So today we're in Narayangarh, the city closest to where we're doing our volunteer work. I didn't think we would have internet at all the whole time we're here but so far we have. Saturday is our day off so we decided to go into the city and there's not much else to do besides use the internet and wander around. And everyone else in my group wanted to use the internet so here we are. We started our work yesterday, half of us in conservation, half in the orphanage and then we will switch every day. I started in conservation. We basically weed all day. They're growing asparagus plants and there are weeds everywhere. It's been a month since they last weeded and there is already practically a forest! We made pretty good progress though. ... read more

We left Chitwan National Park this morning to go start our volunteer work! We're still in the Chitwan region, but about an hour away from the national park. We're living with families in pairs. Very basic, but still nice. Our family even had mosquito nets set up for us! The toilets of course are just a hole in the ground and we have tried out the shower yet, but I think it's a real one, not just buckets of water. Our family has a grandma, mom, dad, and 3 kids, 2 girls and one boy. One girl is 17 and she speaks english pretty well which is really helpful! This afternoon we had an orientation of sorts for our work. We're going to be alternating between conservation work (weeding, planting, etc.) and orphanage work (teaching and ... read more

This morning we went to some museums. One was about the Tharu culture and the other was about Chitwan National Park. It was really interesting to learn about the different Tharu ceremonies and ways of life. We got to see some of their tools and cultural dress. The National Park Center had information about all the different animals that live in the park. Supposedly they even have hyaenas! But it's really rare to see them. In the afternoon we went cycling on 1-speed bikes to 20,000 Lakes. It was pouring rain the entire time which, as I said before, was actually really nice. I think I'm going to love rain after this trip! Going to school in Tacoma won't be a problem afterall! The only bad part was that when we finally got to the lake ... read more

Our day started with a spider. A huge spider. Literally as big as the palm of my hand. It was in our bathroom and we didn't want it to go into our beds or suitcases so our only option was to smash it. Plus it was really fast so there was no hope of catching it. So we shut the door and armed ourselves with shoes and then I chased it around the bathroom before successfully smashing it and throwing it outside. Mission accomplished! After breakfast we rode elephants looking for rhinos. There were four of us on each elephant riding on a platform on its back. It was fun and we could see pretty well from up on top. We went through the jungle and got sufficiently covered with branches and spiderwebs. But we managed ... read more

Early this morning we got on a bus going towards Chitwan National Park. It was a tourist bus, so that supposedly means it's safer. After about 2 hours we got off to go rafting! We went rafting for 2 hours on class 3/4 rapids on Nepal's longest river. It was a lot of fun! The bigger rapids were fun and inbetween them there were some calm sections so we got to enjoy the view and go swimming. The mountains are amazing! They're shorter and steeper than Alaskan mountains but they're really green and we were right in them. So it was a very nice setting for rafting. During one of the calm parts Kenny and I did simultaneous back flips off the side of the raft into the river. It was pretty epic! We even got ... read more

Just a note for those of you leaving comments... I have to accept them before they appear on the page and this computer takes 10 years to do that so I'm waiting until I get back to Kathmandu to accept all the comments. But I still am reading them so keep 'em coming! :) Second day in Lamatar... We woke up bright and early and went for a hike up the mountain behind us. The goal was to get a nice view of the whole valley but it was foggy and partway up it started pouring! We went basically straight up the mountain and then across part of the top and then down again. Going up we went slow, but it was good because of the elevation. At the top we had a break for noodles ... read more

Finally a computer! But it's really slow and hotmail doesn't work... Now back in time to Lamatar... July 12 we went to Lamatar, a village about an hour outside of Kathmandu. It's a farming village, especially for rice so there were tons of fields and everything was green. In Lamatar the women usually work in the fields and the men go into Kathmandu to work. We went on a walk in the afternoon. There are 9 villages separated by farmland and we walked through all of them. We went to a weaving factory and got to see them make fabric and we stopped at the RCDP orphanage for a while to play with the kids. At first it was hard because they don't really know much english, but once we started tickling and chasing them the ... read more

So yesterday afternoon those of us who were healthy enough went to Chobaar. It was a really pretty with a river and some caves but the caves were all blocked off so we couldn't go in. There were some nice views of Kathmandu though. Then we walked up to the Chobaar Buddhist Monastery. They were doing some sort of a ritual/chanting so we got to hear that. We couldn't go in, we got to see the outside which was intricately painted. And it was a nice walk getting there. It was good to get out of Kathmandu and away from all the sick people! By dinner time there were only 3 of us who had not yet succumbed to the disease and we decided it was probably only a matter of time. I threw up once ... read more

Yesterday we started language classes! We have them from 8:45-12 for the next 3 days. Just like any other language, you can't learn much in just a couple days, but we're mainly learning phrases that we might need to use so I think it will definitely be helpful. Today we were able to have a short conversation with a shopkeeper with hardly any English! After 2 days of classes! Nepali is nice because it sounds pretty much how it's written, not like French where it's crazy! And there aren't and crazy intonation rules like in Chinese so it's actually not too bad. Yesterday afternoon we went to Patan/Durbar Square, a part of Kathmandu with gorgeous temples and some shops. 3 of us found this little hole-in-the-wall tea and spice shop so we bought some tea leaves ... read more