Visit to the Old City

Ah Kathmandu .. I like this place. Had a great day yesterday meeting with some of Faruq's friends who work in journalism training here in Nepal. There are many things we can learn from these people.

And I also talked to another friend of his about people who have to leave Nepal to find work abroad, and some of the challenges that they face. I learned a whole lot about how families work over here, and the roles of men and the roles of women. Which are very well defined.

One of the things that is awkward for me is how to answer the question "are you married". And then I say "my marriage is ended", then they ask "do you have children" and they look at me expectantly as if to say "why not?" Then they develop this look as if to say "you poor thing". Makes me realize that the "childless by choice" concept is pretty unique to the Western world. Reminds me of a story another former Canadian friend told me about .. he was travelling in Central America and the question of his not having children came up (this was an exchange between two men). When my former friend replied no, he was asked "are you an egotist?". He was, and is, but that's another story.

Had my first experience buying lunch for myself yesterday and it was quite an adventure. Faruq was off to a meeting so I hung out in an area called Patan City (which is so close to Kathmandu that it's almost part of Kathmandu. A lot of organizations in the development sector live there). It's a very, very old city with all kinds of temples and palaces and street vendors who are selling their wares.

I went into a nice little cafe called "The Third World Cafe" and had a lovely bowl of carrot soup while listening to the temple bells (which I recorded). I got up to pay and handed them 500 Indian Rupees, which I was told is acceptable currency in Nepal. Not at this place. So the cafe owner, who spoke very little English, took me, who speaks no Nepali, door to door until we found a money changer that would change the money. A lesson learned ... don't always believe what you're told.

This afternoon I am catching up on emails. Faruq's computer is on Ottawa time and the time reads 4:56 am. So you're not even up yet. The time is easy to figure from here. Just add 14 hours -- change 4:56 am to 4:56 pm and subtract 2 hours and voila, it's 2:57 here.

I'll try to upload some pictures.