Knute's Travelogue

I've returned to Paris to celebrate the New Year with my sister Brita. Nepal left me feeling lonely, enlightened and in need of world-class duck confit. I'm enjoying quality wine, cheese, pastries, but most importantly the company of family! I wish everyone the safest of new years!

Thanks for always reading and I updated some earlier entries with pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to everyone!

Khawalung monastary has been treating me well these past couple weeks despite the cold nights and solitary nature of Buddhist living. A friend recently asked me if I was perched atop a stupa wrapped in yaks wool in the snowy himalayas reciting chants most of my time and all I could answer was.... yes. I have spent a lot of time reading, and listening to the monks at prayer these past weeks. It has been rewarding but I look forward to having coherent conversations with someone OTHER than myself.

The monks are enthusiastic in class and learn quickly. They are likewise teaching me a great deal about Nepali culture, language and growing up a Buddhist monk. I am struck by how similar many of these kids are to the orphans back at Watoto Wa Baraka in Kenya. It is comforting to know that the wonderful energy and innocence of children is the same no matter what their culture, or religion.

The "neighborhood" I live in is filled with Monastary's. Often when I go out walking the streets are filled with maroon-clad monks doing their shopping, flying by in taxi's, or simply sipping tea in sidestreet cafe's. Somedays I feel I am the only one not wearing a robe!

I spend many afternoons at a local Thangka shop (traditional tibetan Buddhist painting) watching artists hard at work. Many of the larger pieces take weeks to complete, are inlaid with gold and can only be found in Nepal. The craft is both unique and tedious and I feel lucky to watch as this ancient art form is created. There are also many rice paper farms nearby where I have been able to watch villagers boil and dry sheets of rice paper in the afternoon sun.

I am headed to a couple small villages later this week with Bikram (the program coordinator) to look at possible sights for new resource/education centers. I hope to spend my last days of 2008 drinking rakshi and eating vegetable momo's at my favorite Tibetan restaurant in Kathmandu, and then it's off to Paris again.

Thanks for reading! Pictures coming soon...

Hello from Nepal! I know I haven't written in a long time, and for that I apologize. I am volunteering at a buddhist monastary in Kathmandu until the new year. I teach for about 3 hours each day, and help with students' homework in my free time. It is fascinating to live amongst buddhists and see their daily routine. They practice Tibetan, or 'Tantric' buddhism here in Nepal and I am learning a great deal about enlightenment, and buddhist rituals. All religions aside, kids are kids and we are managing to have a lot of fun together.

Last week I spent a day in Pokhara (7 hours northwest of Kathmandu) before trekking for 5 days in the Annapurna mountains. The mountains were gorgeous, and I was lucky to have clear weather almost every day. It was a once in a lifetime experience to wake up each morning and look at the worlds largest mountain range! Despite freezing my fingers, I took a ton of pictures which I hope to post from Paris later this month.


Kathmandu is a city both peaceful and bustling at the same time. There are more temples than any city i've seen, yet more honking motorbikes and smog than I expected.

I suppose our romantic visions of faraway places are often far off the mark. Modernism, and the melange of culture is undeniable in Nepal. Western influences mix with Indian and Chinese, eastern and western to create wholly new food, fashion and culture. I saw the new James Bond, "Quantam of Solace" while munching on Tibetan momo's and drinking tea a couple weeks ago. Western culture is so pervasive here; but it is far too easy to see that as a bad thing and as a death of Nepali culture. Despite the west peeking its big head into Nepal, Nepal never fails to transform what it receives into something entirely new. I am trying my best not to be judgemental of culture, change and influence as I travel - I think it is best to merely sit back and observe or try to understand.

So enough about culture already right? When am I going to post some pictures? A couple weeks! I promise!

Thanks everyone, for reading my rants.

Greetings from Kenya! I can say with joy that some of the wonderful Kenyans near Makuyu no longer stare at me like i'm a mad man when I run by each day while getting my exercise. They seem to have become accustomed to the fact that I am crazy, and am a lost cause. As to why I would be running nowhere in particular is beyond their understanding. I will miss running along the rich golden soil that sticks to my feet, among the banana trees that tower over me, and among endless fields of maze filled with hardworking Kenyans dressed in sweaters despite the heat, when I depart for New Delhi on the 26th. Running in a new country is such a wonderful way to see things one otherwise would miss.

We have had some staff shuffling around, and leaving the orphanage - along with a number of volunteers coming and going this past week. As always the kids are cheerful and adapt quickly. They are enthralled that their exams will soon be over and they will have a month off for winter break, and time for a great deal of pickup soccer. We anxiously await the kids scores, as that is what determines which secondary school many of them go to, and in turn whether they are employable after attending a reputable secondary school. With an unemployment rate around 85% here in Kenya, education is the only doorway to employment.

Two new volunteers arrived from Tanzania, where the conditions were far more dismal for them. They are recovering from Malaria, and we are happy to stuff them with as much rice, beans, and chapati as it takes to fatten them back up! It is refreshing to hear their perspective on how lucky the children at Watoto Wa Baraka are for simply having 3 meals a day. On the poverty scale, there seems always to be someone worse off, and better off than yourself. It is encouraging as I look around the orphanage and realize that many of the 25 children were plucked from situations where their survival was unlikely, and that this all has been accomplished in nearly 1 year. Geoffrey (the program director), is pushing forward with two new buildings, in the hope that he can house many new children as soon as possible. We have also started construction on a resource center, where there will be a number of computers with access to the internet, and likely a small library, where villagers and the kids can study, and learn.

It will be with a heavy heart that I depart on the 26th of this month for Delhi to do some sightseeing and on to Nepal to teach shortly after. Although, I can't help but get excited at the prospect of seeing a completely new and different place and culture. I look forward to meeting all kinds of fascinating people, and carrying with me the friendships and relationships I have fostered here in Kenya. I hope to continue my involvement with WWB, in any way I can. Although, there is much work to be done in the next week and a half, and I look forward to sitting down this evening with a cup of Kenyan Chai and getting some of the administrative orphanage tasks out of the way so I can spend time with the children before leaving. Thanks to everyone for continuing to read my rants about travel; I have tried to keep it curt, and relevant.

I will start by saying the Kenyans have a particular fondness for Barack Obama. Since his father was born here, most Kenyans consider Obama to be a Kenyan and when he won the election, Kibaki declared a national holiday! Everyone yells "Obama!" at me as I pass by or shakes my hand and tells me how wonderful he is. The enthusiasm is nice, but makes me wonder what would have happened to me had Obama lost. It probably would have been ugly.

2 weekends ago I visited Kakamega rainforest in the north-west of Kenya. Despite some digestive issues, (I will refrain from indulging on the details) the rainforest proved to be impressive and beautiful. There were hundreds of species of butterfly, birds, monkeys and, of course, trees. At one point in time the forest stretched all the way to the Congo, but now is a fraction of its' original size due to deforestation.

This past weekend I went on Safari in the Masai Mara; the largest game park in the country. To summarize, it was breathtaking. I saw lions, and lion cubs, girraffe, wildabeast, more birds species than I can mention, elephants, warthog, hippo's, impala's and deer etc. We also had a chance to meet a number of very welcoming Masai villagers who helped us push our van out of the mud when we got stuck on the way in. The Masai were kind enough to let me play with their hunting spears and clubs.

Back at the orphanage, things have been busy. The kids have the week off of school as they prepare for exams so I am getting lots of quality time with them in the next couple weeks especially. I know everyone would like more pictures, but the ability to decipher Kenyan computers escapes me and I will have to wait until I am seated comfortably behind a high-speed connection to post anything. Thanks everyone for reading!