Kathmandu: the city of color

Wednesday, January 24th 2024 7:30 AM Kathmandu, Nepal

I will never forget the flight to Kathmandu.  About 7 hours into a sleepless flight, I saw the expressions of everyone around me turn to awe and joy as they jostled for a look outside the left window.  I was quick to follow their lead, and when I did, my expression immediately matched theirs, and I put on the biggest non-alcohol-induced smile I’ve had in months. 

The Himalayas truly are one of the most awe-inspiring natural wonders that a person could hope to witness in their lifetime.  From hundreds of miles away, you could see them towering thousands and thousands of feet above the clouds.  It was not lost on me that even at 35,000 feet, we were not too much higher than the summit of Everest.  It was a moment of perfect clarity in which I knew that I was on the right path, that all my decisions had led me to that moment, and it was good.

The first thing you notice about Kathmandu is that it is a city of incredible color.  A friend once told me that the West is becoming monochrome.  We see this in the way people dress, our architecture, and our minimalist design.  I believe there is some truth to that, and it couldn’t be any further from the case here.  Houses are painted in every variety of color, the Nepali people dress in brilliant reds and oranges, and the farming land is integrated seamlessly into urban life which adds green, and the colors of a myriad of flowers to the city scenery.

I brought a Fujifilm X-T20 to Nepal, and it has been a lot of fun capturing the city in photos.  My goal is that by the end of my time here, I will be able to shoot in manual mode.  For now, I am about 40% confident in using my camera in automatic.  All photos in this blog post were taken on my Fujifilm, I hope that over time, you will be able to track my improvements in skill.

Something I am beginning to internalize is that these next two years are not going to be easy.  Of course, I knew this before, but knowing the reasons why from experience, is a different animal.  The first adjustment came at the first meal, when everyone started eating with their hand. 

Somehow, I missed the memo that people eat with their hand here, and all the other volunteers seemed to be keenly aware, as they were eager to quite literally dig in.  To eat with my hand, I had to set aside 24 years of deeply entrenched Western manners.  Picking up the first lump of food was extraordinarily difficult, but it got much easier after that.  It felt wrong the whole time though.  The reason that the Nepalis eat with their hand is because it allows them a closer relationship with their food, and I would say that this is generally true as you use an extra sense.  It is a sign of respect for the food.

You may at this point be wondering why I have been writing hand, instead of hands.  This is because Nepali people eat only with their right hand, and if they saw you eating with your left hand, they would be disgusted.  This leads me to my second cultural adjustment, which is that Nepali’s typically use squat toilets, and wipe with their left hand.

To be totally honest, this may be a cultural norm I can never accept. I had to do this once in Thailand when the water stopped working at my school (I was a huge bum gun aficionado), and I was forced to use my hand to clean up the mess.  It was an experience that was mildly traumatizing, and I will find it difficult to do that once again, let alone as my primary means of wiping. 

Anyway, that leads me to the third cultural adjustment, which is a complete lack of hot water.  This means I am going to be taking cold showers every day for 27 months.  As you may know, I am a huge fan of cold-water resistance training, but in the past, being submerged in cold water was a choice.  Now, it is a daily reality.

None of these challenges are insurmountable, and taken in tandem with the hundreds of challenges I will face down the road, I know that I will walk out of this experience a much more resilient person.

The fellow Peace Corps Volunteers who are doing this with me are some badass gritty bastards. I’ve got all the respect in the world for them.  For two people, this is their first time leaving the United States, and they decided to fully send it and live in a rural village for two years.  Another guy brought one bag, no phone and no computer.  Someone else has been going commando for 4 years, and didn’t bring any underwear with him.  Bold move, I am hoping he can hold in every drop of the inevitable diarrhea.

Not only are the members of this cohort gritty, but they’re also extremely smart, personable, and they have interesting hobbies.  We are only beginning the process of getting to know each other too.  Many more layers will inevitably be peeled over time.  I have introduced hackysack to the group, and it’s been a lot of fun hacking sack in the spare minutes between sessions. 

As for the Peace Corps experience since arriving in Kathmandu, I am beyond impressed.  There is a staff of 33 people to facilitate our service, from the top-level administrative roles, to medical officers, training coordinators, language teachers, and drivers.  Everything is extremely organized, and the staff is amazing. 

One thing that is sobering is the number of rules we have to abide by.  The consequence for many of them is being sent home immediately, without any of the benefits that come after Peace Corps service.  For the first time in a long time, I have no desire to break the rules.  I am going to be a total square, and play everything by the book.  I am going to leave Nepal with some healthy habits as a result.

Yesterday, we learned which district we will be placed in for the next two years.  I will be living in Kavre district, just east of Kathmandu.  It is a little bit funny I was placed here, because when I researched the districts a month prior, I told myself I would be happy with any district but Kavre.  Of course, I know very little about any of these places, but I guess in my mind I was imagining being near Pokhara, and enjoying a stunning view of the Annapurna mountains on my walk to work. 

I am starting to make peace with my Peace Corps placement though.  Troy, our country director, says there is no such thing as a good site, or a bad site.  I remind myself too that I am not here on vacation, I am here to be of service where I am needed.  I also realize now that it will be the people, not the place, who will make my experience.  I will find out who my host family is, and what village I will be living in tomorrow. 

There are many different aspects of Peace Corps training.  There is of course the intense language immersion, and technical training for teaching, but there is also medical training, earthquake preparedness, and many others.  This week, a big theme has been reflecting on why we are all here, and our aspirations for service. 

I went into some of my reasons why in the last blog post, but I thought I’d share my aspirations for service.

• Learn the Nepali language
• Personal growth
• Leave a lasting impact on the community I serve
• Learn how to use manual mode on my camera
• Develop my writing skills through my blog
• See some badass mountains

On Friday, we leave for Panauti, where we will be living for the next 10 weeks.  We will all be placed with a host family, and be training 6 days a week, from 7 am to 5 pm (with some breaks in between). 

Every day, it seems we are thrown deeper and deeper into a culture that we can only try to understand.  I have already learned so much, but the cultural understanding that will be obtained by living with a local family will surely be like nothing I have experienced before.  Wish me luck.