archaeology

Culture shocks while visiting Kathmandu, Nepal. I'm here for Harris' friend's wedding, and the country is way poorer than I realized. GDP per capita is just under $1400 (in 2023), 2022's HDI is ~.6 (medium human development), both of which are apparently among the lowest in South Asia.

• The roads are crazy! There are very few stop lights or stop signs at intersections. There are some large traffic circles with police directing traffic. Mostly it looks like it's just a free-for-all (with some order I can't decipher), with cars, motorcycles, bikes, trucks, buses, and pedestrians sharing the road. A yoga teacher at our hotel told Harris that they're pro-Trump and glad that the US is stopping aid to Nepal, because the money goes to oversea bank accounts/corruption rather than actually improving things in the country. The sentiment  was somewhat echoed by a nice taxi driver we had (on Pathao, the Uber equivalent), who apologized to us for the state of things in the country. 
• I've seen several people on the streets (porters?) transporting heavy loads (like large appliances) using straps tied around their foreheads.
• Preservation of history - we visited the Patan Durbar Square yesterday, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was remarkably accessible to visitors (few things were even cordoned off), probably a similar situation to what the Forbidden City was like before they started closing sections off for repair/preservation. The most surprising thing to me was how little historical information they have about the site and its function, given that it was built in the 17th century.
• Momos here are way better than the ones I've had in the US

Culture shocks while visiting Kathmandu, Nepal. I'm here for Harris' friend's wedding, and the country is way poorer than I realized. GDP per capita is just under $1400 (in 2023), 2022's HDI is ~.6 (medium human development), both of which are apparently among the lowest in South Asia.

• The roads are crazy! There are very few stop lights or stop signs at intersections. There are some large traffic circles with police directing traffic. Mostly it looks like it's just a free-for-all (with some order I can't decipher), with cars, motorcycles, bikes, trucks, buses, and pedestrians sharing the road. A yoga teacher at our hotel told Harris that they're pro-Trump and glad that the US is stopping aid to Nepal, because the money goes to oversea bank accounts/corruption rather than actually improving things in the country. The sentiment  was somewhat echoed by a nice taxi driver we had (on Pathao, the Uber equivalent), who apologized to us for the state of things in the country. 
• I've seen several people on the streets (porters?) transporting heavy loads (like large appliances) using straps tied around their foreheads.
• Preservation of history - we visited the Patan Durbar Square yesterday, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was remarkably accessible to visitors (few things were even cordoned off), probably a similar situation to what the Forbidden City was like before they started closing sections off for repair/preservation. The most surprising thing to me was how little historical information they have about the site and its function, given that it was built in the 17th century.
• Momos here are way better than the ones I've had in the US

👽 aliens and angels 👼 . We’re driving on 620, passing one of those statue places that has a bunch of big metal dinosaurs, big green alien statues, flamingo statues, etc.

Me, to Jack: What do you see buddy?
Jack: A flamingo!
Jordan: Yes! What else?
Jack: An angel
Jordan: Yeah, where?
Jack: The big green thing

What do you make of this?

I’m starting to take this idea pretty seriously: the universe is filled with subtle energy beings that have some overlap with our realm, and some not.

One of the strange factors about the beings/energy is that it can’t be perceived directly in the concrete realm through our normal five senses, so we have unique APIs that translate these beings into a cultural context that makes sense. So the same being could be seen as an angle, or a hindu god, or an alien, or simply energy depending on the person. My guess is this helps account for plant teachers, DMT entities, UAPs, etc.; although I realize this is extremely hand wavey on the details.