May 6: Adventures with Public Transport in Nepal

This was a huge day for the team: our first experience on public transportation! We took two different "buses" to get to the Creating Possibilities office for our official orientation. The first bus was a little bit larger than a mini van, all decked out in colourful tassels and blaring some Nepali music. We had a guide sent from CP to direct us to which bus to take next because otherwise we would have had no idea where to go next.

The office was more like a house because it is also part hostel for some of the students CP supports as they attend school further from home. We got to meet Dinesh's wife, who is lovely and 7 months pregnant (congratulations!), and then Dinesh and Nura gave us a short presentation about Creating Possibilities and the work that they do. Everyone was really impressed with the amount of work and support CP does, especially with such a small team of employees. We got to meet some of the girls that CP has been working with and went on a tour of the house (which is a hostel, a house, an office and a flat for rent all in one). We had a delicious meal of yogurt, fruit and pounded, flattened, dried rice, which made the concoction taste like oatmeal.

Afterwards we went out and visited the Pashupatinath temple complex. It was overwhelming in terms of how much there was to see and take in, overwhelming but beautiful, between the funeral pyres, the elderly orphanage, and the colourful shrines and architecture. We crossed a lot of crazy busy streets and wandered under many prayer flags to get there and to return. We are pretty accomplished at crossing some of those streets!

Back at the offices, we had a wonderful meal of dhal baat and pickles, which Bailey, Katie and Kelly "lived on the edge" and ate with their hands. With some more practice, we will all be accomplished rice-hand eaters!

Our journey home at the end of day was an adventure and a half on public buses (about 15 cents Canadian for a ride) at night. We squished and squeezed in beside the Nepali commuters, them sharing private laughs at our tourist expense. What a thrill! We have decided that our group tagline will be "living on the edge", whether it is in moves we make while playing cards, crossing the streets, or trying new things to eat.

Talk soon!

DWC Student Team
Nepal May 2013