This is my Life…

This month (July) we have both been at home, as one. My treasured Alexzandra and I have been experiencing the Kathmandu Valley together and it feels amazing. Our daily life has consisted of everything from peace, pollution, street dogs, dry cleaner, candles, friendliness, honesty to nothing… Life is great…

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Late last month my friend Prabesh brought me along to an event held in GATE (Global Academy of Tourism & Hospitality Education). It was a program, which contained all types of people from travel agents, hotels, other celebrities etc. I had a great time that evening, I spoke to lots of different people. We were served drinks and snacks. The whole evening one of the Nepalese TV channels were there and filmed, and it was broadcasted the following week. I was on Nepali TV.

Since the last time I wrote I have had fresh litchi fruit from India a couple of times and it has become a new favorite fruit of mine. It’s so juicy and sweet. Hehe.

Yesterday, around lunchtime, I and my colleagues went outside of Kathmandu to a place called Sakhu, where we had been invited to the opening ceremony of the non-governmental organization PA Nepal’s new children’s home and school. It took about an hour to get there by taxi. The environment out there was really nice, peaceful and inspiring. It’s a great place for children to stay and learn. We stayed there for about two hours and got a short tour of the place by Indira Rana (chairperson of PA Nepal), met with various people, children etc. We were also served some snacks. I had a really nice time and it was nice to get outside of Kathmandu.

My Bonnie is over the ocean, my Bonnie is over the sea…

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Since the last time I wrote I have been having colds at two occasions, I got sick because of the dust. At times there is lots of dust floating around in the Kathmandu Valley.

The situation regarding fuel in the Kathmandu Valley is really bad right now and it’s getting worse. There is a huge scarcity of fuel in the valley, and many times people have to wait 6, 8, 10, 12 hours to get some fuel, if they get it at all. The fuel supply in Kathmandu is only 50% compared to the demand. I see people standing in line the whole days to get fuel. It’s a really difficult situation.

At work: I have been involved in developing proposals, I have made a visit to a home with prisoners’ children etc. I’m constantly learning new ways of looking and working with children and I try to open up my open mind as much as possible.

Road Trip 110 km outside of Kathmandu – 10-11 May
In the morning, on the 10th of May, I packed my stuff and made myself ready for a road trip together with my friends Prabesh and Aalok. We left Kathmandu around 9 am and drove in the Arniko Highway towards our destination; The Last Resort. Along the way we stopped in a few places to take photos, stretch our legs, have lunch and so on. This day I was feeling really sick, my nose was clogged and it felt like I had a fever. We arrived at The Last Resort after noon and we had a nice buffet lunch where they served continental food. I enjoy it, because having continental food is something I rarely have nowadays. The place in itself, The Last Resort, was a really nice place, located in a very scenic and peaceful surrounding. To reach the resort, we had to cross a suspension bridge hanging over the Bhote Kosi River. After resting after the lunch, then Aalok made himself ready to bungy jump. While he jumped (160 meters), I and Prabesh were taking photos and video clip. I told them both, never in my life I will do that jump. After Aalok had climbed up the hill and had his rest, then we took our car and went up to Kodari, which is the border town to Tibet (China). When I was there and saw the city of Khasa in Tibet on the other side of the border, I really wanted to go into Tibet and travel there. I received a special feeling at the time. We then returned to our resort and had drinks, before having our dinner. One of the dishes in the buffet was spaghetti with meat sauce, it was really yummy! Hehe. We had a great time in the evening, chatting, eating, drinking and spending time together. Our accommodation was a tent with one single bed and one double bed, I slept in the single one because of my sickness.
     The following morning I woke up to the sound of the river and various birds making noises as well as fresh air. It was nature, just nice. I really enjoy these times in life. We had a nice breakfast buffet this morning and after checking out we then started our journey back to Kathmandu. Along the way we stopped in a few places. On this day I was feeling better, but still with a touch of the cold. We got back to Kathmandu in the early afternoon after have been on a great road trip giving inspiration in beautiful sceneries.

Last week I was invited one evening to have dinner together with my landlord’s family and a neighboring family as well. I really enjoyed the Nepali food being served and spending time with them. That day I got many positive words in my ears from different directions, so I was happy.

This past Wednesday there was a strike in the Kathmandu Valley, because of an earlier murder of a well-known figure. This day no vehicle movement was allowed, and most stores were closed, so most people were walking around.

Postcards – Thank You all for sending me postcards.

Strolling among toys in a department store…

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At work: I have participated in the work of report writing as well as proposal writing. I have visited a Child Protection Home (Nepal Children’s Organization) in the area of Siphal in Kathmandu, which is a home for children whose parents are imprisoned. NCO is the biggest children’s organization in Nepal and was established in 1964. It was very interesting to see the home, the children and I could feel that these children are in general more secluded compared to e.g. children in “normal” orphanages I have been to before. While I think of that these children’s parents are found guilty of murder, girl trafficking, rape etc. then it becomes more clear why the children’s behaviors are the way they are. I have also visited a school, Pragati Shikasha Sadan Secondary School, which lies between my home and the office of ICRI-Nepal. I together with my colleague got a tour of the school by the Head Master and it was interesting to see and feel the atmosphere of a public school.

Post – I have received my first load of postcards as well as a music CD from a friend. It was really nice to get, Thank You all for sending it to me.

One day while I watched one of the channels on my TV it was showing a movie with Swedish subtitles and Swedish commentators interpreting the movie, I laughed when I saw it. It felt strange seeing it. I don’t know about the movie, but there were Swedish actors in it.

The past Sunday I and Aalok went to Bhaktapur (another district in the Kathmandu Valley) to do a little sightseeing. We went there by taxi and as we walked into the Durbar Square in Bhaktapur I got a feeling of something old. It was really nice to see the typical Newari architecture in the temples, buildings, houses etc. We walked around in Bhaktapur for a couple of hours. When I saw the Nyatapola Temple I was really excited, the temple is beautiful and it felt powerful. I truly enjoyed Bhaktapur as it has a much more traditional Nepali atmosphere compared to the areas where I’m usually spending my life.

This past week while on the way home I have been thinking about the street dogs, as they are inevitable. They roam around everywhere. One day while I was walking home there were three street dogs barking at me. It felt like they could attack at anytime. They made me a bit scared. I really dislike the street dogs, at the same time it’s a sad sight as their conditions are extremely poor and it’s easy to see that they suffer most of their time from various diseases as well as difficult environments. Still, I don’t like them. They’re becoming too many in the streets.

Speaking of dogs, I heard a rumor this week that Ludde is not the same as before, his color has changed. Hang in there Ludde! Haha!

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One day after the office, while I was waiting for one of my colleagues to get his flat tire fixed on his motorcycle, then I was playing with some children in the compound. They were fooling around, while I was taking photos of them, making funny facial expressions. I really enjoy these kind of short moments in my daily life, just being with people for short times, in unexpected places.

March 26 – After work all of us from the office attended a party in celebration of a colleague’s daughter’s rice feeding ceremony. The party was held in the army headquarters in Kathmandu and I had a really nice time this evening; great chats with people, great snacks and food and the environment in itself gave a really relaxed party feeling. There were more than 600 people at the party and I was there for about three hours.

A few days later, on my day off from work, I was invited to a neighbor’s house for lunch (just across the street from my home). As the sun was shining and the weather was sweet I preferred sitting in the garden with a few other people just relaxing and enjoying the delicious Nepali food and then rounding it up with ice cream. We all chatted and enjoyed ourselves, I really had a nice time at this lunch.

Two weeks ago I went out two evenings after work to spend time with some of my friends from work, one of the evenings we were four people who went to a restaurant called Zest, which had a very cozy ambiance. We chatted and laughed while having nice food and drinks.

That same week on Friday, the weather conditions really changed. All of a sudden it started falling hailstones from the sky, and when I saw the hailstones lying on the ground, then I got a feeling of winter.

Trip to Eastern Nepal (8-13 April)
On Tuesday (last week) after finishing the work in the office, my colleague Shankar and I went to take our bus to Itahari in Eastern Nepal (we were also accompanied by his uncle). The bus journey started from Kathmandu at 5 pm and the bus in itself was ok, except for the fact that I had insufficient room for my legs, which made the 11 hours and 30 minutes of traveling quite uncomfortable for me. It was only in the beginning, while we were driving just outside of the Kathmandu Valley, that I could enjoy the scenic views of the nature. Then the darkness came.

The bus arrived in Balgram at 4:30 am the following day, Wednesday (9 April), and when we got to Shankar’s family house Gyanendra (Shankar’s brother), mother and grandmother welcomed us. After ten minutes or so we went to bed, and it felt really good to sleep in a bed after sitting on that bus for so long. I only slept for a few hours, but it was enough. When I got up in the morning I chatted with Shankar’s family members, relatives, friends and neighbors. I also had a very refreshing bucket shower before having “lunch” (here in Nepal they use the term “lunch” for the meal in the morning as well). In the afternoon I, Shankar and two of his friends visited the city Itahari (which lies about 3 km east of Balgram), I felt it was a very peaceful town with a slow traffic movement made up by rickshaws, buses etc. The temperature there was much hotter than in Kathmandu, during the daytime it was +30 degrees Celsius and above. Later that same afternoon Gyanendra was showing me around in their village (Balgram). This whole day I was laughing and enjoying my time enormously. In the late afternoon I spoke with two very intelligent 15-years old boys (living in the same compound as Shankar’s home), one of the boys was using an English language that amazed me, he was talking about how “the world is dynamic”, both of the boys were really enlightened. While we were discussing, another group of people were talking to each other close by us, and according to the boys the group was chatting about “how friendly and handsome I was”. It felt nice hearing the good words about me after such a short time in the village. In the evening I was having dinner with Shankar’s family, and his mother cooked every meal with Nepali food deliciously, I really liked the food. At the dinner we were laughing and Shankar’s grandmother was laughing and happy, she also told that she already felt like I was grandson. Imagine hearing that after spending less than 14 hours in a home for the first time.

The 10th of April was a big day; it was time for the Nepalese people to vote in the Constitution Assembly election. So, in the morning when Shankar, his brother Gyanendra together with friends and relatives went to vote, then I relaxed and chatted with the same young boys I was talking with the day before. Because of the election I spent most of this day around the house, except for in the afternoon when I went along when it was time to buy vegetables in the market. In the early evening Shankar and I together with a couple of his friends went to the SOS Children’s Village, which is located in Balgram. It was interesting to see, and I got a small tour by an officer. The environment there is very child-friendly, with an enormously peaceful atmosphere. Almost all evenings after the dinner when I was in Balgram I sat outside of the house and looked at the stars, it was so nice watching the universe while being in these peaceful surroundings on earth.

The next day we were all together six people who went by bus to Bhedetar to have a view of the hills. While we were standing on the top of a viewing tower I got sand in one of my eyes, which really hurt and it stayed in my eye for one hour. Hehe, I know someone who will find this information about sand in my eye quite important while reading my diary (he has enjoyed uncountable Double Rosannas with extra onion). We continued downhill towards the city of Dharan and along the way we visited a couple of Hindu temples. Dharan is a city with a lot of green vegetation around itself, to me Dharan was more beautiful than Itahari. This whole day’s trip was really nice and I enjoyed seeing different views the whole time.

The following morning Shankar’s brother Gyanendra took me by rickshaw to the school where he works and gave me a tour of it. When we got back it was time to get ready for a motorcycle trip towards east. Just before 11 am Shankar, I and his two friends started our journey as Shankar and I was supposed to deliver a condolence letter to a family in a village about 85 km east of Balgram. We did a few short stops along the way, we stopped at a lake, tea gardens etc. The ride there took about two hours, and the whole time the nature kept on changing and many of the parts, which we passed by was very beautiful. After delivering our condolence we started our journey back towards Balgram. We stopped in the city of Damak and had lunch, the motorcycle I was on also had a flat tire there, which we had to get repaired. Our two motorcycles kept on riding and after some time, our other bike got a nail in its rear tire, so once again a flat tire. Although we had flat tires, it was a great trip. That evening the lightning and thunder started and it was followed by a forceful rain and stormy weather. I got a bit chilly, but I like coolness while sleeping.

Yesterday was my last day in Eastern Nepal, it was also the first day of the Nepali New Year (2065). I got up as the sun was rising, had my tea and inhaled the fresh countryside air. I packed my things and made myself ready, as I was taken to Biratnagar for a short tour of the city, before getting dropped at the airport. I flew from Biratnagar to Kathmandu with Buddha Air, and it was very comfortable traveling between these two cities in less than an hour. I got home to my apartment around 5 pm and when I look back at my five days in the Eastern Terai than I’m not only grateful and happy that I got the chance to be welcomed into a great family, but also that I got see a completely different environment compared to the one I’m used to here in Kathmandu.

Today is a holiday and tomorrow our work will resume.

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