Boudha Homestay Week One

I have just finished my first week living with my homestay family in Boudha, a small town on the outskirts of Kathmandu, home to a large Tibetan population. At the center of town is the Boudha Stupa—one of the holiest places for Tibetan Buddhists. As part of their ritual, many people walk around the Stupa, an act called “Kora.” There are many shops and cafes surrounding the Stupa and the views from rooftop cafes at sunset are truly beautiful. My host father (“Pala” in Tibetan) said that one night he performed 105 Koras, but that like most people he usually performs only 3-7 a day.

It is an incredible experience living with a host family. My host family consists of my host father, Pala, and host mother (“Amala”), and their two children, both of whom are going to school in India—quite a common thing for Tibetan people. They are both so incredibly kind. The first couple nights felt like when you stay over at a friend’s house for the first time and you don’t know any of the customs of the family or just in general how they operate, except your friend isn’t there to help you and the family is from an entirely differently culture. Since then though, it has been an amazing experience. I have learned so many little things about Tibetan culture from living with my host family—the way they eat, speak, respect guests, and value education. I have also gathered so many insights from casual conversations about how Tibetans see the world and think about things. It has also helped speed along the process of learning the Tibetan language.

During the week I usually have school from around 8 until around 3, which has left the afternoons open to exploring the area around me (we do have a 7:30 curfew—though there isn’t much to do after that anyway). One day I went with several friends to the Pashupati Temple, a holy Hindu temple by a river. Part of the area includes a hill with a scenic view of the Kathmandu valley area. One of the things the temple is known for is the presence of monkeys throughout the area. Even more interestingly, we happened to stumble into a couple of funerals happening, a process which includes cremation and pushing the body into the river. However, it is the norm of the area for everyone who isn’t directly involved in the funeral to just keep walking, a stark contrast from the culture of having personal space when someone is practicing religion.

Another day during the week my program took me to Durbar square, a famous area where there are many buildings that are hundreds of years old, including temples and palaces. There, as part of an assignment, my fellow students and I had to go up to people in the square and ask them about their lives and how the recent earthquake had changed the square. Many people mentioned that tourism—which much of the economy is based off of—had dropped the year immediately following the earthquake, but seemed to be picking back up again. Fortunately, a few friends and I managed to stumble into the Vice President of the Nepal Heritage Foundation, who explained to us that all of the different efforts going on to help repair many of the buildings. She noted that earthquakes were as much a part of the history of the valley as the buildings themselves, occurring every hundred years or so. As a result, these buildings have been effected by many earthquakes throughout the years. Furthermore, it has become a politically messy situation regarding who is repairing them—a mix of the government (with different department within it), private foundations and individuals, and international groups (like UNESCO). There is also controversy in how to restore and repair the buildings—what parts of the buildings do you repair in order to keep their structure safe in the future, and which parts do you try to restore as close to the past as possible. All of this has left all the buildings still supported only preventatively by different beams and structures, without any actual repairs occurring.

While in Kathmandu proper, we also ventured to the Thamel district, known for its tourism and shopping. There we also ate at a restaurant where we all ordered Thali Set. This is a traditional meal that is served with rice in the center of the large plate along with different vegetables, lentils, spices, and protein. A key part of the meal is that you eat it with your hands, which honestly was quite enjoyable. The key to eating with your hands is that you use your fingers collectively as a scooping mechanism bringing the food close to your mouth before using your thumb to push the food from your hand into your mouth. The meal is then topped off with a small serving of yogurt in a little dish, which is quite refreshing after the many spices of the meal. It certainly was a delicious experience.

Another day during the week I went and volunteered with some friends at a place called “Roots to Fruits,” that helps teach English to Nepalese people. As someone who had no prior experience in this type of work it was very interesting. Though people kept telling me it was just beneficial for these people to practice and hear English, I couldn’t help but think if there was a curriculum for the program or training for the teachers it could have been more effective. It was nice to help these people and hear about their lives (mostly in English!) and why they want to learn the language. They all idolize America and it is a collective dream among the people to someday go to America.

Later on that same day I went to a mediation session at the White Monastery, a monastery in town that have a sizable foreign presence. It was cool just to walk through the monastery and get a sense of what it was like. The actual mediation session itself was quite disappointing, as the instruction from the lama was quite basic—nothing I could not have read or had not already read—and we ended up not having time to actually meditate.

When we had a day off during the weekend I went back to Thamel with a couple friends—we only managed to get lost for a short time. While I was there I encountered a particularly interesting shop keeper. The conversation started with some basic small talk, but he was then impressed and intrigued when I asked him some questions about Nepali politics (it pays off to follow the politics and current event of where you are studying abroad for the months before), and he immediately made me gasp when he said that Nepal needed a Hitler-type leader. When I pushed him further on this he explained that he believed Nepal needed a strongman who would be tough on crime and could restore and bring prestige back to the country. When I pulled the conversation in another direction regarding religious tolerance he seemed to have very opposing beliefs, saying how Nepal was incredibly tolerant and that all the religions get along and respect each other—he gave himself as an example, pointing out that he was part of the small Muslim minority, but still felt very comfortable with his religion on Nepal. He was quite the character, and when we finished the conversation he handed me his business card.

Sunday a few friends and I decided to take a hike, as we are constantly surrounded by natural beauty. We went to Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, a short taxi ride away. There we hiked an hour and half to get to 6,798.21 feet (the altitude really does hit you). The area around us was truly majestic, as we were quite literally in the sky surrounded by cloud. The fog created by the clouds we were in gave the hike a special feel, and when we reached rest stops and the top we could attempt to look down into the Kathmandu valley (as the fog was so great that we could only see an occasional glimpse). It was as if we were in an IMAX film with nature wholly surrounding us. The feeling of hiking up such a place – something I had never done before – is truly exhilarating.