Arriving at the monastery (3/6/2013)

I can’t believe that I have only been at the monastery for one full day! I’ve already met so many new faces and learnt so many new things that it feels as if it cannot possibly all have fit into one day.

I arrived here yesterday at around 6:00 pm, I was the last volunteer to be dropped off because I am furthest away from Kathmandu. At 11:00 am Taylor left with Akkal and George to the farming area where she will be volunteering (there are monkeys there!!! Which I am wayyy too excited about). During this time Dinesh (the head volunteer coordinator) spent two whole hours teaching us about teaching; from nursery rhymes to fun games to grammar. I really don’t know anything about grammar (I learnt English simply by being thrown into an English school when I was 8, where no one spoke Dutch) so that will be something I will have probably have problems with… When Akkal and George came back we had lunch (which of course was delicious) and then Spyro left with a taxi to his monastery because his monastery and Rachel, Colten and my monasteries are on the opposite sides of Kathmandu. Then Rachel, Colten and I and Mike (another Volunteer who is leaving today), George, Dinesh, other Charlotte (who was going to her nunnery the next day because she was still not 100% better) and Akkal all crammed into the car; suitcases and bags on top of the car… and went off.

After 30 minutes of driving we got to Mahayana; the monastery that Rachel and Colten are teaching at. It is immense and in the middle of a town. There were so many kids, it was really overwhelming. The monastery is quite new, the old Mahayana Monastery is now a nunnery and the new one is for the young monks and the older monks. The previous English teacher is still there, Tom, who will help them settle in. We left them after they got settled and drove 30 minutes towards Sundarijal. I was expecting a monastery similar to theirs now; in the middle of a town. But when we arrived at Nyingmapa Wishfulfilling Monastery I wanted to shed a tear of joy; it is in the countryside, surrounded by rice paddy fields, mountains and forests. A five minute walk from the monastery are some shops, a fruit market and a bus stop. IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? I couldn’t believe my luck.

The view from my second story window (!!!!) 

We entered the monastery and it was a lot quieter than the one we had just come from, there were no kids running around and only a few monks sitting outside. I got out of the car and was greeted by a few younger monks (around 20 years old), we unloaded my bags and brought them to my room. My room is in between the Yogis (a different type of Buddhist; they are not the exact same as monks, they can have a family and they can live outside the monastery, they wear white robes instead of orange), I share a bathroom with them (which thank baby Jesus has hot water and a normal toilet!), there is a small kitchen in which I can cook my own food but I’ve been eating with the monks in their big kitchen for every meal so far (more about that later). Then we went downstairs and we got tea… with milk… Okay, confession time, I am not as strict of a Vegan when it comes to things like this. The monks brought out the tea to welcome me into their monastery, there are certain moments like this where I will accept the tea simply because it is an act of courtesy; accepting their welcome… I feel it would be rude to refuse their good intentions, so there is a weird balance that I try to find. I think in the future during the meals at the monastery I will not be so strict about it too (although I doubt that there will be much dairy product use; so far the only things that had milk in it were breakfast soup and the milk tea, the latter I will probably stop drinking after a few days).

Panorama of the monastery!

So, the moment came, all the other VIN people left, and I was alone with the monks. A monk whose nickname is Chelsea showed me around the monastery, obviously it is not a 5 star stay, imagine a place with a dodgy kitchen, old furniture, and loose toilet seats. But I wouldn’t have it any other way because I love it here. That night we all sat to have dinner, a Tibetan dish, there I got to know more monks and we got to talking. “So, what are your hobbies?” my hobbies… I started listing the usual, gardening, drawing… “No, no, sports, sports” a loooooooong pause followed. I am the LEAST sporty person, and here I was surrounded by monk eyes desperately awaiting my answer… it turns out that all the monks in this monastery are sports obsessed. Want to start a conversation? Don’t talk about the weather, talk about sports (football especially)! So… by the end of my stay I may not only have learnt a bit about Buddhism but about football as well. Right, no wonder the monk’s nickname is Chelsea…

Then the monks all asked me how I was feeling, and I told them the truth; I was exhausted. Ever since I’ve gotten here I have been doing things constantly, I have had no rest. I arrived to the hotel, had a bad night’s sleep, woke up early, spent the whole day at VIN learning about Nepal, Nepali and teaching, got back to the hotel, went for dinner, wandered around the city, went to bed. Then the next day the same thing, including visiting landmarks, and the next day again and then in the afternoon of the 3^rd day I arrived here. The monks were very sympathetic, and, to my surprise, asked whether tomorrow I just wanted to have a rest day. I asked whether it was really okay, and they said that of course it was. So today I just settled in, got to know everyone and got the hang of the rhythm of the monastery. Teaching starts tomorrow! I was going to write about today and settling in as well but this post is already so long! Wallah tomorrow!

Charlotte x