Hello Families! This is Andrew Pochepan speaking. Everyone is doing amazingly so far! Lots of positive energy, along with intense curiosity everywhere we go. This group is awesome! The place that we are staying is a monastery run by a high lama, Lama Jung Chen (who is very nice). On the premises they hand make incense which is sold all over the world. They also hand carve tons of beautiful furniture which is displayed all over the monastery, and sold around the world to those who love beautiful wood work. Such a wonderful and beautiful place, and we are so lucky to be staying here! Yesterday was our first day of touring around Kathmandu. We visited a very famous buddhist temple and got to see an actual Hindu funeral. For those who don't know how these funerals work, the body is covered in a bright colored cloth, set on a bed of sticks, and burned on the side of a holy river. These funeral parlors are called ghats and are a very important part of the Hindu religion. Very few people get to witness this religious tradition, and very few have ever seen one. When the body is has been burnt to ashes it is pushed into the sacred river where the soul can achieve Darma and Karma. This might sound a bit gross, and somewhat unsanitary, but they have been doing this for thousands and thousands of years. After the temple we visited the old palace of the King of Nepal, and had lunch on top of a building over looking the whole city. Later, we visited a Buddhist carpet making factory, and finished up the day with a nice dinner, and a meditation with Dr. Conlan. We have been falling asleep at 8 p.m. only to be awoken at 5 a.m. by the chanting of Buddhist monks; beats the annoying alarm clock! Today we will be shopping around the local bazaars, SHOPPING!- (teenage girls voice). We all miss you!

-Andrew Pochepan  (Student Advisor)