Tidbits from the last three days.

I'm eating chicken for lunch, I resolved to myself as I stared at the ceiling at 5am. The sun wasn't anywhere near rising, why are the roosters awake? I got out of bed around 6:15 and following Rissi's suggestion from the night before, went to watch the sunrise from the roof of the building. The air was cold and clear and as the sun rose, it light up the fishtail and another peak I can't spell (or pronounce). We're staying in a village now and the solemn silence of those grand peaks was a contrast to the animal and human sounds coming from the village. Just as in India, the chanting coming from the temple infused the entire village with a sacred, but familiar quality. 

Rissi had asked me if I wanted to do a longer or shorter hike for the 4th day. This was barely a decision. 

I obviously chose the longer hike. My legs are surprisingly sore. We stopped for the night in Dhampus. 

We took a local mini bus (15 passenger van) crammed with 22 people inside and another 6 riding on the roof. We changed busses twice and had some questionable food from a roadside stall for lunch. I was staying at Rissi's house in Kathmandu. He lives with his family in an apartment building. They have two rooms and a shared kitchen and bathroom. The power is rationed and is off from 4-8pm. 

They made dinner for me and his children were surprised and laughed at me eating with me hands. He has two daughters 12 and 14 years old. After we ate, his daughters took me to see the city from the roof. The older one pointed out monuments that were visible from where we were and then told me about the earthquake. He house was destroyed and she had to live in a tent with her family for 8 days then in a garage for much longer, which makes her family one of the lucky ones. She described her feelings when the earthquake started (they were shopping at 1 in the afternoon) and what she saw. Hearing the tragedy described in such matter of fact terms, and discussing the fear she still has, really hit home for me. She told me how she saw an American Girl crying to her parents on the phone and how the planes circled the airport for hours, unable to land. The American girl was able to get to the embassy and leave the next day, while the Nepalese were stuck without power or communication. They didn't know if their grandparents were alive or dead for two weeks and their village was in the epicenter of the quakes. A second earthquake came about a week after the first and destroyed what felt like the rest of the buildings and aftershocks continue even until today. Everybody agrees that the government has been ineffective at best. It makes me realize how much I take for granted in the United States. 

We went back downstairs and the girls started their homework. The older daughter wants to be an astronaut but it will be difficult to find a school for that in Nepal.  I read the section of the social studies book they were on discussing World War Two. There was no mention of the holocaust or Jews anywhere in the social studies book. They gave me one of the two rooms, which I tried to refuse but got nowhere with that. 

*Watching the steam swirl around my mug as chaos flows around me. Being in the middle of the preparations for schools feels somehow like I'm intruding on a sacred ritual. A piece that doesn't fit in this carefully choreographed performance. I disrupted everything by giving the girls two small clay elephants I had bought in Thailand. They were super excited and played with them for a while before running to show their neighbors. 

-AB