First Day of Data Collection- January 6, 2014

Today the nurses came at 10:30 and Rajiv came from Kathmandu sometime around 11.  So it was not an early start for us.  

Rajiv and the Nurses with our Kavre map

I was paired with Andrea in Team C with Indu as our nurse.  I think we're going to have a fabulous team. Geff came with us too and we got a car to take us to the Pinauti health post.  It was telling that we had to ask a few locals where it was and most didn’t know even though it ended up being just down the road.  Once we found it, Indu asked for the women on our list and we were re-directed to a different health post up a little hill.  

The first health post

These boys really wanted a photo

Family planning registry

So we started walking about arrived about 30 minutes later.  As we walked up, the two workers were sitting outside doing nothing (same as the first post, another telling sign) and we found out that they close at 2 pm (it was about 1:50 by now).  So Indu talked to them for a little while and we didn’t know exactly where these women were though they did refer us to another health post but by the time we would have arrived, it would have been closed.  We asked this health post for a quick tour but they wanted to go home.  So we didn’t make it very far and it was early and we had come up with nothing.  I was a little disappointed but Geff suggested we get lunch in Pinauti and so we found a little momo place and it was fun to get to know Indu more.  

Learning how momos are made

She is chetri, a higher class of the caste system, and lives in a nuclear family in which he father owns a hotel and her mom is a housewife.  She has two younger siblings too.  So basically, she is pretty well off and we are definitely getting her out of her comfort zone to go trekking up and down the hills looking for women who’ve had a much rougher go at life. Indu is 22 and never had a boyfriend and lives at home.  She is very different from the women who get married very young in Nepal and start having families by her age.  We also learned more about arranged marriages in Hindu traditions and how she expects to have an arranged marriage when her parents decide it is time.  She is also still looking for a job and hoping to work at Dhulikel hospital (in which she would make 22000 rupees a month or about $220) or at Scheer (in which she would make about 160000 or $160 a month for working about 15 shifts a month).   That’s less than I make in one shift.  Granted, she has a low cost of living as she will stay with her parents probably until she is married.  Anyhow, we eventually parted and took the bus to Banepa where I picked out a kirta outfit and had the tailor fit it to my body (for under $3).  We eventually bused back to our hotel and I’m finding it pretty easy to use the public transportation system.  Even though it isn't actually public since they are privately owned busses that it looks like families run since you have the man driving it and then younger boys hanging out trying to recruit people to hop on and collecting our bus fare (10 cents from Banepa to Dhulikel, about 15 minutes away).  They usually wait until they are pretty full (standing room only) and we have seen many busses with people and/or goats on the top and I've also watched goats being stuffed in to the trunk.  So different!  Every night we eat dinner at the restaurant and it is always very good!  However, lots of carbs like potatoes and bread, and I’ve been avoiding meat so basically, it’s going to get very old very soon!  But they always have a nice dessert and there is even a fireplace in the bar which is nice to warm up by.  We have a great group and dinners are a good time to get to know everyone.

Work Day at the Lodge- January 5, 2014

Today was a work day at the lodge.  We had a women from the Women to Women Foundation (a Dutch organization that does surgeries, prevention and nursing scholarships) speak to us about the work they do and the focus that is turning towards prevention (awesome).  Geff got a map of the Kavre district and we had the list of 75 women from this region with their more specific VDC’s and wards.  So we all mapped these to see where the women were located and to know which are closer to us and which may be too far to try to get to on this trip.  It was a nice relaxing day of working in the sun, watching some sad movies of these issues and how it affects women in Nepal and getting to know our group better. 

One of our many work areas at the Lodge

Namobuddha hike- January 4, 2014

Today was our day off and Geff had a great idea to follow a hike that is recommended in the Lonely Planet Nepal book (the same one I had and photocopied).   Josh, Tiffany, Dennie, Geff and I started from our lodge around 9 am and very quickly got off track since we were heading down a road that did not lead us to where we wanted to go.  So we asked some men on the side of the road who owned a chicken coop (with a pile of dead chickens in the corner, yuck) and then hiked back up through Duhlikel and got on the right path.  In town, I ended up buying a fish ‘homemade’ key chain from an older man while Geff was looking at maps in a shop.  He ended up walking with us for a while and then we realized, he was going to walk with us and end up being our ‘guide’ for the whole trip.  But he was really sweet, put up with our slow pace (lots of photos to be taken along the way) and actually used to be a guide and spoke many languages as we later ended up speaking some German to each other.  We found a high school dance party along the way (I got asked if I wanted to dance but kindly turned them down).   The hike up to a big Buddha statue involved a lot of steps and climbing but it was a beautiful Buddha and had great views.  

Dennie and I at the entrance to the Buddha

Nepali families picnicking and playing

Giving a suntala to a young girl

Trekking through the villages

From there, we kept going up to Tika Temple which wasn't the most pretty structure but did offer commanding views since it was on top of an even bigger hill.  As it was Saturday, the day off for workers in this country, there were lots of people hiking as well and we met a group of 5 Nepalis, two couples and one of the boys brothers, who were all very well educated students and workers in Kathmandu.  They spoke English very well and were fun to talk to.  The two women probably didn't speak English very well and were a little shyer so I ended up speaking to the guys a lot which was not intentional or preferred but just ended up being the way it worked out.  I did get a few photos of us girls hiking which was fun.  It also didn't help that one of the girls was in flats, clearly not good hiking attire, and her knee started hurting her.  We ended up giving her Motrin at Namo Buddha later.  Anyhow, it was fun to talk to them more about their Hindu weddings (they showed us some amazing pics) and I showed them some from Amol and Tara’s wedding.  We also learned more about their schools, what it is like to work in Kathmandu and some other fun things.  They definitely seemed like they were more well-off than your typical Nepali families but also said they didn't have money to travel to the US or to other places.   So there we were, five Americans, five young Nepali’s and one older Nepali… hiking up to a monastery.  

We took a lot of photos along the way, ate a lot of orange’s (suntala) and some of their curry potatoes which they had for lunch (this starts the theme of lots of carbs!).  It was still a considerable hike up to Namobuddha (about 5-6 hours total).  Once there, we got some awesome group pics of all of us. Our ‘guide’ then took us down to the older part which dates back thousands of years and we had tea.  The Nepalis paid for it before we could even offer which was very nice.  We all had some biscuits and cookies too to share. We exchanged info and then parted ways so we could walk back up to meet with the rest of the group and so they could catch the bus back.  

Our ‘guide’ came with us enough for us to pay him and we gave him just over 1000 rupees ($10) which is probably a good amount for him but I felt that I could have given more.  Anyhow, we made our way back up and found the truck in which we somehow fit 10 people for the bumpy ride back down to our hotel.  It was an amazing day!  I really appreciated the local hospitality and getting to see the kids and families living alongside the path.  

Transit to Dhulikel- January 3, 2014

After breakfast, we all loaded up in to a van and went to Dhulikel Lodge Resort, about an hour away.  It is beautiful here!  We are on the side of a hill (like almost everything here) and have an amazing view of the Himalayas.  

View from the patio!

Public transportation

The lodge is very nice too, with a big fireplace in the bar area and a large dining area.  There is also a ‘Cozy Coffee Shop’ which is really nice and then a beautiful outdoor patio area.  It's 92 steps from our room, on the bottom floor, to the rooftop terrace.  So we will be getting a good work out in the next few weeks!   Pam had meeting so we relaxed before we reconvened in the afternoon to discuss our data collection events and we met the four Nepali nurses (Shresty, Indu, Alicia and Sunima) who we will be working with over the next two weeks.  Their English is pretty good and it will be fun to get to know them more.  We went over the survey and added and changed some things.  The dinner every night is a big buffet and pretty nice with different options (but always a rice and potatoes one) and even dessert.

Kathmandu- January 2, 2014

Today was the day most people were supposed to arrive so we had a free day in Thamel to shop.  Which we did!  I found some scarves, one for me and two nice ones for my mom and Astrid.  I also got my dad a funky hat and will plan to get my brother something and Kate a scarf.  I got a ‘tree of life’ bag too.  I was scoping out the big waterproof ‘Nepal Face’ bags but didn't end up purchasing one yet.  We ate lunch and met Geoff, our TA, on the way so had him come along.  It was a long slow lunch (Nepali time) and then we strolled around Garden of Dreams which I remember because it is such a beautiful peaceful place surrounded by the chaos of the city.  After dinner, Hilda and I booked our flight to Pohkara (hoping for clear skies on the days we fly later in January!) and the others booked their Everest flight.

Transit to Nepal- January 1, 2014

We arrived in Hong Kong at 6 AM after a 16 hour flight.  It was actually awesome because I slept almost a full 8 hours (thank you Ambien) and watched World War Z (not a good movie while on a flight but was very nice to admire Brad Pitt though Mark is hotter) and eat some ok flight food.  We freshened up, checked our bags in to the left luggage area, pulled out some cash and went to explore Hong Kong.  I had already been here so had some bearings but Anna hadn't. We went to the main downtown and walked towards the big escalator which is just crazy and funny.  But it was going down and we wanted to go up so we continued to do that, stopped for breakfast and made it to the top in enough time to ride it down.  We then made our way to the Star Ferry to go over towards Kowloon.  From Kowloon, you have an impressive view of the massive downtown buildings on the downtown side, stroll along the Avenue of the Stars (all Chinese actors… like ours in Hollywood) and enjoy the sunny day.  

The Hong Kong skyline

                         

We hiked up a few spots and got some Chinese lunch (which ended up being pricey and not very good… meat with bones, yuck).  Next we found the parade that was of a bunch of buddhas and dragon performers. 

A happy kid in the Buddha parade

                         

 It was fun to watch them get ready but unfortunately, it started about the time we had to start getting back and I was starting to get pretty tired.  So we walked back to the train stop to return us to the airport, picked up our bags and waited til our flight boarded.  I slept pretty well and didn't really budge when we stopped in Dhaka Bangladesh.  I really would have liked to get off, just to see what an airport in Bangladesh is like, but the security was very strict and we could not even get off and they made sure every bag left on the plane was accounted for.  So I just slept through that.  We arrived late to Kathmandu and got a taxi to our Florid Hotel.  Of course the taxi guy had no idea where we was going even though he said he did so it took a while to find it but then we saw some members of our group waiting for us so we knew we had found the right place.  Then it was sleepy time!