Dinner at Bhojan Griha in Dillibazar - PAHS International Community

Last night we went out for a wonderful dinner, hosted kindly by PAHS.  It was such a nice time and there were so many people there from all over the world!

Canada
USA
Sweden
Norway
Korea
Nepal

Everything was traditional Nepali, and it was one of the best meals I have ever had.  The place was called Bhojan Griha in Dillibazar http://www.bhojangriha.com/

We ate and drank from brass traditional plates, bowls and cups and watched traditional Nepali dancers and musicians from all over Nepal perform.  What a great night.

There was mushroom curry, chicken curry, fried fish, fried wild boar (!) dahl, and note the ceramic elephant mug to the left of my place setting!

Arjun, Vice Chancellor of PAHS, welcoming us

Arjun, Annie and Will

Stephanie, Peggy and Sabita

Annie and a Nepali dancer

Nepali musicians

Thanks so much to PAHS for hosting such a nice night with great food and great company!

Bhaktapur - The Cultural City

Today we also ventured out to Bhaktapur for a more peaceful tourist experience.  We hired a taxi to take us there, to wait for us and to drive us home.  This cost Rs. 1500 and was well worth it.  I love Bhaktapur.  The squares are so beautiful and clean and it is very peaceful there.  Far less people and so much to see.

We had a quick snack and then we ventured through the Golden Gate.  It's so beautiful and I had assumed that non-Hindu people were not allowed through it.  We went in to check it out.  It turns out that we can go through the gate, but we cannot enter the Hindu temples within.

I love these temples here in Durbar Square.

Siddhi Laxmi Temple

This is such an old city.  It used to be the capital of Nepal at one time.  There was a major earthquake that destroyed many buildings here but much has been restored.  You can see the age and damage in some areas.

Fish market...

Chicken!

Women filling water containers at a well.

We made our way over to Dattatreya Square to see the famous Peacock Window.  A beautiful Newari wood carving from the 16th century.

Peacock Window

We went into the Peacock Shop that is found in the same alleyway and where the beautiful Nepali paper that is found in many stores is made.  We bought some beautiful things and then we went into the factory to see how the paper is made.

LOVE THIS!  These are for intellectuals..."You will know more"!!

Finally, we made our way back to Taumadhi Square where Nyatapola Temple is - the tallest temple in Nepal.

It was such a great day.

Pashupatinath...revisited...

Pashupatinath is Nepal's holiest Hindu site.  To be cremated at the ghat here means to escape the death and rebirth cycle.  Stephanie, Peggy and I made a trip out there this morning to see this beautiful place. 

For me, this would be my first return since the 'monkey incident' last year.  I was actually pretty nervous.  I was 'attacked' by a very deranged and aggressive monkey last year when I was visiting Pashupatinath with Katie.  My blog followers and friends will remember that this was a fairly traumatizing and humiliating incident where I just yelled for Katie's help until she came and got rid of the monkey for me.  This was a big step for me to go back to the scene.

This is where the monkey was sitting before it came after me - right on top of this arch!

After paying our 500 Nepali rupees (the tourist price for entry), we made it through unscathed!  I had Peggy's umbrella in hand just in case but all was well.  There were so many monkeys!

Last year, I did not see any cremations at the ghat.  This year, a body of a woman was being prepared on the cremation site by the Bagmati River by her family and friends.  Two other bodies were almost completely burned on the two pyres next to her.  It was very unnerving and we felt that maybe we were intruding on a very private moment for these people.  A guide assured us that this was not the case.  He told us about what an hour it is for a person to be cremated here because it is such a holy place.  It still felt strange.  He also told us about another type of cremation called a "sky cremation" where bodies are cut up and fed to birds that take the body up to the sky.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I am glad that I returned to this holy place to get over my fear and to see this beautiful place again.

Something More Positive - Yoga and Pilates in Nepal

On a lighter note, after sitting in on PBL and visiting with everyone at PAHS, Peggy and I went to Pranamaya Yoga here in Patan - only about a 10 minute walk from Shalom - and did a Pilates class.  It was fantastic and just what I needed to help get over jetlag.  The yoga studio is in this little oasis of a square, and the instructor was great.  We will be back there for sure for yoga and other classes!

There is some interesting art in this little square.  Most intriguing is this wire mesh Buddha statue that is stuffed with pastic bags.  It seems that its purpose is to be a place where these plastic bags, that are such an environmental problem here in Nepal, can be disposed of and look nice!

There is also a vine of green plastic bottles climbing up the balconies, and a cactus of the same green bottles.  Very unique.

Constitution Deadline Passed - no agreement

So midnight last night was the deadline for political parties here in Nepal to agree on a Constitution.  They failed to agree.  The Prime Minister has called an election for November, but who knows what that means in the interim?  I don't know what that means for me here right now.  I woke up early this morning to the sound of multiple gunshots repeatedly and we are outside of Kathmandu, in Patan, where we would expect things to be much more calm.  Oh well, it's a holiday today anyway and I had planned to lay low here in Shalom.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that things will quiet down.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/295312/nepal-calls-fresh-elections-as-statute-talks-fail

I will keep in touch.

I missed an elephant in the alley...

A friend staying at Shalom Guesthouse as well asked if I noticed the elephant in our alley when I left this morning to head to the hospital.  Somehow I missed it.  An elephant.  I missed an elephant.  Not only does that seem impossible due to their size, but I also love elephants!

Apparently this elephant was on loan from the zoo to help a small local school take a tree down.

I missed it.

PBL at PAHS - Batch # 2

I am back in a PBL tutorial watching the 2nd batch of PAHS 1st year students work their way through this case. It's like déjà vu! I guess this is how it is at home too. There are 5 female students and 4 males students, the tutor, Dr. Prasai, a UBC student named Adam and me. The case, "A Bit Late" is the same one as last year. It's a tough one and there is a lot to learn and know. There is that same attitude of 'knowing' everything from the students, even though they clearly do not know. The tutor is asking great questions but the students just give one word answers or use the dictionary for definitions that are far too difficult to understand that way.

Someone has written, "I love being a Republican." on the whiteboard. The political situation here is on everyone's minds. Today is a dangerous day - the last day of protests and demonstrations. Sabita has to rush out after PBL in order to get home at all. She was stuck here until 8 pm the other day due to the situation that is going on here. I'm glad I had a chance to see her. It is great to be back here at PAHS and to see my old friends and colleagues. I have seen Satish, Bibek, Sabita, Shambhu and others already! It feels almost like I have never left. I feel at home here.

We are having a PAHS hosted dinner on Thursday night to thank those people who are leaving for their contribution to the teaching and learning here. It seems as though almost everyone is leaving on or around June 1st!  I will just be getting started my teaching then.

"How to Talk About Science" conference at UVic

Sadly, I am missing the "How to Talk About Science" conference at UVic that is going on right now!  I helped Dr. Paul Zeht and others plan the conference and then my dates for coming to Nepal were moved up so I had to miss it.  I was supposed to be on the panel represetning "Let's Talk Science" at UVic (as its Director) and meeting all of the people with the same interests as me.

I am teaching medical genetics at a medical school (Patan Academy of Health Sciences - PAHS) here in Nepal.  Communicating science to English as a second language students in a different culture.  Very challenging!

However, because social media and technology are so amazing, I am following all of the action on Twitter via #talksci.  Thanks so much to all of you tweeters who are keeping me up to date on this amazing science communication conference all the way across the globe!

Back in Kathmandu!

I made it!  I am safe and sound in Shalom Guesthouse in Kathmandu, Nepal.  The flight this morning from Bangkok was good and my arrival at the airport in Kathmandu was surprisingly easy and low key.  I wonder if it's because it's a Saturday?  There were hardly any people and the chaos I am used to was very diminished.  I even had Anil from Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS - the medical school I am teaching at) manage to come pick me up, despite the protests and blocked roads due to demonstrations.  It was so nice to see a familiar face in the throng of taxi drivers outside the airport.

He explained to me that some roads were blocked due to protests and we had to take a few detours to avoid large gatherings and crowds.

He advised me that today and tomorrow would be dangerous days to be outside as these are the last 2 days before the new Constitution comes in on May 28th.  These are the last 2 days for protests and demonstrations.  There were Nepali police with riot gear everywhere along our drive!  I think I will definitely listen to his advice and stay indoors!

We made it to the new Shalom Guesthouse location - not too far from where the old one was.  Anil had to back down a super narrow road to get me to the house and then my Didi Mahili showed us to my room.  It's a big spacious room with lots of windows - it will be nice to have the cross breeze - it is SO hot here!

Near Shalom

So I am just relaxing here in my room.  Glad to be finished the long journey.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.  I haven't seen Peggy yet, a colleague from Camosun College who is here to observe PBL in the medical school and to help me train the faculty in problem-based learning.  She is also staying at Shalom.  It will be nice to see her!  I will also see Katie tomorrow and all of my PAHS colleagues and students!  Can't wait!

Bangkok, Thailand - brief layover

I arrived late last night in Bangkok after my 4th flight of the day.  I flew ANA (Asiana Airlines) from Tokyo to Bangkok and had heard that they were one of the top airlines in the world.  I was in Business Class again so I was ready for the extraordinary.  It was very nice, but I have to say that Air Canada's pods are much nicer and actually let you sleep!  They lay flat.  The seats were very spacious and I luckily did not have a seat mate so it was nice.  I was most impressed with their beautiful food presentation and how tiny and perfect everything looked!

I arrived in Bangkok and caught the shuttle to the Best Western Amaranth hotel.  The image that comes to mind when you read "Best Western" is not at all what this place is like.  I had stayed here a year and half ago so knew it was really good.

I got to sleep for almost 8 hours and then caught the shuttle back to the airport for my 10:15 am Thai Airways flight into Kathmandu.  It was a brief time in Thailand.  I love it there and will be back for a visit sometime soon, I'm sure!

Tokyo, Japan

I just realized that for all the times that I have flown through Tokyo, I have never left this building.  I have never seen Japan.  I will have to make sure to do that one day.

So I managed to sleep for a good portion of my Calgary-Tokyo flight.  It went by fast!  Now I am waiting here in Tokyo for my next flight that will take me to Bangkok.  I have an overnight layover there and then I will finally head to Nepal tomorrow.

I promise that these blog entries will get more exciting soon...

On my way!

I am on my way now - 2 flights down.  Just waiting in Calgary for my flight to Tokyo.  This will be the long one.  I can't wait to sleep!  This is supposed to be a great airline so I am looking forward to the Executive Class treatment.

I just want to clarify something here.

The only reason I am flying in Executive Class is because I used my Aeroplan points to purchase this flight to Nepal this year.  It was not many more points to fly Executive rather than Economy.  Just in case anyone thought that I was paying for Executive Class...

So I actually did it.  I managed to pack for my whole trip in a normal sized suitcase!  There's a first time for everything I guess. 

I leave early tomorrow morning from Victoria.  I go through Vancouver, Calgary, Tokyo, Bangkok and then I finally get to Kathmandu on May 26.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  The good thing is, I am in Executive class most of the way!

I have been hearing that it is HOT in Nepal right now.  Hotter than I have ever experienced.  Oh boy.

I am really looking forward to getting there, seeing my friends, my old students, and meeting the new students.

Nepal in 3 days!

So I leave in 3 days!  It always creeps up on me so quickly.  I have been hearing from my Nepali colleagues that there is a lot of political unrest in Nepal right now as their constitution deadline approaches on May 28th.  A lot of disruption, political demonstrations and bandhs (strikes).  This will mean that it will be hard for me to get out of the airport and to Patan Hospital and my apartment.  Mainly, this means that I should (and will!) keep away from any large gathering of people of any kind, and exercise caution everywhere I go.  There is no offical travel advisory for Nepal as of today, so I am confident that all will be well.  I registered my passport as a Canadian Abroad and will visit the Canadian Embassy in Kathmandu when I arrive to do the same.  Just in case.  I will leave on Thursday as planned unless anything changes.

Heading Back to Nepal Soon!

Hello followers!  It's that time again - I am heading back to Nepal to teach Medical Genetics at the Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS).  I leave on May 24, 2012 and I am really looking forward to seeing my friends, colleagues and students again!  It will be so great to see how the first batch of medical students are doing in their 2nd year.  And to meet the second batch of students.  The teaching schedule was pushed back a bit so I am going about 2 months later than I did last year.  It will be very rainy this time around - no fun.  Bought my rainboots and umbrella and I am told I will need good bug spray...

I really hope that you will follow my journey again here and comment lots!