Activity

Since I've gone back to work, we have done almost nothing in Doha. Errol and Dave have been walking farther and farther, but I have been in a bit of a rut ... working, working, working. It takes a bit of adjustment at the start of a semester .. trying to get used to new students and assess class levels and figure the best way to approach things. But with Errol leaving soon, we have started trying to see a few more things in Doha and vicinity ...
Yesterday we went to the Sheraton for brunch. New UC-Q August hires stayed at the Sheraton for the first two days, before moving to our villas, but Errol came later, so he missed the 5-star welcome. It was a very nice brunch and I particularly enjoyed the lox and sushi ... and the Umm Ali, a type of bread pudding. OMG, it was delicious and I know I gained about 2 kg just by the amount I consumed. We walked along the Corniche in the beautiful sunshine and were so happy to see so many families out enjoying the beautiful day. So many beautiful children ... with their bikes, skateboards, strollers .... many of them were on a roll:-)
Today we went on a ramble with the Qatar Natural History Group ... to Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani's Museum. It's an amazing private museum that people can arrange to visit ... well today there was quite a crowd of visitors ... from the QNHG and individual families as well. It's a huge fortress of a place filled with an eclectic collection of whatever caught his and his father's fancies. I think staff members were a bit overwhelmed at the number of visitors, so they didn't open all the wings ... we got to see weapons, furniture, ceramics, textiles and some jewellery. Unfortunately the manuscripts and miniatures, fossils, and automobiles were not on view. Still we had a nice time. It would have been nice to know a bit more about some of the exhibits, but it was very interesting and how nice that he lets people come and view his collection!

After we had absorbed all we could of the artifacts, we strolled through the gardens. The gardens consist mostly of palm groves and thickets of small trees on either side of several wide paths lined with some sort of large willow tree with a beautiful white bark ... sort of like a cottonwood. The gardens are largely unkempt, although irrigated regularly and there looked to be lots of construction going on. The gardens are inhabited by lots of doves, pigeons, bulbuls and many wary peacocks. They looked pretty amidst the foliage, but too far away for any good pictures. It was a lovely and educational morning. Shukran, Sheikh Faisal:-)

That which was done was worthwhile

Since going to the Museum of Islamic Art for the first time in December, I have had the recurring image of a 9th century plate from Basra in my mind's eye. It is a simple white earthenware bowl with cobalt blue Kufic inscription reading “ma ‘ umila saluha” . Apparently one interpretation could be "made by Saleh", but the more accepted reading is "That which was done was worthwhile".
How important it is to know that we are spending our time in ways that have some significance ... to us or to others. As a teacher, I believe that education makes a difference. This old bowl, so elegant in its simplicity, reflects my goal for this term ... that what we do will be worthwhile ....

Nepal Fini ... For Now

On the fourth day in Kathmandu, Cait and I decided we needed to get serious about shopping. After a few days of travelling through Thamel and looking here and there, we thought we would go with lists ... HAH! Impulse buying reigned supreme, and we had a good time! Part of our difficulty is in knowing that we should be bartering but we are very bad at it. But if we asked for best price, people usually dropped their price a bit, especially if we bought more than one thing. At least we were going through the motions. Lalit was often good at getting us a 20% discount ... but Thaman is as bad as we are!

What surprised me was that there were tons of stores and most of them had factories on the floor above ... sewing bags, T-shirts, fake North Face goods, or making jewelry. And yet a lot of goods are brought in from the countryside as well. It was so difficult to separate our needs and our desire not to buy things for the sake of consumption with the sense of how hard life is for everyone in Kathmandu (and wanting to help them in whatever way we could). For one thing, power shedding is a terrible difficulty and there is no power for 12 hours a day (and this will go up to 16 hours a day next month). So you see people carrying portable generators from store to store when a customer walks in, so people can see what wares there are. And then you feel guilty walking away empty-handed. On Thaman's advice, we didn't buy too much from street vendors, which was difficult because they can be so persistent. In the end, I think we did our part for the economy:-)

Another striking feature of the difficulties of living in Kathmandu is the constant near-gridlock as far as traffic is concerned. Of course, people drive on the left, so that already seems a bit confusing, but there are cars, bikes, motorcycles, scooters, buses, and vans all jumbled in the road along with thousands of pedestrians everywhere you look. And everyone seems inclined to honk to indicate his or her presence ... I honk therefore I am. Usually it was fine and was so different from what we had ever seen. Errol even remarked on how magical and vibrant it seemed and it did seem divinely choreographed to some extent, but other times it was just plain exhausting. And exhaust-ing.

The hardest part for us were the beggars, especially the children. We were constantly assailed by street kids asking for money. Thaman and Lalit really advised against giving them money as they were often organized (and in fact a little ringleader with a fistful of rupees swore at Thaman and gave him the finger when we didn't give one pitiful boy money). The area near Thamel was frequented by a lot of kids hooked on sniffing glue or solvents. These poor souls slept on filthy blankets on the street and just all sniffed glue in plain sight of everyone. Thaman says they won't stay in homes or go to schools. I didn't see many girls on the street and I really wondered about that. Human trafficking is such a common occurrence in the world ... we have no idea in our comfortable existence of the horrors that are experienced by so many children in this world. I read an article about some girls, kamlaris, in Nepal who are seeking redress, and wonder about all those who have not been heard from.So we were all very glad to visit Sonrisa, the orphanage that Thaman and Bishnu Rai started about two years ago. Thaman goes there every day after work, when he doesn't have a flute lesson. They have a rented house and three employees who live at the house and look after 15 children from age 3-11. The children, most of whom come from remote parts of the country, are often behind in their schooling and Thaman and Bishnu are very strict about their studies, so they have a tutor to help them catch up. The kids all go to school (which is not free) and wear uniforms (another expense) and they are so keen! We took some books, because I had read on the website that they want to build up a reference library and the kids were over the moon. "Sister, sister read for me!" Three-year-old Kriti, the one in the picture above with the books on her head took my finger and pointed out all the A,B,C's in the book she was looking at. Little Srijana, who is in Grade 4, was so delighted to have a child's encyclopedia of natural history. The children call Thaman and Bishnu "Uncle" but their guests "Sister" and "Brother", so it was pretty funny ... Errol and I were "Sister" and "Brother" while Thaman is "Uncle"! They are trying to do so many good things for the kids ... they have a little garden; they sing and dance; they make momos and celebrate birthdays; they take the children on field trips, to the dentist, and even rock-climbing! Finding an affordable physician has been a problem and their little WonChu, who is a little cutie, has had some health problems. he's the character who is wearing my reading glasses - with his sister Lakhpa. If you want to see all the pics at Sonrisa, click here.

I give these two bachelors a lot of credit for what they are doing. The children come from varied backgrounds and some are natural siblings who have experienced family violence or have been abandoned or have ill parents who cannot look after them for a while. Thaman says they are trying to find the ideal balance of love and discipline and would like to have volunteers with some psychological training, because there are some wounded kids there ... we weren't there long enough to notice that; they were really shy, and sweet, and adorable.They often have volunteers, like Donna, who is in the picture with Dinesh, and visitors. Bishnu, above, who is a trekking guide, meets lots of Americans, Australians, Japanese, and European tourists as part of his business and some of them have started to support the orphanage. However, they need a lot more assistance. Because of the power-shedding, there is no electricity for the children to read or do their homework and so they are looking at a backup electrical system and I am committed to helping them with this effort. If you would like to contribute, you can contact the orphanage directly or Cait can get money to me to take. When I return in February!

Yes, February! I put in a proposal to do a session for the NELTA conference during our reading week and was accepted, so I will be going back to Nepal on February 20, attend the conference, do a session on teaching portfolios, and I will take 3 holiday days and hopefully see Thaman, the children, Buddhanilkantha, Lalitpur, and Pokhara. Thanks to the University of Calgary, I have a $1500 yearly PD account, so that will cover my flight, hotel for the conference, and basic costs for 3 days. Alhamdulillah!

Nepal – Part 2

Nepal seems so long ago, but I do want to write it down before it gets any foggier in my mind. The second day we were in Kathmandu we had to get up at an unreasonably early hour in order to be ready for our mountain flight. None of us slept well ... partly because it was so cold, and partly because we were afraid of oversleeping (in spite of ordering a wake-up call). However, the morning was foggy and at 6 Thaman called to say we should have breakfast and he would call again at 6:30. No restaurant was open, so we stayed in the room and shivered. At 6:30 we decided we should call again at 7; by this time the hotel (outdoor) restaurant was open, so we ordered hot drinks. Yumm ... Nepali tea! After one more call to Thaman, who had called the airport several times by now, we went back, ate breakfast and grabbed a cab to the domestic airport. Unfortunately, we took a cab from the hotel and we were halfway down the block by the time I realized we weren’t on a meter and that the ride would cost 300 rupees more than it should have Owell ... a $5 rip off didn’t kill us and if that was my worst mistake of the day ... not too shabby! Once at the airport we were frisked a few times and waited until 9:30 and boarded a Yeti Airlines flight to see the Himalayas and Mt Everest, or Sagarmatha – the Goddess of the Sky. There was a small group of 15 or so on the plane and we all had window seats. The mountains quickly appeared and were truly spectacular ... very surreal. It really seemed as if they could be a great backdrop in the sky. We were so happy Lalit and Thaman were with us. Lalit, as a trekking guide, had trekked near some of the mountains and was able to tell me that some of the mountains may not be climbed, as they are considered holy. I was somehow very pleased to know that. When we landed, no one moved ... it was the only flight I have ever been on where folks weren’t in a rush to get off. We really enjoyed it, although it seemed over in a flash, instead of almost an hour.
That day we went to Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, one of three royal palace squares in Kathmandu Valley, This square is where a very significant massacre occurred in 1846 that initiated the rule of the Ranas . Durbar Square is a cluster of palaces and temples and we saw several babas or Hindu holy men who spend time there. We explored the Kumari Bahal, the palace of a young girl who is worshipped as a living goddess. She is usually installed when she is 3 or 4 and her reign is over by the time she reaches puberty. I remembered reading about the selection of the newest Kumari just after we got here, but we did not see her.

We finished the day with a stop at the Garden of Dreams, a restored private garden of a former important official. The walled garden was locked and remained untended for 50 or 60 years and has just recently been reopened. Right out of the Secret Garden!
The third day we went to Bakhtapur, a Newari town and former capital, and Lalit’s 6-year old daughter, Jessica, came with us. She was silent as could be sitting on Errol’s lap while in the taxi ride. The ride was very long and difficult, as there were demonstrations protesting the extension of poweoutage from 8 to 12 hours per day. We also passed a human rights march, so it seems there was a lot happening. If it weren’t for Thaman filing us in, we all would have remained oblivious!

Bhaktipur is one of the three main towns in Kathmandu Valley and also has a Durbar Square, dominated by the 55-Window Palace. We visited the National Art Gallery and various temples and shrines and walked down alleyways and narrow streets. So interesting!
The place was alive with kids on school trips and seems to be a thriving town of artisans and craftspeople that may have some commerce beyond tourism. However, as always we were approached by kids to engage us in conversation and displayed their knowledge of Canada ... and eventually wanted to take us to a thangka painting school where very intricate mandala and Buddha paintings are created. One of the managers described the process of painting the thangkas and showed us some of the more modern methods as well. In the end we really enjoyed his explanation but did not purchase a painting. They were very lovely, however.
More traffic difficulties resulted in our not being able to see any other places and the day ended with Thaman and Lalit taking us to a typical Nepali restaurant where I finally got to eat dal baat! Such a great meal. As always we appreciated being able to spend time with Thaman and Lalit. I should say Cait gave me a flickr account for Christmas, so I have put all my pictures from Nepal there. We went to bed excited about the next day, when Cait and I were going to finish shopping and then we would all visit Sonrisa, the orphanage Thaman is involved in. Those accounts will have to wait for the next instalment!

Kathmandu, Nepal and Thaman - Day 1

Namaste! We were so lucky to have an opportunity to travel to Kathmandu, Nepal over the Christmas break and while Caitie was here. Our dear friend, Thaman Thapa, who studied at Fanshawe a few years ago and lived at our house for a while, and I have been talking about our going to visit him in Nepal for a few years now. When we asked Cait what she would like to do when she came to visit, going to see Thaman was the choice! We had a ridiculously short time in Nepal ... 4 full days ... but thanks to Thaman, we made the most of it. Thaman had suggested we go on a short trek, but I wasn’t sure how we would accomplish that with such a short amount of time and when we heard about mountain flights to see the Himalayas, that sort of put the kibosh on trekking.

Thaman met us at the airport and then again at the hotel. We stayed at the Kathmandu Guest House, a landmark hotel in Thamel (the tourist district). The first day Thaman and his cousin, Lalit, took us to three major temples – Swayambhunath, Bodnath, and Pashupatinath. We walked to Swayambhunath, the great Buddhist temple, and that was really interesting ... it is at the top of a big hill and we had to climb many steps (365) to get there. The shrine, also called Monkey Temple due to the large number of rhesus macaques that inhabit the grounds, was really incredible; I had never been to a place where the monkeys just roamed at will. Swayambhunath has a beautiful stupa ... the large dome with Buddha’s Eyes dominated the top of the hill. As you enter, there are prayer wheels and people spin them clockwise and say om mani padme hum. There are prayer flags and statuary and various other shrines throughout the site. Although clearly Buddhist, there are a lot of Hindu elements as well - several shrines and temples to Hindu gods and goddesses there as well.

After leaving Swayambhunath, we caught a taxi to Bodhnath, a large village/district and UN Heritage Site near the airport in Kathmandu. It is a spiritual home to many Tibetan refugees and Buddhist Nepalis. It also has a beautiful stupa with a large dome and Buddha's Eyes, and thousands of prayer flags blowing in the wind. Around the stupa was a little village with shops and small shrines and schools and apartments and houses. It was so interesting! I was struck by the intermingling of business, day-to-day activities, tourism, and religious pilgrimage... all going on at the same time. This is also where we saw quite a few Buddhist monks and also several groups of nuns, whom Thaman called anis. Around the perimeter of almost every horizontal surface of the stupa were small glasses with orange marigolds. I was so taken with those and remembering the calendulas in Mexico ... especially on el dia de los muertos. Just as we were leaving Bodnath, we saw a large group of people circumambulating the stupa; I guess this is a tradition that has been ongoing since the 5th century.

After visiting Bodnath, we went to Pashupatinath, which is one of the holiest sites in Hinduism. As we approached Pashupatinath, we saw lots of vendors selling marigolds, flowers, and other offerings. Just before you enter, you see a large building for elderly people to live. The site itself is huge with many buildings, temples, and residences. The main temple is dedicated to Shiva and foreigners are not allowed to enter. The site is on the Bagmati River, which is a holy river, and many Nepali people come to Pashupatinath to die or to be cremated. Along the river is arya ghat, where the funeral pyres are constructed and lit. Several were burning as we were there and we saw another site being prepared. In this area are also many monkeys and a small zoo with monkeys, deer, and some yaks. The sun was going down as we left Pashupatinath, and it seemed appropriately sombre, considering this earthly existence was ending for several people, whose pyres would continue to burn for another few hours before their ashes would be thrown into the river, when they believe they will go straight to heaven. The river is a sacred one, but it is in bad shape ... very polluted. We saw raw sewage being dumped directly into the river further down its course ... very sad. Since we have returned to Qatar, we have learned in the local press that there is a lot of controversy in Kathmandu right now, having to do with the priests, who have historically come from southern India, being fired by the Maoist government and that certain prayers at Pashupatinath have been interrupted for the first time in 260 years.

From Pashupatinath, we took a taxi to Sonrisa, the orphanage Thaman and his friend, Bishnu Rai, started a couple of years ago. We met Bishnu, the president of Sonrisa and Jason and Donna, a couple of volunteers from Canada. It was Jason’s last day, as he was heading off to Pokhara and a chiropractic mission for children in that part of Nepal, before volunteering in another orphanage. The children were delightful (and very shy) and were singing folk tunes and dancing one by one in a circle, which was illuminated by a lantern. Nepal has been having significant power outages, and is now without electricity for 12 hours a day. Shanti, a staff member who works with the children, played the drum for a while, and Subit, another staff member, brought us all Nepali tea, which I have developed a true fondness for:-). It was an incredibly endearing experience, and a lovely way to end our first full day in Nepal! Dhanyabad, Thaman!!