16-11-11
The night where we went to bed with full stomachs without a meal of dal bhat !
The day's lesson provided workshop and the different facilitation methods and the different phases in facilitation. We were divided in three groups where we were given the task to teach the other groups in different subjects: volunteering for social change, youth across cultures and global activism.
The task was a challenge because we had to present some work that we were judged on. The three groups presented their work in different ways which was nice. All in all this exercise that benefited us and helped us to out later work as volunteers.
Late afternoon we went to Thamel on Restaurant Roadhouse where er got our dinner. Most of us got pizza which was really nice - and not to forget the desserts!
After a 'hyggelig' time on Roadhouse we went to Reggae bar where wehere a band was playing - actualy quiet high, danish style, - any way most of us got some drinks and enjoyed the night with some other Danes and of course some Nepalis !
/ Camilla and the other volunteers with full stomachs :)
Monday, November 28, 2011
Observation at school and Global Change release-party
Today we went to a school where we were going to observe how the school system works at a local, international school in Nepal. We were divided between different classes from pre-school to fifth grade. It was fun and interesting to observe and (of course) the children were very cute.
Most of us were very surprised how good the children were at English considering their age and the general English level amongst Nepali people.
After lunch we were preparing our own lesson for next day in the same class which we observed.
In the evening we were all going to the Global Changers release-party at a place called 1905. At the party you could buy your own bag or T-shirt with their logo "I am a bag bringer". Later there were an auction with unique bags designed especially for this evening. Two guys from Global Change had drawn the pictures and most of the bags were faces of the band members. Later the two most famous Nepali bands Rock Sitar and Albatros were playing. There was a good atmosphere and it was a very good evening.
/Maria
Most of us were very surprised how good the children were at English considering their age and the general English level amongst Nepali people.
After lunch we were preparing our own lesson for next day in the same class which we observed.
In the evening we were all going to the Global Changers release-party at a place called 1905. At the party you could buy your own bag or T-shirt with their logo "I am a bag bringer". Later there were an auction with unique bags designed especially for this evening. Two guys from Global Change had drawn the pictures and most of the bags were faces of the band members. Later the two most famous Nepali bands Rock Sitar and Albatros were playing. There was a good atmosphere and it was a very good evening.
/Maria
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Roleplay, porters and twilight
Today i woke up still happy about having won about 700 rupies last night at a casino. A nice way to start the day. Then we had to presentate the facts about human rights that we had found the day before. I will not tell a lot about it, but let me just say that it did not take very long to hear the presentations...
Then we had to talk about communication and conflicts. We started the class watching a movie about how some people communicate through acting. And then - surprise surprise - we had to make a roleplay ourselves.
After lunch we went to an organisation which fights for the porters rigths. Once again the nepalease time showed, because the man who had to tell us about the organisation did not show up, so an other man had to improvise. After some talk about the organisation we went to a school where only the children of porters go. An example of the poverty showed up, when a 14-year old girl had her baby brother with her in school. He cried, so it distracted both her and the other students. But on the positive side she at least went to school. Later we met a porter on the street, where we had to presentate ourselves. When Camilla told her name to the porter and the man from the organisation, they began to laugh - it turns out that Camilla means ant in Nepali.
When you come to a new country some people cannot 'go to the toilet'. This is a problem for some of the girls, and that is why Camilla shared her knowledge about zone therapy. So we wish that the system begins to work now.
We ended the day by doing something we are very good at; enjoy each others company and watch a movie. A bit funny that the new Twilight movie is to buy in the stores in Nepal, and it has just had premiere in the cinema in Denmark. The quality of the movie was not the best I have even seen, but they used a good effect, were you felt like you were in the cinema - sometimes you could hear a man cough, people eat candy and see a head in the screen. A very nice effect they offen use in Nepal, or...
It was nice to go to bed with Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattison in our minds :)
/Line.
Then we had to talk about communication and conflicts. We started the class watching a movie about how some people communicate through acting. And then - surprise surprise - we had to make a roleplay ourselves.
After lunch we went to an organisation which fights for the porters rigths. Once again the nepalease time showed, because the man who had to tell us about the organisation did not show up, so an other man had to improvise. After some talk about the organisation we went to a school where only the children of porters go. An example of the poverty showed up, when a 14-year old girl had her baby brother with her in school. He cried, so it distracted both her and the other students. But on the positive side she at least went to school. Later we met a porter on the street, where we had to presentate ourselves. When Camilla told her name to the porter and the man from the organisation, they began to laugh - it turns out that Camilla means ant in Nepali.
When you come to a new country some people cannot 'go to the toilet'. This is a problem for some of the girls, and that is why Camilla shared her knowledge about zone therapy. So we wish that the system begins to work now.
We ended the day by doing something we are very good at; enjoy each others company and watch a movie. A bit funny that the new Twilight movie is to buy in the stores in Nepal, and it has just had premiere in the cinema in Denmark. The quality of the movie was not the best I have even seen, but they used a good effect, were you felt like you were in the cinema - sometimes you could hear a man cough, people eat candy and see a head in the screen. A very nice effect they offen use in Nepal, or...
It was nice to go to bed with Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattison in our minds :)
/Line.
Big fat pony and 8D cinema, monday nov 14, 2011
The day started out with meeting Anjana. She was very sweet and it was nice to finally meet her, now that we had only heard about her.
After the morning meeting we had some funny energizers (and we learnt a new great song,about a big fat pony). Unfortunately one of us (Kia) came to learn that it is risky business to play under a tree, - you never know if a bird is sitting up there, just waiting for a "target".
After the energizers we watched the movie "Born into a Brothel", which was a very touching movie, but at the same time inspiring.
Later we had lunch, but not just an ordinary lunch like all the other times, instead a lunch some of us will never forget, because it was the lunch where we for the first time managed to drink water straight from the jar. A skill we had admired some of the Global Changers for having. Even though one third of the water ended up in our laps, we were so proud, that we didn't mind walking around looking like we had been peeing in our pants.
In the afternoon we went to a 8D cinema in the City Center, where we watched 3 short movies - one about a boy and a cat flying through a city, one about dinosaur creatures under water and the last one about huge bugs. The 8D turned out to be 8 special effects like water, smell and soap bubbles etc. I am pretty sure that all of us screamed at least two times during the movies.
- Christine
After the morning meeting we had some funny energizers (and we learnt a new great song,about a big fat pony). Unfortunately one of us (Kia) came to learn that it is risky business to play under a tree, - you never know if a bird is sitting up there, just waiting for a "target".
After the energizers we watched the movie "Born into a Brothel", which was a very touching movie, but at the same time inspiring.
Later we had lunch, but not just an ordinary lunch like all the other times, instead a lunch some of us will never forget, because it was the lunch where we for the first time managed to drink water straight from the jar. A skill we had admired some of the Global Changers for having. Even though one third of the water ended up in our laps, we were so proud, that we didn't mind walking around looking like we had been peeing in our pants.
In the afternoon we went to a 8D cinema in the City Center, where we watched 3 short movies - one about a boy and a cat flying through a city, one about dinosaur creatures under water and the last one about huge bugs. The 8D turned out to be 8 special effects like water, smell and soap bubbles etc. I am pretty sure that all of us screamed at least two times during the movies.
- Christine
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Freezing in the sun
Nov. 23 2011 (Wednesday).
Today we had to continue on our drivers of change, which my group had almost finished the day before, so we had a quite relaxing morning :).
We all had an early lunch as most of us were joining the Global Changers to do yet another flash mop in the streets of Kathmandu. This time we had to do a freezing flash mop at a place in Kathmandu that we do not know the name of, but it was by a white tower. Our task seemed easy beforehand; we just had to stand completely still for five minutes with a plastic bag on our heads. However, standing in the sun was a bit warmer than first anticipated, and running noses and sweat showing on our faces made it all a bit challenging to freeze. In the end it all seemed to have gone pretty well, even though a lot of us did not find the most comfortable freezing position; putting all your weight on one leg is not a good idea when you have to do it for five minutes!
When we stopped freezing we had to hand out flyers about the message; bring your own bag and do not use plastic bags, and even though the actual number of flyers were limited we could see that we have made a lot of attention in the street. A lot of people came to ask what we were doing and where we came from, even when we had left our “freezing place” and just waited for our bus.
After waiting for the bus for what felt like half an hour we were finally on our way back to the platform.
Back at the platform we firstly had to send Kathrine to the doctor as she was worried about her health - but do not worry, nobody dies in this story. After sending Kathrine to the doctor we had to do some research on human rights, which were done with varying degrees of dignity (I must admit that I for one did not have the full concentration to do a very good job on that assignment).
After one and a half hour of “work” Kathrine and Mette-Maria came back from the doctor - still alive but also still sick. The good news was that her illness was not that serious. Hopefully she will be well again in a couple of days.
Kristoffer
Today we had to continue on our drivers of change, which my group had almost finished the day before, so we had a quite relaxing morning :).
We all had an early lunch as most of us were joining the Global Changers to do yet another flash mop in the streets of Kathmandu. This time we had to do a freezing flash mop at a place in Kathmandu that we do not know the name of, but it was by a white tower. Our task seemed easy beforehand; we just had to stand completely still for five minutes with a plastic bag on our heads. However, standing in the sun was a bit warmer than first anticipated, and running noses and sweat showing on our faces made it all a bit challenging to freeze. In the end it all seemed to have gone pretty well, even though a lot of us did not find the most comfortable freezing position; putting all your weight on one leg is not a good idea when you have to do it for five minutes!
When we stopped freezing we had to hand out flyers about the message; bring your own bag and do not use plastic bags, and even though the actual number of flyers were limited we could see that we have made a lot of attention in the street. A lot of people came to ask what we were doing and where we came from, even when we had left our “freezing place” and just waited for our bus.
After waiting for the bus for what felt like half an hour we were finally on our way back to the platform.
Back at the platform we firstly had to send Kathrine to the doctor as she was worried about her health - but do not worry, nobody dies in this story. After sending Kathrine to the doctor we had to do some research on human rights, which were done with varying degrees of dignity (I must admit that I for one did not have the full concentration to do a very good job on that assignment).
After one and a half hour of “work” Kathrine and Mette-Maria came back from the doctor - still alive but also still sick. The good news was that her illness was not that serious. Hopefully she will be well again in a couple of days.
Kristoffer
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Slumming or not slumming
Today we were supposed to visit one of the slums in Kathmandu. It was a, by some dreaded and others anticipated, trip. Unfortunately our facilitators were forced to cancel the whole arrangement due to disagreements between the government and the inhabitants of the slums.
Still, we had the opportunity to learn about the slums, as our Nepalese facilitator, Anjana briefed us about the current situation, and the more general definition of slums.
UN defines slums through 4 criterias: 1)the inhabitants have no concrete houses, 2)the area is crowded, 3)there is no access to services, and 4) poverty (below $1.25 a day).
There are several factors that can cause slums to occur in major cities. One is urbanization, but it can also be caused by conflict, e.g. civil war. In Nepal the latter was a major factor.
Furthermore there are a number of factors which keep people in the slums: For one, the slums are government owned, which means they can intervene at any given time, changing the dynamics or even demolishing the areas if it is beneficial to it. The slums are also of political interest and function as vote-banks during elections. Here the different political parties promises to protect a given slum area in exchange for votes. Also, there exists a number of so called land mafias who take advantage of the governments unpredictable auctions of land in the slum areas. They will buy off several plots and sell them with profits. This way a few people will obtain power and wealth at the cost of the many defenseless slummers.
On top of this, the government have an interest in keeping people in the slums when advocating for international support. On the other hand they might demolish large areas to keep the larger population satisfied.
Outdated laws also restrict the rights of the slummmers. E.g. you have no right to citizenship if you do not own land, but you cannot own land without a citizenship.
Despite the difficult conditions and prejudices against people living in slums, most slummers do not want to leave. They have build a life and a community in the slums. Often you can find schools, daycare centers and youth clubs and even small co-operatives within the boarders of larger slums. People are also more aware of their rights and fight for their causes when the government forces its power upon their home. Many people living in the slums originate from the rural areas of Nepal. They find it beneficial to live in the city where you are closer to services such as dentists, hospitals etc. As Anjana put it; They will rather be poor in the city, than rich in the country.
The current situation is caused by a government plan to demolish a slum area, while the people living there claim their right to be there, referring to the internationally acknowledged Human Rights.
Food for thought:
Today 506 million people are living in the slums in Asia alone. This is 61% of the worlds total slum population.....
Mette-Maria
Still, we had the opportunity to learn about the slums, as our Nepalese facilitator, Anjana briefed us about the current situation, and the more general definition of slums.
UN defines slums through 4 criterias: 1)the inhabitants have no concrete houses, 2)the area is crowded, 3)there is no access to services, and 4) poverty (below $1.25 a day).
There are several factors that can cause slums to occur in major cities. One is urbanization, but it can also be caused by conflict, e.g. civil war. In Nepal the latter was a major factor.
Furthermore there are a number of factors which keep people in the slums: For one, the slums are government owned, which means they can intervene at any given time, changing the dynamics or even demolishing the areas if it is beneficial to it. The slums are also of political interest and function as vote-banks during elections. Here the different political parties promises to protect a given slum area in exchange for votes. Also, there exists a number of so called land mafias who take advantage of the governments unpredictable auctions of land in the slum areas. They will buy off several plots and sell them with profits. This way a few people will obtain power and wealth at the cost of the many defenseless slummers.
On top of this, the government have an interest in keeping people in the slums when advocating for international support. On the other hand they might demolish large areas to keep the larger population satisfied.
Outdated laws also restrict the rights of the slummmers. E.g. you have no right to citizenship if you do not own land, but you cannot own land without a citizenship.
Despite the difficult conditions and prejudices against people living in slums, most slummers do not want to leave. They have build a life and a community in the slums. Often you can find schools, daycare centers and youth clubs and even small co-operatives within the boarders of larger slums. People are also more aware of their rights and fight for their causes when the government forces its power upon their home. Many people living in the slums originate from the rural areas of Nepal. They find it beneficial to live in the city where you are closer to services such as dentists, hospitals etc. As Anjana put it; They will rather be poor in the city, than rich in the country.
The current situation is caused by a government plan to demolish a slum area, while the people living there claim their right to be there, referring to the internationally acknowledged Human Rights.
Food for thought:
Today 506 million people are living in the slums in Asia alone. This is 61% of the worlds total slum population.....
Mette-Maria
Monday, November 21, 2011
Big Fat Pony
18th of November 2011
It was finally time to get a little taste of life as a volunteer. We were going to teach at a local Nepali school. As we approached the school, the butterflies in my stomach started taking of. There, all of the children were assembled in the schoolyard. Today they wore white bottoms and shoes instead of the grey bottoms and black shoes of yersterday. This messed up some of the preparation made by one of the groups. (They overcame it by changing "Your" to "Our".
When the assembly ended, the children ran up to their classrooms where we were greeted by song. I was teaching 4th grade along with Katrine. When we announced that they were going to draw while I read a fairy tale, their faces lit up in a smile. Katrine and I had decided, that we were going to read "The Swineheard" because it took 10 minutes toread out loud, and it had a princess.
Whether or not the children understood what they were supposed to do was a bit unclear in the beginning, since they were completely still while the fairy tale was being read. It was only when Katrine started drawing that they picked up their pencils and followed her lead.
The game of Hangman was the polar opposite. In an attempt to make the game less morbid, we drew a house instead of the hanged man. However the children exitingly cried uot "Hangman, Hangman" when they realized what the game was. So we did the original version instead. At first they were all seated at their tables, one saying a letter at a time. But as the game went along they stood pressed up against each other in a half circle around the "white borad" screaming letters at the same time. It was a wee bit confusing.
Well with the one hour past and our our program finished, we expected somebody to come and take over the class. This did not happen. So we had to improvise. Luckily we had been taught the energizer "Big Fat Pony" in which you run around in a circle whilst singing a song about a big fat pony. Fun and easy and they loved it. A lot. It becomes slightly less fun the seventh time you run around singing, with barely any breath left. But we played it over and over, even when we were told that we were done teaching, we did it again - just one last time.
We left the school feeling a bit like rock stars, because as we were leaving the children were running after us asking for our autographs. We managed to write quite a few, before they were hurdled back into their classrooms.
Back at the platform, we decided to celebrate this our first day of volunteering, the bast way we could think of; with chocolate cake, butterscotch ice cream and a game of charades.
/Kia and the rest of the volunteers, who have eaten way too much cake
Friday, November 18, 2011
Nepali class and "busy" Thamel
Today (4th november) started out with a "social structures in Asia"-class. Here we heard of the Caste System and how it works. It was quiet interesting, but also alarming how much it affects people. When you are a dallit, you are untouchable, and some from the higher castes will not have anything to do with you. Sometimes they will not even drink from the same water system as a dallit.
Then after lunch we had our first Nepali class, taught by Kaji. Therefore i feel (almost comfortable) saying: Mero naam Kathrine ho. Tapai ko naam ke ho? (My name is Kathrine. What is your name?) Getting to know the Nepali language a bit was very funny, but also very challenging. The word we thought meant "banana" actually means donkey!
In the afternoon we had some free time and we went to Thamel, some by taxi some by foot. Thamel is truely an area with lots of tourists and the atmosphere is very chaotic. It is like one big bazaar, but unlike many other bazaars the traffic is just as crazy inside Thamel as outside. In Thamel we also had our first meeting with the lesser organized way of handling things. We were going to book a trip to The Last Resort and more than one hour "quickly" passed away before anything was booked. We were waiting and waiting and were not even sure our wishes could be fulfilled. Though in the end it all fell into order, and we went home excited to leave for The Last Resort the next morning.
/Kathrine November 2011.
Then after lunch we had our first Nepali class, taught by Kaji. Therefore i feel (almost comfortable) saying: Mero naam Kathrine ho. Tapai ko naam ke ho? (My name is Kathrine. What is your name?) Getting to know the Nepali language a bit was very funny, but also very challenging. The word we thought meant "banana" actually means donkey!
In the afternoon we had some free time and we went to Thamel, some by taxi some by foot. Thamel is truely an area with lots of tourists and the atmosphere is very chaotic. It is like one big bazaar, but unlike many other bazaars the traffic is just as crazy inside Thamel as outside. In Thamel we also had our first meeting with the lesser organized way of handling things. We were going to book a trip to The Last Resort and more than one hour "quickly" passed away before anything was booked. We were waiting and waiting and were not even sure our wishes could be fulfilled. Though in the end it all fell into order, and we went home excited to leave for The Last Resort the next morning.
/Kathrine November 2011.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Bumpy Ride
Namaste!
The day started out with a solid meal, cooked by the mother of the platform, Sumi. Once again the breakfast consisted of toast with some sort of slush-ice topping, serial and oatmeal with heated milk – which is a combination some of the girls already enjoy. The focus of the day was Asian religion; Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism in particular. In extension to that we had a trip to a temple. A pink bus was supposed to pick us up at 11.30, but we waited 1½ hour for our sweet, Nepalese guide to arrive – our punctuality is being put to the test but we try to get used to a more easygoing lifestyle. In the meantime we sat in the peaceful environment on our terrace enjoying the lovely lunch pack the kitchen had prepared for us. It is safe to say that is was a bumpy ride to the temple, which resulted in a couple of bumps to the high ones, though I must give the Nepalese people credit for their excellent driving skills! We drove up a mountain on an extremely narrow road, which didn’t appear able to contain more than one car at a time. But time came where we met an oncoming bus and surprisingly enough they managed to get past each other driving inches away from the edge and make room for a motorcycle as well. Impressive! One of the former volunteers described the traffic in Nepal as “survival of the fittest”, which I think is a fitting description. At first we thought they were taping the program “Pimp my ride” on the parking ground in front of the temple, but our guide told us that they were giving their blessing to the car by decorating it. That might explain their daring way of driving. The temple itself wasn’t what we had expected, but we decided to go what felt like 1000 stairs up to look at an amazing, though dusty and misty view. Short of breaths, with red cheeks and smiling faces we stood for a minute just enjoying the moment. Unfortunately there were just as many stairs down. Our dinner was as usual very spicy for the soft Danish and some of the girls (read Maria) tried to spew fire but the only thing coming out of her mouth was a hoarse, masculine noise followed by a laughs all around the table.
Another day in Nepal filled with new exiting impressions and experiences is now coming to an end and we are once again planning to go to sleep to a symphony of barking dogs.
/Marie and the rest of the happy volunteers
The day started out with a solid meal, cooked by the mother of the platform, Sumi. Once again the breakfast consisted of toast with some sort of slush-ice topping, serial and oatmeal with heated milk – which is a combination some of the girls already enjoy. The focus of the day was Asian religion; Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism in particular. In extension to that we had a trip to a temple. A pink bus was supposed to pick us up at 11.30, but we waited 1½ hour for our sweet, Nepalese guide to arrive – our punctuality is being put to the test but we try to get used to a more easygoing lifestyle. In the meantime we sat in the peaceful environment on our terrace enjoying the lovely lunch pack the kitchen had prepared for us. It is safe to say that is was a bumpy ride to the temple, which resulted in a couple of bumps to the high ones, though I must give the Nepalese people credit for their excellent driving skills! We drove up a mountain on an extremely narrow road, which didn’t appear able to contain more than one car at a time. But time came where we met an oncoming bus and surprisingly enough they managed to get past each other driving inches away from the edge and make room for a motorcycle as well. Impressive! One of the former volunteers described the traffic in Nepal as “survival of the fittest”, which I think is a fitting description. At first we thought they were taping the program “Pimp my ride” on the parking ground in front of the temple, but our guide told us that they were giving their blessing to the car by decorating it. That might explain their daring way of driving. The temple itself wasn’t what we had expected, but we decided to go what felt like 1000 stairs up to look at an amazing, though dusty and misty view. Short of breaths, with red cheeks and smiling faces we stood for a minute just enjoying the moment. Unfortunately there were just as many stairs down. Our dinner was as usual very spicy for the soft Danish and some of the girls (read Maria) tried to spew fire but the only thing coming out of her mouth was a hoarse, masculine noise followed by a laughs all around the table.
Another day in Nepal filled with new exiting impressions and experiences is now coming to an end and we are once again planning to go to sleep to a symphony of barking dogs.
/Marie and the rest of the happy volunteers
Chaos, cornflakes and cows..
After 15 hours in the air and in airports we finally arrived to Kathmandu. It was a chaotic Kathmandu we met in the airport. While the others were waiting for Tine and Caecilie to get their visa, the four of us went out to find the bus driver. It was a totally chaos when we came outside. A lot of men were standing with a sign, taxi drivers were pooling in our clothes and the securities blew in their whistles. Finally we saw a man with “ActionAid” written on a sign. He followed us to the bus and we got in – a bit skeptical. Was it the right bus? Was the bus driver going to kidnap us? It turned out that we should not worry. Nepalese people are really nice people who want to help you. As nice the Nepalese people are as crazy is the traffic in Nepal. The traffic in Nepal is not at all like the traffic in Denmark. They honk all the time. Cars, people, dogs and cows are mixed in the street, and everybody just has to take care of themselves. We arrived to the global platform in Kathmandu, and were all happy to be alive.
Wednesday started out with breakfast. Everybody was happy and surprised to see that you could get oatmeal, cornflakes and milk. But… the milk was hot. After breakfast we played a namegame where we had to say our name and then an adjective. When it was Leas turn she said “Lea playful”. Kristoffer was looking a bit confused, and the different accents in the Danish language showed up. Kristoffer did not hear that lea said playful, so he thought she had said some kind of new word that the people over there (jydere) use.
Later on we had to walk around in Kathmandu to see some different places. When we saw there was a fitness center in Kathmandu we got surprised – but not as surprised as when we saw the fitness center. Outside it looked more like a pub than a fitness center.
Altogether it was a great day with lots of new impressions and a day filled with laughs. We have already found the father of the group, who is Christine. She tells the bad dad-jokes. I can feel that it is going to be an interesting and fun time here in the smiling Kathmandu.
/Line.
Wednesday started out with breakfast. Everybody was happy and surprised to see that you could get oatmeal, cornflakes and milk. But… the milk was hot. After breakfast we played a namegame where we had to say our name and then an adjective. When it was Leas turn she said “Lea playful”. Kristoffer was looking a bit confused, and the different accents in the Danish language showed up. Kristoffer did not hear that lea said playful, so he thought she had said some kind of new word that the people over there (jydere) use.
Later on we had to walk around in Kathmandu to see some different places. When we saw there was a fitness center in Kathmandu we got surprised – but not as surprised as when we saw the fitness center. Outside it looked more like a pub than a fitness center.
Altogether it was a great day with lots of new impressions and a day filled with laughs. We have already found the father of the group, who is Christine. She tells the bad dad-jokes. I can feel that it is going to be an interesting and fun time here in the smiling Kathmandu.
/Line.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The world's biggest stupa!
The alarm clock woke Marie, Line and I at 7.15 am, and we had a hard time coming out of the bed after a weekend with river rafting and high ropes (you are 10 meters above the ground, and then you have to go from tree to tree in different ways). We were going to help Sumi make breakfast. Today it was a Muslim holiday called Eid, so the food was a bit different. We got something that looked like donuts, but it tasted like a mixing between donuts and bread. There was also some kind of mush which tasted a bit funny. Otherwise, there was the same food as usual.
The focus of the day was movie making. We started out with some learning about the technical side of making a video, and we talked a bit about the competition MS and Politiken has made which we can take part in. Afterwards, we went out in the streets of Kathmandu to try to get some ideas to make a little movie that has to be done Wednesday.
The biggest experience of the day came in the end where we went to see Boudhanath which is the biggest stupa (a Buddhist temple) in the world. It was a place full of about everything. There were a lot of monks, tourist and regular Nepalese people. Around the biggest temple in the middle there were a lot of “wheels”, and the Nepalese people made them twist. It was all kinds of persons, who did it, and they were from small children to old people. We went into a little temple where we got some kind of incense stick and a monk told us about some figures in the little temple and about Buddhism. Next to him sat another monk and prayed. On the way out, the monk told us that we could give the praying monk some money. In a way, it ruined some of the sanctification of the place and turned it in to be a tourist attraction. Besides, the temple was surrounded by small shops with all kinds of souvenirs. Because of this, it was easy to see that it has become much more than a holy place; it is also a tourist attraction, and therefore, it is now a way for some people to earn money. We also saw some beggars, mostly children, who follow you. It was very hard to watch them, but we have been told not to give them anything, because there are some organisations which try to keep the children away from the street, and it will only keep them there if we give them money. Still, it was an experience that contained a lot. We saw some different people and for some of them, it seemed like it also was an experience to see us. An old woman came and said hi, and then she looked at Kathrine, pointed at her at laughed. It seems like we aren’t the only ones seeing something new.
The focus of the day was movie making. We started out with some learning about the technical side of making a video, and we talked a bit about the competition MS and Politiken has made which we can take part in. Afterwards, we went out in the streets of Kathmandu to try to get some ideas to make a little movie that has to be done Wednesday.
The biggest experience of the day came in the end where we went to see Boudhanath which is the biggest stupa (a Buddhist temple) in the world. It was a place full of about everything. There were a lot of monks, tourist and regular Nepalese people. Around the biggest temple in the middle there were a lot of “wheels”, and the Nepalese people made them twist. It was all kinds of persons, who did it, and they were from small children to old people. We went into a little temple where we got some kind of incense stick and a monk told us about some figures in the little temple and about Buddhism. Next to him sat another monk and prayed. On the way out, the monk told us that we could give the praying monk some money. In a way, it ruined some of the sanctification of the place and turned it in to be a tourist attraction. Besides, the temple was surrounded by small shops with all kinds of souvenirs. Because of this, it was easy to see that it has become much more than a holy place; it is also a tourist attraction, and therefore, it is now a way for some people to earn money. We also saw some beggars, mostly children, who follow you. It was very hard to watch them, but we have been told not to give them anything, because there are some organisations which try to keep the children away from the street, and it will only keep them there if we give them money. Still, it was an experience that contained a lot. We saw some different people and for some of them, it seemed like it also was an experience to see us. An old woman came and said hi, and then she looked at Kathrine, pointed at her at laughed. It seems like we aren’t the only ones seeing something new.
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