Friday, December 31, 2010
A Monkey Temple Day in Nepal
Greetings All,
Today marked a trip to the Monkey Temple. I never imagined such beauty in my life. What I thought would be a trip to the zoo was perhaps the most eye-opening place of wonder, and perhaps the most difficult tourist attraction that one could ever access--definitely not for the weak-at-heart or those out of shape. A gradual but steepening uphill climb which ends in the longest, steepest 45 degree plus staircase one could imagine, the monkey temple sits high on a hilltop overlooking the Kathmandu valley. Upon nearing the top, the name says it all--monkeys all over the place, and I am not talking about just a few--try a few hundred, or more. Quite amuzing creatures, these monkeys are a sight to behold. Try too hard to get a snapshot, and they are very shy--patience is a virtue for a real photographer here. Try to get too close, and get attacked, as Nick (Victor) found out! An absolutely hilarious action photo of Nick's encounter will follow via Nicole's quick (and lucky) photography. Fortunately, the monkey didn't kill Nick, but only gave him a haircut--don't worry for those concerned, no skin broken!
Our other in-counrty partner, Deepak, was our tour guide to the temple--again, the friendliness and hospitality of our in-country partners becomes quite evident.
Only part of the day was spent sightseeing, however. The other part was spent prepaing for teaching. Nicole is an excellent leader, and I am fortunate to be a co-leader at her side. She has a tremendous amount of experience with the teachings, and knows (through trial and error) what works best on this side of the world. Her knowledge will prove invaluable as we now begin teaching--again, what we came here to do, and what we all look forward to the most. Happy new year to all!
Paul Bosseler
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Team Tiik Chha
Hello from Team Tiik Chha (Nepali for we're good)
Today we will be traveling to the Monkey Temple. According to our Executive director, the best place in the world, so we are excited to see it!
The streets here smell so good here. Everyone is burning incenses.
The hospitality here has been amazing! We have met so many new friends and they have shown us such great time. We are always having Nepali Tea with our new friends. We are so ready to start teaching here! We are anxious to teacher after just finishing our group meeting and practice session of teaching. We start teaching on on Jan 3rd.
Until next time...
Namaste!
Acclimating to the Culture
December 30, 2010:
Hello all,
Our entire team of volunteers made it in on time (couple of very small delays here and there, but nothing major), and we spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the culture, language, and people in Nepal. Yubraj, once again, proved to be a major asset in this department, as well as introducing us to more of the very friendly people here in Nepal. In addition, we toured Durbar Square--what a beautiful district, filled with so much history and fascinating architecture.
Our teaching days are prepared, and we are just about to begin the Water Safety Education Program in a number of schools--in all, our students numbers are climbing, and should be well into the thousands. I go to bed tonight proud of the feeling of accomplishment in the number of lives we are about to help. I feel honored to meet and work with the people of Nepal--they are definitely a unique society--very friendly, outgoing, giving. I look forward to giving back.
Sincerely,
Paul Bosseler
PSI Nepal Group
Hello all,
Our entire team of volunteers made it in on time (couple of very small delays here and there, but nothing major), and we spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the culture, language, and people in Nepal. Yubraj, once again, proved to be a major asset in this department, as well as introducing us to more of the very friendly people here in Nepal. In addition, we toured Durbar Square--what a beautiful district, filled with so much history and fascinating architecture.
Our teaching days are prepared, and we are just about to begin the Water Safety Education Program in a number of schools--in all, our students numbers are climbing, and should be well into the thousands. I go to bed tonight proud of the feeling of accomplishment in the number of lives we are about to help. I feel honored to meet and work with the people of Nepal--they are definitely a unique society--very friendly, outgoing, giving. I look forward to giving back.
Sincerely,
Paul Bosseler
PSI Nepal Group
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Namaste! From Nepal!
Namaste from Nepal!
We are having a great time so far! I went to the airport last night to meet up with Jackie and Victor and now we are all here! The wonderful group I have the privlage of Leading is composed of Paul (my co-leader), Amanda, Victor, and Jackie, and of course me Nicole. We are really going to have a great trip while we're here! We met with our contact Yubraj yesterday and met with the president of a school district and confirmed our teaching days. It looks like we'll be busy! We were also able to purchase first aid kits here to use and give to the schools that we'll be teaching at.
We had a great Day yesterday getting to meet many of Yubraj's friends, and having my favorite tea! From my travels in India with this group I loved Chi tea from India and they have it here! LOL! I'm set ;) We were able to walk around a lot yesterday, and now today we will have our language and cultural class and then we will be off to see some tempels, hopefully.
Will post again soon!
Nicole
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal!!!
Pay no attention to the date of posting shown above (Tuesday Dec. 7 is incorrect)--should be Wednesday December 29, 2010:
Well, most of us have made in into Nepal safely, and have had very fun experiences in our short time here. The final two volunteers, Jacque and Victor, are currently en-route and due in shortly. On the final connection of my long flight, I experienced and air traffic jam holding pattern of 50 minutes--continous circles over the Nepal countryside while the runway at Tribhuvan Airport was being cleared for landing. After seeing such beautiful Himalaya peaks (over and over) as Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Langtang, Everest, Lohtse, Makalu, and even a distant Annapurna, I was in no hurry to land! But let me be the first to say that once I did touch down, I clearly was not in Kansas anymore! What simple items we take for granted in the United States are essentially non-existent here, yet we are making due just fine with the assistance of our in-country partner, Yubraj. A man of many talents, Yubraj is an excellent guide and a well-respected member of the Kathmandu community. He has taken us under his wing and assimilated the group into the Nepali lifestyle in just 36 hours. I feel like I know so many here already, and ALL have proven to be the nicest, friendliest, and most interesting (and interested) people I have ever met. We will begin some cultural and language training tomorrow (although Yubraj has already taught me many important, and funny, words and phrases for survival); we then begin the water safety education program day after tomorrow. One local school group leader met with us over breakfast this morning and has lined up 1,400 children in just her school alone! This is what we are here for, and this is what I look so forward to. More soon...
Sincerely from Nepal,
Paul Bosseler
Well, most of us have made in into Nepal safely, and have had very fun experiences in our short time here. The final two volunteers, Jacque and Victor, are currently en-route and due in shortly. On the final connection of my long flight, I experienced and air traffic jam holding pattern of 50 minutes--continous circles over the Nepal countryside while the runway at Tribhuvan Airport was being cleared for landing. After seeing such beautiful Himalaya peaks (over and over) as Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Langtang, Everest, Lohtse, Makalu, and even a distant Annapurna, I was in no hurry to land! But let me be the first to say that once I did touch down, I clearly was not in Kansas anymore! What simple items we take for granted in the United States are essentially non-existent here, yet we are making due just fine with the assistance of our in-country partner, Yubraj. A man of many talents, Yubraj is an excellent guide and a well-respected member of the Kathmandu community. He has taken us under his wing and assimilated the group into the Nepali lifestyle in just 36 hours. I feel like I know so many here already, and ALL have proven to be the nicest, friendliest, and most interesting (and interested) people I have ever met. We will begin some cultural and language training tomorrow (although Yubraj has already taught me many important, and funny, words and phrases for survival); we then begin the water safety education program day after tomorrow. One local school group leader met with us over breakfast this morning and has lined up 1,400 children in just her school alone! This is what we are here for, and this is what I look so forward to. More soon...
Sincerely from Nepal,
Paul Bosseler
Getting Ready for Nepal
Hi to anyone out there,
I'm getting ready to take the trip of a lifetime to Nepal. I can't wait to go--leaving Tucson on December 26th, and will arrive Kathmandu on the 28th . I will be sending in many pictures once I get there.
Paul Bosseler
I'm getting ready to take the trip of a lifetime to Nepal. I can't wait to go--leaving Tucson on December 26th, and will arrive Kathmandu on the 28th . I will be sending in many pictures once I get there.
Paul Bosseler
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