Past the Three-Month Mark

It's been a pretty eventful three months in Nepal. I don't know what I expected, but this ain't it.

Kathmandu is not a peaceful city. It is loud and overcrowded. I am reminded of the old tale of a wise professor filling a large jar to the top with stones and asking his students if it was full. Of course they fall for it and most say yes, and then he pours in pebbles to fill all of the spaces, and asks again. About half still fall for it, and say the jar is full, and then he goes on to blow their minds by adding sand, and then finally brings it home by pouring in water.

His moral is that you can fit all kinds of things into your life, but you have to take care of the big things first because they won't fit if the little things are already in the way. All I think about when I hear this story now is the streets of Kathmandu.

Add just the cars and trucks, and Lazimpat road- the main road in my neighborhood- looks not too different from any road back home. Those are the big stones. Then you've got rickshaws, most of them motorized on this road, but sometimes rigged to bicycles. And speaking of bicycles, there are also the people who have strapped a massive bookshelf to their bicycle, and are slowly walking in down the street to some unapparent destination. Then, like the sand rushing in to fill all of the empty spaces, are the thousands of motorcycles, always weaving, cutting in, swerving, with two, three, and sometimes a family of four people riding on one bike.

Coming to the main road from my small street, I see the road as most of the students saw the jar of stones. My brain tells me that it is full. But then people push past me (politely - gotta love the Nepalese), and proceed to glide into empty spaces, timing their advances with the moving vehicles, crossing the street in a feat that looks like it belongs on some Japanese obstacle course reality show.

I'm still terrified enough of traffic that I wait for comically long periods of time to cross the street, but it is funny how my brain now sees that big jar full of stones, pebbles, sand, and water, and feels no shock. And sure enough, as I pass a goat tied to a telephone pole in this urban center, or a monkey traipsing along the electrical cables, I know that there must be some type of molecule that could be injected into that full jar to make it even fuller.

Latest news:

• I'm hiring staff for the Volunteer Nepal office..."How to conduct an interview" is now on my Favorites tab
• Steffen leaves Monday for New Zealand. He'll work for a few weeks, and then I'll fly over in March!
• Motorbike has happened. We took a road trip to Bhaktapur (UNESCO world heritage site, Newari village). We wore helmets!
• Kathmandu is in the middle of a gas, petrol, water, electricity, and cat food shortage. The power is out around 11-14 hours per day, and people sit in line all day to fill their gas tanks. The cats are in heaven because we're feeding them tuna, chicken, and the occastional Puppy Chow (which, oddly, is abundantly available).

R.I.P. Chaka

Chaka passed right before Christmas, from an unknown genetic disorder that claimed two kittens from her litter. She will be remembered for her insistence on talking while eating, and her cute tiger stripes. R.I.P. Chaka.

Still within the bounds of non-creepy cat owership?

Two is within bounds, right?



Meet Chaka. She's hungry and loud, and she doesn't take any crap from anyone. No, Chaka is not a Nepali word, it's the name of a neanderthal from a Will Farrell movie.


-Photos of Santa still to come. The Embassy club works on their own time.
-We still don't have an address - post a holiday photo or video for us on Facebook and we'll cherish it always.

Day in the life: Working in Kathmandu

It's morning in our cozy apartment in Kathmandu. The sun is just peeking over the top of the building next door, and I've been woken by the incessant bell-ringing and conch horn-blowing of a neighbor. I know that all that noise is meant to help carry their prayers to heaven, but it's a lot more intriguing of a cultural tradition when it's not the crack of dawn.

I shamble out to the kitchen, led by a frantically whining cat who knows it's time for wet food. Cats don't speak English, so I can only infer what he's trying to say from the various squeaks, purrs, and howls that he makes. At this time every morning, his sounds say:

I WILL DIE IF I DON'T GET SOME FRIGGIN WET FOOD NOOOOOOW!

I make him sweat it out while I grind beans for coffee. As a novice pet owner, I still fail to understand why wet food is so superior to dry food for little guy.

After a couple of hours of coffee, oats, and watching the news with Steffen, I pack up and take the five minute stroll from our quiet alley (I like to call it a cul-de-sac), past kids playing with trash in the street, past the Danish Embassy, past an empty lot with cows grazing in it, out to the insanity of the main road. I pick my way past beat-up taxis, trucks belching smoke, sleek UN and Embassy vehicles driven by private drivers, bicycle-drawn rickshaws, and in every square foot of free space between all of these vehicles, an endless stream of motorbikes and scooters weaving their way to the front.

I often take the micro to work. The micro is a little bus manned by a driver and a young guy hanging out the open sliding door whose job is to collect bus fare and yell at pedestrians as we fly past. I believe that most developing countries have some version of the micro - we sure did in Kazakhstan, but I'm sad to say that that one was a little more organized than its Nepali counterpart. I used to take a taxi to and from the office, but now that all of the culture shock has worn off, frankly I'd rather take the bus than haggle for a non-tourist cab fare every single morning. There was talk of hiring a car service during our time here, but with Stef working from home and me just going to the office, the poor guy would just sit there in the car all day and wait.

Anyway, so after about thirty minutes in a moderately crowded micro (Lord knows I've had worse commutes), I hop out in a neighborhood called Dhapasi Heights, and arrive at work. For the past three weeks or so, I've been training as Program Director for a small, U.S.-based nonprofit called Volunteer Nepal. For those familiar with the org structure of Peace Corps, my job is basically that of a recruiter combined with the duties of all the in-country staff, minus about 99% of the bureaucracy. Somebody's interested in volunteering, I e-mail with them for a few months of questions and advice, process their application, find them a placement, and once they're in-country I manage their financials and coordinate a small staff to get them out to whatever school, orphanage, clinic, or NGO they've chosen to volunteer at.My office shares a building with the Volunteer House, a hostel style outfit where our volunteers stay while they're not out at other, more exotic placements.

So far, I love it. It's all of my favorite jobs from the past combined. One part Chico Study Abroad, one part USAC Madrid, one part Camp Adventure, a generous portion of Peace Corps, and on some days, a sprinkle of Leatherby's and Volleyball Festival when the Volunteer House is full and buzzing with activity and things to be done. When there are volunteers in the house, my best backpacking memories flood back from the corners of the past: meeting new people, simple spaghetti dinners with cheap wine, and the excitement of exploring the unknown and opening one's eyes to a bigger world. It's nice to be in a place now where I'm making these experiences happen for other people.


Coming soon:

-It's kitten eve: The Sgaz man gets a little sister tomorrow
-Photos: Steffen played Santa Clause for a horde of Embassy brats, and only two cried. But was it enough to buy us a membership to their gym?
-How many more makeshift ornaments can our potted plant hold? [Not many]

An Ode to Indian Cable TV

Rafting on the Trisuli was a blast. It wasn't exactly as wild as the River Wild rapids or anything, but one of the French guys on our raft was easily on par with Kevin Bacon in terms of obnoxiousness (even his Hollow Man role).

Speaking of Hollow Man, yes I did just watch that film on our Indian cable. The availability of dozens of channels of Indian cable was a pleasant surprise - we didn't know our apartment came with that and it's been fun discovering the odd lineup of entertainment on that network. Last night there were four episodes of Game of Thrones, with random DVD special features thrown in between episodes. It's like they got hold of a one-season box set up at Indian cable headquarters and just hit PLAY ALL for the night.

Top 6 Indian Cable features so far:

6. Fashion TV. Fell in love with in in K-stan. 24 hour runway shows set to the most fantastic electronica.

#5. Prequels and Sequels. You'd better have already seen the original, because this movie channel only shows the before and after stories.

#4. HBO. Inaccurate subtitles and weird censoring policies, but HBO.

#3. LOUD SPORTS. It's an unreasonably loud sports network that's one channel above all the movie channels. Unless you follow cricket, its main purpose is to shock you out of your channel surfing daze and alert you to the fact that you are exiting the movie channels.

#2. Access Bollywood. Shahrukh Khan every other video + Bonus: Cartoon animals dancing Bollywood at bottom of screen.

#1. 24 hour yoga channel. Camera is fixed on a traditional Indian yogi. All. Day. Long.

As most friends probably know, I'm not a big follower of many TV programs. But you, Indian cable, are awesome.



P.S.
Unfortunately, none of the photographs the rafting guide took include the Frenchman. He was only with us on day one of the trip, and then he and his brother continued downriver to Chitwan, the area of Nepal where you can go on safari and see black rhinos and tigers and what not.





Stay tuned for: Scenes from my first day of work today - That's right, I finally got a job! This blog is now authored by the Program Director for a U.S.-based nonprofit called Volunteer Nepal. Similar structure to Peace Corps, but only in Nepal and not gov't affiliated. And now instead of being the volunteer in the field, I'm the gal in the office doing logistics and recruiting and what not. I start in an hour, so wish me luck!

Welcome to Kathmandu

Thanks to Sacha Baron Cohen, my time in Kazakhstan was peppered with Borat jokes, some hilarious and some altogether inappropriate and confusing. Just when I thought the Borat jokes were thankfully getting old, someone would mention a cockroach, or baseball, or Pam Andersen, and the can of worms would be re-opened.

Luckily, my experience in Nepal thus far has been very different, thanks to the one popular reference to Nepal that appears to have stuck in public memory - a nice, repetitive little ditty by Bob Seger titled "Kathmandu." The closest this song comes to enlightening the listener on the mystery of Nepal's allure is to clarify the first letter of the spelling of its capitol city: "K-k-k-k-k-Kathmandu." Fine by me. No wildly false stereotypes about Nepalese culture, no hidden criticism of Americans (indeed, Bob uses the rest of the lyrics to make sure the various regions of the U.S. are not offended by his desire to relocate) - just a nice, wholesome song about wanting to go to Kathmandu. Leaving you, dear friend or loved one above the age of, say, 35, but one option: You heard that Steffen and I were moving to Nepal, and after a moment the memory of that one song surfaced and you sang, "You're goin to k-k-k-k-k-Kathmandu..."

...and that was it. Unless you're one of the people who asked if we were going to try guinea pig here (I'm not going to name names, but come on people- that's South America, not South Asia). Because other than Mt. Everest, Sherpas, and possibly Maoists if you really keep up with the news, Nepal doesn't make too many headlines where I come from.

So I'll try to keep you updated as I learn things here- and I have a feeling there's going to be a lot to learn. I've only been in this small country sandwiched between India and China for almost two weeks, and I'm already confused about Buddhism and Hinduism, why we can eat water buffalo but not beef, and how so many NGOs can function and so much foreign aid can be distributed in such a tiny place. If the heavy stuff is not your cup of tea, though, don't fret- the abundance of tourism opportunities will probably outweigh the political stuff more often than not.

So sit back, relax, and re-subscribe to this blog for all the news and latest updates from Nepal. Stef and I took a two-day whitewater rafting trip this weekend and we should get the photos back from our guides soon.

Who is the crazy Frenchman smoking on the raft?
How is the Sgaz man adjusting to daily visits from the local housekeepers?
How will Steffen and I fare as the honorary Santa and Mrs. Clause at this year's expat holiday celebration?

Answers to these burning questions and more in blogs to come.

My blog is being censored!!

The time sure flies.

I got wind of a lapse in the gov't censor of blogger.com, so I thought I'd post a quick note to say that it's almost spring, I'm still here in K-stan, and things are going just fine. Steffen and I went to the UAE and were wowed by the tallest building in the world, fantastic Indian food and beautiful weather, among other things that are definitely absent here.

I resurfaced into the internet world to learn that people were getting engaged, running for congress and becoming way too successful and educated while I was gone. I'm almost ready to start the 6 month countdown until I come to America (which is pronounced here the same as the PRs do it on West Side Story: A-MAY-rica with the soft R). But in the meantime, there are a lot of things to do here.

For all of the adventure travellers/hiking enthusiasts: Get a few friends together and sign your team up for the first annual Hike For A KAZ event in the Tien Shan Mountains above Almaty, Kazakhstan. Visit one of the most off-the-beaten-track corners of the world while raising money for local charity programs that promote development in various areas. www.hike4akaz.org

I'm off to the university to meet with the IT people. We're planning a teacher training on using the internet ;)

Take care,

CB