Up and Out

This morning I walked around the stupah multiple times to warm my bones and wake my mind up before I sat down at a café to write this post. I was brought to center by the clicking of the prayer beads, the swish of the turning prayer wheels and the faint sound of birds chirping, which fades behind humming mantras that are chanted to remind oneself to have a kind and compassionate heart for all beings. There are always hundreds of candles lit day and night and the smell of the incense that passers by light as part of their morning ritual has become a comfort; the candles appear to be lit for community, to be utilized by all. It was a pretty typical morning in Boudha, especially since I can no longer go for runs (because of my back pain) so I have been forced to find other ways to bring myself to center to start the day.

Apartment!

I love Boudha and I love my apartment. It is beautiful here and the culture is wonderful. I am working on my research but it is proving to be more difficult than I originally imagined. I am still really interested in my topic and I am eager to see where it takes me, but I have approached a few speed bumps that are steeper than I initially bargained for when writing my proposal. I may need to do a bit of reworking and refiguring soon. The elections are today! But, there has been a bandh (strike) for over a week now, so technically nothing is supposed to be open and no cars are supposed to drive, which makes research in the field nearly impossible. I have had a few interviews now though and things are starting to pick back up. It is a very exciting time to be in Nepal, this is the first democratic election in 10ish years and I am eager to see how it goes. The strike (initiated by the Maoists) is supposed to scare people into not voting because they wouldn’t feel safe leaving their homes, and most public transportation is barred from use. There are also numerous bombs going off, none of which have affected me, throughout the country serving as yet another scare tactic. The election is definitely not being welcomed by all there are posters of burning ballot boxes pasted around from one of the parties, huge issues with voter registration and various other things that affect one’s ability to vote…even if they want to. It will be interesting to see what comes tomorrow after all is supposedly said and done.

Emily's Didi casting her ballot

My research comes at an interesting time with the elections and whatnot. I am looking at the role of the government and other institutions in creating poverty, and producing social norms that marginalize certain communities. The caste system was technically outlawed 7 years ago, but under the interim constitution, which has since been abandoned so casteism is still extremely relevant in Nepal. Some political platforms are working against such discrimination, but everything is subject to change after today.

Anyways, since moving to Boudha and beginning the ISP period, I have had numerous enriching experiences outside of my research, don’t tell my program but most of my time has actually been spent exploring Nepal outside of anything related to my independent study. For example, I went to a metal festival! It was really scary but really fun and a cool experience. I went with Jacob and Mollie and we (especially me) did not fit in whatsoever. Actually, there was one guy at the festival who recognized me from having seen me in Boudha earlier that day! The two of us were probably the only people at the festival that would spend anytime, much less live, in Boudha haha. Crazy things were yelled and the last band, a metal group from Poland called Behemoth, was dressed in costume and was really freaking scary. Moshing(sp?) broke out everywhere and I held on to the fence at one point to avoid it, but I also HEADBANGED and it was really fun!

What else… on a completely opposite front I have continued going to mediation, which is a lot easier now that I live 5 minutes from the monastery, and I also went to a teaching by an amazing Lama and I continue to learn and fall in love with Buddhist philosophy. I don’t have wifi at home, but I have spent time cooking for myself and reading 100 Years of Solitude (thank you Malia!) and have been enjoying living alone(ish).

My birthday was a couple of days ago and it was amazing! I have made such good friends since coming to Nepal and felt so much love coming from home and from here on my birthday. Emily made me a bracelet and gave me crocheted ear warmers from one of the women’s empowerment organization that she has been working with and studying, Mollie gave me the most beautiful earrings that I have been eyeing, and Mollie, Haley, Roberta, Amanda, Jacob, Megan, and Louise and I all ventured up to Nagarkot for the night! It was a lot of fun, we played cards and all put our mattresses together on the floor and slept in a pile watching Crazy Stupid Love. At dinner they gave me a bottle of wine and had a birthday cake for me… there aren’t very many ovens in Nepal so it was actually a birthday pancake but it said “20 years Happy Birthday Manisha” and Manisha in devnagari all written in chocolate. I have no idea how they pulled it off but it was so sweet!

In the morning we all woke up at 4:45am and walked for an hour to see the sunrise over all the Himalayan ranges. I even saw Everest! The moon on our walk was glowing bright orange resembling the sun, and I watched it set behind the mountains, something I have never even imagined before. It was a really good feeling to walk, even though we could have driven, because I could feel my body and mind waking up with the sun rising and the world waking up around me.

looks small, but it's REALLY far away.

Ear warmers from Emily! Haley on the left

I have continued to settle into Boudha and have developed a strange affection for the hoopla that is the rest of Kathmandu. Boudha is a world heritage site, which means it is also a breeding ground for tourists, which means that there are more beggars as well. In the beginning I felt really uneasy by all of beggars and I didn’t know how to react to their insistence and I didn’t know what I was contributing to by giving them money (there is a lot of corruption in the begging industry here in Nepal) and the whole thing made me really uncomfortable. But as I become a part of Boudha I am recognized by more and more people and have developed a sweet sort of relationship with some of the people asking for money. I give food when I have it, but otherwise we just share a moment of conversation, a namaste, and/ or a warm smile.

bedroom

kitchen

living room

Sorry for the poor image quality, these are all coming from my phone.