First day of work

Today was my first day of work. Work starts at 10, and ends at 4. We have a big breakfast, and then supper. Nothing in between, which is fine for me, surprisingly. Twice through the day a very nice lady brings us sweetened tea that you must drink quickly so as not to insult her by having anything left in the cup when she comes for it a few minutes later. Today I spent talking with some of the consultants, and reviewing the interim report. Either tomorrow or the next day we go to a registry office in Kalimati, and next week to two of them in the southeast part of the country. Unfortunately they have already visited the office in Pokhara, in the Mustang region. I would love to go there. The purpose of the project is to help modernize the land records system. The current system is very outdated.

Dress is casual. The things I brought to wear are probably a little fancier than they are used to. Better that than the reverse.

The time zone they use here is 9 hours and 45 minutes ahead of us. Why the 45 minutes? To distinguish them from India. They also have their own calendar. To equate ours you subtract about 60 years from their date.

Some of the basic information you probably wanted to know:

Plumbing: the plumbing is western, and in good working order. Only thing different is that most flushes have a hose on the left side in case you’d like to use it. Shower is not hot, but warm enough.

Safety – Kathmandu is quite safe. It was the last time I was here, and is so now. There are lots of army and police types around, which I do not remember from before. I suppose they were all engaged during the troubles of the last 10 years and now have to be kept amused. They are friendly and helpful. However, the traffic is something else, and if you hear that I have died in Kathmandu, you can be pretty sure I was run over by something – a car or motorbike or rickshaw or tractor or bicycle. Yesterday I adopted the practice of not crossing the street until a local Nepali was going in the same direction and staying very close to him or her. I figured that evolution leaves only the traffic-savvy Nepalis still around to cross streets.

Water: - you have to use bottled water for even brushing your teeth, and are advised not to open your mouth in the shower (like Charlotte did). Beer is a pretty good alternative.

My accommodations: I am in an apartment in the Naxal area of Kathmandu. They mostly do not have street names in Kathmandu – just areas. So the directions to the taxi driver were “ace apartments, Naxal, near the police headquarters”. The entrance is manned by a guard, and there are several other types on staff in the lobby. Helpful to the extent they can be when I speak English and they speak mostly Nepalese. But on sunday when I wanted to walk to Thamel, one of them walked me about 10 minutes until he could point me clearly in the right direction. The lobby is spacious, bright and clean, and the apartment is as well. It is next to a Buddhist school that starts chanting at 6 in the morning, dear little kids bundled up in sweaters in a line, chanting away.

Religion: The country is officially a Hindu country, but there is a strong Buddhist component, partly because of the number of Tibetan refugees here. There are many places where the two religions share a shrine – so it is part Hindu temple and part Buddhist temple. There are many such religious places around, most of them locked now so you can only see them through metal gates. The Buddhist temples often have prayer flags flying which makes for a pretty sight. The offerings to the gods, and the chants etc indicate that religion is a very important part of the lives of these people.

Weather: It has been sunny and warm since I got here. The days are about 24 degrees, and it gets cool at night.

Oh yes - I did see a couple of cows today snoozing on the side of the road today. they seemed well fed. But no pigs. Maybe they did not survive all the fighting of the last 10 years.