Hello from Nepal!!!
As of today, I have been in Nepal for two weeks and I wanted to share some of my experiences with friends, family, professors, and anyone else who may be interested! I say “some” of my experiences because these last two weeks have felt more like two months because my days have been so full. The first few days of the semester were spent in orientation in Dhulikhel, about an hour outside of Kathmandu. Dhulikhel was beautiful and provided some faraway but spectacular views of the Himalayas. During this time, I really enjoyed easing into the semester and getting to know the other students in the program.
After five days, we met our homestay families in Kathmandu and moved in with them! My host family is lovely and I have cherished my time with them so far. There is not much English spoken at home so I have had ample opportunities to practice my Nepali language skills
I am now in my second week of classes and am definitely still adjusting to long, busy days. I have classes from 8:30am-3:30pm Monday through Friday, including three hours of Nepali every morning. I can certainly say that one of the most significant parts of these two weeks has been language learning. I’m a native English speaker and I am nearly fluent in Spanish, so learning a third language has been a bit difficult for me. However, because I have learned Spanish, I definitely know what tricks I can use to get a better grasp of Nepali. After two weeks, we can introduce ourselves, talk about our family and friends, and our likes and dislikes, which I am pretty proud of!
Our weekends thankfully provide free time for rest, exploring the city, and catching up on work. During our two weekends so far, one of the Nepali teachers took our group on day-long hikes that included visiting various Hindu and Buddhist temples, monasteries, and seeing some amazing mountain views.
Overall, these first two weeks have been exhilarating, busy, and challenging, and I am so excited for my next three months in Nepal!
Also, I recently found out some exciting news that will prolong my time abroad. Several people reading this already know, but I found out last week that I received a Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to study at an anthropology field school in Kenya for seven weeks this summer, from June 10th-July 31st! It is called the Koobi Fora Field School and is a partnership with George Washington University and the National Museums of Kenya. While there, I will be a part of a new program specializing in 'human biology' that will be focused on the cultural anthropology of the local community and addressing issues like water/food security and drought. As an anthropology and international affairs double major, many of these topics will be very familiar to me but others will be quite new! Here's a link to the field school's website, although it doesn't discuss the new program very much: https://anthropology.columbian.gwu.edu/koobi-fora-field-school. I am so excited about this opportunity and I will certainly do my best to share stories from my time there.
Sorry this blog post got a little wordy and thank you so much for reading about my experiences so far. Please scroll down for some of my favorite pictures from the last two weeks!
- Maria
We began the program with a puja, or Hindu worship ceremony, to welcome us to Nepal.
Here are some of the best views and memories from our hikes!
Kathmandu is often known as “the city of temples” because it is said to have over 500 Hindu and Buddhist temples, stupas (Buddhist structures containing relics, often of monks), and other holy sites. On my 15-minute walk to school, I pass by at least three temples and often see many smaller religious shrines.
These two photos were taken at a ceremony at Pharping Asura Cave in which Buddhist monks were praying in memory of the untimely death of a renowned Lama in Tibet. We had only planned to visit the cave and did not realize the ceremony would be taking place, and it was very special to witness.
Dhaalbaat, literally meaning lentil and rice, is the staple food of Nepal, consisting of rice, lentil soup, and often vegetables, bread, and a few other toppings. This meal was a bit fancier than most I have had here, but all have been delicious!
I often pass by street vendors selling vegetables, fruits, grains, and spices in bulk. I thought these were particularly beautiful.
A common motif in Nepal are prayer flags, which from what I understand are originally a Buddhist form of prayer and worship. I’ve been told that blue represents the sky, white represents the air, red represents fire, green represents water, and yellow represents earth. Together, the colors invoke balance. They are everywhere here, and I think they are stunning!