Time seems to have slowed to a snails pace and I have no problem with that. Our first 5 days in Nepal have felt like weeks, we've discovered and learned so much already in our short time here. Well let's back things up a bit now shall we?

Friday morning we made our big move out to the monastery. Leaving our hotel was a bit sad. Obviously I made good friends with the service staff there. The night bartender was beyond impressed by my Nepali skills, as in he couldn't even look at me while keeping a straight face. Although, I did manage to redeem myself when I showed him I could write my name in Nepali (yea that's right!). Soon after he tried to teach me how to say 'I love you' in Nepali. So typical of all the men I meet. Breaking hearts all over the world, I am. But I digress...

So the monastery has been stellar thus far. One of the monks gave us a tour of the main temple areas. She showed us how to pray properly to the various Gods and explained to us many of their daily rituals. This monastery appears to be a training school for those who have recently entered monkhood. Currently the monks are studying for their exams, which means our lessons are few and far between as the girls are quite busy. This has been a bit of an advantage for as, not only have we had extra time to explore the city, we are also blessed with the sounds of hymns and traditional music resonating throughout the walls nearly all day long. The monastery is located just beyond the city proper so even the air smells a bit fresher and the noise level is much more minimal. The experience has been so zen.

The food is definitely something to write home about. I have spent the last few months preparing my body for 2 meager meals of rice and daal for the next 2 weeks. It has so not been the case. Our day starts out with breakfast at 7am. Breakfast consists of bread, soup and a cup of warmed milk. Then we have lunch at 11:30, which is a feast and a half. Rice followed by 3 different types of curries, soup, sometimes flat bread (chapati), and some type of special extra dish (we've had tandoori eggplant and boiled eggs and special sides). Dinner is at 7pm, which is simply soup and hot milk tea. The food is amazing here. So much for my 2 week monastery crash diet. I'll be coming out of here with a belly bigger than Buddha himself. Not to mention our stash of late night goodies we like to dive into while lesson planning. Bottom line, life in a monastery is ballin!

Saturday was our free day. We decided to take the plunge and brave the Nepali public transit system, which essentially consists of a smattering collection of deteriorating buses and vans imported from east Germany that look ready to lose a door on the next pot hole, and there are pot holes a plenty out here in Kathmandu. Actually, now that I think of it, I do believe I've seen a few of these 'buses' sans driver side doors. This country is wonderful.

Our first time on public transit did not fail us in providing a proper adventure. We hopped on the closest thing that can be called a bus, being conducted by a boy no older then 12. I do believe the driver was at least 16 so I felt I was in good hands. About 10 minutes up the road, we meet what I assume is a typical, midday Kathmandu traffic jam. Our journey has us following a ring road around the city, so our driver decides to turn the bus around and go the long way around the ring road, which I can respect. On the other hand, I was not in the mood for spending 2 hours in a Soviet reject sweat trap. Luckily, there was a man on the bus who spoke some English. He explained to us the situation and mentioned he was heading in the same direction as us, so he could help us find a better way of getting there. So after battling criss crossing bikes and motor bikes, cars and buses bumber-to-bumber in both directions, some diagonally, to even a bus parked completely perpendicularly across the road blocking any access of traffic, we hopped a mini van to Boudha Stupa. And not a moment too soon. Just as we were walking out of the mob of horns, bodies and wheels, the Nepalese crowd control were heading straight for it.

After our van ride to the Boudha stupa, I cleary have made the transition from cushy Taiwan to the limit pushing chaos that I have always imagined Asia to be. Gunning it down the highway, we dodged pedestrians, slower traffic, oncoming traffic, and cows. But we made it and our adventure proved to be advantageous. Boudha Stupa is spectacular. The most sacred Buddhist site in Nepal, the stupa sits in a courtyard surrounded my chanting, coffee shops, souveniers, and countless Buddhist flags. Iconic of of Buddhist religion and Nepalese culture, the structure is so simple yet some breathtaking.

After that, we decided to take the local route and search out Guheswori Temple, the largest Hindu temple in the world. This temple is an essential pilgrimage site for Hindus. Our affable tour guide Sumit likend Guheswori to the Hindus as Mecca is to the Muslims. Sumit took us around the temple compound and explained to us much about the Hindu religion. We were able to witness the cremation platforms along the river and were actually lucky enough to watch a few bodies being prepared for and subsequently cremated. It was a very beautiful yet surreal experience, something far beyond anything I've ever seen before.

The girls and I ended the evening with a less eventful but more lengthy bus ride back to our part of time. Realizing we'd miss out on dinner with our monks, we opted for an amazing curry and roti feast at a local restaurant. I love Nepali food, although really, who's surprised?

Yesterday was a bit confusing. We were told that we'd be starting classes on Sunday but heard nothing about when or where or who or what. I think our program coordinators are Brazilian. In the end we had no classes and got another day to ourselves. It was quite fortunate for us as well since the rain decided to subside and we got a full afternoon of wonderful Himalayan sunshine. The girls and I decided to relax the afternoon away up at Swayabuht stupa, the temple had previously visited our first day here. We visited our old friend Roshan who had sold us our bone carvings. Sitting near the wishing pond, we tried to write our journal entries but instead were met by a seemingly continuous parade of monkeys coming to and fro from the trees. I made friends with a poor little one with broken legs. She seemed to take a liking to me. Brit and I decided to buy some artwork from a local vendor, and once again we made another Nepali friend. After haggling away, the boy even decided to sit with us in the sunshine and bought us each a soda. I am fairly certain that everyone in Nepal will know my name by the time I leave. It's how I roll sushi.

Today was our first day in the classroom. The girls and I split an hour long class this morning in the monastery. Our class of monks speak little to no English so our lesson was very basic. We taught some basic but essential conversation phrases and the phonetic alphabet. After lunch, weheaded down the hill to the public school to teach our English classes there. We each have our own, Brit is teaching grade 8, Michelle grade 9 and I have grade 10. We just teach quick 30 min lessons, which, coming from 2 hour classes, feel like a breeze. The girls seem to be getting along well. We have little guidance in the classroom or with our lessons plans, which is daunting enough for an experienced teacher, never mind a rookie. But I think by the end of it, neither of us will be wanting to leave.

My class is awesome. I have about 13 students. They seem to speak and understand English well enough. The boys are more outspoken than the girls which is always typical for this age level. But they seem friendly and respectful so I am quite happy with my group. Today was an easy listening exercise, tomorrow will be more techinical with 'if clause' sentences. I'm prepared for many a blank stare.