Get Thee to a Nunnery!

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent a few days at a Buddhist nunnery last week working on my schedule and research surveys and spending some time by myself. Not as isolated as I'd planned though - Much to my chagrin the nunnery had WiFi! Sigh. Me being me, I spent some time on it even though I'd planned not to.

I did get to attend several Pujas in the mornings though, and they were very spiritual and fascinating as well. Buddhist pujas are times of worships when nuns and monks (nuns in my case) come to the temple and spend an hour and a half chanting. Some of the chants also included drums, conch shells and long horns. The rhythmic chanting was a surreal experience. Often I felt as though my heartbeat matched the chants - fantastical or not, it was pretty incredible. My first puja, I discovered just how human nuns are. In their dress and especially at task, they often seem almost ethereal. But they're just like us! At the early morning puja (5:30-7), the little nuns (beginning around age 7) were giggling and poking at each other, some of the teens and older nuns dozed off accidentally, and a few just looked bored. I hid a smile - the same thing happens in church at home! The second time I went though, the monk who was in charge at the nunnery attended puja - talk about a different atmosphere! It almost seemed like the temple sighed in relief when the monk left puja a bit early.

While at the nunnery I also met a fellow American who had come for a 10 day course with a famous lama. She's been studying Buddhism for the last 20 years, and has lived in India (Dharmasala-where the Dalai Lama lives), for much of the last 10 years. Cyndy invited me to Day 1 of the course after speaking with the organizer and arranging for a seat in front so that I could read the translator's lips. It was a good program, the Lama was extremely likable, but the translator never moved his lips and spoke in an unnatural cadence - he repeated the Lama's words, but aimed to keep the audience more connected with the Lama by speaking fairly monotone and emotionless. Given this, I got very few of the actual words, but gained insight nevertheless. At the end of the class, my friend and fellow Fulbrighter Marissa came up to say hi - turns out she was taking the same class. When we went to lunch, Marissa and Cyndy discovered that they had actually met 3 years ago in Dharmasala when Marissa was doing a study abroad program! It's SUCH a small world...

Thanksgiving Activities in Nepal:

Swetha is housesitting (and dogsitting) for an Embassy family who was generous enough to let several of us stay since they understood how much we missed the amenities of the States. We feel like we're living in luxury! A generator for electricity during loadshedding,a washing machine and dryer, and water we can drink from the tap. WOW. It's amazing how thankful we are for the small things now - I found sweet gherkins at the grocery store yesterday and nearly broke into a happy dance :)

The American Ambassador to Nepal sent an open invitation to Americans in Nepal to come to his house for a Thanksgiving program and (what we thought was dinner, but turned out to be refreshments). Many people showed up, and the mix of tourists, people on business, people doing research, and those working in Nepal was a fascinating one. We got to briefly meet the ambassador who was very friendly and excited about Fulbright's 50th Anniversary next year (50 years in Nepal).

Today we're headed to Laurie's (the director of Fulbright Nepal) house for an actual Thanksgiving dinner. I'm SO excited for stuffing (!!!), mashed potatoes and gravy, pie and even turkey! I think the vegetarian in me now is disappearing for today...tradition's just too strong. It should be a good time with friends and good food, but I will sorely miss my family and the thanksgivings in Virginia and Montana.

Random snapshots of life in Nepal:
Scooters don't start when seriously dirty.

When a shopkeeper can't give you 1 or 2 rupees in change, he/she gives you a piece of hard candy instead.

Loadshedding's up to about 5 or 6 hours a day now. I'm told by February it'll be closer to 18 hours. Ugh.

S'mores are about to be made in Nepal - we even found marshmallows! Of course they're called "American Marshmallows" here.

My trip to Biratnager was postponed until later, but the traveling and serious research commences in 2 or 3 days! My schedule for the next 8 months is pretty ridiculous. I'll try to post it soon!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!Some of the many things I'm so blessed to have: a wonderful family, amazingly supportive friends, the opportunity to work in and experience Nepal, more than enough food, and the health and desire to enjoy it all.