Uttar Bindu and the Big Move

Hey friends, sorry I've been absent for awhile. Kathmandu only has electricity for 8 hours per day and I never seem to be near a computer during those hours. Much has happened since the last time I wrote.

Dawa left for a 1 month visit to New York. I moved out of her house and into a 4th story, rooftop apartment just outside of Patan, Durbar Square. This area of Kathmandu is lauded as one of the most architecturally and culturally rich neighborhoods in all of South Asia. I cannot walk 30 seconds in any direction without running into centuries old Buddhist and Hindu shrines. More pictures should be coming soon.

Before leaving Dawa's house, I was invited to a Sherpa family party at Dawa's uncle's house. Dawa's uncle is the grandson of Norgay Tenzing, the Sherpa climber who, along with Edmund Hillary, was a member of the first climbing party to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Dawa's uncle himself has been to the top of Everest three times. We drank beer together and talked about Nepali politics.

With little to do on my last day at Dawa's house, I decided to take a walk uphill, away from the city and toward the gigantic Shivapuri National Park that is the border between Kathmandu and the Himalaya Mountain Range. The walk was beautiful and breathing fresh air was a real treat after choking on the grey, soupy air of Kathmandu for a week. I visited a Buddhist Vipassana center that lies just outside the park and I inquired about their 12 day meditation retreats. The 12 days entail about 10 hours of meditation per day, waking up at 4:00 am, eating a sparse vegetarian diet, and not speaking to anyone or making eye contact during the duration of the course. It sounds pretty intense, but I have a month-long break from classes in July and I think that a bit of silence would do me some good.

During that same hike, and despite not having single Rupi to offer, I was invited into a modest and out-of-the-way little restaurant to share a cup of tea with some young local guys. As I was sitting there, learning a bit of Nepali and appreciating the fact that so many young people in Nepal have a great grasp of the English language, an old dump truck rattled up the hill and began dumping piles of dirt and rocks in the uneven and sharply graded road. I asked a guy called Saroj about the road repairs and whether this was a government funded project. After asking a few more questions, I learned that this was actually the first project undertaken by Uttar Bindu, which is Nepali for "North Point." Saroj explained to me that Uttar Bindu is a recently formed youth organization that is dedicated to improving this small community north of Kathmandu. He said that the young people there realized that they could not wait for the government to help them, so they decided to get organized and to begin improving and beautifying their community. They hold regular meetings and they get funding by petitioning the wealthier members of the community. I was astounded by the initiative and power of these young people and I look forward to visiting Uttar Bindu to see what other projects they are planning for this year. This is the primary school in Budhanilkantha, the neighborhood where Uttar Bindu operates. The school was built recently, but it lacks many basic facilities like a safe area for students to play, hygiene facilities, and electricity. Saroj and his young friend are in the background.

The next day I spent many hours traveling around Kathmandu looking at apartments. I finally settled on a one room apartment that is fully furnished, nicely decorated, and that has an impressive view of southern Kathmandu. The best feature of this apartment, however, is the landlord and his wife. Mr. Mangal Maharjan has been a bookstore owner, a music store owner, an artist, and now he is a music producer for one of Nepal's most popular labels: East Meets West. On the first floor of his apartment is the room where Nepal's most popular young folk band, Kotumba, practices. His wife, Vishnu, is an extraordinarily joyful and boisterous lady who brews her own fiery rice liquor in a big blue barrel on the terrace. This shows Mr. Mangal, his wife, and some family friends who formed the band and spontaneous dance party that erupted on the night I moved in. The power was out for the first half of the party, so we celebrated by candle light. Vishnu was insistent that I continue tasting more of her Raskshi (the very potent, home-distilled liquor). We danced for hours and ate mountains of Dal Bhat, Nepal's national dish of rice and lentil soup. I went to bed feeling quite fortunate to have found such a great place to live.

That same afternoon, before the party, I contacted my Rotary host-counselor, Dr. Dinesh Pant. Dr. Pant is the Executive Director of Kathmandu's prestigious Administrative Staff College and after a very positive meeting with him, I was invited to the weekly Thursday meeting of the Kathmandu North East Rotary Club. Due to some strikes which led to unusually heavy traffic jams, only five of the 27 members of the club were present for this meeting. I took advantage of the low turnout by asking many questions about the club, their projects, and their knowledge of the Ambassadorial Scholarship. I came away from the meeting with some great ideas for presentations and a great feeling about Rotary's presence in Nepal. In Kathmandu alone there are 32 Rotary Clubs and there are more than 60 around the country.

Today I am going to the university to take my entrance exams. Then I hope to obtain my student visa. On the 20th I plan to attend a big party for Obama's inauguration and then I hope to spend about 10 days traveling around the country.