How much in Rupees?

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Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am on my own accord, looked out the hotel window after sunrise and saw a huge furry monkey hanging out on a nearby rooftop in the middle of this big, dirty, congested city... a monkey the size of a 5 year old child. Definitely made my day.
So in Thamel (the tourist district of Kathmandu) if you stick out, every 5 feet you are solicted by shopkeepers, needy/disabled people, scams and street children. I am white. I stick out. Well at least I used to moreso. When you first get here the culture shock is apparently written all over your face and everyone knows you are a new potential customer and thus a walking bullseye. I got the hang of refusing eye contact and continuing to walk on and apparently it looks like I know what I'm doing (I'm apparently a pretty good faker). So this makes walking absolutely anywhere quite the challenge. Peace and quiet, what is that?

Training has been going well, but the language is extremely difficult to learn. Perhaps that's because we're learning only phrases as opposed to what the individual words actually mean. So how the crap are you supposed to be able to adjust a phrase based on what you'd like to communicate? And we only have a few days of language lessons. Nepali in 8 days? I don't think so. Also, the alphabet is different. This will be an issue out of the tourist area and into the villages where no signs will be in English. Few people will be speaking English. Hello charrades!

Tomorrow is the beginning of the second phase of training in which we will be traveling to the training village, Bistechapp, for 6 more days. Here, we will continue our language lessons, visit all of the homes, and become more familiarized with the local culture. I will also then have my first experience with a charpi (a ceramic hole in the ground toilet AKA squatty potty), and bathing at the local tap. I pretty much have to wear a dress to my knees while 'bathing' next to people washing their dishes. The villagers are going to point and laugh. At least we will be providing some entertainment!

For my work, I have been assigned to a health team consisting of 4 of us. We all have some sort of health background, two girls (Eloise and Esther) are in school for nursing and the guy (Steve) is in family practice. My primary work will consist of planning and faciliating a long term vaccination program for the children in the 6 children's homes without prior health histories. The number of children in each home ranges from about 10-50, so this is no simple task. In addition, I will also be traveling between the homes on a monthly basis to help conduct regular health checkups with all of the children. For simple and obvious health ailments, we are permitted to diagnose and treat using one another, medical reference guides, and guides put together specifically for the program containing information on the most commonly encountered medical issues. Also, we will be responsible for taking children to the hospital in order to deal with more serious health problems. We will also be responsible for updating the health records, placement guides, and monthly reports in the VSN (Volunteer Service in Nepal) office in Thamel.

The four of us will be working in conjunction with a Nepali doctor for our program. I can't recall exactly what needs to be done, but mid month, we will all be traveling up to Pokhra to meet up with him for some health work for a few days. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the country, so we are all very much looking forward to the experience. We plan on staying a few days extra to do some trekking, should be absolutely amazing with views of some of the largest snowcapped mountains in the world. I have yet to see snowcapped mountains thus far with all of the pollution trapped down here. Think Salt Lake City but MUCH more polluted.
On the 9th I will be transferred to my placement, located about an hour's walk NW of Kathmandu (30 min by bus on a good day). This is great news, as I will not necessarily need to rely on public transportation (which is often unreliable) to get back into town.
Internet access is 30 rupees (50 cents) an hour. I had a full breakfast yesterday morning for $1, but beer is $3.50 (go figure).

Yesterday was my first experience eating authentic Nepali food sitting at a table 6 inches from the floor. Daal bhaat is eaten for every meal every day in the villages. This consists of a huge heap of rice, soupy mashed lentils, and curried vegetables, all mooshed together (while extremely hot) with (yes) your right hand. And then you just shovel it all in. I was genuintely so scared yesterday... are you serious? You are telling me to lose the nerve endings in my fingers, eat with my hand, and play with my food? Yes, just shovel it all in, as much, as fast, and as messy as possible. Brownie points for multiple helpings. Oh, and just use the right hand. The left hand is the dirty one used to wash yourself at the charpie. A tad bit worried about a potential stomach explosion as the families worry and take offense if you don't inhale a quantity suitable for a large dinner party before you leave the table. My stomach hurts just thinking about this... I apologize in advance, little guy...

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Photos

Central Thamel
Nepali dance demo