Finding My Home in Kathmandu.

I stand on the street corner in the early AM outside the tourist area of Thamel awaiting my bus. The mornings in Kathmandu are amazing to watch. Shopkeeps are out getting their store ready, housewives are out buying produce, and children are all rushing to get to school. Buses are constantly coming pass yelling their destination and I wait for the one yelling out "MANAMAIJU BAHK!" This is the bus that I will take to work. My life in Kathmandu has taken a very interesting turn after coming home from Everest. My second day back I met a man named Rishi and had lunch with him and my friend Ram. We got to talking and I told him that I am to live in Kathmandu for another month and a half and don't have any plans other than a short trip down to Chitwan National Park. He thought for a moment and said "My Uncle has been looking for someone just like you." I wasn't quite sure what this meant, I just said "okay." And before I knew it we were on our way to Manamaiju to meet this Uncle of his. His Uncle, it turned out, is the principal of a small school just outside Kathmandu called Shuvakamana, and he was looking for a foreigner who was staying in Nepal for some time who would be interested in teaching English. I only talked to him for a few moments before I agreed to take the job. I didn't really have a reason not to.

Every morning after the bus drops me off, I walk up the street to the school, and as I enter the school grounds I am greeted with an enthusiastic chorus of "GOOD MORNING SIR!" The students at the school have impeccable manners, and always look sharp in their school uniforms. The school bell rings at 9:30am and the students line up outside in about 10-15 rows and do their morning exercises before being dismissed to class. My schedule varies from day to day, though I usually teach three to four classes. With the younger kids (grades 3-5) I will usually only play games and answer their endless, but amusing, questions about America. With the older kids (grades 6-9) we will do a mix of activities to improve their English skills, which can be hard at times, like explaining the difference between "sad" and "depressed". Though it is always fun and I look forward to going in everyday. Today I realized that I came to Nepal for the mountains, though teaching at Shuvakamana will be the most rewarding experience I will have had here.

After school each day I will come back into Thamel and visit with my Nepali friend Nabbin. We will sit in his office drinking tea while he dominates me in Chess, every time. I will meet up with Al and Ali for dinner (who are now back from Everest) along with some other friends we have made staying at our guesthouse. My friend Huff from the US is also in Kathmandu, who surprised me suddenly having decided to cut his trip to India short. My living situation has also been quite interesting, when I got back to the city I met a few people who informed me that I could come and stay at a small Buddhist Monastery in Thamel for a small price. And so I moved into the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center which is an amazingly peaceful place. The week I moved here a high Lama was living here and giving teaching and blessings. The monks that run the place are very pleasant and hospitable.

My life in Nepal has become so comfortable, that I sometimes think that I will never leave.