It's a Wrap...on PST!!!

If you're reading this, then I've successfully completed PST and have officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! I am now at my permanent site in the Arghakhanchi District, restarting the settling-in process. Just when I start to feel like I'm in my element, it's time to pack up and leave. This happened in college, during my year in Germany, and now with my first host family. Oh well, if I didn't enjoy the discomfort, I wouldn't keep putting myself in challenging situations. 

Much like my previous blog post, this one doesn't have a cohesive theme. Instead, I'll share some of my musings and experiences from the last few weeks.  

I celebrated Holi with my PCT cohort on March 13th. Holi is the Hindu spring festival. Though different Hindu sects have various legends associated with Holi, all seem to embrace anarchic celebration. We threw colored powder and water balloons at each other, and kids sprayed us with water guns as we walked into town. This is a side of Hinduism I find fascinating: alongside ritualistic devotion and strictly enforced hierarchies, there are Gods who can laugh and play with their worshippers. E.M. Forester wrote repeatedly about Hinduism's "inclusion of merriment"—I only mention Forester here to encourage everyone to read A Passage to India, such a nuanced narrative of colonial conflict. Holi was a blast, and I look forward to celebrating it twice more while I'm in Nepal! 

Celebrating Holi with PCVs Alyssa, Shay, (Me), and Charles (L to R)

During the last weekends of PST, I tried to visit as many religious landmarks around Panauti as possible. I intend to return to Panauti and visit my first host family at some point during my service, but even the most rock-solid plans are ultimately fragile in Nepal, and I can't say for sure if I'll ever be back. So, I wanted to see all there was to see with the time I had left.  

Devithan Vista: Banepa in middleground, Himalayas in background

Unless you're in the lowland Terai (which I transited through on my way to Arghakhanchi; the visit was so brief that all I can tell you is that there were many bicycles on the roads and that it was unbearably hot), walking from point A to point B will require some combination of uphill and downhill and, most likely, uphill again, along winding and dusty roads. So, although a 45-minute walk is quite short for a hike, it felt like I was summiting Everest when I climbed to the top of Devithan Hill to the Sikauri Gaun Temple, where, fortunately, the payoff was great views of the Himalayas on one side and the town of Panauti on the other. The climb up Gorkhanath Hill just north of Panauti to a Ganesh statue was even more humbling; it was only about a 20-minute walk, but I found myself stopping every few feet to catch my breath. This training over the 9 weeks of PST prepared me for my final test on the last Saturday I was in Panauti: a two-and-a-half-hour walk, one-way, to Ladkeshwor Mahadev—a 108 ft Trishul, Shiva's trident with various symbolisms, and an important site for Hindus. I, along with two fellow volunteers, was transported through diverse landscapes: past a silk farm, suspension bridge, and hydropower project in the old Newari town of Khopasi, and through verdant terraced fields and homestays in the Chhetri town of Balthali. The walk became a pilgrimage, clearing my head and encouraging engagement with the world around me. I am so glad I decided to make the trip, as it was a powerful send-off to the beauty of the natural environment around Panauti.   

Sikauri Gaun Temple atop Devithan Hill

PST staff arranged a host family celebration for our last day in Panauti, complete with songs and dances from each sector, speeches from three fellow volunteers, and even an appearance by Dean Thompson, the U.S. Ambassador to Nepal. We dressed in Gurung costumes for our dance and sang a Nepali song entitled Sim sime paani. While I don't enjoy being a show pony, I know the performances were greatly appreciated by my host mom and our neighbor who attended the ceremony. The next day, trucks came to collect our luggage, and the time had come to say goodbye to our families. Both my host mom and host sister cried, and my host dad asked that I not forget him. I'm shy and awkward around goodbyes but not a crier; I thought maybe I should ham it up a bit and shed a few tears to show how much I'll miss them but ultimately decided against giving that performance. I cannot describe my first host family's kindness and generosity; I truly felt that I had become a family member after 9 weeks together. All the best to the K.C. Family!!!  

Alyssa and I wearing Gurung dress

Ladkeshwor Mahadev

We said goodbye, and then I was off to Kathmandu for 5 days of hot showers, Western toilets, and non-daal bhaat meals. Kathmandu was a whirlwind, and as I anticipate returning a few more times for trainings, I won't write too much about my experience there and will instead save it for a longer post in the future. I will say that I thoroughly explored the Thamel neighborhood and visited two more UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Swayambhunath Temple and Kathmandu Durbar Square (stay tuned for an upcoming post on Newari architecture). The highlight of the week was our swearing-in ceremony, marking the official transition from trainee to volunteer, held in front of our permanent site supervisors and counterparts. Swearing-in felt just like a high school graduation. We made it to the end of our time together, and now we must face the world head-on and alone. I left Kathmandu, boarded a plane to Siddharthanagar (a half-hour flight during which I sweated through my clothes 5 times over—I'm not a good flier!), took a bus up to Sandhikharka, and just like that, I made it to Arghakhanchi. These days I'm feeling a mix of hopefulness, anxiety, boredom, and eagerness. So, stay tuned for a future post about my first days at site. Thanks for coming along on this journey! 

The women of food security and environment in our swearing-in attire

Here I Yam! playing badminton on my last day of PST