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.
Showing posts with label Maitikhan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maitikhan. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
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?).
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?).
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.
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.
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