From the bed/desk of Stan Witko

 Okay, I'm not sure why I included this first picture. Maybe it's indicative of how I live; Map sprawled out, Nepal guide book, baseball hat, and computer case. Also, this doubles as my desk. You see, my room has two beds and no desk. Although this picture is somewhat misleading because I recently switched to sleeping on this bed, and turned the other bed into a desk. It just get much better light 2 yards away.

 This is from Durbar Square, Kathmandu. Clearly the palace on the right has been repaired and refinished to look a bit more modern. I think a giant earthquake destroyed the first one. Also, these are the least convoluted electricity wires in all of Nepal. I was able to meet a Korean man today, Tommy Kim, who is also importing some junior and ladies clubs into Nepal. He is also a reporter for YTN, a 24 hour news Channel. The best thing about meeting him and talking with him is his willingness to help get HYGA into some orphanages to brighten the kids days a little bit. This is the kind of thing I was hoping to do more of since arriving in Nepal. I figure I have about 5 more weeks in KTM before I head to Pokhara and turn the program partly over to my newest (and only) employee, Sachin Bhattari. He will be accompanying me to the orphanage until I leave, at which point he should be capable of running that part of the program himself.

 Another thing I'm doing is creating a yardage book for RNGC. This is the first hole. If the best junior players can learn to use a yardage book, they will improve their scores dramatically.

 Also the first hole. Notice the city in the background. The golf course is always a welcome change of pace from being inside the city. Oh, did I mention we are going to be in negotiations to get our own executive course in Pokhara to turn use a junior academy? That's freakin' awesome!
I can't remember if I've already mentioned that and going back through words I've already written perfectly seems like a waste of time. That excitement was muted a bit today as absolutely nothing happened. (well we mapped out two more holes) and I basically hung out at the clubhouse all day studying Nepali and drinking coffee. There are worse things in life, however. (political burn!)

Hole #4, a par 5 that goes up hill to the right

How about another view of the same par 5, different tee box?

Back to the Future.

Okay, so I am still waiting for the shipment of golf equipment to come in. It is truly remarkable how many different people and ministries must sign off on this thing before it even leaves Calcutta, which is where the 90 boxes have been sitting for a few weeks now. Consider this, we are now being delayed for another few days because the sports minister is sick. That's right, if the head person in any office is down, the whole office is down. It'd be easy to get frustrated with these delays, but it may actually work out for the best, as Nick Becks is planning on arriving sometime in early February. Why is this for the best, you may ask. Because the HYGA is moving to Pokhara. Some of you may remember my incredible pictures of the Himalayan Course, some of you may remember that this is where I spent my Thanksgiving. What I remember about this beautiful town is the laid back atmosphere and the friendly people who seem genuinely happy to help me in promoting junior golf in Nepal.
I can't remember if I touched on the fact that I was able to give a golf lesson to a couple of my American friends the other day. It was an incredibly clear day, and we could see the Himalayas in the distance while practicing. They are the creators of The Kathmanduo, a great blog. I actually contacted Brian and Claudine while I was researching for this job and made it part of my mission to seek them out once I arrived. Their wealth of knowledge about Kathmandu is incredible and they were always quick to answer any absurd questions I may have had. They even tagged me in a recent post, so please check it out here. The following pictures are kind of a mix of a few days, so enjoy see me in my Buff.

This is a courtyard in Patan. What you can't see is the touristy cafe to the left.

This is actually on the ceiling of the walkway into a Buddhist temple. It is the circle of life. Seems Complicated, I'll just wing it.

You can take pictures, but you may not enter. I'm not even sure if this Monk can leave.

Supposedly if you put something into this well, you will get five times the amount in return. I wrote birdie on a piece of paper and tossed it in. I expect to be 5 under the next time I play golf.

Everyone at Terra Lago knows whjat this is about.I almost bough the sweatshirt just to have.

This head piece is called a buff. It can be a scarf, mask, bandana, and probably a sling if you break your arm. This is actually a special 20th anniversary edition and isn't for sale. The owner of an outdoor store gave it to me as a gift.

This dude is part of the Nepal Sports Counsel and is my main go-between in getting the equipment into Nepal. He also helps me with my Nepali homework

Aggressive Guides+Rain+Temples = ?

 Okay, (first of all, why do I always feel the need to start these blog posts with okay? I was trying to fight it, but I think I’ll just own it and make it my own thang) after helping to install a USGA style handicap system at the RNGC yesterday I headed back to my room and while lying in bed I heard a really soothing sound; the sound of rain hitting the window and everything else outside for that matter. (a second side note- I’m pretty sure I use way too many semi colons and parentheses and commas. Cormac McCarthy uses roughly zero, so I’ll take his) At first I thought the rain was just static from the TV and when I realized it wasn’t on, I thought it was my iPhone, and when that wasn’t the case I panicked and thought maybe something was wrong with my hearing. That, my friends, is what happens when you are culturally isolated for so long. The rain was amazing to fall asleep with, is the eventual point of this opening stanza.
Today I ventured to Durbar Square, Kathamndu Style. I highly recommend you click on the link, as I cannot begin to describe the historical relevance with any degree of accuracy. It was a dramatic change from Patan. There were a lot more people, more items for sale; thus more salesmen, an overpriced ticket booth, and a number of aggressive tour guides. You see, you are not required to hire a guide and this time I didn’t feel the need to be led around the square. I had a pamphlet and also had a Nepali friend, Bina, with me. She had actually never been to these particular temples either, but at least she can read Nepali, so I felt good about it. Another thing I felt good about was being complimented on my Nepali accent. I don’t a lot of words, but at least I say some of them well. After paying the 750 rupees to get past the gate (Nepali citizens pay 30 rupees I believe) I was told that the price was actually good for as long as my visa was valid, all I had to do was go to the site office and get a stamp. Well, if you have been following my blog, you know nothing is that simple, (customs, golf programs, etc.,) but I got my hopes up again anyway. I went to the site office and was told that I needed a passport sized picture in order to extend it longer than three days. Of course. I managed to get it extended for three days instead. After that we were accosted by a prospective guide who adamantly demanded 1500 rupees for his services. Politely declining, we continued into a Buddhist temple. He followed us inside and continued to tell us how much better he was than any book. I continued to say no, as did Bina, but he was persistent. Leaving the temple I banged my head against the top of the doorway. Just as I get my hopes up that something may be easily accomplished, I continually bang my head on the smallish doors. I believe there’s a striking correlation there. Or an analogy. Or maybe a future fable. Anyway, this guy followed us out and then began to tell us how we are the reason Nepal is in trouble. Nepalis need to help Nepalis, he practically yelled at us, as we picked up the pace. The rain actually cleared away as we walked through century old temples and palaces and hiked nine stories of a wooden staircase within the museum, dedicated to the history of Kings in Nepal. Cameras were not allowed inside the museum, but they were allowed everywhere else. After spending about an hour and a half in the square, we headed to New Road, where Bina wanted to do some shopping. After a couple hours of bumping into people, dodging traffic, bargaining and getting lost, all I wanted to do was get back to my room and take a shower. No hot water. But it was a great day, and I’m happy to share some pictures with you....

Starting the day at Himalayan Java

Read the link to figure out what this is. I had to.

This is the guy who denied my application, reason? No picture.

More knives, trinkets, and bracelets than you can imagine

I love this picture with all the birds. Especially because none of them dropped anything on me

Gai=Cow

One of the many alleys we ventured down looking for wholesale cosmetics

Intense window shopping.

Patan-Mania

Sanskrit

Nepali Calendar in chalk

This guy either loves or hates bananas right now

I spent the last day of 2011 wandering around Patan, specifically the Durbar square area. Durbar square is a generic name given to a series of temples and holy places in the three parts of Kathmandu. I had coffee in the morning and despite my injured back climbed into a cab, (which is awful for the back since the awful road conditions and lack of any noticeable shock absorbers make for a tough ride anywhere) and bargained for a ride to Patan. At this point in in my tenure in Nepal, I am always happy to get a good deal, for a westerner anyway, and I paid only 300 rupees to get to Patan from Thamel. I also talked the guide down from 1000 to 300 for an hour of explaining the temples and their meanings to me! I can’t remember half of what he said, but the day was perfect. I could actually see some of the mountain range in the background and didn’t need a jacket.
HYGA update - There will be a major shift in emphasis for the HYGA in the coming months. I will update this blog with the details as soon as things are finalized. I have spent the past month analyzing our program and what we needed for growth. I have probably written and re-written (rewritten? it doesn’t sound right) five different SWOT analysis reports, and have spoken with a number of the Professionals here in order to get an idea of what can and can’t be done. If what I want to get accomplished in the next five months can be achieved, the next PGA pro who comes here will have an amazing opportunity to truly grow golf in Nepal. I have surmised that just giving lessons a few days a week and adjusting a level program for the kids to move up based on their skills (again, props to Dom for getting that done!), while definitely needed, is not enough to sustain our program. Spoiler alert - especially in Kathmandu.....more to follow.. for now enjoy the amazing Durbar Square in Patan.

Durbar Square, Patan. The buildings on the left are temples. The building on the right is a palace

Kaama Sutra positions. When people would get married at young ages (10 yrs old!) they would come and study these positions so they knew what to do.

Shiva Temple

This is a fertility thingy. Women bring milk and water to this and pray for a boy.

Praying to this monument will bring you good luck in travel

Buddhist Monastery

The mystery of the effed up back/neck...solved. Followed by self-medication

I woke up the day after Christmas with what I believe is a pulled muscle  in my back somewhere between my neck and left shoulder. I've had this injury before and it's usually  aggravated from working out or playing golf. It usually lasts about a week. It always hurts like crazy and causes me to turn my entire body if I want to look to the left or right. This cause this time, I believe, was the "massage" that barbers give you after a haircut. The scalp/neck massages are always rough and they seem to spend a lot of time on my rather bushy eyebrows. I think this particular barber may have moved my neck in a way that caused me to re-injure that area. A picture of him is below, but I'll still go back, because mid way through the shave I was offered an excellent cup of tea. Next time, however, sans massage! A good thing about Nepal, in my particular case, is that codeine is available over-the-counter in 15mg phosphate tabs. After some brief internet research I was able to discern that a dose of 60mg of codeine along with 400 mg of ibuprophen would alleviate some of the pain. I followed this up with a healthy dose of tiger balm, which is readily available everywhere from street vendors to the most basic shop, and a hot shower. I then spent the next five hours in bed reading American Tabloid. Again, not heavy reading, but I took time out every hundred pages or so to study for my next Nepali lesson. I believe I can reasonably spit out thirty different phrases or questions that have already proved helpful, especially in my injured state. I was able to locate a pharmacy using only Nepali. Talk about a mix of good and bad.

As I was waiting to have my hair cut, I got to watch someone with a full head of hair get his done. That must feel great

My day ended up being way more hardcore than I anticipated. Actually, this whole trip has been that way.

A Christmas fire along with some falafel for dinner

Was it worth it? Probably not.

The progress on my junior program is going slowly, as expected, but I have hope that within a couple weeks, we'll have more equipment, be in the elementary schools, and I may be in an apartment. Again, this is all hope, not fact. The only thing I can do is just keep going forward, keep making contacts, and keep pushing for the kids over here to get a shot at golf. Now some pictures for the people...

A Christmas Eve Picture Special

My friends and I at a Korean place.

Korean BBQ, Nepal style. Oh, and some rum

This guy was late, and wasn't really sure why he was here to begin with

But he gets two pictures because at least he brought his ID badge

The kids all have to sign in before they are allowed to participate

Do the Hustle!

Slowly, I am creating a schedule and developing a routine which will allow me to sustain for the next five or so months. For example, since I don't have a gym readily available to me, I begin my day with two hundred push ups, and 100 crunches. I use my giant duffel bag, which I still live out of, to do curls and some type of inverted row. I then practice some yoga and take a shower. It's important to have a routine like this because it is so freaking cold in the morning, that I would not want to get out of bed otherwise. How cold is it, you may ask.. Well let me show you what I sleep in. That's right, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, winter hat, and what you can't see is the sleeping bag under the blanket. When you can see your breath, you know it's time to bundle up!
After going to the Royal Nepal Golf Club this morning, it's my home base in a way, I ate breakfast and was then picked up by Dr. Pradip Ranna and we went to the Army Officers Golf club. While there I gave some video lessons to about four former Generals and was happy to see how open to instruction they were.
Most of the Pros and a few select amateurs are going to Dharan this week for a tournament. I have elected to stay behind and continue teaching the Saturday junior clinics. This week, I expect maybe 25 kids to show up. Last week we worked on 50-75 yard shots, grip and stance. I also preach pre-shot routine to every student, not just the children. Nobody is interested in stepping back before every shot and creating a routine. This is maddening. If you do it on the course, why wouldn't you practice it on the driving range?? At any rate, the way we have the program set up here, courtesy of Domenic Provenzano, is similar to a first tee type format. There are different levels of players and they are able to test into the next level one Saturday a month. This is all fine and good. Except that for 90% of the players, it stops there. They can practice and go to clinics, but that's it. There's no chance of even being on a course.
This is where I am trying to change Nepal golf for the better, forever. I am working on creating the first ever Nepal Junior Golf Tour. If anyone with any graphics experience wants to help me with a logo, it would be appreciated. I plan on making our first nine hole tournament a heavily attended and publicized event. I am trying to get a schedule of at least four tournaments, one each month, with prizes and qualifying requirements; such as showing up every Saturday, good sportsmanship, listening, etc. This idea is on the very ground floor, but if Nepal is to compete in the Asian Amateur Championship, for example, it must have a strong foundation of competition among the juniors within the country. These are all my opinions, of course (mero bichaarmaa), and getting them put into action will require some hustling. Good thing I'm a hustla, baby! I'm up to the task.
If you feel like helping, or have any skill that you can ship me through the interweb, please email me!