A is for Adventures

The first house isn't really the first but it may as well be because I don't remember much about the real first house.  I knew for a long time there was something wrong with my family.  I never - not for a moment thought that it was me, you know, my fault that things weren't quite right.

I could say it was reading the Midwich Cuckoos or Marilynn Duff down the road (who told me all about babies and what you had to doto get them) or the fact the the Williams kids were badly brought up - compared to me that was, who was obviously from a much classier background.

I digress.  The adventure really began in Wavertree playground which was actually called the "Mystery" as there were rumours of murder, in fighting and debts that lingered over the place like a black cloud of intrigue.  We met there and escaped prying eye's of parents and hung about doing nothing and talking about all the things we daren't mention elsewhere.

I passed that park a few months back and I thought of all the adventures or escapes of over fourty years ago and reckoned I had done OK.  I escaped my roots but my lineage still haunts me.

Two more sleeps and then back home....

My last post on this trip...it has been long and I am missing my family, friends and kitty.  As I sit in Amsterdam on Beulingstraat just around the corner from KoningsPlein and the flower market I feel very lucky.  First of all to have such good friends and family and to have had the opportunity to travel to so many different parts of the planet.  But to sum it all up - click your heels Dorothy - 'There's No Place Like Home'.

I can't buy any more stuff as my bags are bordering on over-weight so I will have to be focused on marketing and managing sales of jewellery when I get home.  Not my favourite thing to do but I do like the creative part so that will just have to be done.  I will send my Etsy link when I have anything to view.

Today kind of brought closure to the trip.  Wandering around the Kelverstraat on my way to the Hema - ok don;t laugh I know it is an in-joke at home.....these two red-faced, icy cold women around 60 stopped me and asked me if I spoke English.  I admitted to that fact and was asked "where the malls were" in a rather nasal, demanding tone very reminiscent of my original home town.  The word "love" was not added so I could only assume that these two elderly Scousers (both wearing 'Amsterdam' toques with earflaps) were frozen and in need of immediate warmth.  I quickly mentioned the Bijenkorf (big department store) was nearby but if a cup of tea was needed then the Hema was the place to go.  They thanked me and quickly scurried off.  At least they didnt ask me where they could get English beer.....hahaha

Just goes to show that you can take the Scouser out of the 'Pool but you can't take the 'Pool out of the Scouser.....anyway it sort of came full circle.

Off to meet up with my friend (amie) Christelle tonight for dinner in a small Belgian restaurant she knows.  We only meet in the groovy of the world...St Petersburg, New York and now Amsterdam......goodbye until next blog.

London is a pretty cool city these days - at least I haven't got lost.

Been in London a few days now and thoroughly enjoying myself.  Had to deal with having not received my replacement Landed Immigrant card inspite of a 6 mth wait - another fifty bucks and visit to London and Kafkaesque waiting for the consulate to approve my re entry I now clutch a one-time etry visa for a permanent resident.....big money grab but made me come to London and glad I did.

Having a thorougly cool time seeing plays in the West End - the old half price ticket booth in Leicester Sq is now a formal building and not a tatty old trailer.  I have enjoyed two performances - one An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde and the second play The Rivals by Sheriden, a restoration comedy.  I have really missed seeing performances of this quality and feel fortuante to have the opportunity to be here in the capital of England.

Westminster looks suitably old and the Houses of Parliament and so on have kept their charm tho lots of scaffolding around.  I must go and find the statue of Boadicea and take a few shots.  Queen Victoria had that built as she admired the queen who came before. 

Bad news on the Tarot paintings of Lady Frieda Harris tho - I did track them down but unable to view due to their fragile state - an Annie Liebowitz clone abologised but was adamant they could not be seen = boo hoo.

Seeing all the sights as one would expect - not to impressed with the British Museum as they have darn well gone and moderised it - pillars still mighty impressive out front tho - saw some Buddhist artefacts but the exhiit much smaller than I anticipated.

Tomorrow its the Vic and Al Museum - Harrods and the Tate Gallery plus a visit to Highgate Cemetery with no rain - I hope.

Went to Vivienne Westwood's store - couldnt afford anything but it was groovy...

Left Nepal and arrived in Liverpool

Arrived back in Liverpool safe and sound and had a deep and good sleep in down comforter.  Lovely day that I missed...haha

Have to admit that the customs and immigrated was the fastest I have ever been through plus the luggage arrived within five minutes - this combined with an early arrival of the flight made for a fast and easy arrival to the homeland.

Four days until I leave Nepal!

It is hard to believe that a month has passed by and I will be on my way back to Liverpool for a couple of weeks.

Nepal is a country that has many problems - too many to write about but it is in essence a fascinating place.  Buddhism is alive and the Dharma is in action here big time.  I have met so many wonderful, dedicated people working hard for change here and truly motivated to help one of the poorest countries in the world.

I met J from the Chicago area who is wealthy for sure but has his own foundation to help kids in SE Asia and another J from Chicago who has been helping Thrangu Rinpoche projects around the world for 20 years.  She has an MA in Business and I can see how much she loves the monks and her work.  I met K, a Kiwi who lives just north of Boudha here in Kopan who runs an animal rescue out of her home.  J is 77 and a massage therapist and acupuncturist who jokes about riding motorcycles in Laguna Beach back in the day...another Laguna Beach woman I met here was a journalist in Afghanistan.  J lives in London, from Poland originally who feeds the hungry dogs and sponsors 3 kids in SMD school....the list goes on and on!

Yesterday I went shopping in a "free trade" store for gifts and had a delightful time - born to shop!  Found some lovely, hand-made local items including table runners made from stinging nettle fibre.  I found truly cashmere and silk scarves and was truly overwhelmed by the traffic, pollution and noise - honking of horns is incessant here!  Funny thing is I am getting used to it!

I was with G who was very patient with me in my fervour of buying - she knows ALL the good places to shop!  I was then just stopping at the Yak n Yak hotel for a drink as the nuns from Tara Abbey were taking her to dinner when the head nun them.  I was happy to sit and to spend time chatting with Manku about her life as a nun - she is a smart cookie and one of the nuns who used to ride a motorcyle when they were building the nunnery.   It was a delightful dinner and I must say I am going to really miss being around the monks and the nuns here - Victoria will be a strange place to be with no burgundy robes passing by and noone to greet with a Tashi Delek!

Namo Buddha Monastery

It has been awhile since I posted anything but it is difficult to load this blog in Nepal as the upload speed is very low - anyway here goes.....

I spent two glorious days up at Namo Buddha Monastery where the Himalayan Mountain Range stretches long across the horizon with its vast, snowy peaks visible when the mist settles in the early morning.

It takes two hours to get there along some paved roads but mainly the roads are full of holes, pits and crevices. It is amazing how the buses get along these roads let alone the motorcycles and scooters. The drive takes you up along the mountain roads to farmland that is unique to asia where it is cut along the hillside to crow rice and other crops.

The road to the monastery is filled with rocks and runs along the hillside - bit hairy but our driver was familiar with the route and was non-plussed and trucked along. Got to say Toyotas rule here as far as this rough terrain goes. I travelled up with a woman who was a journalist in Afghanistan living in California again and SB my longtime friend. Our driver was once an SMD school kid and now works for the school - he did an outstanding job.

On the first day at Namo Buddha I spent the afternoon watching the Lama Dance which was an amazing event that took hours to complete. I will try and post some pictures but the upload is slow. The event was magnificent with many amazing and beautiful costumes. The little monks also performed and were very splendid too. My favourite part was the Snow Lions where two monks were inside the costumes - really well done and Rocky the monastery dog (Tibetan dog) thought he had to defend the monastery and challenged the two big lions.

I spent the night in rather sparse conditions with a roommate that snored, bossed me around and talked in her sleep - but it was only for the night so I made up for lost sleep last night.

On Saturday I met up with a woman who takes tours into Tibet (she speaks it too) from Copenhagen who has been coming to these parts for many years. She is off to explore Himalayan plant fibres for the next two weeks. She took me to where the cave is where Buddha gave his life for a starving tiger and her cubs. This is a famous and spiritual site that is much honoured by Buddhists for the love and compassion showed by Buddha.

Simply - Prince Mahasatwo gave his life to the starving tiger and her cubs and a few hundred years later was reincarnate as Gautama Siddhattha Buddha and the tiger cubs became his disciples.

If you add Namo Buddha to your Facebook links you can read more about this amazing story and see what the monastery is doing. The Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche has built not only a monastery for his monks to study but also a hospital for the community and a secular school for the surrounding villages.

I was very priveledged to have the opportunity to sit in the shrine room and participate in the Pujas and wat breakfast with the monks and nuns and to also give a Khata the Rinpoche plus receive a Long Life Empowerment from his and his lamas. There were over 5000 people there for this event and the love and devotion that the Tibetan people showed for Rinpoche was quite amazing. His love emanated to them all and he gave everyone there that day the Empowerment. I was very lucky that I was with SB as we were given the first Empowerments and did not have to wait in the long line.

Yes I took lots of photos but unfortunately I can't upload many.

I hope to make it to Tara Abbey to visit the nuns this week sometime. Wish you all could come and experience such a beautiful place as Namo Buddha.....

The days are going by quickly...

I have been in Kathmandu over a week now and I am beginning to have a little sense of how to get around. Taxis are old and rickety and buses seem non existant but then I am a foreigner and have no perspective on this reality coming from the West.

I have been to the Stupa of Boudhanath several times and have managed to not get lost. The poor dogs, cows and other animals wander around in search of food and the piles of garbage left over from the Hindu festival of Desai still pile up on the streets.

On a lighter note there are lots of market stalls around the Stupa with many interesting Buddhist paraphanalia and other items. The tourists flock to this part of the city to see the Stupa and it is easy to hear voices from all over the world. Of course the big deal here is trekking and most people come to wander around the Himalayas and see the great views of these magnificent mountains.

On the political front the country seems to be in chaos with the temporary government still in place but talk of Maoist action again. The communists are a nasty bunch from stories I have heard and seem to have little or no regard for human life or any compassion for the people. Just like the army of the state they seem bent on power - the Nepalese don't have much of a chance unless a saner perspective comes to the fore. The war has not done much for the people and I see a "deadness" in the eyes of the people I pass in the streets.

The kids at SMD are delightful and they bring some hope to their families and to their culture. The school has done so much for these kids and they are obviously a happy, well-cared for community who take joy in their existence. I hope more and more kids can have the opportunity for a higher education and continue to get scholarships around the world.

If anyone reads this out there and has been contemplating supporting the kids here I can attest to the fact that your support would not go to waste. Earing merit yes and also providing opportunities for kids to go to school and have an education and - ohe yes - eat!

Catch you later!