Friday, February 24, 2006

Greetings from Kathmandu!

Greetings from Kathmandu! I made here safe and sound. It is quite remarkable how things appear to be exactly as they were in 2001. Yet, I'm sure they aren't and this is confirmed by conversations with the locals - friends that I made when I was here before. And also confirmed when I got lost today looking for the KEEP office (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project), to fill my water bottles. I did not even stop to think that perhaps they may have moved from their previous location, which they did! KEEP is a great organization which helps to improve & preserve Nepal's natural environment by organizing clean-ups, by providing bottled water to refill tourists' containers (rather than buying water in plastic disposable containers), by educating tourists on safe and environmentally sound trekking (safe for both the trekkers and the porters), among other services.

I am currently staying in the tourist section called Thamel to get my bearings, and will move on to the children's home sometime next week or so. The organization will be conducting an orientation - to culture and language - before I start. On Monday, we will be making a site visit. I am looking forward to the experience and look forward to filling you in. In the meantime, I will try to get acclimated - to the honkings, traffic dodgings, and smog to name a few things :), but that's what makes it Kathmandu!

Until next time, Namaste, Jackie G

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it there safe and sound!

Anonymous said...

Hey Jackie! Luisa and I are checking out the blog. It will be great to feel so connected to you while you're gone. We are thinking of some ideas for projects with the kids. Good Luck and we'll check in later.

Dina and Luisa

Anonymous said...

Hi Jackie! I'm excited for you. It must be a thrill to be back in Kathmandu. Say hi to Dawa, Babu, and the rest of the gang for us.

Seth