Quick update

Hi everyone! All is well here - breathtaking scenery, good food, good people, excellent adventures. Can't load pics on this computer but will be sure to once we get to Pokhara in about a week. Vin and I maintaining health relatively well :)
Talk to you soon!

Hi there! I would love to write a long involved post right now, but sadly we are at a rush at the end of our getting ready to leave on this trek and I just can't take an extra couple hours to make things perfect. We had the most spectacular day today! Quickly though, let me tell you about yesterday. We woke up early and travelled down to Kathmandu's Durbar Square, which is slightly newer in history than Patan's, but in my opinion, much grander. The 9th day of Dasain was yesterday, which is the last day of the 15 day Hindu festival that is believed to be the struggle between the triumph of good over evil. On the ninth day, all over this region, hundreds to thousands of animals (chickens, ducks, goats, and buffalo) are sacrificed to appease the Bhairab incarnation of Shiva, whose terrible likeness I posted a picture of above. We didn't actually see any of the sacrifices, but were very close to them. It is interesting that cows are so highly revered in Hinduism, and the Buffalo, who are nearly identical to Western eyes, are sacrificed. Put a picture of some cows wandering around the square. Also the door of one of the temples strewn with buffalo entrails from the year before - new decorations to be put up by the end of the day. We came back to Thamel in late morning due to unrelenting showers and spent some time getting last minute stuff for our trek. At that point we hooked up with Kishwor again at Boudanath - unfortunately it was getting dark at that point and so I've added a stock picture of the temple - it's too beautiful too not show it properly. From there Kish took us down to a riverside temple with monks chanting and celebrating, and also where a body was being cremated. Unlike anything I've ever seen, but really really interesting and beautiful.
So back to today. Today was the 10th day of Dasain, wherethe triumph of good over evil (waged during the previous nine days) is celebrated all over the streets and temples. We were honored to be invited into Kishwor's home and take tikka from his mother yesterday afternoon, followed by eating a delicious meal in his home prepared by his mother. It was such a different home than I have ever seen and was warm and wonderful and we felt very welcome there. Quite a beautiful experience. We whiled away a lot of the rest of the afternoon handing out in an alleyway area with Kish and some of his friends drinking beer and talking. Was great.
So now we head out into the mountains... so excited!! I definitely will have internet in one place (Manang)in about 12 days, but other than that I don't know. All the best to everyone - thinking of you!

Sensory overload and then some

Hi everyone! Cant believe we've been here four days already! The first few went by really quickly, but I'll give you a recap of whats been going on here. We left on Monday, Oct 11th from JFK for a surprisingly comfortable 13 hour flight to Delhi. Then the real fun began with our 15 hour layover in a very small portion of the Delhi airport with no beds or food available. We WERE able to scrape a very questionable sandwich (and eat it!) and then some strangers shared an airport issue meal with us that was actually very good. And very generous of them. We were even able to get some sleep in this row of reclined chairs that were under constant cycling by various waiting passengers. Good times.
Anyway, 700 hours later, we finally were off in the air towards Kathmandu - which is the craziest city I have ever been in, and I have been in some crazy cities. I was warned about the precarious nature of the ride from the airport to the guest house, and it was even more exhilarating than I expected. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures along the way, mostly because I couldnt take my eyes off anything around me and we were going really fast. But markets and goats and dogs and children and wires and shops and fruit stands and police were lining extremely narrow winding streets with massive potholes that somehow multiple lanes of traffic were going up and down within the confines of. Also no traffic lights. It was as if the entirety of St. Kitts got smushed into 2 square miles.

So we arrived on Wednesday Oct 13th practically in a stupor and promptly slept a good 4-5 hours immediately upon our arrival at the Tibet Guest House. It was recommended by a couple of friends and so far has been a great place to stay. Its off the main drag enough to be a little quieter but still walkng distance to everything we need. Wednesday evening, Kishwor met us at the guest house and took us to a really wonderful hole in the wall restaurant in Thamel (the main tourist area). We had veggie curry and chicken tikka masala and naan. Sooooo tasty. I think I'm in heaven with this food - seriously. The only meal I haven't had chicken tikka masala was our last one, which we deidicated solely to momo's - one of the perfect nepali culinary creations.
So anyway, meeting with Kishwor was great - he is as wonderful and friendly as we were told, and has an energy about him that is rare to say the least. Pictures to come i'm sure (especially from the trek!). So first order of business we decided to delay the start of our trip by a couple days, because currently in Nepal they are having one of the (or THE) biggest festivals of the year, which lasts fifteen days and is now at the height of celebration. Yesterday we taxied down to Patan's Durbar (palace) Square to check out the festivities as well as some traditional and really old Newari architecture. We also made some canine friends of which I've included a picture of vin and the most personable one, enjoying the attention we were giving her. Pictures below. The Nepali people who are in the tourist business have certainly perfected the art of being extremely energetic and interested in talking to you as well as nearly impossible to shake if you aren't interested in what they're touting. On day two in Thamel, Vin and I very abrubtly got a tikka placed on our foreheads by a wandering holy man, only to have a very specific amount of rupees demanded in return. A little boy literally hung on to Vin's shirt for at least a block and a half later that day and I've already decided I never want to be asked if I need a guide for the rest of my life. But despite being locked in tourist land, I do really like the Nepali people so far - they are friendly and talkative and always helpful with our many and varied questions.

So that's all I think I'll post here - we leave on the 18th (two days from now) for our trek, and I'll try to get another post out before then. We saw some interesting festival stuff this morning which I'll add at that point - too much so far now. Tonight Kishwor and Vin and I and another girl will head to Bodnath, which is the the site of an enormous buddhist temple with a huge set of Buddha eyes at the center. It is one of the places I was sure I wanted to visit on our trip and I am very excited that we are going tonight.
I hope that you all are doing well and were not too worried about not hearing from us.
Love and Peace!

How vet school ate my life...

Hi again!! Long time this time, huh? I just couldn’t keep up with this blog thing as vet school got more and more intense and as I worked through my clinical year at Tufts University. Which is where I’ve been since last September, doing rotation after rotation, hoping that what information I was managing to cram into my brain was not immediately falling right out of the other side. Long shifts, minimal exercise, eating crappy food and having been slathered with just about every substance an animal can produce - it’s been…interesting. But I have made some really great friends along the way and had numerous crazy animal encounters that would take up pages and pages if I were to recount them here. My best wishes to all the V’10s that are off doing internships or at their first jobs, as well as the V’11’s who just have a little longer to stick with it! And to Bronwen, my fantastic roommate who is halfway through her third year – you will make it and you will be happy you did it. You have all the time in the world to finish vet school if you decide to stop and do a masters first. And it wouldn’t be the worst thing to get out of Grafton for a bit ☺.


So I passed my boards in April (though not without extreme mental instability while studying and waiting on results), and am now done with all my rotations and all graduated and that, meaning that somehow, someone out there decided I was fit to be a doctor. Whoa. Don’t feel like I know much yet but hoping that once my head starts to be clear of any and all horse/cow/sheep/chicken diseases, things will start to fall into place. Ideally.

Clinical year did however, give me one unexpected blessing - I met and have since been dating my wonderful boyfriend Vin, who finished up his veterinary pathology residency at Tufts this past June. Though the last eight months have been spattered with time away for externships and studying and family, we are still going strong and hoping to continue that way. The way forward concerning jobs and locations is still very much up in the air, but hopefully in the next six months or so, the uncertainty will ease up and bit and I will finally have a place I can call home.

The next adventure for me is what inspired me to start trying to keep up with this blog again – in four days Vin and I will be embarking on a 9 week trip to Nepal. Nepal has always been a country that I’ve been drawn to, and I am fortunate enough right now to not only be able to make the trip, but to be able to do it with such a perfect traveling mate. I am also fortunate enough to have several friends who have spent time in Nepal and Kenny was even able to put me in touch with Kishwor, a friend and guide who works out of Kathmandu. Kishwor and I have been in touch and are planning a 2-3 week trek along the Annapurna circuit in the Himalayas for Vin and I, with him as our guide. Should be epic. After we get back from that, we’ll take a load off for a week or so, then try to maybe summit Island peak, a 20,000ft mountain in the Everest region. Then, starting in mid-November, Vin and I will be volunteering at an animal shelter/spay clinic in Kathmandu called the Kathmandu Animal Centre (KAT). They have connections to Tufts and so far it has been easy enough to arrange our time there. After that we have about a week left to do whatever pleases us, after which we return home. So there you have it – the itinerary everyone has been asking me for. Unfortunately that’s about as specific as I would like to get, because in my experience, too much rigidity in the schedule just leads to disappointment and stress. I didn’t spend two and half years going with the flow on a Caribbean island for nothing. ☺

So that’s what I got. I think this trip is just what the doctor ordered for both Vin and I. Some time to relax and clear our heads while surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery and generous, wonderful people. I will keep updates as often as I can- I’ve found its easier to keep up with this thing while abroad than at home. Take care everyone!