Totally Summitted Everest

I SAW IT, I SAW IT, I SAW IT
Imagine a jagged horizon, distant mountains forming a broken line like this WWVWWVWVWWVWWWVWVW
One mountain TOWERING above them all . . . . was not what I saw
Alright so I kind of knew this from the beginning, but the whole “everest view” thing kinda means teeny tiny bump on the jagged distant horizon. Everest is a lot farther away than the rest of the mountains on the horizon, so although much taller it barely cracks above the horizon line, and looks like absolutely nothing special. However, the view from Nagarkot, the second night’s stay, was incredibly beautiful and I did get a lot of other great mountain views with a lot more detail.
Highlights from the trek:
lots of really ridiculously hard uphill hikes through jungle, but also a lot of kind of lame road walking that was pretty much exactly what I saw in Dhading
a crazy old lady that scurried up past us on the trail/stairs as we were passing through a village. She was picking up rocks and throwing them off the edge of the trail onto the houses below us. Rajendra asked someone and she “gets upset when people hit her and then throws rocks at things.” We thought she was gone when all the sudden a rock came flying in our direction right past us.
Lunch the second day was in another small village. We had stopped with some other people on the trail, and another guide says to us “they have no meat here at the restaurant, but if you want we can all chip in and go buy a chicken over there (he points to the chickens clucking around on a nearby farm) and they will kill it and we’ll eat it” . . . . . OF COURSE I’ll eat a freshly slaughtered chicken killed 5 minutes before entering my mouth!
So I watched the entire process, from live chicken under a basket, to dead chicken running with its head cut off, to the old dude plucking and de-gutting the chicken, to cooking the chicken.
Worst part it, it didn’t even taste great, not much meat, pretty tough, meh, local chicken not all you would think it is. All though I did get a VERY strange looking organ in my soup, and im pretty sure I at chicken gizzard.
At Nagarkot we had dinner with some Philippino tourists that are currently living in Dubai. Phillip (yes Phillip from the Philippines) works at ski-Dubai, the indoor ski resort in the freaking desert of Dubai. They said they were going to stop by the orphanage today, we’ll see if they show.
That’s pretty much all the excitement for the Trek, had a really good hot pressurized shower at the hotel the second night, and there was a western toilet!!!!!

Getting Sick:
What the hell already, if im going to get sick, it just needs to happen, this whole thing going on for a few days where I like kind of have some stomach pain for a while and then it goes away is just not cutting it. The troops are mounting in the stomach, and they are planning their attack. The Nepali diarrheal extravaganza is coming, and there’s nothing I can do but hold on and pray for a mild case. I am okay though, and I still have the record for longest gone without getting sick. Maybe this will pass, will keep you updated
The name Didi:
Silly me for 4 weeks thought that the reason we all call Dewaki “didi” is because of the D for Dewaki . . . it’s not. When I heard strangers calling each other didi, bhai, dhai, and beheenay, it was explained to me that those names mean (respectively) Older sister, younger brother, older brother, and younger sister. These really are just neutral names that anyone can use for anyone else in society (for example Rajendra called the younger waiter at breakfast “Bhai”). Could you imagine if everyone in America just called each other “big bro, little bro, big sis, little sis”? It’s kind of cool though here that there’s a level of personable-ness between strangers they they all accept the names.
All of this being said, Dewaki still constantly calls me Pucchi (baby), and sometimes Bhai.
Kids have final exams coming up next week, so the next three days will be studystudystudy, but much more awesome things in the works that I will blog about as they become more solidified.
Jungle safari (elephant and jeep) is booked for March 16th!
March 13th is a local folk festival so hopefully ill see some awesome nepali dance and hear some good music!


OH, also, here below im copying a newsletter rajendra had me write for the previous volunteers to give them an update of whats going on at the orphanage:

Ramro Sathi newsletter:
The sun is shining most of the time at Ramro Sathi as of this minute, but parts of the day are still clouded by our proximity to neighboring buildings and the fact that we do not have unrestricted access to the roof. Soon that will all change. The days of irritable land-ladies, locked doors without a key and not enough space are on the way out. On the way in is a new house built especially for Ocean Nepal. The “New Land,” a three minute walk from the current house, is already purchased and building should begin in the coming months. As if the kids didn’t have enough places to dirty themselves, the new land has become another spot for relaxation, sports, and given the recent “Holi festival,” water fights with the other neighborhood children. The land is prime real estate, perched on a hill to provide perpetual sunshine to compliment the luxuries of having our own building.
Exams are quickly approaching (and might be finished by the time you read this, oh Nepali time), and the kids are entering study mode for the next three days to prepare for their finals. Math seems to be the topic of attention, and the abacus has become one of the most sought after items in the house, second to coconut biscuits. After exams are finished, the kids have a long holiday starting in the middle of March. Plans for this time are not concrete yet, but some of the children may get the opportunity to see relatives in their villages.
Our current volunteers (Ben from America, Nora from Austria, Eefje from Holland, Adam from Canada) have been trying to plan some new activities for the kids. Last week Suraj, Rajju, Dhanaraj, and Janga hiked with Ben and Eefje up to Jamacho peak in the Nagarjun Forest Reserve, the temple at the top of the hills visible from the orphanage. The volunteers were absolutely astounded that, against their devout expectations, all four kids made it up and down the 2.5 hour treacherous climb without one complaint. Highlights from the day include a monkey stealing noodles and grapes right from Ben’s bag after he turned his head, and climbing the rickety lookout tower at the peak with incredible views of the Kathmandu valley. Nora took the other children to Thamel that day for momos and other fast food. We plan to take a trip after exams all together to visit the Patan Durbar square, which the kids have never seen before.
And now for something a bit more personal, here’s a few lines/quotes/stories regarding the kids:
Subash: Knows exactly when to turn on the charm so that we can’t ever be that mad at him, even though he is still peeing in the bed! The volunteers are trying everything, from waking him up to pee at night (which mostly works but isn’t a permanent solution), to promising him stickers and bracelets for keeping dry, to telling him we won’t wash his pajamas, which resulted in him sleeping in his underwear.
Rajju: Recently lost her nose ring and arrived at home with a tiny wooden stick through the hole in her nose. Nora and Ben IMMEDIATELY removed the stick and took Rajju to buy a beautiful new gold stud, after some heavy bargaining with the jeweler.
Sarita: Won first place in the girl’s high jump competition at her school. She hurdled over 3 feet and 3.5 inches into a pit of sand and was cheered on by her entire school.
Ramesh: Will be performing in a school dance with Sarita in April. He also competed in the school high jump for the boys, but did not place. However, Ben can personally vouch for the crowd of screaming ladies cheering him on . . . yea Ramesh.
Aakriti: Also competed in the girls high jump in a different class than Sarita. Although she did not place, she was also well loved by the crowd.
Janga: Scraped his left lower palm pretty badly about two weeks ago when he fell and skidded on his hands. He bravely endured the repeated hand washings to clean his wounds, and is healing excellently.
Bhabishya: Lost her first tooth yesterday! She is proudly showing off the hole in the bottom center of her smile. Rumor is that her teacher pulled it out at school.
Ashmita: Just received the most stylish haircut of the century: the “lice remover” special. Luckily she looks incredibly adorable regardless of how short her hair is, and after one week it is growing back pretty fast!
Suraj: Does not like it when I throw a teaspoon of cold water on his face in the morning to wake him up.
Dhanaraj: Loves it when I throw a teaspoon of cold water on his face in the morning to wake him up.
Dewaki: Went shopping with Hanny Miss a few days ago and picked up a new sweater that has kept her smiling for days.