It is hard to believe that it has been over a month, six weeks actually since Jenn and I made the big leap and moved to Nepal for a year. I will give you the quick synopsis of our journey so far….
We arrived in Kathmandu on October 22 on a beautiful warm day. Both Jenn and I have been here before, so we more or less knew what to expect. We arrived in the morning after about 32 hours in transit and we were dead tired. Our CECI counterparts were there to meet us and they took us to the hotel to check in and freshen up. We went for lunch and then went for a meeting at the Canadian Consulate. Very nice! Nothing like fighting sleep as we listened to the consul try to explain to us his role in Nepal, which consisted mostly of telling us what he doesn’t do. After many head bobs we went back to the hotel to crash.
Over the next week or so, we had training and orientation. This consisted of introducing us to the CECI organization in Nepal, meeting all of the staff, learning about all of the current operating programs, cultural training including Nepal’s social and political history. We were also given a tour of the city to orient us, and taken to health facilities for a medical orientation.
Our training was interrupted by a 3 day national holiday called Tihar (or Diwali/Dipawali). This is the biggest holiday in the Nepalese calendar and could almost be described as the Nepali/Indian version of Christmas. Lots of lights, fireworks, firecrackers and lots encouragement to shop. This is the time for local businesses to offer sales and it is effectively an indication of how business and sales will go for the coming year, so it’s important to sell lots! It is also a time for family and most Nepali people will travel back home to spend the holidays with family and friends. While it was nice to experience, Tihar did get in the way of Jenn and my ability to look for a place to live, as our real estate agents that we were relying upon for assistance disappeared for 3 or 4 days!
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