City Views

View from The Royal Singhi Hotel restaurant

The smog and the city seem to stretch forever

Temple across the street from Himalayan Java

This guy was pretty sweet. He guards an ATM. I don't know what my look was all about. I think I have this look quite frequently around Nepal

Breakfast place. It's amazing what lies off the crazy streets of Kathmandu

Look at the bamboo scaffolding

More scaffolding. Also, the net on the left, which was catching debris from the workers placing bricks, broke open soon after this picture, showering the roof of the restaurant below with mortar and brick

 

 

So, as of yet I haven't really done much teaching. I'll be going to Pokhora on the 20th to play in a Nepal Pro Tournament, after which I'll be doing clinics for a few weeks. I've shown some of the better juniors their swing on video, and have stressed the importance of hitting different types of shots. It seems as though they practice a full swing only, over and over again. After I return to KTM I'll begin doing clinics every weekend as well as going into elementary schools to see how much space and time they'd like to give us.
Nothing happens quickly here and that's actually fine with me. You have to be patient and understand that things end up working out as long as you remain calm. The people who know me well also know that patience and a sense of calm may have eluded me in the past. However, I am adaptable and you almost have no choice here. If you were to upset at every little obstacle in this city, you'd go insane or die of a heart attack within the day.
For example, it took me three trips to the bank to open up a Nepal account. An interesting side note is that you are required to put down your religion on the form. In case you ever need to open up an account, do not put down agnostic or atheist. They frown upon this and it may actually stop you from getting the account open.
Yesterday was the first day in a week that I was around westerners. I had breakfast with Surfi Ahmed, a huge guy from Bangledash who grew up in Maryland and believe it or not, he swears more than I do. I had lunch with Brian and Claudine from The Kathmanduo blog, and had dinner with Doug Johnson, who works for The World Bank in micro-finance. After that we went to a place called De La Soul and it was packed with ex-pats. After hanging out with only Nepalese for a week, I actually felt kind of out of place in that bar. It reminded me of a college bar, with extreme over indulgence. But I can understand it as KTM is such a crazy city and gets on top of you so quickly, that the need to blow off some steam is definitely prevalent by the end of the week.
Up next for Witko is a bus ride to Pokhara with 15 Nepal Golf Pros, a few weeks in a more laid back atmosphere, and hopefully a return to a better living arrangement. Stay tuned...