Friday, July 18, 2014

July 19, 2014: This is what the future looks like.

Welcome to Nepal, the Himalayan home and birthplace of Buddha. The year is 2071. Seriously. Nepal doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar, but something else. A British (Australian?) expat I met in a restaurant said that means I'm actually 82 years old in Nepal, but I prefer to look at it as a trip to the future, where I'm still 25 and have been granted a rare opportunity to glimpse the future. So what does the future look like, you ask? Hopefully, after six months here I will be able to answer that question.

As yet another attempt to quench my thirst for adventure, I've started a six-month fellowship in Nepal to fulfill a requirement for my master's degree in public health and nutrition. I'll be spending most of my time in Kathmandu working in an office and getting a taste of the expat-in-a-developing-country life, and spending a few weeks in the "field," visiting research sites in the rural areas of Nepal. I'm here with two classmates from school and living in a very nice, expensive (by Kathmandu standards) apartment in the expat/NGO district of Kathmandu. I may not be getting a truly "Nepali" experience here because I am not doing a home stay or throwing myself into the culture here, but in a way, the expat culture is as fascinating to me as the local culture, and I am excited to experience both.

Since arriving in Nepal, I have spent a couple weeks getting settled in Kathmandu and about a week in the field observing household surveys in rural communities and meeting with some local NGOs. I've been here almost a month, but I have put off writing this because I wanted to get a feel for the place before I started making judgments/cracking jokes. Nepal is so much different from anywhere I have been before that I have a hard time explaining what it's like to friends and family back home. When visiting other places in the past, I parsed out the most obvious cultural differences between the new place and my home in the U.S., but in Nepal there are so many differences that I don't know where to begin. So I'll start with some observed similarities instead.

  1. People here smile a lot. Unlike in France, smiling at strangers is acceptable and welcomed. This has come in very handy when trying to communicate with Nepali people. I have only mastered a few words of Nepali so far, so it's nice to be able to express my gratitude, excitement, happiness, etc. with a nice big smile. The Nepali people seem to be rather shy and reserved, and very soft spoken, but in a friendly way. They are also very hospitable and offer delicious masala tea (with lots of milk and sugar) to guests. The day doesn't begin without masala tea, and no meeting or gathering is complete without it.
  2. The hospitality here deserves its own bullet point. Last week I visited a small village in the terai region (the plains near the Indian border) and met with a group of women who are participating in a program supported by an INGO. We expected to simply visit the community and observe the women's meeting, maybe get a tour of their vegetable gardens. Instead, when we climbed out of our jeep, we were greeted by a line of beautiful smiling women holding flower wreaths and bouquets for us. As we approached, they adorned us with flowers and streaked our foreheads with red stuff (still haven't figured out what that is). They had us sit in chairs in front of a porch/stage under an awning. As guests of honor, we lit twelve candles to begin the meeting and sat down, shocked and grinning ear to ear, as the women began to sing us a welcome song. The whole event involved numerous speeches by the women, translated through our guide, and finished with another song and dancing (which we were pulled into). At the end, they served us a light "snack" of beaten rice, yogurt, and cooked gourd. The welcome we received from this women's group was unexpected but wonderful, and gave me hope that international development programs can be successful.
  3. Like in the U.S., people drive cars here. That's about where the similarity ends, though. They drive on the left side of the road (still not used to that). This, in addition to the lack of stoplights, road signs, road lines (in many places), and road rules, makes a ride in a car or a walk down the street a harrowing, yet exhilarating, experience. It took a few days to learn how to cross the street in Kathmandu. At first, I thought the local Nepali wading through the sea of motorcycles, smoke-belching buses, taxis, and people were crazy, but I've since learned that the cars don't go that fast and generally stop instead of running people over. Sidewalks are also suggestions, and it is often easier to walk in the road because of the rubble/trash/dogs/people blocking sidewalks. I'm also amazed that people know where they are going, because there are very few road signs and none of the buildings have numbers. Directions are given by referring to landmarks, and because there are so many buildings crowded together, I usually don't see the landmarks and end up (temporarily) lost. Because of the crazy traffic and poor environmental regulations, the air pollution in Kathmandu is horrible. Someone told me it is the second worst city in the world for air pollution, and I believe it. Luckily, now that the monsoon rains have started the air is cleared in the mornings and breathing is somewhat easier.
  4. Similar to the United States, there is actually a variety of foods available here, at least in Kathmandu. Because it's so cheap to eat out, we've been eating lunch and dinner mostly in restaurants in Kathmandu. In addition to traditional Nepali food (which is delicious) there is a surprisingly good selection of Chinese, Indian, "Continental" (American-ish?) and other types of food. What's most surprising is that the same restaurant often serves all of these foods, and they all taste good. Usually restaurants that try to make food from a different nationality seem to not quite get it, but in Nepal they seem to be good at cooking everything. I haven't had a bad-tasting meal yet, except for the ones I've tried to make myself. Brownie sundaes are also a common dessert option, so I may go on a quest to find the most American-like brownie here.

    In the terai, there is much less variety. The traditional food is "daal bhat," a dish of rice, lentil soup, and cooked vegetables (usually okra, potatoes, and squash). The daal bhat is delicious, and filling. We ate it for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner while in the field. Breakfast itself is often just masala tea in the early morning, followed by an early lunch of daal bhat.

Welp, that's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for more insights on language barriers, transportation, and bowel movements.

*A note on the title of this blog: I'm not actually at the top of the world, I'm a few thousand feet below it. But since foreigners trekking in the Himalayas and climbing Mt. Everest contribute significantly to Nepal's economy, there are many "Top of the World" references here. I like to sit in a café called "Top of the World" and write. I was going to post this from that café today, but, being Saturday, the café is closed. (Saturday is the "weekend" in Nepal). Instead, I am writing from Café Soma. But "Musings from Café Soma" doesn't sound as cool as "Musings from the Top of the World."

2 comments:

  1. Erin--
    Glad to hear the people are so hospitable and the food is so tasty! Sounds like a great adventure. Stay on top of the world.
    Aunt cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erin! This makes me grin. I'm so happy for you and the adventure that you're having! Soak it all in, the good days and the bad. Sending you so much love!!!!

    - Devin

    ReplyDelete