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!