A Swedish onion in Nepal

Slowly peeling of the layers of comfort and habits. Softening to the fact that there wont be more electricity, light, internet time, working toasters if I resist the load shedding schedule. The power will come back when it will. Peeling yet another layer and notice without too much attachment that I now carefully walk around the edges of the ever present garbage piles that litter almost every street in the city center. Often also unconsciously find myself stepping down from the high sidewalks and walk in a zigzak motion towards the traffic. Following the natural flow of people, the odd cow, may dogs, salesmen balancing their goods on their head all slowly moving to their destination. The natural adaptation of living in a city too small for its habitants. Sidewalks often occupied or claimed by sleeping beggers, the travelling book and newspaper salesmen who everyday spread their books on large sheets of plastic only to pick the up at the end of the day and start over in their corner the next morning. Or walking around the strawberry corner near Durbar square where women display small handmade plastic cones carefullt stacked with fresh strawberries.

Seeing Nepali life from another perspective

The US-led ISAF force plans military surge in Afghanistan

Having family serving(how strange that looks in print)in the International Security Assistance Force in Mazeer-el-Sharif, this information is interesting. Primarily because it was reported in the Nepali press in a manner very unlike the Swedish media. According to Chaudhury, New Delhi, India:

The USA-led ISAF force plans to begin a military surge in Afghanistan, initially aiming at taking control, clearing and securing major urban centres and highways from the Taliban and placing the Afghan National forces gradually in charge as it prepares its exit strategy.

The article then mentions the strategic placement of many cities near the Pakistani border and the need for help from the Pakistani army to

take on and and prevent the uprooted Afghan Taliban forces crossing into safe havens within Pakistan.

And also

Islamabad has offered to use its influence over these groups(including the Haqqani group) to stop attacking the ISAF forces if the US ensures that India palys no future roll in Afghanistan.

Recent casualties in the Swedish camp and a description of the ISAF(that includes many nations)makes me wonder about the practicalities of the Swedish contingent and the future of the involvement of this neutral state, non-NATO member said to be in Afghanistan to support the peace process.

Link(In Swedish)from the medal ceremony.

A small maoist flag

The red flag with the faded black star is torn and not conspicuous enough to catch your attention unless you happen to see the sign advertising the barbershop next to it. A maoist barbeshop?

Makes me think of the cost of war.

http://www.telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=4375

Even a moustasch will not stop the mouth from eating

Going through a list of Nepali proverbs but couldn't guess this one. Was told it meant that if you really decided to do something, nothing can stop you which...I guess makes sense.

I have come to the end of my language course. Now I actually do speak a little bit Nepali. Hardly in complete sentences full of intricate ironic meaning the way I would like it but more along the line of trying to order the correct food, tell the shop owner I want a lower price or THAT English paper instead of the one I was given. Many, if not most Nepalis I come across do speak a decent level of English these days so being understood is never really an issue here in Kathmandu.

On wednesday I move out of mero ekdam ramro Newari pariwaar, my very nice Newari family that is. I will miss the thin and high house, wide enough for my bead to fit sideways and tall enough with its seven floors to see over most other houses in the area of Laagan. The open rooftop has been a refuge to just sit or do yoga or eat breakfast and just observe the daily life from another angle. When the sun comes out(which it does most days except for the Shiva Ratri festival last week when the sky literally opened and it wouldn't stop pouring for almost two days straight), lids are liften and people of all age ans sizes crawl up on the corregated roofs and a separate life is lived up there. The wash is being hung, hair is washed and dried(houses have very little central heating if any), puppies are being played with and the occasional hen or rooster walk around high up in the air minding their own business. Mostly people just seem to take a break in the sun, maybe sorting though the chilis , flowers or herbs that are often left to dry in the sun before being eaten.

After 5 weeks I now also know that many brothers, fathers, uncles or in our case, little brother and grandfather are minding and playing with the young ones. My language teacher is never far away from her baby but even a mother needs to sleep and the youngest one of our household is being coo'ed, carried, fed, sunbathed on the roof and generally just held and loved but all other family members but especially the men of the family. It is lovely to see, and I imagine just a part of life in this family as in many other Neplai families. When you marry the woman generally moves into the husbands home and become a part of the household, even if she of course still might visit her old home. Old folks homes doesn't exist I have been told, you just make room for young and old family members, regardless of age.

Learning to read the cultural landscape of Nepal

There are real fears and then there are baby fears. Real fears are those where your life might actually be in danger, or at least you are in a potentially dangerous situation. Baby fears are the ones that I confront every day here in Nepal. Fears that are related to everyday things. When you boundaries of comfort are stretched or even overstepped. Like the other day. My sweet Nepali teacher pushed me out the door and ordered me not to come back before I talked to enough people and I had 20 new words to show for it. Wouldn't take no for an answer and just told me that unless I overcame my fear of being in the(my expression)idiot-phase I would never learn to speak Nepali. For those of you who has ever studied another language you know the phase I am talking about, when you know very little useful stuff, mostly grammatical structures and a bunch of words that don't seem to string together like peacock and I am late for class.

My teacher is a smart lady and she probably sensed my hesitation so she drew a small map over the area of central Kathmandu, patted me on the back and said -go find this market and then come back with your words and the name of the god that is in the center of the bazaar.

So I grabbed my Nepaali kitaab ra kaleb ra kopi (my book with Nepali glossary, pen and pad)

and went into the street. Figured I might as well get in to it and prepared a little speeach in my head that probably sounded very similar to this, but in Nepali then

- Hallo! Howareyoumynameismariaandistudynepali.Whatisthat?

At this point I certainly have the attention of the shopkeeper who look at wnere my finger in pointing.

-Eh...bread, he says in English. But I don't give up and repeat slower "Ma Napali PaDnchuu" which if I am lucky translates to I study Nepali but if not so lucky "I fart Nepali"... Nepali people might have a good sense of humor but they are also kind enough to recognize a good try. So after getting my first word and learning that it roughly translates into "white, sliced English bread" on I go At the tailors I repeat my speech. He looks scared when I point at the suits.

-No Madam. Not for ladies! It takes a while to calm him down and find out that suit is also suit in Nepali. That figures. Cashews sounds vaguely the same but almonds are 'peanuts from the Terai', the area near the border of Nepal that I soon will be working in.

The nicest word I learn was Maya, which mean love in Nepali. Nice one.

Shiva ratri, Lhosar and Valentines day

...all in on happy holiday weekend. Shivaratri translates into "Shivas night" and took place of the last day of the Nepali winter which this year was last friday. 300,000+ people, mainly teachers and holy men, (gurus and Sadhus) and followers of God Shiva gathered then in the holy temple of Pashupati. Last wednesday it started raining and didn't finish for a day and a half and my Newari family laughed and said that this often happends when all these holy men come from all over Nepal and India for this very special holiday.

The location of Pashupathi looks, to an outsider and heathen like myself(who is not Hindu)very similar to Varanasi. Burning ghats by the holy river. Men and women waiting to die by the holy water, blessed by priests and Shiva himself with consorts. Old folks homes that you can rent while in waiting.

Lhosar I thought would be easy to describe as simply the Tibetan New Year. In is celebrated in the Tibetan community in exile and often among western buddhists. Now of course it turn out there are three (!) Lhosars. Today the 14/2, possibly named Gyalko Lhosar as it is mainly described as a religious celebrated. Soman Lhosar on the other hand is, again according to my sources a 'farmers festival', whatever that means and then there is Tamu Lhosar observed by the Gurung people roughly around out Wester new year.

To make it even more confusing, it is not exactely a Tibetan new year, but a holiday also celebrated by ethnic groups or people identifying themselves as Sherpas, Gurungs and Tamangs.

And then there is Valentines. Have a good one and go out and tell somebody you love them!

Two hours of electricity

Suddenly the PBI house in Sanepa is quite. The elctricity that has been off the whole day is now on for two full hours so all volunteers are trying to make the most out of it. Skype:ing in their rooms, watching dvd's, checking e-mails before the house goes quiet and soon dark again.

The house in Kathmandu is nice and big. Five volunteers, Kipa the dog and Iggy the puppy live here full time. The chef that that comes during the working days is not here on a sunday, nor are the other staff. The big garden is divided into a front section(where the garderner tries planting big flowers in different sized pots, my favourites are the giant big open red flowers that seem to reach out to you somehow in the bigness and colorfullness)and the back yard where we usually hang out. Here the dogs have created a sanctuary and the gardener also given up and left is to be "dogacized", probably not understanding the crazy westerners that has not only taken in two puppies from the street but actually seem to like having them around. Paying the price of not having a back yard that is growing all that much. Kind of reminds me of some friends prioriticing having their kids roam in the garden with al their toys instead of grooming the grass and admiring the flowers. Oh well, Kipa and Iggy are by now so intergated in th PBI family that the love of gardening just has to go.

It is cozy though, dos and all. And coming out of the kitchen, being attacked by the dogs expressing their love is nice. Nice big table and chairs, often friendy company, the sandbox with the improvised big tin canster to make fires on cold and dark nights. A good place to work, think, read, socialize. The tree with the yet unidentified yellow citruslooking fruits hanging over the table also makes Sweden and -29 degress below seem far away.

The house itself has four floors, and a number or balconies in different sizes. Good to do yoga on. Or just sit and observe what the neighbours are doing. This area is for the wealthier segment of Kathmandu. Embassies, NGO's, a variety of UN offices and local people all live together in these big houses surrounded by thick and high walls. Our house also has a hut for the watchman just inside the high gate, It is not used now, but our daily newspaper drop in there very day. Like a giant mailbox you have to enter.

Having slept in the puja room, a small room attached outside on a balcony separated from the rest of the house, I feel refreshed and ready to go back to my pariwaar Nepali (Newari family)for another week of studies. Only two weeks to go now before signing the contract an finally becoming a volunteer Field Officer for PBI for real.

Elephantiasis and perception of Nepali life

Povery is never pretty. It rears its ugly face in the non-existence of trained medical staff or poor medical care. Lack of knowledge about how to catch a disease or how to prevent or treat it, ignorance and superstition as well as lack of funds contributes. Often of course it seems to be an unhealthy coctail of all above that contributes to the cause of poor health and this of course is not a situation unique to Nepal.

Leaving the abstraction of 'yes of course, poor people get sick more often' for a moment, today it was reported that 25 million people in 60 districts of Nepal are in danger of catching the parasitical infection Lymphatic Filariasis(most known as elephantiasis)a disease transmitted by mosquitos. Contamination generally means your limbs swelling looking like 'elephant legs', your inner organs being damaged by the parasite and you getting tumors. The government of Nepal is now planning to launch a national campaign to eradicate this disease that is said to be the second leading cause of permanent, long-term disability among infectious diseases. The goal is, in accordance with the WHO plan to eliminate the disease by 2020.

Yes, poverty is never pretty or pictoresque. Maybe with the exception of those locally produced postcard portraying misty hills and Himalayan mountain tops with happy looking hard-working(if slighly dirty) woman, hill tribes and sherpas that are found all over the tourist areas of Nepal. I have of course sent a few of them home over the years, not being immune to the beauty of this country but still.

I do find it hard to really grasp how physically hard life is for many Nepalis. Not only in the country side and in the hill, people living 4000 meters and above in the mountains. I still(and I realize this might be a sexist observation) find it especially hard to comprehend how all these young and old women that I see working on contruction sites and on road work, stone masons et cetera can do their jobs.

And now I am not only talking physically even though many jobs require a certain amount of physical strength, many of the women I see also bring their children to the work site. The children may or may not help out carrying rocks or whatever mom is doing but then there is also family life to take care of with all that that contains from catching cold water from the well for cooking and washing in the morning(usually a job for women and children big enough to carry canisters)to all other household shores that the men usually don't do.

Many of the Nepali men that I come across of course also works hard. The list over jobs that we just don't have in my country but exist over here is long. Take the profession that always brings a smile to my face for example. Partly out of emberassment, which is probably because I could never do it myself: the mobile big carpets sales men. These guys usually have a bunch of full size carpets slung over their shoulders, making acrobatic moves as they walk with their load of mats through a crouded street full of people. Then there are all the fruit, kitchen utensils, chia(tea), plastic cups whathaveyou sales men that carry their load of wares on their heads in a big oval basket to be put on the ground on demand to show their ware. The richawdrivers. And of course the manual laborers that carry 50 kilos+ attach by a strap on the forehead,be it what it may: a desk, boxes with food, live chicken, a door...

Kopan monastery, Kathmandu

Happy saddhu

Boudhanath Tibetan buddhist stupa

Snapshot from Bhaktapur, neighboring city of Kathmandu.

"The pottery square".

And yes, it is all hand made in the most accurate translation of the word.

298 days of bandhas

A common sight in Nepal are trucks with politically motivated parties of various sizes roaming through the streets with leaflets and megaphones, declaring upcoming strikes. Sometimes proclaiming maoist national strikes which usually includes a total transport strike as well as an attempt o close down public facilities such as schools, shops et cetera.

Last year there were 298 days of strikes. In Nepali simply called Bahndas(close downs)and when I have asked what happends if they are not obeyed that answer on the street was that they might tear down your shop and beat you, or you might be abducted and kidnapped or worse.

Talking about kidnappings, leafing through the The Himalayan Times yesterday the front page news ran with 11 maoists arrested for kidnapping businessman. According to the story, Businessman Pasang Sherpa claimed that he was kidnapped on monday evening by 22 maoists that wanted to interrogate him regarding a truck carrying illegal goods that was impounded by the Revenue Investigation Unit Office and he also said that they stole Rs 3,5 Lakh which has to be considered a substantial amount of money. While he escaped and filed charges leading to the arrests, this is a pretty common piece of news. More so during the insurgency between the maoists and the state of Nepal that lasted between 1996-2006 but still present.

It might be of interest to know that the maoist combattants(to use a neutral words, guerilla or members of the PLA or Peoples Army is common among the maoists themselves or their supporters)won the election that placed them in power in the Maoist-led government that fell in may 2009. Nepal today has a 22-party(and 54 ministers the rumour says, I have to fact check this but it is possible)ruling coalition led by the so-called centrist Communist Party of Nepal(Unified-Marxist-Leninist), UML.

Someone put it well when asked about the situation in Nepal:

- Nepal is a mess!

There are the standing thorny issue of two armies of which one is the roughly 4000 maoist combattants, many of them still in the cantonement guraded and minded by the United Nations Mission to Nepal, UNMIN. Add the peace process in general, the lack of a constitution, the many minorities(both ethically, caste wise and politically) that are voicing claims to be seen, hear and understood in the context of applied self-determination.

And here I am, studying the elusive language of Nepal and learning how to haltingly speak in past tense, how to address and use the three layers of 'respectful' ways of communication- to children, to the closed ones and family and to elders and people in office, power and to whom Nepalis are taught since childhood to show linguistic respect for. Not quite in the position to answer fluently why I am here and what I think of the political situation here so for now I trot around in the irregularities of Nepali verbs and cross my fingers that I will understand more as time goes by.

Garbage strike over

For a city with that depend on their faithful garbage collectors to sweep and collect the piles of garbage that pile up in big heaps in and on the streets of Kathmandu, the garbage strike that has been in effect since January 21 has left the city stinking. Today the strike ended but the employees of Dharan municipality might still have to air out their offices after furious locals "sprinkled garbage in all the rooms" the day before yesterday.

A more serious matter of discussion today is the Maoist disruption of the Upper Karnali Hydro Project. This project is partly funded by foreign(not Nepali)money and partly built to generate power being used electricity. According to the Maoist vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, also known as "Prakash" said that the party did not instruct the local wing to obstruct the project. He said however that, "our party has raise the issue of national independence and has been saying big projects should not be initiated during the transitional period". The transitional period being the present period before the dead line in late May when the dead line for writing a Nepali constitution runs out.

The problem of electricity is a major problem, not only because it does interrupt every day life in an annoying but minor way for a passer through like myself. Not being able to charge my cell phone of watch a dvd is hardly a major problem. And there are always candles at night. It would of course be nice to have a continuous access to water but since the water pump is located under our house and dependent on electricity to pump this is not always the case. Still, I run no business that now has folded because of lack of dependable electricity. I have no fridge or freezer that can't work because it is turned off three times a day and I sit in no bank or university and swear because the so-called emergency generator doesn't generate enough power to make my daily tasks possible.

The good news, or...eh, information expressed yesterday by the State Minister for Energy Chandra Singh Bhattarai was that the power-cuts will not exceed 12 hours a day(we have 9-11 now). He also claimed that the country will be free from power cuts within 3 years and, he adds "We are going to confiscate the electricity licences taken by the water maffias and take action against them".

Hmmm...water maffia? I though the power cuts were due to not enough electricity being generated because of an unusually dry winter season(no rain and therefor no energy)or because of lack of funds for being power from India but what do I know...

Sleeping in sheds

Evening is creeping up on Kathmandu city and I am sitting in a semi-functioning Cybershop as they are called over here, pondering my aging self and the situation here in Nepal. Picking up the odd Patrika English(Nepali newspaper in English) I read of state visits from powerful states, menstruating women who die in cowsheds as they are placed there in their unclean time. Impresssions from new and old times mingle and I wonder how it is to grow up here. This time I see young girls in minishirts(ok, it happend once), tight pants and western garb that look the same as in Stockholm. I hear English spoken that is far better than mine and at the same time I walk around the lepars and other beggers on the street.

Which reminds me that I read that leprocy now is officially eradicated in Nepal, being one of the last states in the world who at the beginning of 2010 were still on the WHO's list with the disease hitting more that 1 % of the population.

I also found out that the minimum wage for a coffe shop grunt is 4600 Nepali rupees a month, which converts to roughly $70. No wonder working as a maid at the Yak & Yeti 5* hotel seems like an economic leap, being tipped hundreds of rupees just for carrying a bag for somebody.