This week I expanded my work at Vajra Varahi Clinic: teaching. My assignment in Nepal is not limited to providing massage to the residents of Chapagoan, but to also train the English-Nepali translators in anatomy and bodywork. The plan is that after I leave for my next assignment at Namo Buddha the translators here will be able to sustain the care I’ve been giving.
Monday and Thursday I work with my sister, Manesha; Tuesday and Wednesday my partner is Prajal; and Friday I work with my brother, Satyamohan. This past week the schedule allowed for a formal lesson from 9am to 12:30pm and then we accept patients after lunch from 1:00 to 5:00. Prajal and Satyamohan have some previous training in anatomy where Manesha is new to the world of bodywork. It has been a tough week…not because they can’t handle it, but because they are so motivated and intelligent – I have to be on my game. I’m really happy that they are also very patient with me.
The sessions have been going splendidly. This first week we spent much of our time learning the parts of the body, the systems of anatomy, directions, and finally movement. After our marathon sessions we were able to put our knowledge to the test on actual patients. Starting this week we are going to change things up a bit to maximize our study time and patient face time. Rather than splitting the day in two, we are going to see patients all day and cover pathology, dysfunction, movement, and treatment while working with patients. My massage section of Vajra Varahi will become a sort of make-shift teaching clinic.
Interestingly, we were given an unexpected day off on Wednesday. An organization of young communists called for a national strike in Nepal. Most shops, busses/ micro’s, schools, health facilities were shut down because of it. We all were able to make the most of it. Joel, a Thai Buddhist and over-all cool guy, is the project manager of a shrine being built just behind the temple and clinic. Because of the work stoppage he had about an hour in is busy schedule to receive some Thai work from me. It was totally my humble pleasure and honor.
Later that night I cooked dinner: we have a cook that comes in and provides lunch, but we are responsible for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is a sort of free-for-all. I get up at about 5:30 to the horns of the monastery next door and sit with a cup of coffee reading and preparing my lesson for the day. The rest of the staff (Marcela, Mac, Lee, and Ben) filter-in throughout the morning. By 8:00 we’re all usually sitting around the table sharing our experiences of dealing with the midnight barking dogs and our valiant fight against the ear-buzzing mosquitoes. We each take a turn preparing dinner on the 2-burner propane stove, usually with candle light (often there’s no power in the evening). Even though there is no refrigeration, only two burners, and using fresh vegetables locally purchased that day – every dinner we’ve had has been a glorious experience. After dinner Wednesday, I was able to once again practice Thai – this time with Marcela: hence the title of this blog – A Pole and a Mexican Practice Thai in Nepal.
With no television, night-life, or electricity we all end the evening together. Ahhhh, maybe that’s the way it should be – everywhere. We all sit around the table, usually well into the night, playing cards, and exchanging stories and experiences before retiring to our respective rooms to start the battle against the noises and annoyances of the night.
Before we all take-off for Lela’s (a local kitchen next door) to meet Satyamohan for dinner, let me share with you my Sunday. After doing some reading this morning and chatting with Ben and Ariela (an acupuncturist who came to visit from Boudha) I decided to take a little trek. At first it was just going to be a short walk in the woods that lie next door to the temple, but I found a little path. The path led straight down and opened up to an amazing view of wheat fields. Following a little foot path I continued to walk greeting farmers with Namaste and enjoying a light sprinkle of rain. An older gentleman who I caught up with started to chat with me.
I continued to walk when I came upon fields and fields of piles of bricks, brick huts, kilns, and people carrying their handmade red blocks from one location to another. It was an amazing site to see and experience walking among the rows of huts while dodging mules carrying heavy loads of bricks. After about an hour I decided that maybe I should turn around and try to figure out my way back home. It being Sunday, getting lost was no big deal. Fortunately, there was a red-tailed dragonfly that led me most of the way home. Just in time for lunch.
Later that afternoon, Joel suggested that since the water levels are low in the holding tanks on the roof it may be a good opportunity to clean them out. Without hesitation, Lee jumped on the project. I don’t think that Lee has ever turned down an opportunity to help us all out. He’s a marvelous chap, even though he’s from Birmingham. After sometime I decided to head up to the roof to see how Lee and Mac were doing on this new project. Lee was inside one of the tanks dredging out the silt and handing the buckets to Mac who then dumped the dirty water off the roof. I jumped up and into the other water tank and lent a hand. It turned into a friendly competition between a Brit and an American to see who could get the inside of the water tank cleaner. In the end his was cleaner, but I’m positive that mine was dirtier to start and needed much more scrubbing.
The rain is pouring, the lightning is flashing, the thunder is roaring and I’m off to dinner at Lela’s.
Peace and Love.
Namaste.
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Pictures will follow later in the week.
