OUR 1ST MONTH IN KATHMANDU - LAURA

Hi!

We have finally moved into our apartment!

The whole process of moving in and buying some of the stuff we needed, it has been an interesting experience.

The sense of “quality” doesn’t seem to exist in Nepal. We have moved into a new apartment but the person who painted the walls also left numerous drops all over the floors and tiles, several tiles are already chipped, the kitchen top is scratch… and the owner doesn’t seem to be bothered about it. The washing machine we bought came with some scratches and the mattress with a bit of dirt and a little hole, all probably caused when they delivered the goods to the apartment…
At the beginning I got a bit crossed but now we see it as a way of life and we just try to get the less damaged product we can find.

You can find a lot in Nepal… well, in Kathmandu. So we cannot complain. We have even installed Internet at home (not a very quick one, but hey! it’s there!!). Here again, at the moment of installing it, they just pull a cable from the nearest pole of the street and directly into the house, attached with a nod to a water tube.

We have started cooking at home, although just a little bit since there are 2 cafes with good food and quite cheap right by the corner. Actually, I don’t think we can eat cheaper at home if we see what these places charge, but it is nice to be at home and to cook simple things. And we have managed to find some ham, cheese, sausages… we will try them today.

We have started going to the gym, just 1 minute away from our place: it will hopefully keep our bodies and minds healthy.

We suffer electric power cuts about 3 hours a day. It is quit disturbing for businesses that don’t have generators - specially the small ones.
The various strikes continue: against some Maoists actions, against the non-actions from the government… and this is really disturbing the country since everything stops.

Simon is working very hard at his organization – nothing unusual for Simon. He enjoys it a lot even though sometimes he finds frustrating the way work is being done (… or not done).
We visited a Dalit village near by Kathmandu to see two projects a couple of ladies implemented: quit interesting. Simon will explain this in more detail later on.

While Simon is at work, I am currently aiming to have the apartment 100% ready before we start our Nepali training in April. And it seems that VSO should offer me a placement in May, after the language training. That will be nice.

That’s all for now. Laura

HAPPY HOLI !!

Today (Saturday 3rd March) is Holi, a Nepali festival when everyone throws small bags of water at each other! We have no clue why but it looks like great fun – at least from the relative safety of our hotel balcony (where we are staying put for the day!).

We’re very quickly getting used to the chaos of Kathmandu and beginning to appreciate the really very tough conditions many people live under here. While being successful in limiting the powers of the monarch, the Maoist led rebellion over the last decade has led to a huge shift in population to the centre and a consequential overload on services and livelihoods.

Disadvantage really is “right in your face” here with many people reduced to scavenging through waste bins for scraps of food – which we perhaps naively hope is to feed their animals.

So it’s great to see at least one day when at least most people can forget their problems and have a water fight!!

Good news, we’ve found a very nice apartment to rent in a quiet street just a minute’s walk from the British Embassy and a couple of minutes from one of the two Western standard gyms in Kathmandu. The apartment (ground floor) is in a new block of three and in the garden of the owners’ house. Actually only the first and second floors are complete (or nearly) and third floor will be added some time in the future. Now we’re busy buying furniture and curtains and will hopefully move in (and out of our suit cases!) on the 10th March.

Immediately after we move in we’re going on a week long “field trip” with Simon’s VSO placement organisation (the Dalit Welfare Organisation) to really get an understanding of life in the Dalit communities.

Then it’s back to Kathmandu for our month of language lessons and then getting stuck into work full time – although Simon has already spent quite some time at the DWO offices getting a handover from the volunteer he is replacing. For Laura, we’re quite confident that VSO will find her a placement by May and if not, then there are so many other NGO opportunities here there should be no problem in finding work.

Anyway enough for now. Our next blog entry will hopefully include some pictures of our field trip and our apartment !!

Simon

NEWS FROM LAURA

Hi!!

It has been over 2 weeks since we’ve arrived in Kathmandu and little by little we are getting used to it: its sounds, cleanliness (or lack of it), people, food, traffic…

When we arrived, we went to the guesthouse that VSO’s volunteers use. Our only reference of this place was not a real good one, but we were gladly surprised – quite clean, big room, hot water most of the days, balcony, friendly staff and close to restaurants. We can even see some of the snowed Himalaya Mountains from its rooftop on clear days.

The noise of Kathmandu’s life wakes us up very early each morning: dogs barking, garbage being collected, a man singing, motorbikes and cars beeping… Right by the guesthouse, a little shed covers some cows and sheep (with three cute just-born sheep). Vegetables and meat are being sold on street counters (sheep heads included): this might be one of the reasons why we have become semi-vegetarians.

The apartment that we will rent is in a Nepali residential area with many restaurants and shops and not far from the tourist Thamel area.
Since the building is not complete yet, we will not enjoy the solar water heating (very common in Nepal) and the rooftop views over the city. However, we think we have our hot water supply more or less guaranteed (if electricity works) with the “water heater” they have installed in the bathroom and with their own well - water supply is not necessarily available throughout the year (specially during the dry season) nor heating through the solar panels (no sun means no hot water) nor electricity (we have already had scheduled power cuts due to lack of rain).

Our furniture will be made out of bamboo, and we will hopefully have a washing machine: a luxury item for most of Nepalis.

We are looking forward to the trip to the South of Nepal, in the Terai, although VSO will only allow us to go if there is no major conflict in the area. Currently, Nepal suffers lots of strikes (“bandas”) against the government, paralyzing some parts of the countries, specially the South, leaving people and goods with no means of transportation.

That’s all for my part. Laura.