Traffic and Other Things to See

         When I first arrived in Cuzco, Peru, I made it a goal to survive my few months there without getting hit by a car in the narrow streets. More of a wish I suppose. The fast moving cars always flew by extremely close to the sidewalk and often had no perception of pedestrians. I was glad to see my wish came true and thanked the Incan gods that I made it out of Peru alive.
           I'm not sure there is a god powerful enough to pray to for the traffic here. I couldn't have imagined this a year ago, but the traffic is easily ten times worse here in Nepal. Thank goodness we are never asked to drive. Motorcycles and buses follow no rules and they all assume they have the right away. Slow for a second and ten vehicles will quickly swerve around you. The best way to pull out of a drive way is to just go, and slowly plug yourself into the intense oncoming traffic, keeping your fingers crossed that the motorcycles and taxis barreling down the road might slow for your entrance. Learning to drive here must be the most terrifying thing in the world.
         There are very few sidewalks, so we often walk along the side of the road, tensing each time we hear honking from behind and praying that when the five vehicles all come to face off in the narrow road without lines that we don't become the one that is kicked off the road. I've seen two taxis slowly creep just inches past each other on one-lane back roads. Despite the need for defensive driving, every time I get in a taxi, they manage to dodge through other vehicles in the street at the high speeds of a clear wide open US freeway.

         On our first day, despite the culture shock, all I could do was smile as we navigated through the chaotic streets toward our destination. This place is beautiful, in its own way. Culture thrives around us, stores are open are with families sitting in front of them as in Thailand. Trash lines the streets and alleyways, but so does thriving green grasses and trees. The smells of trash and sewer often dissipate into the lovely scents of burning incense outside a shop or in the door of a taxi. The view from our apartment is of gorgeous brick buildings of different colors and small balconies lined with clothing out to dry.

           We met our advisers at Fulbright again today and they were just as wonderful as they had been at our Fulbright Orientation in D.C. The Fulbright office has a great library free for our use and the people who work there were so helpful, taking us to get phones and making copies of all our documents. I have found that I can call the United States from Nepal for just 2 cents a minute, and did so last night, waking up my parents at 3 am their time to let them know I had arrived. I don't think they were too upset.

        After a short lunch we were taken to our apartment, pictured above, which is small but nice. It feels so strange to be at the beginning of this journey, not knowing the city, the culture, or the language, but my hope is that someday I will know it like the back of my hand. Young Nepali neighbors have already greeted us with smiles, asking our names and where we are going. The people are kind here, and none of us can wait to meet our families and schools.