To Bangalore and Beyond: Nepal part 2

I've been in the country now for 6 days and i've only a few more days to go. I had the chance to explore the city and to see the earthquake damage. I had first hand accounts from MaryLou and her husband Keith about the destructions of the earthquakes. It is really sad to hear and see the damage that has happened around the city. But in saying that, the Nepalese are a resilient bunch of people. its been 6 months now and alot has been cleaned up - especially for a developing country like this. But unfortunately, the tourists are still staying away. The fear of earthquakes has scared them off.

But we walked the tourist strips and observed how the city was going. It's still hustling and bustling with life. The city is returning to what it once was. I had a chance to see some beautiful architecture - huge squares where hindu temples and oriental buildings are emplaced, with just concrete tiles lining the ground. no grass, no greenery, just squares.

And thats the amazing thing about nepal, never have i seen it in india. Buildings built so close together, stacked so high, where people live and sell things. Yet walking through them, the create squares - squares of peacefulness where no traffic can go. Some squares did have greenery, they had parks and even public bathing areas. Actually i find that a bit of a contradictory. People (Especially women) cover themselves up, its a modest culture. Yet here are these public bathing areas in the middle of the public squares with women bathing themselves.

Tonight i had the pleasure of having dinner with the guy who's running YoungLife Nepal. Him and 2 american YL directors came to marylou's house for dinner and some good hangs, and they've been teaching him how to grow his ministry. we ate some traditional nepalese food, but to be honest, its just like the indian food i had for 3 months. How do you know if you've been in india for some time? Well, there was 7 of us around the table - everyone eating with knives and fork. after eating it for some time, the Hom (The nepalese YL guy) and i just looked at each other, and i said that i need to use my hands. He looked at me and said yeah he needs to as well. so there was just the 2 of us eating with our hands while everyone used cutlery, and it felt good haha. and we both knew it, we just looked at each other and smiled.

My time nepal is coming to an end soon. The rest of my time i'll be volunteering at an international school as its their activity week. Its my last time see mary lou as well as she is taking her students away on a trek for activity week. We'll say our goodbyes tomorrow, at 5am as she needs to catch a bus to Pokhara (a touristy trekking spot) with her school students.