Now sitting in a hotel room in Kathmandu have a much better understanding of why things move slowly in Nepal, and gaining more patience by the hour. Am here to extend my tourist visa - which was quite easy and quick with an additional 'contribution' payment. In fact I think it only took 20 minutes instead of 1 or 2 days! Yep - so I'm guilty of contributing to the corruption cycle, but happy with the personal result!
Trying to gain a Non-Tourist visa as well which is a long and involved process with no less than 6 Govt Departments involved in the decision making...so am not holding my breath. Having said that, its amazing what the right contact can achieve for you, so am hopeful of a positive outcome now. Which means I'll be able to stay in Nepal and work - at the school and do voluntary work with Jun-Tara in Ilam and Habitat for Humanity Nepal. Let's see...
What an amazing week its been though.
1. School principal arrived at my door with 2 beautiful cane chairs and a huge cupboard fm down on the Terai. It took 6 strong young men to carry it up the 3 flights of stairs to my room - and very quickly too!
2. Met most of the neighbours the next day - all wondering what was happening
3. Found 2 young women using my bathroom - and just 'lost' it! I'm sure they have no concept of privacy & were even using the toilet paper to adjust their makeup! So they got the rounds of the kitchen. I have a sneaking suspicion that they still use the handbasin (that's not lockable) when they know I'm not at home... Privacy in Nepal is hard to maintain at times.
4. First week of full-time teaching which takes some getting used to - for both me and the students (Classes 1 to 5) The younger students are having a problem with my accent I think, so am hoping to overcome that quite quickly & have them speaking with an Aust accent by the end of the year.
5. Chalk dust isn't the best thing for the complexion or black clothing!!
6. Another wonderful surprise - personal delivery of a fridge without prior notice by a gorgeous man!! The first purchase? Beer of course!!! and chocolate... It'll make an amazing difference to day to day activities & save about 2 hours a day for shopping and cooking! Sooo grateful to him and of course ...the surprise was overwhelming.
7. Unexpected trip to Kathmandu and back to the dusty, noisy, smelly, hot, chaotic, crazy atmosphere here, but a fabulous warm welcome by Bijesh and the hotel staff.
8. Experiencing Nepal Govt bureaucracy first hand requires MUCH patience.
Personal appearance at 3 or 4 Govt Depts is required to gain approval for my Non-tourist visa. At today's 1:1 meeting, eleven other people came and went and met with the same person at the same time..so am wondering what tomorrow's experience will be.
9. Surprisingly small amount of shopping happening while I've been here... THAT's a worry...!!
10. Walking home in the dark and rain last night and felt quite happy and relaxed. Walking in the rain is one of the best things in life I reckon.
11. Hotel room has the best (and most powerful) hot shower I've experienced in Nepal - and am loving it! There are water restrictions here in Kathmandu and the whole of Nepal so am trying not to waste the precious liquid. Difficult concept knowing the amount of snow and number of rivers here, but most of the rivers are dry right now and crying out for a good inflow.
Sensory overload again...
and missing Ilam like crazy.
Hopefully it won't be too many days before I'm back there and appreciating the clean air, tranquility and beautiful landscape even more.
