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.