My Personal Peace Corp

Hello Everyone!!!  I first and foremost want to say, from my heart, that I hope all of my familyand friends reading this are completely and utterly healthy, happy and safe.

Returning from Everest base camp I made my new and temporary residence back at Rajendra with him and his family.  I did go and volunteer at an orphanage out of Kathmandu in a town by the name of

Godhowri.  The kids were so great!!  There are 11 boys and 21 girls.  I found this place because of a girl I met here in Kathmandu.  I am currently back in Kathmandu and go out there on weekends when

I can.

Rajendra’s mother moved in about 2 weeks ago.  Let me tell you, I have by all means met my match. It’s in the form of very strict Hindu woman with a much focused discipline.  I thought the Army was tough.  She is the senior of the family and on her son Rajendra’s side.  Since she has been here I would say no less then 100 people have been through the house to visit her.  It has been pretty chaotic.  Anyway we get up at 6:30 for tea but before that she is already up at 4:30 to worship and take a brisk morning walk.  After tea we all eat but the kitchen rules are very strict and no one can enter the kitchen

except Salena and she has to wear a special dress just to cook along with Ama (grandmother).  There are so many rules

according to who eats first, who can serve the rice while eating etc. etc.  It’s a trip….another exampleI was going to go out the other night and possibly stay at a friend’s house.  I could not because she had left the house and 3 people from the same household cannot be separated at the same time.  It’s a bad omen. 

She held a Pooza five days ago at the house.  It is a full day of worship in a very ceremonial manner and everything was set perfectly out

up on the second story flat outside balcony area.  I would say about 20 people showed up including her Guru.  He read from one of

the books while she went through many different methods of worshipping God.  All the brass pots, bowls and ceremonial dishes

were polished to perfection.  There was horn blowing, bells jingling and chanting.  I will have to show pictures when I get home but the main point I want to make is how engaged, disciplined and

their attention to detail that goes into just praying…..It’s real devotion.  Every morning and night the head of the household

goes to a special room in the house and worships similarly in this way.  She is a neat woman.  Since I have been at the house I have been

helping here as much as possible doing whatever she needs (I run a lot of errands). 

The power is out here now 50 hours per week and it is starting to get cold.  The coldest it has gotten is around 40 degrees at night time.  It willcontinue to get colder through December and January.  Down to 30 degrees.  What makes it so cold is the humidity.  It is a wet cold.  Also the fact that there is no source of heat but blankets makes it a little chilly.

I have gotten the local transportation figured out pretty well.  I either take a tempo (also known as a took took) which is a three wheeled little vehicle that fits about 8 maybe.  But they fit about 12 plus a goat and spare tire.  It is battery powered and fits 2 batteries one on each side.  It takes 24 hours to charge so they use one battery at a time while the other charges.  The other transport I use is a micro bus. It’s a little more comfortable…just like a small van.  I can get to a lot of places just by listening to the conductor yelling out the area of destination.  It was difficult at first because the way I say Nepalis words does not always come out right……some words are used with the front of your tongue touching the upper pallet of your mouth and some on the front of your teeth etc.  All of this including the Collective Joint Family life is all a very, very new school of thought to me.  It has taken some adjustment but it is so interesting.  You know it is really great to be an outsider because I get to just observe a lot.  How they interact, eating style, listening to them talk etc.  It’s neat.

So at one of the get togethers I started talking to a professor at one of the Universities here in Kathmandu.  He ended up being very interesting.  He had studied in Russia for 2 years and also then PHD in Tokyo.  Before he was about to leave he asked me if I take a look at a woman’s PHD thesis to correct.  I told him who he was dealing with, but he still insisted.  The title was Beyond Patriarchy: Interface between East and West.

He gave me exactly one week to proof read take notes for myself and correct.  From Sat. to Sat. of last week.  It was over 300 pages long.  The thesis really tied into the family environment that I was in.  A big chunk was the relationship between the Mother and

Daughter in law (plus a look at how Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism dealt with this issue.)  The reason I brought this up is because I got some useful information, history and background to apply to what had recently happened to the household when Ama moved in.  It’s interesting.  I do not think I will correct another thesis if I am offered though.  Not unless I get paid.  It was pretty time consuming. 

So, now what am I doing?  Well my plan was to already be in Thailand by now or at least India (good thing I did not go b/c of the attacks) but instead I am still unexpectedly still here.  I have bought a whole stack of books I am reading and studying from the Nepalese language and the Orient to playing a guitar I purchased made in Korea.  It has really nice sound.  I hope they let me take it on the plane.  Oh yeah and this morning was my first day of Yoga/meditation.  I met this Guru at a gym I found that introduced me to another Guru at an Ashram close to here.  My teacher has been doing this for over 20 years.  It is a very traditional style of yoga.  My long un-flexible ass is not fit for this type of yoga but maybe in a couple weeks I’ll be a pretzel. It is just

another experience for me I thought would be neat. It is about a 15 minute walk.  It will take about 2 months to complete but if I stick with it I will have my Yoga Certificate and be able to teach it.  THat is if I put in enough hours per day.  Maybe a part time job huh!?!  If not I will be one flexible guy.  So that is at 6:30 to about 8:30 every morning and I have been going to this gym between 4-6 p.m., studying during the day/running Ama errands and thus is my life right now.  How long this will be I do not know?  I am planning on still going to India and at least want to still see the Taj Mahal before it may disappear.  This I am planning to do around the end of December. 

I cannot teach until the new Semester which starts in February…If I get a chance to volunteer I will if not I will just keep continuing to find my center………ha ha ha ha do not worry I am not turning into hippy!!!    

O.k. Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas.  I get a little nostalgic at times and miss home very much.  I will miss all of you over the holidays and will be thinking of

you often!!!!!!!!!

Camen