a twin tub

This weekend has been really clear. The Kathmandu haze seemed to lift revealing tall, snow-capped mountain peaks, which although distant, are breathtaking and tantalizing all in one go. I cant wait to get closer to them.

Other excitements involved shopping in fandabluous craft shops, going to a Nepali film festival and most exciting of all playing with my new twin-tub washing machine. Although a washing machine is more expensive than a didi (washing woman) for various reasons it seems a lot less hassle to do it myself. However spending loads of cash on a automatic washing machine seems pointless so I have the cheap skate option - A twin tub. Now I am fairly experienced in the ways of twin tubs, growing up we had one which I remember constantly flooding the utility room… and of course Ro had one in Mongolia which seemed the height of luxury every time I went up to UB. Basic principle of a twin tub involves transferring washing between 2 tubs depending on whether youre washing/rinsing/spinning.
According to the brochure my tub has the following features:
· ‘updated squelch technology’.
· ‘Beautiful design of outlook’.
The brochure also warns me that ‘clothes of puff’ must go into a washing net bag and that laundry should be able to ‘gyrate enough in the wash tub’.
What more could a girl want????

Ps Pebar the houseboy is well worth the money. The place sparkles!

A house boy...

Last night I popped round to see my landlord cum next door neighbour to give him some money... for the last week he has been pestering me about 'what on earth am I going to do about cleaning my flat?'. I had been putting him off on this one, however last night I realised that resistance was futile and that not employing the services of his 'boy' could be more hassle than its worth. So I have acquired a house boy. Which seems quite comedy to me, in the sense that I am sure I am more than capable of cleaning my flat... but never mind. Fortunately he will only appear once a week (although in saying that at 7.45am this morning he seemed to be sweeping outside my flat), apparently he will clean all the windows, floors, balcony etc etc...

Some interesting facts about the 'boy' (landlords words not mine).

• My landlord says he is 'like a son' to him. He also describes me as 'like a daughter'. Therefore in some ways perhaps my houseboy can be considered my brother?
• Pebar (the boy) is, according to the jacket he seems to live in, an 'American Ski Instructor', I shall have to be asking him for some tips on my parallel turns...
• Despite being called a 'boy', I am fairly certain he is well over 18 and that I am not engaging in the child labour market.

getting a mobile phone in Nepal

today i had to sign some forms that will enable me to get a mobile phone. The procedure was even more crazy than opening a bank account.
On the forms I had to give:
1. My fathers name
2. My paternal grandfathers name (doesnt matter that he is dead).
[i am interested to know what value these names add to the application... if you have a father or grandfather with a notorious name are you denied a mobile phone?]
3. A map of where my work place is. Dont think that i have mentioned the distinct lack of road names round here. In Cambodia even tho the roads numbers were eratic there were at least numbers... on the whole in Nepal there is nothing, people just describe the place. So i live at one end of 'sheep lane' because there are always sheep down the bottom of the lane, not because its actually called 'sheep lane'. Anyways I guess the lack of road names necesitated the inclusion of a map in my application.
4. a copy of my passport.
5. [This is the MOST comedy] 2 thumb prints!!

I await the wise decision of the mobile phone company as to whether I will be granted one.

Monday-o

Hello!

Much seems to have happened since I last blogged, and now i have been here 2 whole weeks. Time is zip-zapping by.

It was in someways a very British weekend involving a quiz at the British embassy (after leading most of the rounds we came 3rd and won a free meal at the embassy as opposed to some swanky hotel... never mind) on saturday i went to a 'garden party' where there was trampolening and croquet and scones and cream and people that looked like they had stepped right out of 'Absolutley Fabulous'... a very sureal other world of ex-patness... then went to a 'dance festival' which appeared to be fairly rubbish and very male dominated (it seems nepali women dont go to dance festivals... perhaps theyre busy cooking and cleaning as all good women should be)...

I did find time to move. So i am now installed near to the 'Jew' (zoo) and sleep to the sound of animals making random noises - although i think this originates from packs of stray dogs rather than enraged-caged animals.

When i arrived there was a minor crisis when there was no bed... and then a bed appeared with no matress... so the driver from work (not my personal driver I should add) and i went on a mission to find a matress. Seeing that saturdays are public holidays this proved to be rather hard. In the end we commissioned a man to make me a sort of wadded pad (a bit like a futon matress) i went to collect it 2 hours later and stupidly made the mistake of not measuring it in the shop and the bally man short changed me and it is all a little small for the bed... but could be worse. After buying the thing a comedy moment ensued with a small nepali man lugging the matress the 5 min to my house and me, feeling every bit the colonial master, striding out ahead... I'm not sure that it was a particulalrly comfortable experience, and i ended up carrying the matress up the stairs as I felt so guilty/lame...

When i get organised with home internet i will upload some photos of the place. Its really nice, and 'cream' (which is good as the alternative is floral dingy)... i need to acquire a few more things like a heater and a water filter and another heater for my shower and a spare bed for any guests that wish to come ...

that shall be all for now i think...

Maoists

Rush hour
Kathmandu
Traffic surging, pushing, shoving, near colliding, stalling, stopping, starting, polluting

Over the road
Large truck
Loud speakers blaring
Also surging, pushing, shoving, near colliding, stalling, stopping, starting, polluting
Red flags flapping
Must be Maoists

Yellow papers flying
Propaganda distribution
Who knows?
Squiggles are indecipherable

Close encounter with some of Bush’s terrorists?
Not exactly sure.

Thursday!

Yesterday I applied for a local bank account (with an international bank it has to be said)... on the application form I had to enter the usual details, along with my fathers name, my fathers address, and the details of the father of whoever I left the contents of my bank account to 'should I die'. I just think its interesting what a male centric society this is. At least it didnt ask for my fathers permission to open a bally bank account...

So life is toodling along and I feel quite settled even tho I havent yet managed to get out of the hotel and into my apartment near the zoo.
A lack of exersise and many curries are making me feel most rotund, but hopefully I shall acquire a bike soonsoonsoon.
I am starting to get used to wearing random 'jesus sandals' at work... where you cant wear your shoes in the office, and instead must wear sandals or slipers. I have been issued with a pair (albeit they are different sizes) of horrible black sandals... I've seen some exciting pink felt slippers with pompoms on in a shop, so perhaps i can get some of those to wear at work? slippers in the worksplace... hmmm we need duvets too perhaps...

7 days mam

This weekend I have mostly been trying to acquire some stuff for my new residence which I hope I might move to next week. The sooner the better… the titanic soundtrack (panpipes version) is driving me slightly mad in the hotel restaurant.
There is something not quite right about buying plates, and cutlery and pots and pans and a gas hob, electric heater, etc etc, when I’m only here 11months… but there isn’t really much choice, and cos I spent a fair bit of cash I am now a ‘Saleaway’ store member, with a 4% discount card… oh the thrills. Amusingly when I bought the gas hob they set it down on the floor in the shop and proceeded to switch on all the burners to prove it worked… meanwhile, other shoppers not to be deterred just stepped over it. In the process of shopping for boring things like rubbish bins I discovered some amazing huge huge bookshops (Sadie you would be exceedingly jealous)… they sell genuine (not photocopy) books at about 50% UK cost. You really can get whatever you like… novels, political commentaries, Buddhist enlightenment, cookery books… you name it I think you can get it. I also discovered the paper shops…ooooh they are very exciting, many beautiful, handmade papers. Randomly I found a ‘Hallmark Cards’ shop. Not sure if they actually sold Hallmark cards, but they do stock the tackiest range of cards ever. What else… hmmm, oh yes, have been renamed as ‘mam’ which is slightly concerting but all the Nepali’s seem to call me that. I feel like the queen. Not necessarily a good thing.

23/07/2063

Today is the 23rd of the 7th Month of 2063 +5.45hrs GMT

Sound weird?
I think so too… but this is the crazy parallel universe that is Nepal. Everyone abides by the +5.45hrs GMT bit, im starting to get used to it... however I think most people apart from those related to international organisations also follow a different dating system, and according to that today is the 23rd of the 7th Month of 2063.

Blog uno from the du of Kat-ness

So i have arrived in pollution central... or should i say Kathmandu. After 2 days, mostly spent at work I have only made a few conclusions about the place, which will probably change when i live here a bit longer... perhaps...

• Polluted (to the extent you want to cough the whole time)
• Narrow roads (1 cars width) + many many cars = non-stop traffic jam. No one can drive fast in this place. It is not possible.
• Elephants randomly add to the traffic congestion.
• There are people everywhere... often wearing little pillow case hats (men) and pretty sari type dresses (women) and orange robes, big beards and dobs of yoghurt on their foreheads (guru people)
• The government recently revoked the law which said all people on motorbikes must wear helmets. Now only the driver must wear a helmet. Makes sense??? hmmm anyways helmet use is much higher than in the bodge.
• Many things have a run down/dilapidated feel about them... there isnt the plethora of new buildings like in Phnom Penh... and even UB to a certain extent.
• There are a reasonable amount of guns, and people toting guns, and people wearing uniforms.
• I am unsure how one identifies a Maoist (do they wear red?) However hundreds of thousands of them are said to be massing here on friday, and already many people, including collegues, are being 'asked' to 'host' 10 or so maoists bussed in from the countryside for a couple of days. Hosting includes providing stuff to sleep on and food... (the Nadj, your diner table for 12 would come in handy in this situation).
• Uncertainty is everywhere. No one seems to know what will happen... will the king return? will the maoists take over? will things just pootle along like now?
• Due to power cuts and the threat of strikes forcing people to stay inside, lots of people have stashes of purified water, emergency lighting, and food...
• Transport around the country sounds tres dodgy... bus crashes, plane crashes and helicopter crashes (indeed even elephant stampeedes) seem to occur rather too frequently for my liking...
• Apparently we are sitting right in the middle of an earthquake fault line... the same line that runs through the area of Pakistan that was so devastated last year... hmmm why did i not know this before???

So, i think its an interesting place. Perhaps I have painted a negative picture, but that isnt how i see it. The bodge was sunny and easy... but this place is certainly very different, more chaotic, less predictable, less politically stable, less lexus cars (hooray), less international NGOs, less tourists, less spublic holidays... but not necesarily bad... I like the mountains surrounding the city, and i can only imagine how stunning the place is when you actually leave smog valley, the food seems good, people are very friendly... and if i am lucky i might sign a contract on a 3 bedroom flat which looks lovely jublee apart from its lack of furniture... i dont need 3 bedrooms... its just you cant seem to get appartments with less... the appartment is close to what the estate agent called the 'jew'... i was very confused, but it turns out 'jew' is a misspronounciation of zoo... lets hope the tigers dont escape.

This is more than enough from me. Time for sleep I think

Over and out
xxx

Qatar

It is 4.15am UK time and i'm sitting in Qatar airport waiting for my connection to Kathmandu.
Qatar seems very white... white buildings, white land, white bright sun in the sky. Even the people wear white clothes. My only other half-sleep-awake observation is that there are an incrediable number of cleaners given the size of the airport. I guess some might be nepalese as I understand there are a fair number of Nepalese working in the 'domestic/service' sector in this part of the world.

oh for a bed... i really am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tierd.
ramble over.