Jan 23
Nepal is a direct neighbour to India. I atually think we are only a few hours bus ride to the Indian border and the city of Darjeeling (like the tea!). Nepal gets bombarded with Indian media, because the Indians are so dang good at producing movies, music and entertaining reality shows. Nepal just hasn’t seemed to have been able to jump on that form of production wagon. There are power cuts for about 16 hours a day, so the times that the power is on AND the tv has a signal are precious times indeed. These 2-3 hours a week when this momentous occasion happenes, nepali people are sure to be found sat infront of the tv set.
Some shows that blow my mind are “bajhle naachle” a singing variety show that showcases traditional and popular dance performances. Indian Idol, just like American idol. And “dancing queen” witch takes popular “serial and soap” stars and turns them into “dancing queens”. Other than those shows we love watching the “zoom” tv channel. Its sort of like “star tv” in Canada. And has the latest music videos, with the words for each song scrolled along the bottom, like karaoke!
So much of bolly wood movie culture seeps into every day. It would be hard to imagine an equilivant culture in Canada. People blast the newest film songs from their cell phone radios, car radios, shop radios and even sing along out loud. All the kids in my class know all the songs to a Movie , before it has even reached the theatres!! Bollywood stars are like omnipresent gods. They are everywhere and endorse almost any thing. Every day you will see Salman khan, Akshieh Kumar and Katrina Kapoor staring gown at you from whirlpool , pepsi and soap billboards. It is absolutely mad. But cool at the same time.
You can buy copies of almost any movie before or as soon as it hits theatres. Most working people buy dvds from their corner stand for about 30 rupees each. The quality is hit and miss, but almost all dvd sellers will take back a “dud”. Its also popular to buy DVD’s of the top film songs. You can buy all the latest sound tracks with about 100 songs on each DVD for about 50 rupees.
Last night was Satyndra and Jarina’s wedding anniversary and we all went to see a thriller called “raaz”. The movie was dead scary and any one that knows me , knows I cant take scary movies. I was tossing and turning all night and I had the craziest dreams. But regardless of that this thriller had the most amazing sound track! I could never imagine “The Saw” with a killer sound track. But this movie had great songs.
It feels like India is like America, and Nepal is like a small Canada. But what is cool is that Nepal has some crazy bite! The country has banned the block buster “Chandi Chowk to China” because a scene in the movie states that the Buddha was born in India. Nepal is really pissed and refuses to have the movie shown in Nepal, because the Buddha was born in Nepal.
Way to stick it to em!!
But I sort of really want to see the movie any ways because I already know all the songs and dances from watching the Indian “Zoom star channel”
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Poo smells, power-cuts(load shedding) and Cuisine
If you have a weak stomach for grime and nasty smells, im pretty sure Katmandu will either cure you of your ailment, or make you take the 1st plane out of the city. Katmandu is not a clean or pretty city. Its charm is found in the food and every day scenes you witness; People cooking outside, washing clothes, kids playing in temple grounds, girls carrying big bronze pots of water from the well, sari shops, momo stands, cows crossing busy down town intersections with ease, the massive Himalaya mountain range that frames the whole Katmandu valley. These scenes are the true beauty of the city. But along with all this beauty are mounds and I mean mounds of trash, rats, dogs with boobies, spit every where, dust dirt, open air butcher shops, smoked boar heads on display, dog poo and tons of other stuff that will make you want to loose your lunch.
Getting used to the environment of Katmandu- patan takes time, and for many travelers, Kathmandu is just a point of entry and then they are off to the more scenic parts of the country. Parts like the grasslands of the Terrai region, the mountain treks of the Himalaya Range, the stupas and temples of Bodnath and Pashupatinath or the retreat of the lake side town of Pohkhara.
But our position has us situated in the temple town of Patan, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. We are currently teaching some amazing kiddies at the Kumbeshwar Technical school. The school is run by the Khadgi Family, and it helps provide primary education and technical work skills for underprivileged children. As well the School has onsite workshops that train young men and women to produce goods such as knit wear, carpets and wood furniture.
We are working with the primary school kids, during their winter vacation break time. Shivaan and I have set up a sort of extra-help workshop for the weaker students, so that they can better understand the concepts of math and English for when the return back to class in February. More posts will be dedicated to these crazy little rascals.
After classes, me and Shiv have been exploring Patan and doing what we do best- EAT!! We have found a few staple restaurants and many prospective eateries. Our game plan is that we start our walk towards a restaurant that is tried and true.
Tried and true; a restaurant that has continually served us good food that has not made us sick in any way.
So, on our way to a tried and true restaurant we make mental, and some times physical notes of restaurants that have regular clientele, and a clean atmosphere. If it loks good we stop into the restaurant and ask to see the menu. The host usually tries to get us to sit down right away and order. Im sure in his/her mind they are thinking “YES a foreigner, I hope they order my tandoori chicken platter!!!” but really me and shiv are not the best typical foreigner customer, because we spend and eat like regular nepali customers.
“chips chilli, samosa chat and 1 milk tea please!!!” ( that’s a typical lunch order for us)
Shiv usually does the polite decline when the host wants us to stay for a meal. His line has gotten to be his signature catch phrase actually. He always says “what time do you close?” When inside his head hes really thinking “im not interested, im backing away from your establishment”. Shiv is too polite. I am certain he gets that trait from Thati.
But back to our restaurant adventures. Shiv has taken me to some amazing places he had frequented during his 6 weeks here. As well he has taken me to some places that he had been dying to go to but didn’t want to go there with out me.
Here is a run down of some of the tried and true restaurants we have encountered in down town Katmandu and Patan.
1) Momo Shop near Kumbeswar Mandir- This tasty hole in the wall (literally) provides a plate of succulent Momos in a spicy ginger-chili broth for 25 rupees!
2) Curry house in New Baneshwor- This is a little restaurant that serves all sorts of curry dishes, and flat breads from a tandoori oven. Their *dal-bhat hungry man combo, as me and shiv like to call it, has all you can eat rice, dal, achar (pickle) and curry vegetables for 60 rupees. and The staff have gotten to know Shiv and I quite well, so they can usually describe most dishes on the menu with one word. Alu, good, spicy, meat, dal… and so forth.
Cultural side note: Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to spill an entire bowl of dal (Lentil soup) on myself. The next day a pigieon pooped on my head. Seriously! Shiv said it was good luck for a pigieon to poop on your head, but has any one out there heard similar fables to go along with dal???
3) Really good resturant on Kumaripati with a sign we cant read (yet!) I Love this restaurant. The whole menu is in English, but we’ve never seen any other foreigners in the place. The serve the best alu tikkis, pakoras, *chowmein (50 rupees) and chole bathura. The staff are really nice and they really go all out on plate presentation.
4) Evergreen Rooftop Restaurant on Pulchowk- This place is like an oasis, in a jungle of filth. Its really pretty and has a roof top dining patio. The curry’s are really weak. But their “chips chilli” (60 rupees) and pakoras are to die for.
5) Amol Resturant near Patan gate- A straight up gem! We frequent this place more than we would like to admit. Their samosas and jelebi (jeli) are always fresh and huge, they make the most amazing dish imaginable, *“Raj Kanchuri Chat”(60 rupees). Me and shiv think this dish is the brain child of an amazing chef and a high preist. It is that good. It is a circular shell of pastry, filled with raita, curry sauce, saag sauce, cilantro, channa, apple slices, pomegranate seeds and other types of small fried pastry. It is amazing. I think a picture is nessary to communicate its greatness.
Getting used to the environment of Katmandu- patan takes time, and for many travelers, Kathmandu is just a point of entry and then they are off to the more scenic parts of the country. Parts like the grasslands of the Terrai region, the mountain treks of the Himalaya Range, the stupas and temples of Bodnath and Pashupatinath or the retreat of the lake side town of Pohkhara.
But our position has us situated in the temple town of Patan, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. We are currently teaching some amazing kiddies at the Kumbeshwar Technical school. The school is run by the Khadgi Family, and it helps provide primary education and technical work skills for underprivileged children. As well the School has onsite workshops that train young men and women to produce goods such as knit wear, carpets and wood furniture.
We are working with the primary school kids, during their winter vacation break time. Shivaan and I have set up a sort of extra-help workshop for the weaker students, so that they can better understand the concepts of math and English for when the return back to class in February. More posts will be dedicated to these crazy little rascals.
After classes, me and Shiv have been exploring Patan and doing what we do best- EAT!! We have found a few staple restaurants and many prospective eateries. Our game plan is that we start our walk towards a restaurant that is tried and true.
Tried and true; a restaurant that has continually served us good food that has not made us sick in any way.
So, on our way to a tried and true restaurant we make mental, and some times physical notes of restaurants that have regular clientele, and a clean atmosphere. If it loks good we stop into the restaurant and ask to see the menu. The host usually tries to get us to sit down right away and order. Im sure in his/her mind they are thinking “YES a foreigner, I hope they order my tandoori chicken platter!!!” but really me and shiv are not the best typical foreigner customer, because we spend and eat like regular nepali customers.
“chips chilli, samosa chat and 1 milk tea please!!!” ( that’s a typical lunch order for us)
Shiv usually does the polite decline when the host wants us to stay for a meal. His line has gotten to be his signature catch phrase actually. He always says “what time do you close?” When inside his head hes really thinking “im not interested, im backing away from your establishment”. Shiv is too polite. I am certain he gets that trait from Thati.
But back to our restaurant adventures. Shiv has taken me to some amazing places he had frequented during his 6 weeks here. As well he has taken me to some places that he had been dying to go to but didn’t want to go there with out me.
Here is a run down of some of the tried and true restaurants we have encountered in down town Katmandu and Patan.
1) Momo Shop near Kumbeswar Mandir- This tasty hole in the wall (literally) provides a plate of succulent Momos in a spicy ginger-chili broth for 25 rupees!
2) Curry house in New Baneshwor- This is a little restaurant that serves all sorts of curry dishes, and flat breads from a tandoori oven. Their *dal-bhat hungry man combo, as me and shiv like to call it, has all you can eat rice, dal, achar (pickle) and curry vegetables for 60 rupees. and The staff have gotten to know Shiv and I quite well, so they can usually describe most dishes on the menu with one word. Alu, good, spicy, meat, dal… and so forth.
Cultural side note: Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to spill an entire bowl of dal (Lentil soup) on myself. The next day a pigieon pooped on my head. Seriously! Shiv said it was good luck for a pigieon to poop on your head, but has any one out there heard similar fables to go along with dal???
3) Really good resturant on Kumaripati with a sign we cant read (yet!) I Love this restaurant. The whole menu is in English, but we’ve never seen any other foreigners in the place. The serve the best alu tikkis, pakoras, *chowmein (50 rupees) and chole bathura. The staff are really nice and they really go all out on plate presentation.
4) Evergreen Rooftop Restaurant on Pulchowk- This place is like an oasis, in a jungle of filth. Its really pretty and has a roof top dining patio. The curry’s are really weak. But their “chips chilli” (60 rupees) and pakoras are to die for.
5) Amol Resturant near Patan gate- A straight up gem! We frequent this place more than we would like to admit. Their samosas and jelebi (jeli) are always fresh and huge, they make the most amazing dish imaginable, *“Raj Kanchuri Chat”(60 rupees). Me and shiv think this dish is the brain child of an amazing chef and a high preist. It is that good. It is a circular shell of pastry, filled with raita, curry sauce, saag sauce, cilantro, channa, apple slices, pomegranate seeds and other types of small fried pastry. It is amazing. I think a picture is nessary to communicate its greatness.
The Re-unite-ification
dec 27th.
Strangely enough, with the restrictions of 9-11 and all the air transport checks that are supposed to be done on luggage, I don’t even recall my suitcase being weighed or opened at Edmonton international, or at Kathmandu international. Any ways… a nice little nepali man helped me find my luggage. I must have looked terribly worried because he came up to me and asked me if I had found my luggage yet. One thing I have noticed during my time in Nepal is Nepalese people are quite reserved and often don’t speak to you, unless you speak to them 1st.
So after I described my luggage, he jumped onto the baggage carousel and disappeared into the baggage dungeons behind the wall. A few mintutes later he emerged with my two suitcases, still intact with my rainbow gay pride suitcase seatbelt strapped around them. YAH!!! The man then proceeded to whisk me through the security gates and the baggage opening check point area. Sweet! I was through the tough part, now I just had to find Shiv.
As I turned the corner and made my way down the ramp to the arrivals area. I was shocked to find a wall of what looked like hundreds of smiling and screaming brown faces. Every one waititng or yelling out to their loved ones. And through all the chaos infront of me I was able to pick out one smiling brown face in particular. My husband.
He looked almost exactly the same. Black motorcyle greaser jacket, buddy holly glasses and his big smile. Suddenly Nepal didn’t seem so lonely, because I had my team member here in Nepal with me.
The car park was nuts, full of dusty, dusty people, armed police in military fatigues, small cute cars and to my surprise- TATA’s. Tata is Indias first mass produced consumer car, and it was every where. Satyndra (shiv’s friend from Kumbeshwar Technical School) had come to meet me and my luggage and take us back to his house. The drive from the airport to Sat’s house was crazy, no real lines on the road, so dusty, cars every where, tons of motor cycles, people, people every where, brick building housing little shops and businesses of all sorts. It was the sort of scene that would put the mind and body into shock.
I was just glad the city didn’t smell like poo.
Little did I know….
Strangely enough, with the restrictions of 9-11 and all the air transport checks that are supposed to be done on luggage, I don’t even recall my suitcase being weighed or opened at Edmonton international, or at Kathmandu international. Any ways… a nice little nepali man helped me find my luggage. I must have looked terribly worried because he came up to me and asked me if I had found my luggage yet. One thing I have noticed during my time in Nepal is Nepalese people are quite reserved and often don’t speak to you, unless you speak to them 1st.
So after I described my luggage, he jumped onto the baggage carousel and disappeared into the baggage dungeons behind the wall. A few mintutes later he emerged with my two suitcases, still intact with my rainbow gay pride suitcase seatbelt strapped around them. YAH!!! The man then proceeded to whisk me through the security gates and the baggage opening check point area. Sweet! I was through the tough part, now I just had to find Shiv.
As I turned the corner and made my way down the ramp to the arrivals area. I was shocked to find a wall of what looked like hundreds of smiling and screaming brown faces. Every one waititng or yelling out to their loved ones. And through all the chaos infront of me I was able to pick out one smiling brown face in particular. My husband.
He looked almost exactly the same. Black motorcyle greaser jacket, buddy holly glasses and his big smile. Suddenly Nepal didn’t seem so lonely, because I had my team member here in Nepal with me.
The car park was nuts, full of dusty, dusty people, armed police in military fatigues, small cute cars and to my surprise- TATA’s. Tata is Indias first mass produced consumer car, and it was every where. Satyndra (shiv’s friend from Kumbeshwar Technical School) had come to meet me and my luggage and take us back to his house. The drive from the airport to Sat’s house was crazy, no real lines on the road, so dusty, cars every where, tons of motor cycles, people, people every where, brick building housing little shops and businesses of all sorts. It was the sort of scene that would put the mind and body into shock.
I was just glad the city didn’t smell like poo.
Little did I know….
Monday, January 5, 2009
what have i gotten my self into....
when you start the decnt in to kathmandu intl airport. the feeling that goes through your gut and mind is 'what the hell have I hotten myself into". even before you touch down on the runway, the views from the airplane window, make you feel as if you are in sort of altenate universe. The himalayas poke up through the clouds, and make the cloud tops seem solid. The himalayas look like hug mountains from ABOVE cloud level, and are still amazingly massive from ground level.
The whole experience was wildly disorientating. But! to top it all off. There were little villages speckled all over the green mountain tops. All of this clearly visible (yet unbeleivable) right outside my plane window.
As i got closer to the ground, i started to see dusty dusty villages, separated by more dusty small roads and alley ways. Being the useless westerner that I am, I dont know exactly what kinds of housing I was expecting to see. But the 3-6 story brick villages that infested the whole Kathmandu valley shocked me proper. I couldn't beleive what I was seeing, and only a double pane glass separated me from a sights that even a national geopgrphic write up on Nepal couln't have prepared me for.
The plane touched down and i did a sient small clap to thank the pilots for getting me all the way from edmonton to Kathmandu, and then it hit me. shiv is probably only 100 meters away from my seat in this very plane. Then my heart started beating really fast. I wonder If he is here. i wonder if my bags are in nepal. I hope I have enough clean underwear to last me till my bags show up. What if I get scammed at customs.... Al off these crazy thoughts filled my mind untill i got to the baggage pick up area, and my bags we'rent there
i hate the 3rd world!!! there are few thing more frustrating than not being able to find your bags, not being able to communicate that you cnt find your bags.And then seeing peoples half torn apart luggae come barreling off the converyer belt. Parcels only held together with rope and tape, or luggage duck taped shut with hand written deliviery instructio taped on to the outside, complete with cell phone and contact information.
And i thought, some one probably just stole my suitcase, and is selling all the content some where in a market. I bet these suitcases made it to nepal, because you can atually see the inside contents, from the outside.
The whole experience was wildly disorientating. But! to top it all off. There were little villages speckled all over the green mountain tops. All of this clearly visible (yet unbeleivable) right outside my plane window.
As i got closer to the ground, i started to see dusty dusty villages, separated by more dusty small roads and alley ways. Being the useless westerner that I am, I dont know exactly what kinds of housing I was expecting to see. But the 3-6 story brick villages that infested the whole Kathmandu valley shocked me proper. I couldn't beleive what I was seeing, and only a double pane glass separated me from a sights that even a national geopgrphic write up on Nepal couln't have prepared me for.
The plane touched down and i did a sient small clap to thank the pilots for getting me all the way from edmonton to Kathmandu, and then it hit me. shiv is probably only 100 meters away from my seat in this very plane. Then my heart started beating really fast. I wonder If he is here. i wonder if my bags are in nepal. I hope I have enough clean underwear to last me till my bags show up. What if I get scammed at customs.... Al off these crazy thoughts filled my mind untill i got to the baggage pick up area, and my bags we'rent there
i hate the 3rd world!!! there are few thing more frustrating than not being able to find your bags, not being able to communicate that you cnt find your bags.And then seeing peoples half torn apart luggae come barreling off the converyer belt. Parcels only held together with rope and tape, or luggage duck taped shut with hand written deliviery instructio taped on to the outside, complete with cell phone and contact information.
And i thought, some one probably just stole my suitcase, and is selling all the content some where in a market. I bet these suitcases made it to nepal, because you can atually see the inside contents, from the outside.
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