Friday: Celebrating World Oral Health Day at Kathmandu Durbar Square

 My friends, Dawn & Ann, awoke early and enjoyed a morning flight to view Mt Everest.

At the Yak & Yeti Hotel, I found brown water from my tub and shower -- a disappointment for a "5-star" hotel. A similar disappointment was the $16US breakfast. Although adequate, it wasn't as good as my free breakfasts at the DLR and the Kumari Inn.

I was invited to participate in the celebration of WORLD ORAL HEALTH DAY with the students of the Tribhuvan University (TU) Institute of Medicine (IOM) Dental School. I have spent time with these students previously on multiple occasions. I was their honored guest. They arranged for me to be picked up at my hotel and delivered to their site at Kathmandu Durbar Square. This is the palace of an ancient Nepali king and is one of Nepal's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The buildings there are indeed ancient. Although many were damaged in the 2015 earthquake, rebuilding/repair is happening. The students had set up a booth and were providing oral health information/education/demonstrations. They had a good location and were engaged by many passer-by's.

  

Then some of the students toured me around the square and the adjacent area .We enjoyed a Lassi beverage. It is a thick, sweet, milky drink with nuts and raisins.

In the evening, I met up with Dawn, Ann, Dash, Nisha, and Brian Hollander and his wife Judy. Brian is the Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) oral health coordinator for Nepal. He's been visiting here for a month and he's just recovering from a severe Covid infection. He lived here for maybe 30 years and consequently is a wealth of knowledge. When he came to Nepal in 1980, there were only 30 dentists in the entire country. We me at the Boudhanath Stupa, which is one of the major Buddhist worship sites in Kathmandu. There were many Buddhist monks roaming this area. Although the Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, this country is primarily Hindu. I was told that there was a huge influx of Buddhists when China took over Tibet. The Buddhists escaped to places like Nepal. When I visited Sri Lanka in January, I learned that it is primarily a Buddhist country and I visited a large Buddhist monastery there.

For dinner, we found a restaurant with a view overlooking the stupa. It was a beautiful evening. I had perhaps the best pizza I've found in Nepal.

The moon was visible as a sliver in the sky, with Venus positioned immediately below it.

Amazingly, all 5 of us squeezed into Dash's car and were delivered tom our respective lodging.

My Fulbright exit presentation has now been scheduled. It will be held at the US Embassy on Wednesday, April 12 at 2 PM. It's an open invitation. Everyone is invited. However, pre-registration is required using the QR code in this advertisement.