Orientation Week

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After the relative leisure of my first week in Kathmandu, Orientation Week was a non-stop week of activities, classes, and general adventuring. It began with a trip to Durbar Square, which is the center of Kathmandu, and separates the “Lower City” from the “Upper City.” Generations ago, the King of Nepal had arranged Kathmandu such that the lower and upper classes didn’t frequently interact, in order to minimize conflicts (apparently). Durbar Square is the millennia-old centerpoint around which the city was built, and after which the city was named. The oldest building, of which I can’t recall the exact age, is built out of the wood of a single tree, and is well over 1000 years old. Despite this, it is still heavily used, and the wood itself doesn’t seem to have suffered much weathering. Around this building, various temples and buildings have been built or added over the centuries, resulting in the present-day bustling commercial hub that is Durbar Square.

Durbar Square Kathmandu is actually only one of three Durbar Squares in the region, the others being in major towns outside of Kathmandu. However, what makes Durbar Square Kathmandu unique is its size (it’s huge) and the plethora of asian and European structures there. There must be ten different temples there, dedicated to all sorts of different divinities. Nepal embraces Hinduism, Buddhism, and Anamism, so shrines and statues are extremely common. A few of my favourites were the giant statue of Shiva, before which criminals used to be tried, and the Liquor god, from who’s mouth every September Raksi (a rice wine common in Nepal) pours fourth in huge quantities. The main government hall is actually built in the English Style, because the king at the time forged an alliance with the East India Company through the suppression of India’s independence movement. The Kathmandu Durbar Square is also home to Kumari, the Living Goddess.

Kumari deserves more explanation. Kumari is a one to thirteen year old girl, who is said to be the incarnation of the wife of Shiva, one of the main Hindu divinities. They select Kumari by taking very young girls (one or two years old usually) and putting them in one of the temple rooms in Durbar Square. This particular room is filled with frightening masks, and they leave her alone in the room with scary music playing, etc. If the little girl shows no signs of fear, she becomes Kumari. She then lives in the “House of the Living Goddess” for the first part of her life and helps to conduct services. Foreigners aren’t allowed to go in, but she is allowed to come to the window and wave at us. Once she is old enough to have her first period, she ceases to be Kumari and a new Kumari is found. That is why there is a donation box outside her house, so that she will have some funds for her education after this part of her life is done. I don’t know much about Hinduism, but after being able to see her, I can say that there is definitely something special about that little girl.

After touring Durbar Square, we went to buy some formal Nepali clothes (saris for the girls, a suit for me) for our Friday night dinner. And that was only one day of orientation week!

We spent the rest of the week learning a bit of the Nepali language, the history and culture of Nepal, and other important things. We took a trip to Bouddha, which is one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world (my jaw hit the ground when I saw it - I can’t do it justice in words), and also to a Nepali cremation temple. The week finished with the Amazing Race Kathmandu, where we basically ran around, got “tikka-ed” by some Saddhus, drove a rickshaw, made a music video, bartered for vegetables and did a bunch of other crazy stuff. Good times all round. That night we went out for some authentic Nepali cuisine, and I ended up getting pecked by a giant ostrich, rammed by a yak, and hugged by a yeti (these were of course dancers in costume). All the while the whole group looked very stylish in our custom-tailored Nepali attire.

I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that I would highly recommend going volunteering with an organization as your first travel experience. I just want to say this again - I can’t tell you how much of a difference this house, these people, and this program has made for my experience. I can’t imagine what I would do without them.

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