Riding elephants

31 July 2010                             2:04pm                       Kathmandu

I am now at the end of my journey. It has been one crazy, incredible, unbelievable ride! First, a continuation of how I got to this point…

Hiking back from Pokhara. After a few hours of hiking, we reached the outer limits of the city. First though, we had to cross a river. Unfortunately, the bridge was washed out some time ago, so we had to cross the river. Like, wade through it. Honestly, though, after all that walking in the heat, it felt so refreshing to be in the water. The river wasn’t too deep, coming up to just above my knees, but some parts were fairly fast flowing, so it became a little difficult to walk through. I was one of the first across, so instead of standing on the bank of the river I just stood in it. It felt so nice.

At that point we were nearly at the Tibetan refugee camp, so as tired as we all were we went to visit/walk through it. It was cool, although nothing like what I expected a refugee camp to be. The whole place was open, with stable houses. It was a little difficult when leaving to demarcate the boundaries of the camp itself. After that little jaunt we all caught cabs back to the hotel where I enjoyed a nice, long hot shower that felt oh-so-good. I spent most of the day in my room, as I apparently missed out on the spa trip.

That night I went out to dinner with Keesler, Dee, and Ashe at some restaurant along the lake that was playing live music. It was fun, with some good conversation. Mostly though, it felt nice to relax with friends.

The following morning we got up early in the morning to depart for Chitwan. Again, we loaded up the bus and piled in. It was a long drive to Chitwan, although luckily we didn’t run into any landslides, bandhs, or anything else that would impede our travel. About time! The driver kept the A/C on most of the way, which made it a shock when we finally got out of the bus and were metaphorically bitch-slapped by the humidity (heat too, but mostly humidity).

One thing I must say- Chitwan was so much different from the rest of the country that I’ve seen so far, or at least seemed that way. Houses were still pretty basic, but larger than what we’ve seen in passing through villages. Also, they’re spread out. A final thing is that it’s so flat. I’ve been so used to being in the mountains and hills, it was a shock to get to the Tarai and have everything smoothed out.

So, once we unloaded the bus the hotel staff loaded it into a boat, which we had to take across the river to get to the resort. I was a little concerned as the wall of the boat didn’t come high enough up for my tastes. A couple of times I thought we were going to tip so far that water would start coming into the boat. Thankfully, though, we made it across without incident.

The Chitwan trip was so relaxing, I don’t think I opened my computer once (ok, I opened it twice, but just so Ashok and Kashish could read over my article). We had things planned, but didn’t officially have to do any of it. And in our free time we mostly hung out at the bar, talking or sleeping or playing cards (once someone found a deck).

A little while after we arrived at the resort, we met to go on our elephant ride. Nearly everyone went- it was so much fun. I will admit though, it got a little crazy at times. Our elephant driver took us through a lot of dense jungle areas with some very prickly bushes/trees/etc. I got a number of scratches, not to mention a nice tear in my pants. At least I made out better than Martin, who lost a shoe. I’m starting to think Nepal is just a shoe-killer. I think the loss of Martin’s shoe was the 4th or 5th one that we as a group lost, plus the number of shoes that we found in the river during rafting. We should have kept them all to ensure a steady supply, just in case.

Martin's lost shoe

Dinner was soon after we returned from the elephant ride, and a little while after that we had a cultural program- Tharu dancing.  The program was short – only 3 dances – but it was really good.  It’s amazing, the dancing reminded me a little of Morris dancing, that I did research on in high school.  I think it’s true that dance is the universal language.  Common factors in cultural dancing are seen in places as far away as Nepal and England.  Towards the end the dancers invited the audience up to join them- of course Dee was the first one out from our group.  I even got up for a little bit, although it was a little too long and tiring for me.  Plus, I just felt stupid.  It was a fun time altogether though.


The next morning we had a (very) early jungle walk, followed by boating.  Before the walk our guide gave us a safety briefing on the 3 different types of wildlife we may see- rhinos, sloth bears, and tigers.  So, at least now I know what to do in case I ever run into any of those three animals.  I think the guide’s description of the sloth bears is the best: “They don’t like human faces so they will maul them.”  So reassuring.  I think I’d rather have a run-in with a tiger.

Unfortunately (and I think I was the only one that thought so), we didn’t get to see any animals on the walk, which I felt defeated the purpose of it.  At least we saw rhinos the day before, and got to see tiger footprints while walking.  The boat ride was nice, although basically the same as the ride to the resort.  After we got back we ate breakfast, and then went to rest for awhile.  I finally got to talk with Ashok and Kashish about my article, so I can work on getting that (finally) published.

After our resting time, we set out to bathe elephants!  It was really just more like bathing with elephants, as we didn’t actually do any sort of washing.  We went two to an elephant.  Eugenia and I were on one elephant.  When we got on, the elephant tipped to the side, where I promptly fell off.  Eu managed to stay on like a champ.  After the elephant stood back up, I was still standing in the water wondering how I was going to get back on.  The elephant driver saw me, and motioned that I should get on by grabbing the elephant’s ears and climbing up its trunk.  I felt so bad, but the guy was insistent so I did it.  The elephant actually boosted me up once I put my front on its trunk.

After that I became a human shield for Eu as I was in front and the elephant started shooting water out of its trunk at us.  It was absolutely crazy, but so much fun.  After he got tired of that, he tilted over again to wash his head, and we went flying off.  It was so much fun.  Who’d have thought I would ever go swimming with elephants!

 Me and Eu on the elephant

Watching everyone else was absolutely hilarious.  Martin and Ashe went together, and made absolutely ridiculous elephant trunks for themselves (with their arms, of course).  Everyone was screaming, laughing, and having a good time.  We hung out in the water for a little bit after the elephants left (and once the piles of elephant poop floated by), where Ashok (who else?) started a splash fight.  I think that was the most fun I’ve had so far.

The rest of the day was spent showering, playing cards, and relaxing.  After nightfall Dee brought out a couple bottles of wine, one from the resort and one she bought in Pokhara.  The wine from Pokhara was quite interesting.  The label was all in Nepali, so Kashish translated for us.  It was so crazy- about having a juicy and moist heart, and some other crazy stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with the wine.  It may be for a reason- to distract the person from noticing just how weird the wine is.  Everyone had their own opinion, but I think it smelled (and tasted) like a combination of apples and barbeque sauce.  Weirdest wine ever.

Village life

16 July 2010 6:26pm Chitwan

...When we got very close to the village, we had to get out and walk. There was still a small landslide area that hadn't been cleared yet. The walk wasn't too bad, although it was hot. When we got into the vilalge, we were greeted by a nice welcoming ceremony. Everyone got tika and a flower wreath (I can't think what else to call it) around their neck. They also prepared lunch for us in one of the houses along the street. After we ate, as it was Suniti's birthday, we had a nice surprise for her- chocolate crumb cake brought from Pokhara. Although it wasn't that special. I think the students ate more of the cake than she did.

After lunch, we hiked up to this observation tower that is in the process of being built. It's named after a British actress named Joanna Lumley, who was a big advocate of the rights of Gurkha soldiers, granting them resettlement, pensions, etc. As just about everyone in the village is a former Gurkha or has a father that was, they really love her there (well, all over Nepal, really). The tower is meant to be a tourist attraction to get them to come to Maitikhan, and the whole village raised money to build it. However, the rest of the money came from the government, and the project has been put on hold for now. It does offer a great view, though.

Once we got back from that venture, we were shown to our host families to get settled in. We were paired up according to our mini-project in the village, so I roomed with Keesler. Our host family was really nice, and we learned a lot during the family genealogy we did. One thing we learned was that GUrungs are really into cross-cousin marriage, so you're supposed to marry your father's sister's kids. Of course, marrying your father's brother's kids is completely out of the question (well, it's ok if the father doesn't have a sister or if she doesn't have kids to marry off). I know that this still occurred in some Southeast Asian tribal groups that are kind of remote, but I was surprised that this was still occurring in a fairly modern country. Our host father actually married a Rai from Darjeeling (he didn't tell his family until 3 years later when his first son was born), but planned to marry his son to his sister's daughter, who lives in the UK. The family is also Christian. We found this out after asking about a huge picture of Jesus hanging in the room (I did notice it was a strange thing to see there). Apparently they're only 80% Christian- the missing 20% is because of the cross-cousin marriages.

After doing the genealogy and eating dinner, Ashok (who had come to translate) and Lucia (who came with him) left and Keesler and I got ready for bed. It definitely wasn't the best night's sleep- it was very hot and the bed was too short for me to sleep on.

We got up fairly early in the morning to eat breakfast and then met up for some millet planting. I think the hardest part for me in planting millet was the crouching down to plant. I had to take a break every so often, because my knees and legs hurt. It's times like this that I really hate my old lady joints. A lot of people quit halfway through, but some of us stuck through the whole thing. We were quite muddy afterward; luckily there was a place nearby to wash. It was naturally flowing water, but they channeled it into a spout and pool. That was cool to see how they channeled and used their naturally occurring resources.

Once everyone was all cleaned up, we went back to the center of the village to re-group and prepare for our mini projects. While we were doing that we had some snacks, as most everyone was hungry after all that planting. In our downtime a few people started kicking a soccer ball around with some of the village children, which was fairly amusing to watch.

After that I left with Keesler, Ashok and Lucia to investigate Keesler's and my project on health and sanitation. Unfortunately, the health clinic was closed so we set off to find the head of the water committee, who was somewhere by one of the water tanks grazing his buffalo. We wandered across (and up) the whole village, looking for the tank and this guy. Eventually we found him and had a nice talk with him about the water system in the village, briefly interrupted by me finding a leech on myself. He was kind enough to get it off me and kill it. I appreciated it. After, he took us to the top of the hill to see the radio station that was built a few years back.

We took a different way back, seeing different parts of the village. When we got back we met up with the rest of the group and then headed out to play volleyball. Now, that was fun. We ended up playing two games, one to 50 and one to about 20 or 25 or so. I really think that it was the most fun I've ever had playing volleyball. Plus, Dambar and Ashok- surprising on the volleyball court. Unfortunately, we eventually had to end our games to go home, eat dinner, and clean up before the cultural program.

The cultural program was over at Dee and Eugenia's house, where Dee ended up dressed as a Gurung for the dancing. Once we all got there Aya ended up getting roped in, too. It started off with some Brahmin dance and music, which started off good but quickly became boring as all of the songs were exactly the same. Once the Gurungs finally started dancing it became a little more fun (they had a boom box). I was so tired by the end, so I was very glad to go to bed.

The following morning we got up early, packed, and got ready to head out back towards Pokhara. We loaded up the jeep with our stuff, said good bye to those driving back, and set off on our hike back to Pokhara. I was hardcore, hiking in sandals and a dress. On our way out of the village, we met our goodbye committee who tika'd and wreathed us. As soon as we got to the top of the hill we left our flowers at the temple (those things are so itchy!), and as soon as we found some water we washed the tika off.

The hike was mostly the same, although there were a few highlights. Various shortcuts down crazy paths. Ashe singing children's songs and listening to Aya's commentary on the songs. Watching Dambar step in a giant mud pile and hearing him yell 'fuck'. I also got to talk to Ashok about my project, which made me feel more comfortable with it.

Packed in like sardines... again

15 July 2010 3:44pm Pokhara

Soon after that we got back on the bus to Pokhara. As my skirt was completely soaked, I took it off and hung it off the back of the seat in front of me, sitting there in my bathing suit bottoms. After we stopped for a bathroom break, I took the shirt off to get the rest of that dry. Luckily, I had a shawl with me so I wasn't sitting in just my bathing suit on the bus. We still had a ways to go, but it didn't actually feel that long.

We finally arrived in Pokhara after dark and promptly got settled in our hotel. A little while after we arrived we all met downstairs to go out, as they had arranged for a place for us to watch the World Cup final. On the way to Pokhara on the bus some of us took out some bets with Ashe, who was rooting for Spain. If he won, he would win Rs 50 from 3 people, plus a sandwich from Katie. Nice betting.

Unfortunately, it was a long time until the game. The staff ordered appetizers for us, as we were going to be there a while (we got there around 8 and the game didn't start until 12:15am). Some people ordered drinks, a few ordered coffee, and Ashe got Red Bull- that was probably the best decision. Around 10 or so we ordered food as the kitchen was about to close.

The game was intense, although I'm sure by now everyone's heard about it or seen it. However, it was ridiculously hard to stay awake through the whole thing. With overtime, we ended up staying out until about 3am- this was on top of meeting at 6:30am and rafting/walking for a good chunk of the day. Needless to say, I was pooped before the game even started. I managed to stay up for most of it (I dozed off a couple of times), just to see the Netherlands lose, and for me to be out 50 rupees. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

After the match was when things started to get really interesting. We were in between two tables of some fairly boisterous guys who were yelling and banging things all through the match. As soon as Spain scored their goal, the whole place exploded. A couple of guys whipped their shirts off, and one of them dumped beer over himself, then started shaking the bottle around. Of course this splashed onto our table. The guys on that side also kept trying to burn a cigarette on their friend. How fun. On the other side, there was a lot of yelling, and quite a few sounds of glass breaking. After that, I was pretty keen to leave.

Thankfully, the following morning breakfast was open a little later than usual to accommodate the people who had been up all night watching the game. We had a free day for the whole day, so most of us who didn't have meetings went out shopping for supplies for the village and for Chitwan. The shopping went pretty well, I think everyone got just about everything they needed. The only thing I didn't find was a pair of Tevas (I found my size the following morning). After a brief rest period back at the hotel, some of us met Ashok for lunch at the Boomerang Cafe, which had a huge lawn overlooking the lake.

After lunch, as I was still feeling terrible (I was sick for about 2 weeks by that point), Ashok dropped me off at the health clinic on the way to his sister's house. The doctor was nice, although I was concerned with his less-than-thorough exam. I was also concerned by the fact that everyone kept walking in and out of the 'exam room', which was basically the reception hall with a curtain pulled across the entrance. He gave me some antibiotics, cough medicine and cold medicine, and told me to come back in a few days for a check-up.

I walked back to the hotel from the clinic, which actually wasn't that far. I was surprised, the cab ride made it seem like it would be much longer. On the way back I passed by one kid who yelled 'hello' as I passed by (like many children do when they see any of us). Being tired and frustrated, I didn't respond. Well, that wasn't good enough for him. He kept shouting 'hello' in an increasingly angry voice until I finally responded back. Sheesh.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped to get a few things, and then went to relax for a bit. I met up with others later and headed off to dinner at Once Upon a Time, which was a pretty decent restaurant. Most of the staff was there too. We stayed there for quite some time, and we ended up closing the place (as usual).

The following morning we got up fairly early to head to the village, Maitikhan. Luckily we got to drive most of the way, as the major landslide had been cleared out. We had 2 large jeeps. I rode in the back of mine with Martin, Dee and Aya. It was very cozy back there. And by cozy I mean pretty tight- maybe enough room to swing a cat (who the hell thinks of these phrases anyway?).

Rafting!

15 July 2010 8:24am Maitikhan

To continue...

We finally arrived at the rafting place, which was a storefront in the middle of a village. It was such a relief to get out of that truck. There was a water tap close, so we all rushed towards it to wash the mud off of our hands and feet. Once that was done we were given some cold drinks and then were outfitted with life vests, helmets, and paddles. Some kind man also donated another flip flop to Aya, so she actually had a complete pair of shoes to wear. After we got down to the river there was a briefing about how to paddle, instructions, the river, etc. We were then split into two boats- the safety boat (for people uncomfortable with rafting) and the other boat (or as I called it, the adventure boat). Dee went straight to the safety boat with Eugenia, and some more people joined her there.

I went in the other boat (where else would I be?) and got to be one of the captains (Martin was the other)! I figured I was probably one of the stronger paddlers so I went to the front. It was awesome! We were right in line for all of the huge head-on waves. One of them, if I didn't have my foot stuck in the strap I would have gone flying backward.

Further down the river we stopped at this restaurant for lunch (it looked a little fancy for how we were dressed and appeared), where we got to see Martin's article in the Kathmandu Post. That was pretty cool. I'm still waiting for feedback on my article; I'm frustrated at how long it's taking.

Since there were reports of more landslides, we decided to just raft for another half hour and then get picked up, so that we could avoid the road with landslides. We had a couple more splashing battles between the two boats; Ashok was the real troublemaker. Retaliation came at the hands of our boat guide, as he doesn't need to get a good grade. Our boat guide was awesome- he busted out the bucket.

Very soon, we arrived at our end point, which was this hard-to-find path along the side of the river. We climbed up that to where the bridge was (we landed on the opposite side of the river from the road) and crossed that into the village we ended at. There were a bunch of children there, yelling and greeting us. I'm very sad I didn't get a video of this- Ashe started singing the first part of the World Cup anthem, and then all the kids started singing the whole thing from there. It was too funny.

We spent some time there, piling all of our rafting stuff up, finding dry clothes for people (I opted not to), changing and using the bathroom. Now, I've seen some crazy bathrooms during this summer, but I'm pretty sure this was the worst. When I finally got the door unlocked (the thing had a freaking shitty-ass padlock on it), there were only a few things in the room. A bucket of water, a jar, and a drain. Nothing even remotely resembling a toilet. Not even a hole. I first tried going down the drain, but that didn't work- it was too close to the wall and pee kept splashing on my feet. I came to the only logical solution left at that point- I was supposed to pee in the jar. I thought pooping in the hole on the train was hard; this was something else entirely. I had no idea what to do after, so I just left the jar as it was and washed myself with the bucket of water. So gross.

Bandhs and landslides, oh my!

14 July 2010 8:00am Maitikhan

So, a continuation from last time…

We had to meet the bus to Pokhara in front of Himalayan Java at 6:30am sharp, so I got up at the ungodly early hour of 4:15am to shower and finish packing. However, as that was too early I hit the snooze until about 5am, and then finally got up to finish packing, shave and get dressed. I was too tired to shower, felt fairly clean, and figured since I was going rafting anyway it wouldn’t matter.

Kaka and Kaki got up to see me off at 6am and then I left in the car with Ram (our driver whose name I finally learned). I got there in good time and dropped some of my stuff off at Blue Horizon. I left some stuff at the host family’s; I’ll pick it up when I get back from this trip. It was raining when we got there, so luckily the bus had a tarp to cover up all of our stuff on the top.

I think the bus ride out to the rafting spot was an adventure in itself. We drove for awhile, and then hit this gigantic line of cars/busses/trucks/etc. As we were sitting there for some time, we got out to see what was going on. As it turns out, we got to see how a bandh gets formed. The story of what happened as we compiled it later: the night before, a power pole crashed down onto a house and a power line snapped. The villagers called NEA (Nepal Electrical Authority) to have them shut the power off. After that, someone died. So, that morning some of the locals decided to call a bandh to demand their right to power and compensation for the victim’s family. Apparently they also wanted NEA to come out there immediately to restore power and that they would block the road until NEA did so. They put a table in the middle of the road and also threw across the broken power line and some large pieces of wood. Basically, this stuff continues because those with the biggest sticks make the rules, and here the locals had the biggest sticks.

A couple of extra-interesting things happened while we were in the midst of this bandh. First, Dee ran into our driver from the Tibet border, who drove us to Kathmandu. Second, somebody tried driving through the bandh, and then everyone started running towards the car, shouting and picking up sticks. Apparently, they were shouting something along the lines of “Let’s go get him!” because he was breaking (or trying to break) the bandh. Luckily, that didn’t go anywhere much and after about another 10 minutes or so they were convinced to end the bandh.

We got back on the bus and continued to move, so glad that it was all over and we were back moving on the bus. Then after about a half hour or so, we hit another long line of vehicles- this time way longer. Here, as we found out, there was a landslide and possibly a bus stuck in it, and there were only a few people working to clear it. We sat there for quite some time, waiting to move. In the meantime, we came across this crazy bridge that allowed people to cross the river. It was basically a chair on a pulley system. There were two large steel cables running along the top, which the carriage (thin, with two seats facing each other) was attached to. Then there was a rope for a pulley. People would sit in the carriage and pull the rope, basically pulling themselves across. Ashe went down to investigate first and took himself out there. So, of course most of us ended up trying it. It was actually pretty cool.

The landslide situation seemed like it wasn’t going to change so Ashok had us grab water and our cameras so that we could walk to the rafting place (only 3km!). As we got to the landlide they seemed to be letting through some vehicles, as half of the road was cleared by then. We climbed over the landslide, which was just a gigantic pile of mud and grass. Past the landslide there was a rock wall along the side of the road that we climbed on to avoid a lot of the mud on the road. Eventually we had to get off the wall and crossed to the other side, where it was so hard to avoid the mud. I think just about everyone fell in the mud (my flip flops were filled with rocks and mud), but poor Aya lost both her flip flops. She found one, but it wasn’t hers. Luckily, there was a truck meeting us just past that point, so she didn’t have far to go one-shoed.

The truck was another one of those things that was an adventure in itself. First, the truck was tiny. Second, there were about 15 of us. Third, the back was covered in a tarp. So, most of us managed to squeeze in the back of the truck, and the rest rode on the tailgate. Oh, and that 15? Just our party, not including guides, helpers, or anyone else (and there were more than a few of them). I ended up way in the back, not even sitting on an actual seat- it was a bar. It was so incredibly hot I was literally dripping sweat. I don’t think I’ve ever been that hot in my life.

I'm slacking

13 July 2010 8:31pm Maitikhan

It’s been too long since I’ve last written. For the first part of last week nothing much happened, but then everything seemed to happen at once and I had no time to write at all. Tuesday we met with Gagan Thapa, a Nepali Congress member who is in both the parliament and the constituent assembly. Unfortunately I didn’t get to ask him anything as it wasn’t ‘my’ meeting, but I still got some useful information. The rest of the answers he gave to people’s questions were really good as well.

After the meeting most of us stayed behind at New Orleans restaurant to work and wait for news about another potential meeting. That meeting did take place, but was very short as our interviewee got lost on the way and had another meeting soon after. The woman we got to meet is Manushri Bhattarai, who is the leader of the Maoist student union and also the daughter of Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, number two in the Maoist chain of command. Only 4 people got to ask questions as she needed to leave. Unfortunately, it was even worse because she is ridiculously soft-spoken and was very hard to hear.

The following day Cecilia, Katie, Jakub and I met with Pasang, the chief of the PLA. I was expecting some buff, intense, angry guy just because of who he is, but he’s actually an average-looking guy, and incredibly nice, too! He only spoke the party line, but that’s to be expected. That discussion was good, and I finally got to ask some questions for my own project. We got signed copies of his book, a photo op, and even his permission to visit a PLA cantonment (we still have to get UNMIN’s permission for that last one).

In the evening I met with Dee and Eugenia to discuss our India plans, and had an experience with one of the worst cab drivers ever. I used the meter, and when I finally got to Pulchowk it said around 120. I gave him that, and he said no, it was 300 because he had an old meter and it didn’t charge enough. I told him that I didn’t care, I was giving him what the meter said, and that if he had an old meter that he should get a new one (in his defense I think he did have an old meter, but he should have disclosed that at the beginning). He kept arguing with me so I eventually put the money on the seat and got out. He was pissed, he kept looking at me from out his window and stayed there for quite some time. Eugenia and I had to go inside while we waited for Dee to get away from him. On the bright side, we mostly figured out our India plans.

I had another bad cab experience, although neither Keesler nor I can remember where or when this happened. Wherever we were, we caught a cab back home at night and negotiated a price beforehand. Keesler got dropped off first, and after I repeated to him that I was going to Purano (Old) Baneshwor, he started muttering angrily to himself in Nepali. I think he thought I was also in New Baneshwor. When we got to the main intersection by my house, I told him where to go. He started yelling at me, that the way I pointed was actually Battisputali and that it was more expensive. I let him take me the way he insisted (as there are 2 ways I can go from the intersection), but when I pointed the way after that he got angry and started swearing (I’m assuming from the tone) in Nepali. He was mean the rest of the way to my house, and tried charging an extra hundred rupees. I got into an argument with him and eventually ended up just leaving the money on the seat and getting out as quickly as possible. Damn cab drivers…

Anyway, Thursday was uneventful and Friday was spent finishing the editing I had to do for Martin Chautari. After work on Friday I first went to Bishal Bazar to pick up my kurtas from Bharati. They fit pretty nice, but not as nice as the one Kaki bought me (which she gave me Thursday night). The only bad part of the experience was Bharati trying to charge me Rs. 400 more than she originally told me when I ordered them. I was pissed and eventually gave her the money, but thankfully she could tell I was mad and agreed to 4600 rather than 5000. Oh well. After that I met Dee and Eugenia to start booking our tickets for India. We only got as far as the plane ticket to Delhi on August 1st as the train ticket place in India was already closed. We still have to concretely plan that out anyway.

We ate dinner at the Northfield Café after, which was actually really nice. We decided to change things up a bit and try something new. The food was ok (I think it was just what I ordered, though), but they had a live Nepali band playing which was cool. The atmosphere of the whole place is great. Luckily, the cab ride home was uneventful. Saturday I went with Dee, Jakub, and his girlfriend Hana to the palace museum. It was pretty cool, although I was sad that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. I think the worst thing about the palace is that it totally screams “Florida retirement home.” Once we found out the place was built in the 1960’s by an American architect, it didn’t seem as surprising anymore (still ugly, though). The front entranceway has one of those awesome double staircases, which I thought only existed in movies. Apparently, not. The staircase was also flanked on both sides by giant stuffed tigers rearing on their back legs. Pimpin’. We got to see receiving rooms, bedrooms for visiting dignitaries, personal offices of the king, dining rooms and even the king and queen’s bedroom. It was surprisingly small and not ostentatious- exactly the opposite of what I was expecting.

We got to see the garden (which was horribly overgrown and just ill-maintained) as well as the remains of the building where the royal massacre occurred, as the building itself was destroyed by the government soon after the massacre. Because that’s not suspicious or anything.

We met the whole group at Fire and Ice for lunch. They had already ordered a bunch of pizzas for the table, all but two of which had mushrooms on them. Eww. After was a free day, where I finally got to get a picture frame and print the photo for my host family. I hung out at OR2K with some people for a while after, until I went home for what I was hoping to be one last dinner with the family, and to finish packing. Unfortunately, when I got home only KFC was awaiting me. I was pretty disappointed. When Kaka and Kaki came home they said they were hoping that I would join them for dinner on King’s Road but I never came. They had called earlier and said they were on King’s Road, but didn’t say anything about dinner. If they had I would have went.

Holiday abroad

4 July 2010                           10:20pm                               Old Baneshwor

Happy birthday, America!  This was the first year that for the holiday, I’ve done absolutely nothing.  Well, nothing celebratory anyway.  I did do other stuff.  Today was the continuation of yesterday’s conference, thankfully starting later than it did yesterday.  The first part was great, it talked a lot about victims which was really fascinating.  I missed most of the second half as I had an interview to conduct.  I must say, I got a pretty good overview on Nepali newspapers, which helps me frame everything I’ve been looking at.

After my interview and a brief stop back in the conference to catch a little bit of Rhoderick Chalmers’s talk, I left with Dee to go to our meeting at Café Mitra.  I had a meeting with one of our advisors, and was  basically told to throw out all the research I’ve already done and start at a different point in time with a slightly different focus.  I was also told that with interviews, I need to do some research before and come up with some in-depth questions.  No shit, I’m not an idiot.  I’m just getting so frustrated with getting my topics criticized (or ‘refined’) every week.  I already lost the first two weeks, which means I’m that much further behind everyone in terms of this project.  If I get it done in time it’ll be a miracle.

After that frustrating meeting I went with some people to Café Kaldi (where else?) to grab something snack-like before heading home.  Even though I missed out on all the traditional 4^th foods, I at least got some chicken fingers and French fries today.  Oh, and a delicious chocolate soufflé.

Sadly, after getting home, my idea of relaxing was reading the ICRC report I got at the conference, written by Simon Robins.  So far it’s really good.  I also worked on my op-ed article.  My goal is to get the draft done by Tuesday/Wednesday and then send it off for comments before I submit the final draft for publication.  Hopefully I can get all that done before we go to Pokhara.

Asshole cab drivers

3 July 2010          9:59pm          Old Baneshwor

Today was a pretty full day.  This morning I got up uncomfortably early (so, at around 7) to go to a conference at the Nepal Tourism Board, hosted by Martin Chautari and Social Science Baha.  It's actually a two-day conference, but I think I'm going to miss the second half of tomorrow because of our program.  The conference so far was excellent; there have been many interesting papers presented and lots of great comments/discussion.  The very first paper presented, however, elicited some very strong reactions.  One guy even gave a dramatic exit after his comments (which I thought was a little overdramatic).  Anyway, it was really good.

During lunch I made myself call Kashish's friend, whose number he had given me a couple of days ago (I say 'made' because I hate calling strangers).  I started talking with the guy to set up a meeting for tomorrow.  He had mentioned that he was going to be at the Martin Chautari conference tomorrow, and then stopped and asked, "Wait, are you here?"  I looked out the window and there was a guy on a cell phone, looking for someone.  When he turned, I waved, and voila!  It was him!  Pretty funny.  Anyway, I'm meeting with him tomorrow during one of the conference breaks.

After the end of today's session our group of 5 walked to Cafe Kaldi (they must get real sick of us there) to use internet.  I really should do some actual work, though.  Around 7 Martin had to meet some friends, and the rest of us went to Fire and Ice for some pizza.  We ended up getting 3, which were delicious.  Well, I can vouch for two of them, at least.  The third one had onions and olives on it.

As we heard shouts coming from across the street, we went to Himalayan Java after to catch the rest of the game (Argentina vs. Germany) and use a bit more wi-fi.  Unfortunately, all of the networks available sucked and we couldn't connect to anything.  On the bright side, Germany won 4-0!

On my way back home I had an interesting experience with a cab driver.  When I first told him my destination and asked him how much (well, I had to ask him twice), he said 400.  I said no way and offered 250, which he promptly took.  That made me know that he knew he was trying to rip me off.  The ride was uneventful, but when we got to my house and I handed him 250, he turns and says, "No, 350."  Asshole tried to get an extra hundred out of me.  Nice try, buddy.  I told him no way, that he already accepted 250, and hopped out of the cab.  Luckily one of the servants was unlocking the door as I was still in the cab so I could just walk in.  That would have been awkward to stand at the gate with the taxi driver still there.

Where am I supposed to walk?

2 July 2010          9:49pm          Old Baneshwor

So, I've been in Nepal for nearly a month and this is the first Friday night where I've just stayed in.  It's been nice, I watched soccer with Kaka and Prashant.  Well, most of the first half, anyway.  Towards the end of the first half we had to eat dinner, and then I used the internet.

It was a pretty regular day today.  I finally walked home from work today.  Boy, does it get crowded on the streets after work.  All of the people selling food, clothes, and anything else come out and completely take over the sidewalks.  That, plus the fact that there's so many cars means there's almost nowhere to walk.  Still, at least I don't have to pay to walk.

There's some conference going on tomorrow and the next day that looks really interesting.  However, I'm not sure if I really want to get up early enough to be there by 8:30am.  Well, I guess we'll see how I manage in the morning.  Or if I even get up.

I'm a big fat liar.

1 July 2010          8:35pm          Old Baneshwor

I've been feeling lately like my life is boring, there's not much to write.  Work, home.  Sometimes work, cafe, home.  And work doesn't change, it's all newspapers, all day long.  I think yesterday was the worst day of my cold.  About halfway through the day I just started feeling terrible and eventually left around 3 as I couldn't focus on anything (plus, that's when I ran out of tissues).  I went to Cafe Kaldi to try and relax, and also to get work done.  This time, I brought a to-do list.  Before I went there, though, I stopped at the grocery store to get some tissues; and also the cookies I got there before that were so good.

I actually ordered food there for once, as I was hungry and planning on staying awhile.  I also got my usual chocolate smoothie, which felt so nice as I have been denied cold things by Kaki while I’m sick.  No chiso paani, not even Coca-Cola (which she took away from me at dinner after remembering that I was still sick).  Of course, after I ordered everything the waiter tells me the wi-fi isn’t working well.  That sucks, it’s the only reason I go there!  For me at least the network was completely not working.  I ended up stealing internet from a neighbor of the café with an unlocked wireless signal.


After working for awhile I went home and started re-arranging my freshly clean clothes (I'm quite particular about the fold).  While I was doing that Kaki came in, and saw me putting away my kurti.  She asked if I liked clothes like that and I said yes.  A few minutes later she called me up to her room, where she had a whole pile of kurtis and fabric laid out.  She had me sit down, and showed me each one individually, asking me to pick one that I liked, and we would go have my measurements taken.  I was in such disbelief!  I felt kind of bad, I think part of it has to do with Happy (because apparently she's the bad one) tearing to shreds the bottom of one of my dresses sometime when it was drying.  I could be wrong but I feel like part of this is her trying to replace it, which she definitely didn't have to do.  After I picked out some cloth (the pre-made shirts were a little too ostentatious for my taste), Kaki started pulling out some bracelets and having me try them on.  She ended up giving me 7 bracelets, or as I believe, just about all the ones she had that would fit on my wrist.  Surprisingly, her hands are much smaller than mine.  I felt bad enough, like not only was she buying me things but she was giving me her stuff too, when she also gave me one of her hair clips.  It really all was too much.


This morning, before I went to work, Kaki took me to the store to get my measurements taken.  I ended up being late to work, but I will say that it's hard when you're walking 40 minutes to get there.  Work was good, and I even had my first lunch there (they offered it yesterday but I felt too terrible to eat it).  After work I met up with Keesler so that I could finally go over to see her house and play with her puppy!


So, the puppy is a one month old German Shepherd named Walter.  He's too cute, and he's so tiny!  I spent a while at Keesler's, playing with the puppy ant talking to her and her host sister.  After awhile I caught a taxi back as it was getting late.  When I got home I found the house mostly dark, except Uma in my room watching tv.  I feel bad, it seems like she hardly ever gets to relax (or sit on the furniture).  So, I just turned on the lights and sat to watch tv/do some writing.


As it turns out, Kaki and Prashant are at a party so I ate alone tonight.  I have a confession to make.  I've been complaining a lot about dal bhat, about how much I'm sick of it and how I never want to see it again.  I'm such a liar.  I love dal bhat, I can't get enough of it!  I would be happy to eat it for lunch and dinner all the time!  Not breakfast though, that's a little too much.  I want to find a really good recipe for it to take back home.  I'll spread the word, I'll make it a lot.


I can't believe it's July already.  And Sunday is the 4th of July!  This will be my first Independence Day not in America.  It feels kind of sad.  Imagine, two years ago I was in the nation's capital and here I am now, in the capital of another country halfway across the world.  It feels so strange, knowing how far away everything is.

Worst idea ever

29 June 2010                      5:53pm                 Old Baneshwor

Well, today my big brother would be proud of me.  I successfully broke into my own house.  When I got home the gate was locked and someone in the downstairs apartment let me in after a few minutes of knocking.  I almost thought I was going to have to jump the fence (luckily we don’t have one with glass shards poking out of it).  I got upstairs to the front door, and it was locked.  I could have sworn I heard voices, and I banged on the door and called out for a few minutes, but nothing happened.  I went out to the balcony thinking I could chill there and then realized that the dog’s balcony (the one the dog stays on) was in jumping distance.  (Ok, it was really more like stepping distance, but jumping sounds more exciting.)  I figured the door was unlocked because there would logically be no reason to lock it.  So, I put my bag down in front of the door, went out to the balcony, and climbed over to the next one.  Luckily, the door was open, and now here I am in my room again.

This morning I realized after awhile that nobody else was leaving the house and that I wouldn’t have a ride to work.  I set out to walk, and figured at least I’d see how long it takes to get there.  Not too bad- about 40 minutes.  I definitely need to make sure I’m wearing walking shoes next time I do that, because I have massive blisters on my toesies.  On the bright side, the pain in my toes is taking attention away from the pain in my upper foot.

I finally found some fascinating news today!  In mid-August 2007, one of the Maoist-affiliated unions had shut down two newspapers’ productions for about 5 days because they published something the union didn’t like.  It at least explained why August 11-15 was missing from The Himalayan Times.  So at least I finally got something exciting at work.

I also discussed with Seira the book they want me to edit.  It’s only 250 pages, which isn’t too bad.  Then I realized that it’s all academic stuff and it actually may take me forever to get through.  Because of the tight schedule I mentioned possibly reading it while we’re away, as I don’t have any work to do and would possibly have some free time.  Seira said it sounded like the worst idea ever (in an ‘eww reading academics on vacation’ kind of way).  I had to laugh.  Then again, I’m the person who would bring course books to read on rugby trips because I had to get them read sometime, and hey!  A two hour bus ride!  I know I’m quite unusual.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll make it to Keesler’s to see her puppy.  I would have today except for these stupid blisters.  Tomorrow I’ll put on proper shoes, aka flip flops.  I’m surprised they’re not worn out yet, I did get them last summer.  Well, there’s a reason I only buy the expensive ones.

Sadly, I think I’m getting sick.  I’m getting a pretty sore throat and yesterday I felt nauseous.  My nose has been running, so hopefully it’s just a summer cold and post-nasal drip.  Although how I got a cold is beyond me, it’s so damn hot!  (Terrible joke.)  Honestly, it might be from the workshop- Junu had a pretty disgusting cough.  Luckily I have some chow-chow and water, which should help me feel better.

Breakfast of champions

28 June 2010                      6:31pm                 Old Baneshwor

So, the last couple of days have been pretty fun!  By the time we got to the second wedding on Saturday, the bride and groom had already left.  We didn’t stay long (I feel guilty, it was because of me), and after Kaka and Kaki dropped me off in Thamel to meet the group.  Unfortunately for me, it was at a Korean restaurant, so there wasn’t much on the menu that I would eat.  I ended up getting chicken, which was really good, and potato chips (aka French fries), which came after about 30 minutes and 5 requests for them.  That was not cool; I was super hungry.

Quite a few people left after dinner as they had curfews and didn’t want to stay in a hotel for the night (I think at that point Ashe and I were the only takers for that plan).  Those who were staying went to a building on the restaurant’s grounds where they had karaoke.  I knew that we were doing karaoke that night, but imagined it at a karaoke club, not a room with just us.  I’m kind of glad it was just us, though, because we could choose whatever songs we wanted, no matter how ridiculous (like ‘Barbie Girl’ and ‘Under the Sea’).  We ended up closing the place.  Katie, Aya, Ashe, and I then went to the Blue Horizon where Ashe had already booked a room.  He tried switching to another room, and we found out later (after we were all settled in the bigger room) that they wouldn’t let him switch rooms and charged us for both.  We were glad for that, as there was only one double and one single bed in the room.  Except, we never used the second room as Ashe snuggled right in with Katie and Aya!  We had way too much fun talking and laughing that night.

I ended up oversleeping in the morning and didn’t make it to the women’s conference with Ashmina.  I took advantage of the free morning (free until noon at least, when we had to check out) to sleep some more.  Unfortunately, I still didn’t get a warm shower.  Oh well.

Since our program didn’t start until 2pm, we hung out at Himalayan Java for awhile, to get some coffee, food, and internet.  I was a little sad that they stopped serving breakfast, so instead I got a huge chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream on top.  Oh, and a chocolate milkshake to drink.  Everyone was highly amused, and yet couldn’t believe I was actually eating that.  I just say it was delicious!  Breakfast of champions!

The five of us (Martin met us there) caught a cab to our program, packing in like sardines in the back seat.  Hooray for no traffic laws, as that definitely wouldn’t fly in most places (even China wouldn’t do it).  I was glad for it, as I had no idea where we were supposed to go.  During the ‘meeting’ most people ordered lunch, which was good as I was still hungry.  Even after the ice cream brownie.  We didn’t actually discuss much there, which was the opposite impression I got of the purpose of these things.

After lunch we walked to our final federalism lecture, which was really interesting.  One of the speakers talked about affirmative action in Nepal, which I had only had a brief introduction to previously.  I felt a little guilty I can’t remember the exact topic of the other speaker, but I swear I was paying attention!

After the lecture and subsequent Q and A, they had refreshments, where we lingered and finally discussed home stays as we were supposed to decide by then if we were moving out or not.  I think almost everyone is moving out; there were a couple of people still unsure, waiting to hear what everyone else was doing.  We asked about the possibility of apartments, which apparently will be looked into for us.

I was planning on going home after the lecture because I had told Kaka I would be home for dinner, but after Keesler said she was planning on going out for a little bit to watch the football game, I decided to stay too (as we can share a cab home).  Whoops, we all ended up staying out for the whole game to watch England get creamed by Germany, 4-1.  We went to Aqua Java Zing, which is where I got the amazing Kit Kat shake before.  I was tempted to get it again, but Kashish (who came out with us) told us to save ourselves for their dessert instead.  I’m glad I did.  Dee and I split this chocolate and vanilla ice cream confectionary mouth-orgasm.  I think we were both a little sad that we had decided to split the dessert; it was so good we both wanted more.

Kashish took Keesler and I back home in Ashok’s car, which made it nice not to have to worry about cabs for once.  On the way home Kaka called, so I assured him that I was on the way.  It was after 10pm, so I wasn’t surprised.

Today was the start of another work week, actually my first full work week since I got here.  I hit the papers hard today, and decided to skip some days in order to get through the whole time period in enough time to finish my report.  I still have to figure out interview questions as well as finish my Terms of Reference.  I’ve got a lot to do, and hopefully I’ll be able to get it all done at home (as I have no time at work).

When I got home I got to play with our dogs for the first time- Abu, Jimmy, and Happy.  They’re all pretty cute, but Abu is the cutest because he does ‘namaste’, where he sits on his hind legs and holds his front ones up (almost like ‘begging’, but he stays still).  It’s adorable.

Deep thoughts

28 June 2010                      5:53pm                 Old Baneshwor

I just looked at the date and realized that in a month, we’ll basically be done here, and then I’ve got one more week in India and then I’m home.  I’ve been thinking a lot about home ever since I left it, missing people there and wondering how long two and a half months would feel.  So far it doesn’t feel too bad (I’m halfway through!) but now I’m wondering, will I have the same feelings when I get back home?  Will I sit there, wondering when I’ll get back to Nepal?

I already feel so at home here.  I have places to be, friends to spend time with, and I almost feel like I can navigate my way around (I’m still working on that last part).  If it weren’t for this strong pull from certain people back home, I would be content to stay here as long as I could.  I think the only thing lacking is a paying job.  I won’t miss having servants, and I plan to leave those behind as soon as possible (it’s frustrating to have to ask someone to get me a snack), but the other things I don’t think I can leave behind as easily.  I’ll miss seeing the city by cab and by foot, I’ll miss the excitement of going out and experiencing new places, I’ll miss desperately searching for places to watch the World Cup, I’ll miss all of the new experiences, I’ll even miss dal bhat.  Sometimes I think I’ll even miss haggling for shopping, for taxis.  There’s only two things I can think of that I won’t miss- spicy food (as I eat piro chow-chow right now) and creepy guys in Thamel trying to sell me hashish.

I think it’s going to be a weird adjustment to go back to New York.  I’m curious about what it’s going to be like.  I’m torn- I can’t wait to go home but I don’t want to leave here.

Fuckin' birds

26 June 2010                      5:24pm                 Old Baneshwor

I’ve missed a lot of writing!  Anyway, Thursday was my first day at Martin Chautari.  I was a little nervous about getting there, as it requires 2 busses from my house, but luckily Kaka offered to drive me.  After facing the prospect of using public transportation, I gladly said yes.  I got there around 10am, which was actually a little early as very few people were there.  I was sent to the reading room until Dr. Tamang arrived, who got me all set up reading.  We decided that I should just look at front page articles, as 3 years for 3 newspapers is a lot to go through.  I agree, especially after I didn’t even finish April 2007 by the end of the day (at which I’m pretty sure I got kicked out- felt like it anyway).

After work I grabbed a cab to Bishal Bazar, as Dee had told me my outfit was ready.  When I got there the shop was closed, and when I called it turned out it wasn’t ready, she still had to finish the shirt.  I felt like I had wasted cab fare, but then again, I should have called first.  Oh well.  I looked around for shoes and found a pair I liked, and decided that I would buy them when I came back to actually pick up my stuff.

I walked from there to Thamel after, buying a really nice scarf along the way.  The guy selling it gave it to me cheap (-er, it was still Rs 1000) after I promised to bring my friends back.  No problem there, he really did have some nice scarves and was very friendly too.  I ended up at Café Kaldi, as it was the one place I know that had wi-fi and wasn’t all restaurant-y like Fire and Ice.  I worked there for a bit, then hitched a cab back home before it got too late.  That actually didn’t matter though, as neither Kaka nor Kaki were home.  It was just Prashant and I, eating dinner in awkward silence.

Yesterday was my second day at Martin Chautari, which went pretty well again.  Ashmina and Basant stopped by, as she and I had some things to go over.  As we were talking upstairs Seira walked by, and it turns out they know each other quite well.  I should have at least guessed after finding out Basant is a trustee there as well, but I can be pretty thick.  So anyway, that was an amusing experience.

After work I went back to Bishal Bazar, calling first to make sure that my things were indeed ready.  They were.  When I got there Bharati wasn’t there yet, but as I went to go get some shoes while I waited, she appeared.  She had me try the set on, and it feels so nice!  I was a little nervous about how the pants would come out, but they came out great!  It was perfect timing too, as I had to go to a wedding today, so I had something to wear.

Dee had told me that she got new fabric in, so I started looking at some of that.  I was very bad- I ended up getting two more sets made!  I didn’t feel too guilty, as her work is very good, and she’s just so incredibly nice!  I can’t wait to see how these new ones come out!

As it was nearly 6:00 and I was supposed to be meeting people at La Dolce Vita at 7, I left her shop, stopping on my way to buy my shoes.  Sad thing- the ones I had found the day before weren’t comfortable.  Sad face.  I decided on a whim to check the store next door, and found a pair there that were ridiculously comfortable, so I bought those instead.

Somehow on the walk I took a wrong turn and got a little lost.  I ended up walking down this huge road, not sure where I was until I realized I was on the road leading to the palace, which is quite close to Thamel.  It was 6:51, and I was lazy though, so I grabbed a cab.  The guy wanted Rs 100 initially, and I told him no way, it was too close.  He eventually accepted my offer of 50.

Dinner at La Dolce Vita was great.  It was just a small group of us, which was kind of relaxing.  It was hilarious, we kept going from topic to topic, joking around.  Poor Amy was a little lost with some of the GPIA talk, so we tried to change the subject for her.  The plan was to go to jazz after, but somehow we ended up trying to find a place to watch soccer.  I think we were trying to find the club we went to the first night, but we ended up at some other more casual place that had the game on.  As it turns out it was also a hookah bar, which is some place I’ve never been to.  I guess I can’t say that anymore.  It was still an awesome time, which we sadly had to cut short because we all have super-lame 10-11pm curfews.  We decided that for the following night we’d just get a hotel room so we can stay out until whenever.  I swear, I haven’t felt like this with a curfew and all since high school.  At least then I had a key to get in the house and could stay out till like midnight.  Oh well, I think I’ll be moving out soon anyway.

Today was an interesting day.  I went to my first Nepali wedding!  I was never told if Kaka or Kaki was related to the bride or groom, but I’ll assume it’s Kaka as his sister and her husband came with us.  I still never found out who of the couple is his relative.  Oh well.  The wedding was really great, right up until the moment when a bird pooped on me.  That sucked.  And whoever said that it’s good luck when a bird poops on you can suck it.  I bet he’s never had a bird poop on him before.

After awhile there we came back to the house, where I had chow-chow because I didn’t eat much at the wedding because it was too spicy.  I took a nap, which felt so nice, and didn’t wake up until not too long ago.  Our group agenda tonight is karaoke, so I’ll need my rest.  We have another wedding to go to soon, but I think I may skip out on it as everyone’s meeting at 7 for dinner, and I want some food!

Like breaking up with a clingy boyfriend

24 June 2010                      8:43am                 Old Baneshwor

Well, I’ve certainly had a very fully past couple of days.  Starting off from last time, the following morning we packed up the entire site to leave, as apparently things left behind usually aren’t there the next time.  While that was going on, Piero and I worked on taking pictures of all of the models, which was fairly time consuming.  For the main one, the big model, we took it down onto one of the other terraced levels and set it there to take pictures in a more ‘natural’ environment.  I tried to get pictures from every angle but I’m sure there’s a couple of angles I didn’t think to get.  We also went and took some more pictures of the other models, setting them upon the ledge to get good backgrounds.  Unfortunately, halfway through the photo session my camera died (oh no!), but luckily Sushma’s camera also uses the same memory card so I borrowed her camera and stuck my card in it.  I must say, my camera takes some pretty good pictures.

The Jyamirkot model

After that there was still a lot to pack up, so I helped do that and also started moving things to the other house to get ready to go.  Eventually we got everything to the truck- a quite small pick-up truck.  There was a car there and luckily another one at the bottom of the hill.  I was so relieved to get into the car, especially after riding in the truck on the way down and listening to the wheel bed make some terrifying noises.  The rest of the ride back into the city was fairly uneventful, except for when the tire blew out and we had to stop for a few minutes to change it.

Soon after arriving home I left again to meet with Kashish and discuss my internship, and also how the workshop went.  I had already come to the conclusion that Gurukul wasn’t working out, but I didn’t know what to do from there.  I knew that I wanted to do something media-related, but I was so frustrated and tired that I couldn’t think clearly to develop a new plan.  Eventually we came up with the idea to do some sort of newspaper analysis starting in April 2007.

After that he took me to Martin Chautari, one of the organizations he thought I could work at, to discuss my idea and see if it was a) feasible and b) useful to them.  I ended up meeting with Seira Tamang and the head of their research department, who thought that the idea was good but to further develop some research and methodology and send it to them for review, before they said yes or no to having me as an intern.  I was actually comforted by this, as it seemed like my current internship just accepted me without actually thinking about it beforehand.

After that, I grabbed a cab to Thamel, as I had a lot of work to do on my computer and I still feel weird about using the internet in Prashant’s room.  I was also waiting for an e-mail from Ashmina, to get the workshop notes so I can write the report for Fulbright.  I also had a lot of pictures and videos to transfer to my computer.  I still have to go through them all, despite my camera dying I still recorded a lot.

As it was getting dark, I grabbed a cab back home and arrived a little bit before dinner.  I also got a little bit of a ‘lecture’ from Kaki, as I had come in and then left but didn’t say anything to anyone.  That was a little awkward.

Yesterday I had what ended up being my last day at Gurukul.  It was good I had things set up with Martin Chautari, because I was ready to walk out anyway.  I got there at 10am, before Jeebesh arrived, which seems pretty usual.  I sat around and read the newspaper for awhile, but as I was done and everyone around was cleaning and I felt really lazy and unproductive, I went into the building to see if the office was open and maybe Jeebesh had snuck in past me.  He hadn’t, and the office was closed, so I just went to sit at the desk by the door to work.  This was 11:30am.

I worked on researching the grant, and found everything I needed to help them apply.  During that time, someone had walked by and said that Jeebesh wouldn’t be in as he wasn’t in Kathmandu today.  WTF.  In a good internship this wouldn’t matter as I would be working independently by now, but that definitely wasn’t the case there.  As they didn’t have much for me, and the stuff they had was half-formed, I needed someone there to get work from.  Eventually I started researching other grant possibilities for them, and dicking around on the internet for awhile.

My computer ended up dying, but luckily I still had a book with me and started reading that.  After the first time that I was told Jeebesh was out of town, the artistic director kept telling me, please wait, Jeebesh will be in soon.  I ended up finishing my book, and as there was literally nothing else for me to do, I packed up to leave.  This was around 3pm.  I got upstairs, and looked around one last time for Jeebesh.  The artistic director hurried over and said, don’t leave, Jeebesh is coming now!  Luckily, he was right as Jebeesh pulled up right then.

After the briefest of apologies (“I’m sorry.  Let’s go.”), we headed into the office to start working.  I showed him all of the information I had pulled up, and he sent me an e-mail with a document with what he said was info for the grant, or to help me with the grant.  Luckily in that time I had gotten a confirmation from Martin Chautari about my internship there, so I wasn’t as mad as possible over the fact that they didn’t really have anything useful to help with the grant application.

Soon after the night’s performance was about to start, so Jeebesh said that I could stay there and keep working, and he would be back (after reminding him that I’ve already seen a performance when he tried to get me to go).  I tried not to laugh or cry.  At this point I told him about my other internship, and that I would not be coming back to Gurukul.  I think it was worse than breaking up with a really clingy boyfriend.  He just refused to accept it, and asked when I would be back.  I tried saying I wouldn’t and then explained how I couldn’t do anything for Gurukul, and they couldn’t do anything for me.  He offered to take me to a street performance outside the city, but I tried to explain that one wouldn’t be enough.  He still didn’t get it, and basically said that we could all calm down and talk tomorrow.  He left, and then I started packing up (even though I wasn’t looking forward to a walk in the rain home).  I went outside and found Jeebesh, and said goodbye and that I wouldn’t be back.  Hopefully he’ll get it.

I walked home, which gave me enough time to get ready for going to Martin’s for dinner last night, as his host family had invited us all over.  Kashish had Ashok’s car and driver, so he came to pick Keesler and I up to take us over.  Especially since I’ve been gone for almost a whole week, it was great to relax and see everyone.  Everyone was asking about my field trip.  I told Dee I found a new boyfriend and I thought she was going to freak out until I told her the ‘boyfriend’ was a baby.  So that was pretty funny.

Martin’s host parents are great, his dad is hilarious.  They were a host family for one of last year’s students, so I’m sure they’re used to us by now.  Dinner was great, and I had a fantastic time catching up with everyone.  Martin’s host dad offered his driver to get us all home, which helped save on a) money for a taxi and b) actually dealing with the taxi.  Because I was in the closer group I went second, which also meant I had Kaka calling to find out where I was.  I eventually got home, a little later than planned, but it was still a good night.

Last day

21 June 2010                                                      Jyamirkot

Today was the last day of the workshop- sad face.  Breakfast this morning was a change; we had kheer (rice pudding).  I was a little apprehensive to eat it, but Piero let me try some of his first.  It was pretty good, very sweet.  So, a welcome change from all the spicy foods here.

This morning after breakfast we continued to work on models.  Before that, though, because Lok dai was leaving soon, we did a discussion on how everyone felt about the workshop.  As this was the first of its kind at LASANAA, it was really good to get feedback on the process, as well as the project itself.  The response was overwhelmingly positive.  In fact, I don’t think there were any major negative comments at all.  I was recording this, so along the way Ashmina would translate what was said.  It was great for me to really be involved in the process.  I also learned that I was one of a very few number of people “in the know,” as most people came to the workshop without knowing what was going to happen.

The responses were so great.  Everyone got to bond really well, which was good as everyone didn’t know each other beforehand.  Lok dai even said that through this, Piero and I became sort of ‘honorary’ Nepalis, which feels pretty cool.  Although< I guess if I’m Nepali now I should definitely learn the language better.  Also, artistically, it seemed through the comments that everyone has grown tremendously.

After that session we continued working on models, with the goal to finish them before the presentation.  For awhile I was feeling a little bored as there was just no room to work (plus I wasn’t sure exactly what they were doing with the model), but eventually I kept myself occupied by making leaves for the trees and attaching them, as well as cutting out tiles (cardboard) for the roof.  It was really enjoyable for me, and it seems like everyone else was having fun too.

Eventually the time came for presentations: one model for this location, one model for the Kathmandu location.  Both models were well-received, although the Kathmandu one got a little more criticism.  However, as Ashmina said, this is just the beginning of the process.  These models can be, and need to be, developed more over time.  In a couple of weeks Ashmina is going to invite an architect or two here to check out the model and the land available.  I’ve already decided that whenever this place opens, I will come back to Nepal to see it.

Once the presentations were finished, we went back to the small house for a small bit to eat before most people left.  After eating I was requested to dance, as during last night’s go-around I mentioned that I have been dancing for 18 years and people wanted to see it.  I did a couple of Irish pieces, which went over well.  I’m pretty sure for most everyone this was their first experience of it.  Some other people sang, a good time was had by all and then eventually people had to elave.

After they left, those of us still here went to the third floor to clean up and pack up everything.  Once that was done we went back to the small house, where Ashmina and I worked on translating/transcribing Lok dai’s comments, which were quite long (something over 8 minutes) but very interesting, as I have already referenced.  We all sat around for awhile after and I played with Aba a bit more (note: he loves water bottles).  He is just so absolutely adorable.  It’s great- he still gets a kick out of peek-a-boo, and I still get a kick out of playing it, so it works out great for everyone.  I also started singing the Shark Attack song, but only got to baby shark as he wanted to clap my hands together for me.

A little while later I went inside to help Piero cook diner- pasta and sauce.  I learned how to make real sauce, not from a jar!  I’m going to try to make some when I get home.  After dinner was pretty quiet, and now it’s just bedtime before we get up and pack to leave tomorrow.

Oh dear God it's more dal bhat

20 June 2010                      sometime after 10:00pm                              Jyamirkot

Another workshop day.  We started again by discussing yesterday’s work, which today were the interior models of everyone’s designs.  The models have been progressing very well; it was almost a shame to do what we did next.  That was, we split everyone into 3 groups and asked them to each start a model (2 for this location, one for Kathmandu).  After 2 hours, they would then switch and continue work on another group’s model.

Everyone started working in their groups, developing ideas for their collaborative models.  After awhile some people started drifting, apparently bored or something with what their group was doing.  After a couple of hours it was time for lunch, and after lunch we went back to review this morning’s work.  The overall reaction was pretty good, but things started going down when they were asked to switch models.  A lot of people didn’t understand what we were trying to do, but they seemed somewhat ok after it was explained again.  There were some others, however, that didn’t understand why we were doing it, which led me to defend my idea.  The few naysayers seemed ok (but not great) after that, but it ended up not mattering because about 10 minutes later everyone just decided to work in 2 big groups, each on a model for the different locations.

For Kathmandu, they combined the cup and saucer idea with the hand idea, so the hand comes over the top of the cup, forming the roof.  For this location, they had a very cool idea.  There are insects here similar to (or the same as?) cicadas, that make an almost overpowering noise.  As the building here will overlook the valley and everyone will be able to see it, it has to be something distinguishable and attention-grabbing.  So, they’re making a building using the shape of the insect.  I watched their model build up all day, and it looks so incredibly cool.  If this (actually both of them) gets done I’ll definitely have to come back to Nepal for their openings.

After a few more hours and a working tea ‘break’, we met up for another discussion and dinner.  After this trip, if I never see dal bhat again in my life it will still be too soon!

I don't do 6am temple

19 June 2010

Another long, exhausting day.  This morning I was woken up by Rajan at around 6 am with “Temple?  Go to temple?”  Ugh.  The Catholic Church invented noon mass for a reason- we’re not all crazy (or old) enough to go to 6am mass.  Needless to say I was not happy, but I ended up going anyway.  It was actually kind of nice to walk (it was about 20-30 minutes, by my terrible estimation and recollection), seeing as how I’ve been sitting in uncomfortable positions all week.

The temple was pretty small and not crowded, which was nice.  It was also much better to go in a large group of Nepalis rather than my usual large group of Westerners.  There was one really cool part- on the way down, the path passed through this narrow rock passage.  Mekh got some video of everyone coming out of it.  I was mostly surprised that I fit, seeing as how I’m bigger than most everyone else here.

We got some tea and crackers there, and also bought water as our water supply at the house ran out and the refill truck hadn’t come yet.  By the time we got back to the house breakfast was pretty much ready.  Unfortunately, instead of pancakes it was dal bhat.  I think when I get back to my host family I’ll beg Kaki for no dal bhat for a couple of days (as it was lunch and dinner as well today).

Finally, after everyone was fed, we went over to the big house to start the workshop again.  We started off today by going over everyone’s work from yesterday and doing critiques.  It was pretty neat to officially see everyone’s work, and also hear how ideas had changed over the night.  The one thing that everyone had failed to do was show interiors (my inner set designer cried; also because nothing was scale).  We broke from the conversation after reviewing everyone’s work to fine tune the models and show how the interior space will function.

Piero and I continued to work with Rabita on the cup and saucer idea, which is becoming much cooler by the day.  We ended up re-creating the model entirely, using something more durable than paper.  Also, Ashmina wanted us to be able to show a sort of cross-section of the interior, which would have been nearly impossible with the paper model (I say nearly because I’m sure there’s a way to do it, but I’m not going to bother to figure it out).

Along the way we took a ‘brief’ (brief for us is usually in the 1-2 hour range) lunch break and then went back to work.  Before lunch, though, we were having a little fun with our model, creating the Leaning Tower of Guggenheim (it looked like a cross between the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Guggenheim Museum), a funky lampshade hat, and watching Piero ‘drink’ out of a giant teacup (once we put the handle on).  After lunch we continued to work until around World Cup time, which still wouldn’t work.  Oh well, it will still be on when we return to the city.

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The Leaning Tower of Guggenheim!

We sat around for awhile, watching the one channel that would come in- Kantipur, which shows so many World Cup ads but not the World Cup itself.  Once the power went out, we sat around waiting for dinner.  I ended up observing a conversation about art and its politics which got summed up in translation every so often.  The power ended up coming on before dinner was served, which was a nice change.

I miss peanut butter

18 June 2010 Jyamirkot

Today was a much more relaxed workshop day. As usual we started off with pancakes for breakfast- this time with peanut butter! Until today I hadn’t realized that I even miss peanut butter. It’s just one of those small things.

As our moderator left early this morning (she had a wedding to attend), I became the recorder for this session. We started off by going over what everybody had thought of and come up with between the end of yesterday’s session and the start of today’s. There have been some really great ideas coming out so far. After everyone went around the room and shared their ideas, they were then sent off to creat models of their designs, using whatever materials they could find.

This for me was the coolest part so far, to see how people translate their thoughts, words, and drawings into a three-dimensional object. I think that was always my favorite part of scene design class as well. Up until lunch I was pretty bored, as I wasn’t really involved in this step of the process. I did, however, take a lot of pictures and videos to record the process.

After lunch, Ashmina put Piero and I to work with Rabita, to help translate her original model and idea into something that could accurately represent the space she intended to create. Due to all my training (or some may call it an anal-retentive search for understanding and control), I tried to focus more on a scale model, as I believe that they give the most accurate representation. After scene design, I can’t imagine things not in scale.

Around 4:30 we all stopped working so the projector could be set up for the World Cup- Germany vs. Serbia (Go Germany!). After about a half an hour or so, we finally got the channel. We lost it for good about 5 minutes later because some people wanted to get a better signal. In my experience (and I was certainly correct here), when you’re camping or whatever, there is no such thing as a ‘better signal.’ You suck it up and be grateful for what you have.

Our intent was to do a final review of today’s work after the game, but we figured people were pretty upset over the lack of the game and therefore wouldn’t be in the best mood to do that. Eventually the power went out anyway (I’m starting to dislike you, load-shedding) so everyone headed to the other house to wait for dinner.

I played with Aba a lot today; apparently he’s taken quite a liking to me. While we were waiting for dinner he really enjoyed making me clap my hands. Peek-a-boo is another favorite. After awhile he got tired and cranky, and climbed upon my lap because it was reflecting the light. I started rubbing his back as he was close to crying, and he promptly fell asleep. Adorable.

Art camping!

17 June 2010                                                      Jyamirkot

Today was the first day of the artist’s workshop that I am assisting with.  We arrived yesterday afternoon/early evening, getting everything set.  Suniti and I had met Ashmina at a nursery, where I continued on with Ashmina to the Ring Road, where we waited for the rest of the things to meet us.  They came in a huge truck, which we took all the way to where we are now (outside Kathmandu, I’m still not sure where).

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One of the houses where we stayed

We’re currently based out of an old house, which is quite basic (single bulbs in the rooms, and I was surprised to see them there.  There are doors and windows, but they’re pretty much just holes in the walls.  Anything can get in- I swear I saw a rat run across the room and into the attic yesterday.  Also, I’m slowly being eaten alive by mosquitoes.  Apparently it’s because I’m ‘beautiful’, according to one of the male artists here.

Anyway, the house.  I’ve been told that’s it’s very ‘traditional Nepali.’  I believe it’s made out of red clay bricks (and red clay), with a bamboo-supported, thatched roof.  It’s quite basic.  There’s two houses here.  The women are in the smaller one, and the men are in the bigger one.  That’s also where the workshop is being held, as the top floor is quite large.

The workshop today was conducted mostly in Nepali (Piero, the other American here, gave his presentation in English), but they made sure to translate the important parts.  I’m looking at it as a way to test my Nepali and hopefully learn more.  The beginning of the workshop consisted of an introduction of everyone, an introduction to the project, and Piero’s presentation on art and collaboration.  It was interesting to find out that some of the great artists of the world didn’t actually physically produce their works.  This was supposed to get the ball rolling on the collaboration process we’re doing here.

The next step was to get people’s objectives and expectations of the project.  It seemed to have gone very well.  One of Ashmina’s friends, a social architect and landscape artist, was a sort of moderator for the session, leading the participants through the process.  Next, they were asked about their feelings about what a Live Arts Hub is, and what it needs.  After that, there was a break period (a ‘thinking break’) to show or describe what a physical Live Arts Hub would look like.  Ashmina and our moderator discussed how an architect/engineer would be coming, but they didn’t have him yet.  At this point, I mentioned that in the meantime, they had a set designer.  After I finally conveyed after some confusion (‘We should have a set designer?  Yes, I agree’) that I was the set designer, I immediately got put to work drawing as well.  Luckily we didn’t have to show our drawings, because next to all these painters and artists, my drawings look even more atrocious than usual.  I’ll make myself feel better by saying that I draw in a much more practical drafting style, so anyone constructing my designs knows exactly what I mean.

The discussion of the spaces was very interesting.  Some people were still stuck in the mental, theoretical step without proposing anything physical (except for location, which wasn’t wanted anyway).  A lot of people seemed to favor an open space, which should make the first step of combining ideas easier.  Collaboration is so much easier when there is at least one common starting point.  Otherwise, it can take forever just to agree on that first step.

The next step was a little more difficult- what in the space will tell people coming in that it is ‘art’, apart from the activities going on.  As it seems that everyone is either a painter or a sculptor, they got stuck in that paradigm.  I think that way of thinking can definitely be related to politics (see, I’m working!).  They think only of their own needs, and not the needs of others that will be occupying the same space.  Hopefully over these next few days we can get them to think past that.  As someone with a different perspective, I suggested shaping the environment with lights, that could morph in pattern and color and set different moods.  I also said not to be limited in color, that they should use all colors available, as many of them were suggesting certain color schemes or patterns.  Our leaders were glad that I said it, as they had been wanting to say it themselves.  The reaction was interesting- one painter was concerned that the lights would throw off the aesthetics of paintings in the space.  I assured him that all lights are programmable, and that they could be programmed in one place to support any paintings displayed there.  Plus, I just think it would be super cool to have light coming from behind the wall as well as from ceilings/walls/usual places.

After some final thoughts on the day and a note to think about who would be visiting the space and how their designs would change, we were all sent off to dinner, right before which the lights came back on.  Hooray!