Last day in Nepal.

Past week has been kind of a blur- packing in the goodbyes, running last minute errands and so on.

Highlights:

Seeing a Hindi movie with Sabita! Bollywood is the new Hollywood. The movie, Patalia House, is kind of like an Indian version of The Rookie- it's about a cricket player who abandoned his dreams because of his father but eventually (at age 34) s given a chance to play professionally. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patiala_House) Unlike The Rookie though, it had a little bit of everything in it - comedy, romance, drama, amazing dance scenes,- you name it, it had it. Also, movie theaters in Nepal are nice. We didn't even go to a super fancy theater but some of them (there are only three...) have reclining chairs and waiters. All for two dollars- not too bad.

Last shabbat here I spent at Chabad- was really nice to hang out there, ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Also spent Friday cooking there (can you imagine making challah for hundreds of people?) Chabad here does amazing work, and if you're so inclined, they can definitely use donations.

One of the days, I went on a little trek with Erez to Pharphing, a little town a bit south of Kathmandu. It was nice to explore and we had some great dalbaat but I think I've concluded that once you've seen one Tibetan temple, you've kinda seen em all...

By the way, Aleeza has a great motto for Nepal "It's just not what you expect." That kinda covers it for everything- food you order, a shirt you buy, a trip you go on, a person you meet. So this week I had one of my own IJNWYE moments. I wanted to get Chooch a birthday present (Happy 17th!) and since it's fairly easy to make things here, I brought in a picture of small silver earrings in the shape of a heart and asked Bina, the jewelry lady if it was possible to copy them. "Sure, sure," she said. "I'll call you when they're done." So yesterday she called me to tell me they were ready. I walked to the store that afternoon and waited as she rummaged around, finally producing a rather large box. Smiling, she opened it and there lay two beautiful silver heart earrings- just as I ordered. Except, they were HUGE. As in, the size of my face, not the size of two delicate earrings. But, like I said, IJNWYE.

Another highlight of the week- two nights ago there was HUGE thunderstorm in Kathmandu, unlike anything I'd every experienced. I had already woken up from the thunder and lightening when there was a really loud BOOM- it was one of the loudest thunders I'd every heard! I ran across the hall to Ari's room, only to find that Aleeza and Erez were already there all huddled together. Just like kids, we stayed there until the storm was over. I think we wanted to make hot cocoa but there was no cocoa. Or electricty for that matter. Ke Garne... P.S.- the insanely lous sound was actually lightening hitting the Monkey Temple, which is a two minute walk from the house. Check it out here http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Lightening+damages+Swoyambhu+Pratapur+temple&NewsID=276524

Leaving to the airport in an hours. Although I only have four actual hours of flying time, I have to fly to Dehli, then to Mumbai, then finally to Goa...so that makes thirteen hours with stopovers. Lucky me.

But maybe I'll be too drained and exhausted to be sad about the fact that I'm leaving this place. It's been difficult, surprising, frustrating, delightful, annoying, overwhelming, and more. But, when all is said and done, you know what? It's a place I've grown to love, and a place I can call home...

Living in a mud hut in Nepal and living as a tourist (is that what I am?) in Nepal are two very different things.

Firstly, I generally have running water. And, an indoor bathroom. But what's most disorienting to me right now is that I get to relax (or try to). And pretend I'm on vacation. It's been suprisingly difficult going from an intense work schedule (emotionally and physically) to paragliding over the Himalayans.

Maybe you need some more background on that...

So the day after TBT ended a group of us headed off to Pokhara, a beautiful lakeside city in Nepal, 7 hours outside of Kathmandu. We spent a few days there ( recovering) and for the first time we got in some R & R. Good food, some sleeping, and an occasional hot shower. One of the days I woke up, decided I felt like going paragliding and voila- I flew over the Himalayans. By the way Tbaums- skydiving was wayyyy more fun. Still, flying over Everest? Pretty cool. Nepal, by the way, is rife with outdoor/adventure sports- most of which I won't get to do this time. Maybe some other day....

We also went hiking, took walks, and went on a great bike trip around the gorgeous Phewa Tal lake. (Best part was stopping off at some quiet lakeside gazebo and cafe and just lying in the sun for hours..)

I headed back to Kathmandu after the long weekend and have been hanging out with some Nepali friends here. Yesterday, I worked on Bijay's Hebrew U application with him and got to see his house- shocking, but a Nepali bachelor pad looks VERY different than an American bachelor pad. By the way, Bijay is amazing. He started an organization for working children in Nepal at age 16 and has been involved every since, working with the UN, the Nepali government, and of course, TBT. He also started (through TBT) the first social activist youth movement in Nepal, Hami Yuva. When I get disheartened about the situation here, I just think about people like Bijay- they're going to change this place for the better.I'm sure of it. (Btw, Nepal now has a Prime Minister! After 17 tries! Still no cabinet though....)

I've also been wandering around the city on my own- you know what the best feeling is? Walking around a foreign city with a map in your hand and actually figuring out how to get places.I wouldn't say I'm perfect at it (I'm in Nepal after all, there are no addresses...) but the difference to how I felt on day two of TBT (our Alone Tour) and now is HUGE. And that's great.

I also visited the Creative Womens Workshop- an amazing 'factory' (aka four women in a kitchen working) where they make BEAUTIFUL paper items- journals, cards, albums, anything. They can even make skirts. Out of Paper.

(yes that's PAPER!)

And everything there is organic, inexpensive, natural, and helps support destitute women. Aranja, the woman who manages the place seems to be another one of those gems. She's studied abroad in Israel and Canada and now works with a whole bunch of micro-finance programs and started the workshop in order to generate income for poor women here.

So cool.

I've also been working on finalizing my travel plans to India. Looks like I'll be leaving Nepal in a week or so and starting off in Goa. Just thinking about leaving is hard...

Note to everyone:

DON'T SEND ME MAIL.

Yonatan, public shoutout, thank you SO much.

But, I didn't actually get my package.

Maybe I should backtrack a bit.

Eliah tells me that there's a notice in our post office box saying I got a package. He tried to get it for me but they wouldn't let him. So, I decide to take the day to go to the post office and gather my package. I say 'take the day' because I'd been warned by others that the post office here is a nightmare.

Wasn't warned enough...

So I get into a cab. First, I get dropped off at the wrong place. After walking around a bit I see a sign for the post office. I enter a dimly lit building. No lines, order, or signs, just people milling around. I try to ask someone where the PO Boxes are. Fail. Finally, I call my friend Roni who says something about going outside, finding room 31, and taking it from there.

I walk outside to a courtyard. Tons of people around (doing nothing). This place is a maze of dark, decrepit rooms and smelly hallways. Somehow, I find room 31. Am told to go to room 34 instead. I enter, tell them I have a package. The guy takes me to the room and leaves me there. Oh, okay, I'm expected to find it on my own. So there I am, in a room of hundreds of packages sifting through, looking for my name. No go.

I find the worker and am told to 'maybe' go to room 29. I go to room 29 but wait, it's just the office part, not the actual room. So I find the actual room and am told I need the slip of paper that says I have a package. I get lost for 15 minutes and find the post boxes. The nice didi there helps me find the correct one and I go back to room 29, slip in hand, and show the guy behind the counter.

'We need your passport,' he says. I produce my passport (I'd been forewarned).

'Now we need a copy of your passport.' The slip to redeem it doesn't mention needing one. But the guy doesn't care. Okay, so I'm near to tears. I walk out of the office and wander around looking for a photocopy machine place. After 40 minutes I have not found a place. Frustrated, I walk back to the post office and tell the counter guy that I couldn't find anything. 'Oh,' he says. 'There's a photocopy machine here.' (Yea?Thanks for telling me that before.....). I walk to another room. 'You can't use the photocopy machine' the guy says. Ready to scream, I walk back to tell counter guy.He sends a didi with me back to the other office to see if she can use the photocopy machine. After a long debate, they don't let her either. I am so close to jumping over and just using the darn machine myself.

We walk back to the counter. Tell the guy what happened. 'Just go get your package,' he says.

I'm elated and I walk in, show the worker my slip and he finds a small package. Just seeing something from home makes me happy. 'But wait', he says, 'you need to get a signature of approval- go to the counter.' I walk back to counter guy and tell him. 'No,' he says. 'I can't sign because you don't have a copy of your passport.'

So now I lose it.

I start BAWLING. Everyone stares. Tears are streaming down my face and the guy just stands there, gaping. I would have grabbed the package and ran but he was holding it. As it was, I took the slip, crumpled it up and threw it away.

Then, with some final yelling (In English, Hebrew, and Nepali) I gave up. And walked out.

Sans package.

And they now have the slip to redeem it.

And on the way home the taxi I was in broke down.

But, the meeting with the Minister and AutismCares was great. I think he's going to try to get them government support, and also, he gave them a slot to present at a conference on special education in late February. Still crazy that we, an Israeli organization, needed to connect a Nepali minister with his Nepali constituents.

Last story:

Yesterday, Beruria and I had to make breakfast. It's always tricky buying groceries here because Swoyambhu (our neighborhood) is the monkey capital of Kathmandu. So we're walking home, surrounded by serene Tibetan men and women making pilgrimage to the local temple, and Beruria is carrying a bag of eggs. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see agiant monkey leaping across the street towards us. I freeze as it jumps onto Beruria, who promptly SHRIEKS, throws her hands in the air, and drops all of her groceries, eggs included.

I'm still frozen when, out of nowhere, the (seemingly serene) aforementioned Tibetan women kick into gear. Three of them race towards us, SCREAMING and waving their hands to scare the monkey runs away. One of them has a rock in her hand, another pulls out a slingshot. I kid you not. They gather up our eggs, take us off to the side, provide us with a new bag and the wise advice "Put in shawl, yes?"

So while Nepal's post office might have been the most traumatic experience in recent years, you can't help but love a place where elderly Tibetan women turn into wild Amazons to help you.

Only in Nepal...