I can't believe my fourth week is almost over!

I can’t believe it has been 4 weeks since I arrived here, or that it has already been over a week since I last posted and left for the big city of Kathmandu! The bus ride on the way there was much longer than I had expected, because we encountered two traffic jams caused by traffic accidents. The road from Pokhara to Kathmandu is very narrow - barely wide enough for one lane going each direction - and is also very windy. It snakes in, around, and through beautiful countryside, though - through flat lands near rivers and up and down lush, green hills - so at least I was able to look at beautiful scenery for the 10 hours it took to get to our final destination!

The film festival was also quite an experience. I arrived in Kathmandu late Thursday evening, and since, according to the paper, the festival was to begin on Friday, I got up early, ate breakfast, and left my hotel with ample time to find the festival location by 10:00 (when the ‘business day’ typically begins, here in Nepal). When I arrived to the Nepal Tourism Board building, one of two places that was hosting the festival, I was directed to some flyers that said that the opening ceremony wouldn’t begin until 2:00...this was actually good, though, because it gave me time to do some sightseeing around the city, and to do some shopping in Kathmandu’s famous ‘tourist area,’ Thamel. I also took some time to eat at a little cafe that had veggies and hummus and a tofu pita wrap on the menu...all things that I have been craving, especially since I am definitely feeling the lack of protein I am able to consume here...eggs and nuts are really all I’ve had...I digress...

The opening ceremony of the film festival was in Nepali, so I couldn’t understand much of what was going on (though there is definitely a growing number of words and phrases I am beginning to pick up on), but the two documentaries following the ceremony were my two favorites! One, called “And the River Flows On,” was about an indigenous community (actually, 4 smaller communities) from the southern state of Guerrero, Mexico that carried out a constant sit-in, day and night, in order to stop a massive hydroelectric damn from being built on their land. They didn’t want the damn because the reservoir it would have created would have flooded many peoples’ homes and farming land, and would have therefore displaced some 25,000 people. I have learned through my studies that a lot of so-called ‘development’ projects that big corporations and/or governments say are so great, are often really not that great for the people closest to their constructions sites...unfortunately, like the communities this film was about, the people who are most affected by such projects are usually those whose voices are most silent, such as indigenous and rural communities and those who are most impoverished. It’s funny, too, because the goal of the hydroelectric project was going to bring electricity to all of these communities...but they didn’t want it...they kept talking about how easy ad simple their lives are, and how between what the land produces and what they share with family and friends is really all they need to survive...the irony of it all!

On a lighter note, the documentary was meant to both educate and spread a message of hope and inspiration. Members of these communities shared the responsibility of making sure there were people at the sit-in site they had designated every day and night, all day and night, for several months. Other community members brought those whose ‘turn’ it was to be at the site food and water, and if someone couldn’t stay as long as they had committed to stay, others filled in and took their spots for them. The communities, which were at peace with one another prior to the hydroelectric project was proposed in 2003, experienced conflicts between those who wanted the damn and those who were opposed to it, several of which resulted in I think 3-4 murders; however, eventually the community came back together during a meeting with some local politicians in order to pass their message on to the national Mexican government...their message was they didn’t want the damn, and that they wouldn’t allow it to be built. In an interview, one woman said if the government wanted war, she would fight! I have since looked the project online, and as far as I can tell, the damn has not been completed. Maybe the citizens of these Gurrero communities had their voices heard after all!

The other film I saw on Friday night was actually my very favorite. It is called “For the Next 7 Generations,” and although it is a documentary directed and produced by a woman from the U.S., Carole Heart, it tells the story of 13 ‘grandmothers’ from across the globe. The 13 grandmothers are all indigenous women with very special and unique ways of knowing and being in the world, and they are all also spiritual leaders and healers in their respective communities. Their original purpose and intention for coming together in 2005 for the first time in New York was to pray for peace and share their concerns about what humans are doing to each other and to our Mother - Mother Earth; after several meetings, though, the women decided to formalize their group by officially creating and registering an organization called the “International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.” They wanted to do this so that they could better raise awareness about the crisis humanity and Earth (which really are no different from or separate one another) is at the beginning of and to spread their knowledge, ways of knowing, spiritual guidance, healing and prayers to the rest of the world. They have had meetings with important figures, like the Dalai Lama, and though they have tried to meet with the Pope several times regarding the status of medieval papal bulls, which call for such things as ‘converting uncivilized peoples through the use of force in order to make them civilized,’ they have been denied such interactions. I am rooting for their persistence and hoping the Church won’t make a huge (and embarrassing) mistake by not listening to what these women have to say!

There is so much more I could share about this film in particular, but instead, I have provided the links to both the film’s website, as well as to the grandmothers’ organization’s website. Take a look and watch the film’s trailer if you have a chance...one of the grandmothers was born in Oregon, too, which is so great!

http://www.forthenext7generations.com/trailer.php

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/

On Saturday I watched multiple films, as well...several Nepali films and one Austrailan film...all were wonderful, and one of the Nepali films was actually a fiction film, rather than a documentary. Although it was in Nepali, and I therefore couldn’t understand it, I followed the story line, and it was even funny in some parts! Overall, going to the festival was a great adventure and experience, and I’m so grateful I went! I wish Sabita could have joined me, since I was lonely all weekend, haha, but unfortunately after her meeting she originally stayed behind for, she got sick. She is feeling better, now, but it took her a few days to get rid of her cough. I’m glad she’s back to her old self :)

Most of the things I have shared on my blog thus far, aside from my stories about my flight fiasco on the way here, have been positive...and this is because nearly everything that has happened to me and that I have had a chance to do have been positive. However, my journey has not been completely free from challenges, so in order to make my blog as ‘real’ as it can be, I’ll share a bit about these, as well.

On one hand, perhaps I was wrong for having certain expectations about what exactly an internship in a foreign and developing country would be like, so maybe the frustrations I was experiencing last week and at the beginning of this week were a result of my own projections and flaws. But regardless, one of the things that was challenging up until about two days ago, was the fact that I was spending so much time in the office...but it wasn’t just spending time in the office that was difficult, since I expected that as an intern, spending time in the office would be a reality, rather, the part that was most challenging was the fact that I was being given little guidance and few projects to work on. As some of you might have been able to tell by the number of emails I was able to send and/or the number of times you saw me on gmail chat, I was mostly on my laptop at my desk during the day...and again, since I rarely had an assigned project I was working on, I was mostly just ‘killing time’ (granted, I’m grateful for having had the chance to read some great articles related to my research and for having been able to catch up on global news). From two posts ago, you can see that when I have actually gotten to go to a meeting or out into a community, I have had amazing experiences and learned SO much! But unfortunately, when those programs weren’t going on, I was kind of stuck doing little to nothing. And I don’t want to make it sound like I’ve only been concerned about myself, either, because one of the things that has been worrying me the most is the fact that I’ve also contributed little to nothing to the organization since I’ve been here! I don’t want to be a burden on anyone, that’s for sure!

The good news is, like I said above, this trend recently changed...two days ago, my supervisor gave me a grant application to proof-read and make changes to and a brochure to update (my first 2 ‘real’ projects after 4 weeks of being here!). Again, not ‘glamorous’ work, but this is the kind of stuff I was expecting to do, so I’m overjoyed! The brochure will probably be done next week, and they’re letting me add some pictures I took at the meetings I’ve been a part of. My supervisor said that the organization desperately needs a website, too, since they don’t have one at all...so even though I don’t know anything about web design, maybe I’ll work on this later in the summer. Other good news is that my participation in meetings and other community-based events will continue when these things arise, so these will continue to be things to look forward to. Next week there is a 2- or 3-day training for the community mobilizers in the HIV/AIDS education and prevention program, so I will get to go to at least some of these sessions, I hope. Lastly, I have been in touch with my advisor at my school, and he reassured me that a lot of people at my ‘place in life/career’ experience similar challenges to what I have been facing while doing internships, and that unfortunately it isn’t a reality that I will have an opportunity to share all of the knowledge and skills I’ve been developing over the past year in the program with this organization...that’s what my first ‘real job’ will be for, I guess, haha.

Well, I think I’ll get back to working on my new projects! Since it’s the weekend, I may or may not have the internet at the house...it’s always a mystery! But tomorrow I will be at a picnic with Sabita and staff members from her organization, so I am looking forward to sharing about that with you next week. And I'm also anxious to share with you about how one of the women who lives below Sabita and I was either poisoned or ingested poison on purpose at some point early this morning...I'm not sure which...but I'll let you know the story once I figure it out, too...she's okay, but she's in the hospital...weird, I know! Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read, if you are :) Happy 4th of July to all in the states (or London, bahaha...nevermind); take pictures of the fireworks for me!

And here’s a special little birthday wish for both my grandmother and great grandmother, Grana and Nana, who will be celebrating their 70th and 90th birthdays on July 9th and July 10th! I miss you and love you both and wish I could spend your special days with you! XOXO, Miss Marr