Buddha Would be Proud.

I met Laurie, another traveller I met in Kathmandu, for breakfast at the Brezel Bakery across the street from the Kathmandu Guest House. It was a big relief to meet someone that was travelling for similar interests. Laurie, like me, is also a practicing Buddhist. While we were enjoying some Nepali baked goods and milk tea she says to me "Would you like to come with me to meet a Buddhist nun that I know?" Of course I did! I changed my plans for the day to go to the temple where Rammawati resides.

Laurie and I walked south of Thamel into old Kathmandu. We turned down small alleyways past butcher shops and fruit stands. It is disturbingly quiet today as it is the last day of festival, and so everyone rests, most shops are closed. As we turn down one more alley it opens into a large courtyard with a large Stupa in the center. There is a Tibetan Monastery on one end and a Nepali Theravada Nunnery on the other end. This courtyard is delicately decorated with prayer flags and prayer wheels, with the usual assortment of shrines and statues. We approach the door to the Nunnery and ask if Rammawati is available. The Nun bows and runs inside to fetch her. I took a moment to appreciate how clear and nice it was out today. the quiet is something I wasn't used to in this city, and the pollution seemed to be taking a holiday as well. After a few moments a very small woman with the unmistakable shaven head emerged from the building and introduced herself to me as Rammawati. She was very excited to hear that I have been learning Nepali as her English is still not perfect.

We walked into the Nunnery and sat down in a common room area very modestly decorated with a few pictures of Buddha. Rammawati immediately started bustling around with teapots and dishes. Laurie leans in and whispers in my ear "she really likes to serve people and make them eat." She came back with some hot milk tea and some biscuits and sat with us. Rammawati decided she wanted to be a nun at 10 years old, and has devoted her life since then to the Buddhist path, she is currently in nursing school as well, as she wishes to give back to the community as a healer. I am amazed to learn that she is only 20 years old. As we sit Nuns are coming in and out of this room, and a few come and offer us some fruit and more biscuits. The plates in front of us just continue to pile higher. We really were not that hungry. After tea Rammawati invited us up to the roof of the Nunnery to see her room and the view. From the roof of the building you could see all of Kathmandu and the monkey temple out to the north west. Behind that I had my first view of snow capped peaks since Ive been here. I remind myself that there are mountains in this country. Rammawati pointed down into the Tibetan Monastery next door and pointed out a young monk "He is only 4 years old." There was a small 3 foot child running around in maroon robes with a shaved head. "Sometimes parents give their first child to the monasteries to ensure that they will have a good life." This was the most adorable thing I think I have ever seen.

After visiting with Rammawati, Laurie and I took a taxi west of the city to Boudha, the site of the largest Stupa in the country and home to at least a dozen Buddhist Monasteries as well as the largest area of Tibetan population in the country. This stupa is a holy place to Tibetan Buddhists and some believe that inside the stupa houses a piece of bone from the Buddha himself. Hundreds of Tibetans and monks were walking clockwise around this stupa counting prayers on their beads, and off on the sides performing prostrations, and sitting in meditation. It was a powerful experience. We grabbed a quick lunch and rushed back to Thamel to meet up with Al who just arrived from the states.