Alternative Spring Break to Republica Dominicana

Somehow, my breaks are becoming passport intensive. Last Winter, I had a chance to visit Mexico and this Spring - Dominican Republic. Two different countries in a year? Certainly, it must be a coincidence. And, if you didn't already know, I am planning to study abroad in New Zealand next semester. Yes, that's in 2010 as well which makes it 3 countries in a year. I am excited. 

                     Trinity group at Santiago Airport.  Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

Interestingly, both American and DR authorities were greatly fascinated by my passport. They checked its every single page and oscillated their eyes between my face and passport photo several times. No, my passport was not fake. Poor creatures, they must have never seen a Nepali passport or Devanagari Script in which its contents were typed.

Flag of Dominican Republic. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

I will tell you briefly (even though there's a lot to say) about my week long Alternative Spring Break to Dominican Republic through CCI of Trinity University. In one word, it was AMAZING. It was like the perfect spring break one could think of. I got to see a new country, learn a little about their culture, way of life, devour great food, teach English to students in primary schools and live with kids at the Orphanage. Yes, it was a service trip filled with lots of fun and adventure. The experience was enhanced by amazing group of students and team leaders from Trinity and elsewhere. There were 170 volunteers including 9 from our Trinity. Interestingly, male-female ratio was heavily imbalanced, 30 male and 140 female. I didn't complain. You know why.

                             Students imitating different Emotions. Photographer: Puru (Myself)

                                She was so obedient in class. Photographer: Puru (myself)

The most rewarding experience was seeing the transformation in students while teaching English. On our first day, they exuded usual indifference and occasional unfriendliness towards learning English, a language foreign in Spanish speaking nation. But gradually, they started liking us and showed genuine interest in learning English. The experience was particularly valuable for me since English is my third language (Maithili being the first, and Nepali the second). I found it easier to put myself in their shoes and reminisced about my own school days. I will tell you English is a crazy language, and therefore, difficult to learn. There was a visual emphasis to our teaching and we deployed several methods that worked such as memory games, bingo, songs and poems among others. I also attended Church for the first time to gain a cross cultural experience.

              Volunteers sorting through donation items. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

                          Students at Dona Ana School. Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

 Maria teaching English to kids. They loved the camera.  Photographer: Dr. Raphael Moffett

On our final day, we went for sight-seeing and ate a traditional lunch with exotic delicacies. We saw a clock tower that was designed by the same architect who designed Eiffel Tower. Unbelievable, isn't it? But remember, Dominican Republic was a French colony. We also went to Monte Christi Beach and bounced against the waves for hours while the Sun tanned our skin. There were surprisingly large amounts of fossil and coral on the seashore. We also went to a local gift store and bought some native items as souvenirs for friends back home.

            A kid at the Orphanage enjoying Christian Music. Photographer: Puru (myself)

                         Should remind you of Eiffel Tower. Photographer: Puru (myself)

    See the beach in the background. Yes, we also went hiking. Photographer: Maria Greene

My appreciation to Orphanage Outreach in Monte Christi and its team that made our stay so enjoyable. The sleeping huts (which they called 'armadas') were not one of the best places you would want to spend your night in but it was part of the experience. We could keep the mosquitoes away (which were plenty, maybe several hundreds per volunteer) if our nets were tugged inside the mattresses properly. Thanks to Trinity team consisting of Edwin. Dr. Moffett, Rachna, Mark, Maria, Kate, Kelsey and Ben who made my experience worthwhile. Dr. Moffett took some great pictures as evidenced in this blog. Thanks in big part to MAS (Mexico, Americas, Spain) Program that covered part of my expenses and made the trip possible.

Holi - Festival of Colors

I miss three F's the most here in the U.S.


 1) Food,
 2) Family,
 3) Festivals


Both 2) and 3) are somewhat related to 1). This weekend on Sunday, we celebrated Holi, the most jovial festivals of all, known as 'festival of colors'. Organized by Hindu Student Union (HSU), it was lots of fun and there was also Indian food. 'One bullet, two prey' as we say it.


See below how everyone, even people who had never played Holi before enjoyed it so much.

Trinity students enjoying Holi , Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Kevin becomes a piece of modern art, Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Jaskirat was the first one to be thrown in, Photographer: Sidra Qureshi

Everyone was thrown in the water pool, Photographer: Abhishek Chhetri

Cold Blooded Murder of Arun Singhaniya

When Jared Diamond proclaimed that Nepalese society is on the verge of collapse, I was prepared to argue against his every statement. But after what happened day before yesterday (on Monday, 1st March), no more.

Cold blooded murders with a similar hit-and-run method is becoming popular among criminal groups. On Monday, they killed Arun Sinhaniya, a media entrepreneur, barely a couple feets outside his house. He is probably one of the most famous and influential people in Janakpur, my hometown.

People can be killed just like that and the government offers no resistance. A group of policemen were deployed near the spot he was killed yet the assailants escaped unharmed. Jamim Shah was killed less than a month ago. Uma Singh, a journalist who worked for Sinhaniya's FM station, Radio Today was also killed last year. 

Gaurishankar, one of my other uncles was shot about a year ago. He was extremely lucky to survive after being in a critical condition for several months. If people like Sinhaniya can be killed then, I would feel threatened to live in Janakpur. What should we all do? Just desert the town and leave for somewhere else? Just because I am away here in the US does not mean I feel safe. My hometown and my family are still in Janakpur. All I can do is write about this horrible situation on my blog. FUCK!!!!

I feel so powerless and disappointed!!

Swing Fling

There has been a lot going on at Trinity these past two weeks. I will tell you briefly about events that I participated in.

• Distinguished Lecture by Thomas Friedman at Laurie Auditorium on February 16.

I had read "The World is Flat" and "Hot, Flat & Crowded" by Friedman which is why I didn't want to miss his lecture. I like his ideas in general even though the same cannot be said about his political biasness. He delivered a very provocative lecture pointing out the need for a Green Revolution in the field of Energy Technology, E.T. Read more on this in the Trinitonian (student run weekly newspaper).

• Mardi Gras by Latino Exchange on Feb 16.

This was one of my favorite events of the week because Latino Exchange had invited a Brazilian dance group who performed a traditional Brazilian dance called Capoeira which was a mix of dance and martial arts (See image below). There was also a performance by Trinity Jazz Band.

Brazilian artists performing Capoeira; Photo by: Abhishek Chhetri

Trinity Jazz Band playing during Mardi Gras; Photo by: Abhishek Chhetri

• Performance by Comedian Maz Jobrani in Laurie Auditorium on Feb 18.

I had an evening class till 7:30 pm but immediately after the class I rushed towards Laurie to see a hilarious performance by Maz Jobrani, an Iranian comedian. I made just in time. He made several jokes, mostly cultural. He did not spare any country in his jokes. The diversity among Trinity's audience surprised him since every time he made fun of some country or race, there would be someone representative of it in the audience. My appreciation to Trinity Diversity Connection (TDC) for bringing such a talented artist to Trinity.

• Student Government Conference of Private Universities, Feb 20.

Since I am in the Student Government, I had a chance to attend this. It was a pretty good experience since I learnt that other student governments too had similar concerns as ours. I also got to meet student representatives from several institutions across Texas and other states. I was surprised however, to see how religious other students were. I was saddened to hear one of the keynote speakers associate Mahatma Gandhi with Jesus Christ and proclaim that Mahatma Gandhi derived his inspiration from Christ. Since everyone at the conference was a Christian, probably he thought it would please the audience. A miscalculation.

• Lunar New Year Celebration, Feb 25.

Immediately after finishing my Mass & Energy Balances Exam, I rushed towards Laurie to see the celebration. I missed more than an hour of it but I was just in time to witness dragon dance,a traditional performances by Oriental artists. I also saw a performance by Vietnamese Student Association (See Picture Below).

Dragon Dance; Photo by Pasa

• Swing Fling, Feb 27.

I know you would rather see me solve Second Order Linear Differential Equations than dance. But, this year I have attempted to break out of comfort zone and oscillate a little in synchrony with another human being. This has not been easy since we engineers analyze dynamics of external bodies but never attempt to apply it to our own, earning popular names like geek and nerd. During this Swing Fling however, I shed my "geekiness" to actually dance in a three dimensional real time and space. People whom I danced with would not stop praising  how good a dancer I was.

Pasa dancing with Claire; Photo by Digital Subway

Jazz Band performed and it was very melodious.