So this blog entry is a full week late. Not late like you were actually waiting for it or its past any particular deadline, but I haven’t had the mental capacity at the end of the day to write anything. I’ve been really enjoying my time getting back into meeting lots of people and interviewing them on the topic that I’ve selected for this summer (which may turn into bigger work? Who knows…). So far I’ve had about 7 meetings and have another 6 or so scheduled for next week. (In 8 months I did 30 interviews in Argentina. Here in Nepal I’m rivaling that. Now I just have to sit and analyze all of it!!) Its interesting to get everyone’s opinion on the topic of individual rights and freedoms and the role of the citizen in the democracy. I need to sit and look at all that I’ve collected so that I can understand all I’ve heard more, but so far I’m really excited to just have had the opportunities to sit and talk with each of person and am looking forward to doing more.
In order to write this, I’ve left my house at 9:30am. I thought that I’d head to Pilgrims bookstore because I heard they were having a sale. No go. They’re closed until who knows what hour. So where else? The restaurant for today’s meetings is probably closed still -- and going there would mean that I would have to cross the main road… which unless I REALLY REALLY have to, I 100% do not feel like doing. So I went to The Bakery Café up near Pulchowk because I know that they have wifi and it’s a nice place to sit and read and write. Nope. Closed until 11. At this point its about 10am. I’ve already walked up the hill on the main road from Kupendole to Polchowk. Which means nothing to you… or really to me for that matter. Its all along one street (avenue?) and takes about 20 minutes to walk up if you walk at the pace that I walk. So yea. No meaning really.
So then I thought ok…. Now what? I walked to another café that while it looked 100% closed - as in no one was there yet and the people were just getting the displays together, I walked in with a big smile and said “OPEN?!” and they smiled so I took that as a yes. The barman however was not in yet, so I had to wait to get my bottle of water. So I sat down and turned on the fan - got the password for the wifi and basically forced them open. Sorry about that guys. But I couldn’t take it anymore! You had your gate up and a nice smile so I ran with it.
And thank goodness I did because I ended up with a meeting that I can just make before our weekly IFP meeting! I’m very excited about that! So thank you nice men that I forced to open earlier than you wanted. You have helped me a great deal in my research and I’ll remember you fondly for it. (Its casa Toscana near Polchowk - on the road that’s not the one with Vespers or New Orleans… the other one… yea. My direction giving skills were bad, and have gotten worse…). On a side note, I was meant to come here -- they’re playing Simon and Garfukel’s “Cecilia” on the speakers. Thank you once again for opening and for welcoming me in such a nice way!
For full disclosure, I started this blog in the café this morning and am now in the offices of the Nepali Times after an interview. So that’s kind of AWESOME. I’m blogging in a place where news happens J I’m a total news junkie and find this AWESOME! (Right. Others are reading this and this may lower my credibility as a serious student…)
--> note that I’m now editing this three days later than when I started writing this on Sunday…. Just you know, since I’m going for full transparency. My paper is on accountability and transparency (in the general sense) so I feel that I should uphold this in the blog too.
SO, the post I was working on and thinking about since last week:
“little truths”
(1) “Little Truths” is a comedy show on tv - don’t know the nepali name…- which is more or less a variety show with lots of short sketches and some of the same characters that show up in different sections. Again my descriptions are bad - apologies to one and all. But last week I was watching it with my host family, their daughter, son-in-law and 4 year old granddaughter. I don’t mind watching things I don’t understand, just watching is good for me. But I was glad when Uncle translated one of the sketches for me:
One man is looking up at the sky. Another man sees him, looks up and looks at the man. And then joins him in looking up at the sky. Then a third does the same, and then doesn’t see anything so asks what they’re looking for. The second guy says, I don’t know, I saw him looking. The first says he’s waiting for the constitution to fall from the sky.
This is interesting in and of itself because the fact that the constitution is made into a joke for prime time consumption is fantastic! Not fantastic that its being made fun of - but that its in the common discussion and part of the discussion which takes place on TV which then takes place around the dining room table - maybe (not in my house from what I can tell, but others maybe?) The other interesting part to this joke is the fact that the punch line is that the constitution will magically appear. From what I’ve understood, this is pretty much what everyone - even those writing the document itself - are waiting for. One hopes this is just the perception, but there are questions as to the political will of those involved.
(2) On one of our tours of the city during orientation we were told that the monsoon would start on June 17. This was based on folklore and other traditions. So far since then it hasn’t rained much. It did however, actually pour for the first time on June 17. The little truths of common understanding and wisdom prevail! Then of course as I said it didn’t rain. The other day was the big festival for Machindranath. There’s a whole long story with this that I don’t know well enough in the least to do it justice. However, this is essentially a chariot (I think two chariots?) that are made here near where I’m living in Patan and then make a circle around the many little streets of the neighborhood and end in the main rotary in Jawlakel. Every 12 years these chariots make a much larger trek to much further outside of Kathmandu into a far off district. At the end of the festival a bejeweled vest is shown to the crowd (again, I’ll have to find the story behind this) and the President (it used to be the King) acknowledges the showing of the vest. The dates for the making of this large chariot and the procession are of course decided upon based on astrological calendars and alignments. Its said that when this festival is completed, the monsoon will really start. This festival was delayed for one month because of these astrological signs. But once more, on the evening after the festival completed, it rained just as it had on June 17. With all the force in the world. Again, as after June 17, it hasn’t rained again since that evening. But no one said that it would rain every day or night, just directly after one or the other event.
(3) 4 year olds make the best teachers - especially if you’re learning a new language. While David Sedaris is right, and I am relatively angry with little kids that get things easier in terms of learning language - its nice when a child takes time to teach you too. Sometimes though I’m apparently a frustrating student and when I don’t understand a word, Samiya just says it louder. Apparently THAT is a universal way of communicating. They don’t understand you - say it louder. Or throw your hands in the air and grab a book to go over the alphabet and numbers with the person who is much too incompetent to understand what you’ve been trying so desperately to get across. (I also had an interesting question brought to me by Samiya. She wondered if I was white because I drank a lot of milk when I was younger. Not wanting to undo any parenting that had been done, I said that yes I did drink a lot of milk when I was young, but I was always this color…..)
(4) That you will have adventures in eating is a universal truth for traveling. But one would expect that these are adventures in eating strange foods or something you wouldn’t normally eat at home. However, here that has turned out not to be the case. Here, Katie and I have gone to one café a number of times - so much so that we’re regulars and while they don’t immediately bring us an iced tea when we arrive, they put the mosquito repellent at our usual table. Just like being at home! One day we were hungry and decided to go for salads - I thought I’d try the Hawaiian salad and Katie the Chef’s salad. I had asked what was in the Hawaiian and gotten a response that was confusing to both me and our waiter. But I ordered it anyway - I mean, why not? So the salads came. They were the same salad. In every way that it mattered they were the same - I have photos to prove this. The waiter saw our confusion and stood there. Waiting. “We ordered different salads.” “Yes, different.” “No, they are same same.” “No.” Points at Katie’s and says, “Cheese.” Points at mine and says, “No cheese.” Oooh. Ok. Not entirely the same salad. We both stand completely corrected. In another visit we ordered the vegetable basket. I made the mistake of inquiring if they were “fresh“, as opposed to “raw.“ We were told they were vegetables, yes fresh, in a basket with some sauce. We got, well exactly that but in a form that can only be described as complete creativity on behalf of the chef. They were puff pastry like baskets (one biters) with vegetables chopped in a sort of béchamel sauce. Well done. The vegetables were indeed fresh. Thank you. Another time I wanted french fries, and Katie wanted the greek salad. Turns out that the greek salad is what we thought the vegetable basket would be - a plate of raw vegetables. And I decided to take a chance and get cheese fries. Which turned out to be fried cheese.
Well done Jazzabel. I appreciate the surprise that you give me each time I order. Keep it coming - but please could we maybe strike a deal where you’re cheaper if I’m a regular customer, or if I’m confused about what it is that you’ve brought me?
(5) Since starting this post I’ve also made a number of observances that I’ll just list as things that made me go, “Ah ha!”:
- There’s a large billboard advertising for entrance into the British Gorkah Army. Ah ha….
- Today I took a tempo with a woman hanging off the back. Not surprising that there was someone riding standing and hanging on, but strange because it was a woman and there was also plenty of room for her (plenty being that a portion of another body fit inside comfortably enough). AND there was a woman driver! That surprised me more. And then, Ah ha! The driver was the daughter of the woman hanging off the back - and at one point the daughter (my guess) got tired of driving and maneuvering and asked for her mom to take over. She was hanging off the back to enter the front quicker! Ah ha! Also, Ah ha! is that when Priyanka and I knocked on the ceiling to get out, she didn’t stop until she reached a more appropriate stop. Women drivers are much more law abiding! Ah ha! Fascinating!
- There is a jew in Jamsikhiel (where I live)! No, I know that I’m here and Katie too. But there’s another! AND HE PLAYS KLEZMER MUSIC WITHIN ONE INCH OF HIS LIFE STARTING AT 7AM! Ah ha…. And then uuugh, thank you?
- In walking from a meeting to the main road to catch a bus back home, I was almost hit by a motorbike. No, that’s not Ah ha. That’s normal and furthers my annoyance with generally walking around, BUT what was Ah ha! Was that this motorbike had a GPS that was telling the driver to “Turn left at the next intersection.” No, my Nepali is not all of a sudden amazing, IT WAS IN ENGLISH! AND the driver heeded the GPS instructions! For you motorbike that almost hit me, I’m ok with that general lack of paying attention to me. I’ll let that go just for that excitement that you gave me!
- The best of all is an ad that I hope to sometime get translated. However, to my untrained eye and extremely limited (to none) understanding of Nepali there is an ad that I enjoy greatly that just recently started appearing on TV during half-time in the World Cup games. Its an ad which ends with a seal from one of the Nepali ministries that promotes the idea of businesses to give out receipts to their clients! Something about “bikas” (development) being said often in the ad makes me think that they’re saying something to the effect of, “If you don’t give out receipts how can we develop? Because without these simple pieces of paper how can we be accountable to each other. And if we can’t be accountable to each other in situations like this, how can we expect our government to do so?” Yea. That’s 100% what it says. Ah ha!
I’ll end this long (LONG) post with the following song: “Won’t be fooled again” by The Who and the following explanation from Pete Townshend on his reasoning for the song. I’ve been thinking about it a lot in the Nepali context and it’s been stuck in my head for weeks now…
“Townshend stated in 2006 that: "It is not precisely a song that decries revolution - it suggests that we will indeed fight in the streets - but that revolution, like all action can have results we cannot predict. Don't expect to see what you expect to see. Expect nothing and you might gain everything. The song was meant to let politicians and revolutionaries alike know that what lay in the centre of my life was not for sale, and could not be co-opted into any obvious cause. [...] From 1971 - when I wrote Won't Get Fooled Again - to 1985, there was a transition in me from refusal to be co-opted by activists, to a refusal to be judged by people I found jaded and compliant in Thatcher's Britain." -- from wikipedia (apologies… but it was exactly what I was looking for) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won%27t_Get_Fooled_Again
These lyrics and most of the interviews that I’ve had could basically be interchanged. Everyone is saying the same thing - the leaders are all the same; the constitution will be new but what will it change; with all the political changes that have occurred, what really is different? Not much. People are just hoping they won’t be fooled again. (sorry for the direct play on words… but its exactly that, so it works too well not to use.)
We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Won't Get Fooled Again
No, no I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya
There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-by
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
No comments:
Post a Comment