Six-day Buddhist Retreat at Kopan Monastery

Since I wanted to experience as much as I could about the culture of Nepal, I decided a six-day Buddhist retreat at one of the monasteries in town would help me dive right in.

I arrived at Kopan on Friday (Feb. 19) afternoon, found my dorm room (actually, any dorm in the U.S. looks like a hotel suite compared to these), met my roommates, Pauline (from Holland) and Renata (from Italy) and headed to dinner.

Since I was there alone, I knew I would have to work up the courage to make friends - otherwise it'd be a long six days on "campus." After I grabbed my plate of food, I sat down at an empty table and waited for fellow retreat-goers to join me.

Thank goodness a couple of hilarious guys from D.C. sat down across from me - Scott and Ethan - who would be my sanity saviors throughout the course. They quit their jobs as teachers, and are traveling the world together. Amazing. And it's even more amazing how much I came to absolutely love them without really knowing them - besides the smart-ass comments - before, during or after our classes or meditations (thanks Ethan).

The week at Kopan was wonderful and difficult. I'm grateful for the opportunity to attend a retreat - without the worries of work, or a schedule...or life in general. I was just there, ready to soak it in. But I found it hard to meditate in a room with 60 people, especially after sitting cross-legged for more than 7 hours a day - and I found my mind racing with random thoughts and memories.

Religion is also a difficult pill for me to swallow - and when I originally signed up for this experience, I had the expectation of discussing more philosophy - but was met with a course involving 65 percent religion, 35 percent philosophy. Either way, the discussions were always interesting (whether I agreed with the ideas or not) and it was wonderful to be a room with people from all over the world.

At the end of the retreat, there was a special Puja (prayer) event at Kopan - and about 1,800 monks were visiting the monastery. They would hold long prayer services and make offerings to Buddha. In the afternoon, the little monks would have debates with the older (and more experienced) monks, then return to their long-winded prayers and chants.

Glad I did it, wouldn't do it again, but met some fabulous people, learned about Buddhism, saw some monks and nuns, had some wonderful writing and reflection time, ate a lot vegetarian food and soup, shared a bathroom with 30 people, and had fantastic views of Kathmandu at sunrise and sunset.

Pokhara

Katie and I decided to head out of town for a few days (Feb. 17-19), so we caught a bus and headed 7 hours into the mountains to Pokhara - a small (and very popluar) tourist spot in Nepal.

Pokhara is a relaxing destination - with many hotels and restaurants situated on Fewa Lake - where visitors can rent a canoe, hang glide, hike, or sit by the shore and read a book.

We stayed at Hotel Fewa - a great spot for viewing the mountains and sunsets over the lake. They also have tables set up along the shore, and the staff are waiting to bring you whatever food or drink you're craving - including the best hot chocolate in this country.

We woke up one morning at 5:30 -hopped in a taxi and headed up a nearby mountain so we could watch the sunrise over the Himalayas. It was a magical morning - sitting on the side of a mountain - waiting for the sunlight to hit the peaks across the valley.

Later that day, after a nice breakfast and a long nap, we ventured of the hotel to find a boat to take us to the other side of the lake so we could hike up the hill to the Peace Pagoda. The view was amazing from the top of the hill - and peaceful - minus the occasional sounds of bus and taxi horns.

We got a bit lost on the way down - and stumbled into a small hillside village (with goats!) and then a village at the base of the mountain, where we managed to find the main road...and a taxi to bring us back into our side of town.

Two days after we arrived, we (unfortunately) found ourselves at the tiny Pokhara airport, waited in the tiny departure gate, and boarded our tiny airplane (Buddha Air). Our flight was only 25 minutes - and it had the greatest views of the Himalayas.

Shivaratri Festival at Pashupatinath

On Friday (Feb. 12) Katie and I made our way to Pashupatinath - Nepal's most important Hindu temple which is situated on the banks of the Bagmati River.

The Bagmati is an important site for Hindus, and many of them wish to be cremated on the banks and their ashes swept into the river.

Shivaratri is a celebration recognizing the birthday of Shiva (the creator and destroyer Hindu God). Thousands of Hindus from the world over gather at Hindu temples to mark this special occasion.

Festival participants stand in line for hours to make an offering at the temple, some sit on the banks of the Bagmati and smoke weed they bought from the Sadhus (Hindu holy men who paint their bodies and/or rub themselves with the ash from burning bodies at the cremation sites). It's basically a free-for-all...and anything goes.

At night, candles are lit along the steps of the temples and everyone gathers around to sing, dance, worship, smoke more weed or gawk.

Katie and I gawked, and it was a great time. Even though we had little to no idea of what was taking place, it was great to be in the midst of this holy celebration.

While we were watching the activities, a small group of young Nepali guys worked up the courage to chat with us. They wanted to know if we were enjoying Nepal, what we thought of their country, why we were there, etc. They loved that Katie knew the language.

One of the guys is going to school for communications, so of course we started discussing this career path. I didn't have the heart to tell them that as soon as he would leave school, he'd find a job at a local newspaper, leave the newspaper, attempt an online media career, get laid off, then find himself on the opposite side of the world at some pot-smoking, body-burning, Hindu God celebrating festival where he'll meet foreigners who will laugh at his accent, then ask to visit him in his hometown.

Kathmandu - Day 1

This city, filled with some of the world's poorest people, is situated in one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen. With a backdrop of the Himalayas, rolling hills covered in rice patties and streets lined with trees that look centuries old, Kathmandu quite a breathtaking.

I know that I've only been here a few days, and to say these things will promptly cause my sister to choke on her tea and roll her eyes, but Kathmandu is magical. So far.

After traveling for more than 35 hours, I boarded my final plane in Delhi, India heading to Katmandu, Nepal. This short hour-and-a-half plane ride was wonderful. Not only would I get to see my sister (finally!), but I had a seat with access to two windows - perfect for taking in the splendor of the Himalayas. It's a sight I never expected to see in my life, but there they were, covered in snow and stretching as far as I could see - with a clear blue sky as their backdrop.

After departing the plane, finding my sister in the crowd of Nepalis and riding in the U.N. van through streets filled with people milling about, we made it to her house safely.

Day 1 - Thursday, Feb. 11

Since Katie had to work (which was unfortunate because it was at least 65 degrees outside, without a cloud in sight), I hung out on the roof most of the day (in an attempt to get a tan).

Most houses have a roof-top patio - where locals hang their laundry, plant a garden, and generally treat it as another living space of their house. Women gather here during the day to nap, wash clothes, or spy on their neighbors. In the afternoons, when the children come home from school, families take a seat around their patio tables and catch up with one another...or to continue spying on their neighbors.

That evening Katie, her friend Eva and I headed to Thamel - the shopping/tourist district of Kathmandu- and grabbed some dinner at an Indian restaurant. Since it was load shedding (when the government turns off the power), we ate by candlelight. After dinner, we skipped across the street to a bar where a lot of foreigners (who live in Kathmandu) hang out to wish one of Katie's friends good-bye - since she's moving back to Australia soon. The "bar" played dance music from the '70s and '80s, making me feel like I was at a third-world version of Studio 54 back in the day.

A short (and very bumpy, very scary) cab ride, we were home and settled into bed under many layers of clothes and blankets, falling asleep the lovely sound of barking dogs.

Packing for Life in a Third World Country

My sister, Katie, has been living and working in Nepal since November 2008. It's an adventure (to say the least) and a period of her life that she can look back on and feel proud of the work she accomplished, the friendships she made and all the cities in various countries she got to visit.

Living in a third world country has it's benefits - cheap food, clothing and other miscellaneous items you didn't know existed - as well as learning how to survive without all the comforts and conveniences we take for granted.

Don't get me wrong, I've been on the receiving end of a few long-distance chats with Katie about the hassles of living in a country with 11-hour power outages every day, drinking water that will give you dysentery, animals snacking on the garbage that piles up in the streets, traffic jams that put the highways of Los Angeles and New York City to shame and a post office system that makes the Pony Express look like the greatest invention of all time. But despite all these things, she continues taking the challenges (and accepting the joys) of her life in Kathmandu - which is why it took little convincing for me to travel 40 hours one way to experience Nepal for myself.

As I look around my room and wonder, "Do I need these shoes? How many shirts do I need to bring? Will all my books fit in this bag? How much candy can I jam in this suitcase without going over the airline's weight limit?" I realize I don't actually need any of it. But I want it. I want to bring it all. I'm the typical materialistic American - wanting all the comforts of home while anticipating having an "authentic trip" of a lifetime.

The last few days I've caught myself thinking about the "last time" I'm going to experience a hot shower, a comfortable bed to sleep in while the white noise of my fan lulls me to sleep, a pizza hot out of the oven, drinking water from the tap, turning on the lights in my room so I can see the path to the computer where I check e-mail, the news and Facebook, or picking up my phone to chat with family and friends.

Tonight, as I prepare to zip up my suitcases after taking one final look at all the crap I've packed for this journey, I know none of it will play a major role in my month-long experience. It won't matter what clothes I'm wearing to the orphanage I'll be volunteering at or the week-long Buddhist retreat I'll attend. No one will care what shoes I have on my feet or who designed my purse. What matters is seeing my sister, the connection I'll have with the people of Nepal, laughing with the kids at the orphanage, listening to the lessons and meditating at the Kopan Monastery (pictured above), and wandering the streets as all of my senses are attacked by the unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells of daily life in Kathmandu.

But what I'm looking forward to the most will happen after my trip, as I find myself back in my comfortable bed with the fan whirring, realizing just how much this trip changed my life. Even though I'll go back to taking cell phones, hot showers, traffic lights, and movie theaters for granted, I know I will never forget just how wonderful life is without them.

"Things happen for a reason."

When bad events happen in your life you can be sure you'll hear the words "These things happen for a reason," but it's not until well after the dust settles that you begin to understand why.

I had anticipated losing my job for more than a year - and I would panic each time I thought about being laid off - wondering how I would react to the news and what I would do without a job. But mostly I was just hoping I wouldn't cry in the office when they "came for me." And I wasn't ready to leave my job. I was one of those employees that actually liked their job. Of course there were a few difficult moments, but I was never nervous/anxious or stressed about work.

So, after I received a call from my boss on the morning of January 7 telling me there was a "meeting" and to "prepare kiddo, I don't think it's good news for any of us," I knew what was about to take place. I picked out my final-day-at-the-office outfit, stopped at Starbucks for my last-morning-coffee-at-the-office and calmly strolled into work.

I had (unfortunately) imagined this moment for months - sitting in a room while someone told me that they could no longer keep me on staff - but I didn't picture myself smiling while they were saying it. I'm still not sure why I was so upbeat, especially after months of watching my co-workers escorted out the door - and believed I would be a total cry baby when my time came.

I finally felt free from the stress of worrying about my job, and even though I didn't have any immediate plans for my time off, I knew something great was on the horizon.

A few weeks later, just as I was starting to wonder what I was supposed to be doing with all this extra time on my hands, a phone call from my sister changed my focus. "I wish you could come to Nepal," she said.