HELLO.

We got back from our meditation retreat in Pharping - 5 days of (nearly complete) silence, meditation, and Buddhist teachings in Tibetan from Khenpo (which means a PhD in Bhuddist philosophy as well as a practicing monk). It was really incredible. There was much learning and much sitting in the lotus position.. I am not sure if my knees will ever be the same. Also, we had a surprise guest teaching from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche (who is regarded as one of the most enlightened minds of our time), which was the luckiest/most amazing thing ever. His english was very Yoda-esque, and his message was similarly wise: essentially, everybody is just trying to be happy. Everything they do, they do in an attempt to achieve happiness. This, to me, makes it very easy to act with compassion/"loving kindness", because you would never want to intentionally destroy somebody else's attempt at happiness. Buddhism, then, is just one way of attaining happiness (which you do by acting with compassion and loving kindness towards all beings and practicing non-attachment. Also, meditation.) Khenpo's message was very similar in its roots, but much more technical in its wording, due to his PhD status.

Now, we're back in Patan with our host families (which has been really insane recently). The day I got back from the meditation retreat was the rice feeding ceremony for my 6 month old baby brother (when Newari babies turn 6 months, they are fed rice for the first time. Then, a giant party ensues.). There were literally 100 people on the roof of my house singing loudly, dancing wildly, and eating entire fried fish (including the eyeballs and backbone) ALL DAY. It was fabulous! Then, the next day was Rajin's (my host father) 33rd birthday.... so the party never really ended. Soffe and Stacey (two really excellent girls from the program) and I tried to make Rajin brownies for his birthday.. but there was no oven, so we just microwaved them for an hour. Important note: microwaving brownie batter does not equal brownies. IT JUST MAKES HOT BROWNIE BATTER. We were incredibly excited about our soupy concoction.. but Rajin and the fam were a little appalled. They no longer have any desire to try American desserts. Rajin recently told me he would come to America and we could open a momo (meat filled dumpling) shop together. I was like "YEAH. And we can make brownies on the side!" Rajin just shook his head: "Megan, if you are making brownies, I am staying in Nepal." It was sort of the funniest situation ever.

Yesterday, one of our few days without ISP's, we visited Swayambhu Temple in Kathmandu, where hundreds of wild, sacred monkeys roam freely, playing, fighting, and occasionally stealing food from unsuspecting tourists. Here are some pics (finally..)

Andy, Stacey, and I at Swayambhu

The group!: Stuart, Soffe, Emily, Ferrell, Travis, Me, Stacey, Josh, Andy, Chrissy, Saraswati (who cooks us delish food at the program house and is incredibly awesome), Zach, and Maddie. I sort of just named people randomly (going vaguely left to right).. but I guess it doesn't really matter because the picture's so small..

For the next week we are in Patan, hanging out with our families, finishing up our Independent Study Projects, and cramming in as many excellent city activities as possible before we leave to trek to the basecamp of Kanchenjunga (the third highest mountain in the world!) on the 23rd! Then, we'll be living in a rural village in western Nepal farming and milking buffaloes at dawn for the remainder of our trip, so this is one of the last times I'll have internet connection for the next month and a half!