kindle (really computer because I lost my kindle) and will enjoy reading and relaxing.

Namaste, Paula

A Rainy Day

Yesterday was cold and rainy. It is unusual for rain this time of year. I was unprepared. My raincoats and umbrella were back at my apartment and I was soaked by the end of the day.

I found a great restaurant on the way to the Tewa bus, which I take to work everyday, called Mike’s breakfast. It has great coffee, which is the number one priority in the mornings. I typically have Nescafé instant coffee. I now know that I can leave 30 minutes early and have a nice breakfast before going to work. Lunches consist of rice and Dal so I am very hungry by dinnertime. I really need to get more protein in my system.

I did get some things accomplished at work today. I updated the marketing plan and have a draft of the brochure and letter to volunteers and donors. I hope to get them completed by the end of the week.

The office of Tewa is very cold so I wore three layers, but I was still cold. I was able to leave a few minutes early by catching a ride from Sadhana to meet Leslie and Dilli (a travel guide) for drinks.

Leslie and I were wandering around Patan looking for a Buddha statue and Kurti. Dilli helped to negotiate the statue. He was so kind. It was still very expensive but worth it.

By the time we got to the restaurant, we were totally soaked and enjoyed a few glasses of wine. I really do not get alcohol often, so it was a real treat.

Exercise is non-existent other than walking to the bus, so I am feeling very fat… so much for loosing weight in Nepal. The boot camp team would not be happy with me. I brought the bands to use for exercise but only used them once. I am not good at working out on my own.

I am working out of my apartment today; hopefully I can stay warm. I am going to try meditation this afternoon. All my efforts at Kopan Monastery and I have not practiced the whole week.

Well, I have one hour before I go to the main house for chanting… I am so excited. There is a group that comes to Tara’s home on Wednesday for chanting. I don’t understand the words, but love the peace it generates within me. I always am searching for calmness.

Namaste, Paula

A Day Off

Leslie and I decided to meet at the Italian coffee shop (yes, real coffee) at 10am and start our shopping day from there. We had a couple cups of coffee and started back to my place to drop off my computer.

Little did I know that there was a beauty shop (I use that word loosely) next to my place. Since I have not had hot water, it has been difficult to dye my hair. I decided to go there and have them put my color on!!

Everyone who knows me knows how fussy I am, so I ended up doing most of it. She kept trying to comb my hair with this very dirty comb… I kept making her use my comb. Remember the abundance of lice in Nepal!! They also were using this towel that I believe has never been washed… quite an experience.

All in all it was great to get my hair colored and washed…. While I was going through this process, Leslie went upstairs and had a massage. We didn’t start out on our shopping until noon.. Perhaps that is good so I could not spend so much.

We stopped for lunch at Fire and Ice, a great pizza restaurant. I had a great pasta dish. I was so excited to NOT have rice. From there we were off shopping for hours. Leslie wanted a Kurti and we looked everywhere. She will probably go to Patan and have it made. They can make them in a matter of a couple hours.

I purchased more scarves. What am I going to do with more scarves, but they are so pretty.

We met some friends from the Kopan Monastery and had a great dinner.

I was able to finally take a hot shower in one of the best showers in Nepal. It was worth the wait.

It was a really fun day, but back to work today. There is so much to do, I am not sure how to get it all done.

Namaste, Paula

Settling In

Yesterday was the wrap up of an exciting Tewa inaugural event. After another great breakfast and short meeting, all the visitors left and I went back to work to update my marketing plan.

I met with the management team to put some priorities in place and I have a list of 5 things to complete in 12 days… need to say I am a little overwhelmed. I tried to start the project in the afternoon, but was so tired after partying for 4 days. I am definitely not a night person.

I was suppose to spend one more night at Tewa and found out I was the only one there… pretty scary…. So I spent the night with Janaki and met her family. It was so nice and they were so wonderful to me. I spent an hour looking at family photos and their wedding. They really know how to have a wedding in Nepal.

In the morning I moved to my permanent residence (until March 22^nd) at Tara’s home. It is beautiful and I have a new flat to stay in for $20 per night including meals. Can’t beat

that!! Tara and her husband and her sister are so nice. They spent many years in the US so they are somewhat Americanized. Not sure if that is good or bad.

I was eager to take a shower, but there was no hot water. Everything is solar here and you really are lucky if you get a place with hot water. I have to dye my hair tonight and would hate to have to do it in cold water. You know how important coloring my grey hair is to me. You think, after spending 7 days at the Buddhist Monastery on how attachments and self-cherishing will make you suffer and not lead to happiness, I would not be so vain. I need more time to really walk the Buddha Way.

After unpacking I was off to the orphanage to play with the kids. They are wonderful children from 5 to 15 years old. All of them were at-risk children and Christine from Laguna Beach, CA saved they from a lifetime of abuse. Anyone wanting to help support these children let me know.

One child was sold into slavery and her hands and feet were wrinkled beyond recognition because she was working in water 14 hours a day. Two boys were carrying heavy loads on their backs at the age of 5. Everyone has a very sad story and it breaks your heart. They are all so happy and thankful now that it makes you ashamed that we complain when we have so much.

Well I hope that I can get this to the web, since there has been no power for most of the day. I am looking forward to hot water also…

Namaste, Paula

The End of the Party and Now Back to Work

Yesterday started off with a peace walk through the village and ended up around a beautiful lake. The people were all out to watch the parade and there was a traditional Nepali band leading the way. The parade was in honor of International Women’s Week.

I had planned a massage after the parade thinking we would be back at 9:30am, but the parade started Nepali time, which is always later than anticipated. I had to run all the way back to get to my massage. It was worth the effort. I really needed a massage after spending many days sitting on a cushion in a very straight back position meditating.

There was a meeting at 11am and I was already late, so I rushed to get dressed after my massage. As I was sitting in the meeting, I realized I had my Kurti (top) on inside out. I put my scarf around me as much as possible, so no one would notice.

After the meeting we did a sight seeing tour of the monkey temple and Patan. There were 8 people and the poor guide, Sheetal, was trying to herd the cats (women). Everyone wanted to see or do something different. I now know why I would not do well on organized tours. I definitely lack patience.

The evening was another wonderful dinner at a General Members house. Apparently they own a number of restaurants and bakeries and are very wealthy. The house was beautiful and food was very good. Only issue was that the dinner was outside and it was very cold. We were all trying to get as close to the fire as possible. I definitely am going to get another cold.

This was my last evening staying in the dorms. I start working on my marketing plan for Tewa, so a lot of work ahead.

Namaste, Paula

A Day of Celebration

I was much too tired to write my blog last night after a full and amazing day. It was the inauguration of the new dormitories at Tewa. There were many Nepali people and International visitors attending the event.

These women are amazing at what they can accomplish. The building had just started when I was here last year with no funds to complete. Buildings in Nepal take a lot of time to build because it is all manual labor. Tewa was able to raise over $3,000,000 and complete the building in time for this event.

The speakers included the ex-ambassador to the US, a high level woman that was in the United Nations, and many other distinguished people. The ceremony came on the same day as Holi and the start of Interational Women’s Week.

We started with Maggie, a lady that moved to Nepal over 30 years ago from the US, preparing breakfast for all the ladies staying in the Dormitory, which includes 7 women from the US and 2 Canadians. That was just the beginning of eating fantastic food all day. The day ended with dinner at Meera’s home or should I say mansion.

I hope that I can provide pictures so that you all can appreciate the setting, the people, and the passion that was part of the day.

Today is a peace walk in the morning, more formal events, a tour, and a massage… can’t beat that..

Namaste, Paula