The Gauntlet

Friday the 16^th, the first night away from the security of in-house Peace Corps staff, and the day we arrived at our training host families' houses, I was unlucky enough to succumb to the worst bout of diarrhea I’ve had since my Clostridioides difficile infection in 2019. In fact, it was so bad and so similar that I was afraid I came down with another infection.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that. It was, however, still awful. I’ll leave most of it to your imagination, but I did narrowly avoid fainting on the toilet, which I consider an achievement. I proceeded to pass out on the floor of my room and endured a very bad night. The next morning I had some calls with the Peace Corps medical doctor and ingested a cocktail of over-the-counter diarrhea meds which left me feeling pretty alright by Sunday evening. I have a new and profound gratitude for immodium, Pepto-bismol, and rehydration salts.

***

A couple of my trainee friends stopped by the morning after my bad night, knowing I had not been feeling great. “How are you feeling?” they asked from the road. I said, laughing: “I feel like [bleep].”

It was our day off, and they planned to go for a small hike to a temple in the neighborhood, escorted by an enthusiastic host brother. Since I was able to hold things in by then, I decided I would try to hike up with them and see how far I got. I barely made it a half mile up the hill before I sat down for a long rest and waved them on. I tried again after a while, and struggled miserably; so, finally, I swallowed my FOMO and took a nap in the dirt.

Some time later an old man walked down the hill. He asked me some questions I didn’t understand and then asked me why I was lagging behind and not with the other foreigners he had seen at the temple. I responded as best I could, pointed to my stomach, and gesticulated emphatically. 

He nodded with sympathy. “You know, it’s really not good for you to hike on a full stomach.”

For some reason, this mountain of feed bags was blockading the road up the mountain.

I gave up the hike shortly after this point.

Khaana khaanu bhayo? Impressions in Kathmandu

Kathmandu welcomed us warmly for the first week in Nepal. It was a whirlwind of events. We began acquainting ourselves to each other and had our first taste of Nepali culture and food. During the day, staff guided us through preliminary sessions on Nepal and Nepali foods, how to eat with our hands, Nepali culture, introductions to staff and trainees, Peace Corps expectations, health, safety and security briefings, etc. Typically, we had sessions all day from 8am to 3 or 4pm, with communal breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a couple of tea breaks interspersed. The Nepali people drink tea (chiyaa) every day, several times a day, in the morning and afternoon. It is almost always milk tea or sweetened black tea. It is also dangerously good.

Our training room for the first week in Kathmandu.

And They're Off! Pt. 2

PART 2 (June 19th, 2023)

After the long flight we had about an hour layover in Singapore. We found our connecting flight to Kathmandu pretty quick. Some of us tried to stretch our legs, and/or stressed about changing into business casual attire in preparation for landing in-country (as we were somewhat strictly instructed to do); or, in my case, stressed about downloading Microsoft Office on airport WiFi since I wasn't sure I would have the opportunity later. I was impressed with the airport vending machines that had hot noodle cups, though. Singapore is on to something.

 

On arrival at around 9pm in Kathmandu, exhausted and bleary-eyed, we stepped off the plane where we were cheerfully greeted by a cavalry of Peace Corps Nepal staff. We were escorted through customs and fell in line for a final security bag check. After this point I discovered that I did not have my laptop charger. We were at a point of no return so I alerted the staff and left my cosmic credit up to judgment by the travel-gods. (I got it back the next morning. I was very grateful. I guess it's someone's whole job to run errands like fetching a trainee's forgotten laptop cable bag from the airport.)

We were shuffled on to buses with all of our dozens of suitcases, duffels and trekking bags. After a short bus ride we arrived at the grounds of a suburban convention center. This is where we would spend the next week getting initiated.

 

 

Waiting for our buses to take us to our hostel.