Ghorahi Impressions

So we're back from Ghorahi (and in Catherine-Anne's case, one month away from Kathmandu), only a little worse for wear. Last Sunday, I flew out to Nepalgunj to meet my cutie after 3 full weeks apart. It was a fantastic contrast to spend the next 168 hours being no more than 10 meters away from each other.

Now we're back at work, though both a bit under the weather. I've got a bad case of sialolithiasis of the Wharton's duct, which translates into a painful, asymmetrical, chipmunk-like bulge every time I eat, or even think of, tasty foods. Fun.

But our time in Ghorahi was really special for me. It was my big chance to see where Catherine-Anne lived and worked for a year. After hearing about her adventures since we first met, actually going there was like seeing the movie after reading the book: different than you had imagined, and with incidental music. We toured the hospital, met the family that she is close to, ate lots of dal-bhat, and had a really good time.

Having seen the hospital, I have a better sense of how hard the conditions were under which Catherine-Anne had to work. Basic supply shortages, grungy wards, and some truly shiftless employees mixed in with the staff. We also toured the Displaced People's camps where Catherine-Anne taught basic hygiene to the kids using games, stories and creative puzzles. It was nice to see people from all over town warmly welcoming her three years later and remembering what she did for them.

We're also in the process of reevaluating our post-Nepal travel plans. We had planned to go to India from May 15-25, but recently clued in to the fact that the temperature in the north will go as high as 52°C. So that part of our trip will be canceled, and we're still figuring out whether to go straight home, stay a few days longer here, or stop somewhere else.

On a bright note, Carol Scovil is visiting us for the weekend! It's really nice to hear more about her adventures in Pokhara, and to see a friend from our 'other' life. Tonight is a dinner out at Red Dingo, a local Aussie restaurant which cooks a mean steak.

Coming Home...

Kathmandu welcomed us back with its pestilent air yesterday night – you can really feel the difference when coming from being away for a month in the field! Many blog entries will probably be written about our last week together in Ghorahi – oh… reunions are ‘magical’!... We are ok – getting past some nasty bugs and downright exhaustion. We'll be in touch soon.

My Nepali shamed by a two-year old

His name is Unique. He’s the cutest thing and wrapped me around his little finger with his requests to have me come back to see him and calling me ‘aunty’ all the time. I met Unique at Geeta’s place where I spent last night.

A nursing friend of mine, she lives away from the building madness of Ghorahi… with the cowshed beside her home, the water pipe 5 minutes away, and her wonderful family who are always so welcoming. We had a girly evening – talking about men and her wedding planned for in a couple of months – the identity of the suitor is not set… but people are looking for a suitable match all around the country. We watched part of a Hindi soap-opera (the main plot is how the darker-skinned older sister can’t get married because everyone wants to marry the fair-skinned sister – insightful to say the least!), reminisced about when I was here and painted our nails. We ate on the roof with the stars displaying their best lights… it was a taste of peace.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the best sleep – hard wooden bed without a mattress didn’t quite do. I awoke with my hipbones telling me it was enough! An afternoon nap was in order today as I’m starting yet another cold. Finished my paper for the University, and will try to send it off… but internet has been shut off in Ghorahi for the last 24 hours.

Since my paper took longer than expected, I must hurry for work tomorrow and Friday.
Did I mention that I may be a chaperone this weekend for the first meeting between a potential bride and groom? Someone has suggested a match for my friend and since she is fatherless and of low caste… I will be lending her my ‘foreign power’ as we meet the in-laws and the young man on Saturday in Nepal... It is sure to be interesting... and I'm completely out of my depths for this one!

Complexities of coming home

I cannot even describe how I'm feeling right now - it's overwhelming... to be back in Ghorahi is a real shock... to see people I love and hear good news, but also tragic news. Three years of absence takes its toll on many lives. To smell the hospital again... to be recognized as the 'one' who made the burn patients' ward... to see that things haven't really changed... and to feel as I walked in the ward that something just came to a close. I had this weird feeling of closure about the hospital, a bewilderment that I spent a year struggling to do something, and happy that I'm no longer in that position.

At the same time, things have changed. Internet cafes have sprung up here and there, new buildings are ALL OVER! and baby procreation continues... but then again, pasta and toilet paper are still not available in Ghorahi!

Another realization is that I was right: Kathmandu is not Nepal. I'm feeling the first pangs of cultural shock in my own semi-home - the freedom that people have to comment on 'how much I've lost my Nepali!', or on how my skin reacts to the sun... or else my weight! Thank goodness they all say I look the same, because that would have the end of me if everyone started calling me fat... Everyone though is conspiring to make me gain a few pounds, made solely of rice and lentils!

I'm also struggling with relationships - people believing that I'm here for them alone... friends in need but in very complex situations that I cannot fully comprehend... my every action is significant and I must be slow to act... At this point, I realize I must stop, pray and reflect as to what my role is... Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

This week will include many dhalbhat meals - morning and evening... work on my interviews during the day... prenatal lessons with my 15 year-old 'sister-in-law' as I call her... chai tea throughout... and lots of missing Clayton. When I pick him up in Nepalgunj on Sunday, I won't let him out of my sight!

I'm going to assassinate the dog next door

Who woke me up early this morning (and every morning) with incessant barking. I couldn't sleep until after 3am, and my trip to the local pharmacy yesterday to buy sleeping pills ended with my purchase of Alprazolam after I vetoed the first suggestion of Valium. Once google informed me that I was, in fact, in possession of Xanax, I decided to take my chances on sleep the natural way.

Anyway, the dog. I'm going away tomorrow to Bangladesh, so perhaps I shouldn't bother. But I couldn't help contemplating my modus operandi:

Theobromine: ingredient in chocolate, fatal to dogs. 10 kg dog. LD50 = 300mg/kg => 3g of theobromine. Quality dark chocolate contains 10g/kg. 300 grams of chocolate needed. 3 chocolate bars = 120*3 Nrp = $6 CDN = peace&quiet

I miss Catherine-Anne.

Speaking of whom, her homecoming to Ghorahi hasn't been exactly as she imagined. It's been pretty hard, actually. The family that she was close to isn't doing so well. A mother with depression, a son who has a pregnant 15-year-old wife, and not enough money for food for days at a time. Not good...

But I just spoke with my cutie at length. Nice to hear her voice. 8 days to go.

P.S. I've decided that I can't kill a dog after all. They're too cute and I'm too nice.

18 out of well... more than 24!

Greetings from beautiful Surkhet - a Hills district in Mid-Western Nepal. Many interviews have been done - out in beautiful green communities with difficult roads to master and uncertain foods! Yesterday, I even passed by a Maoist emcampment - a place where the fighting Maoist have been placed to do... well... nothing... but they get a compensation and they don't take up their arms. It was weird to be in a community with people walking around in Maoist gear! How a country can change in 4 years!

Interviews - well we've been doing about three a day - some feel good, some feel bad, some feel useless. Sometimes, I wonder whether I will be able to deal with all the material collected in Nepali! Headaches are a daily challenge and being misunderstood is a frequent frustration. Today, Indu is off outside of Surkhet, while I'm doing some alone - at least three. Two are already done and they went ok. (YEAH!) Every night, I'm frantically typing up the interview notes... I have a one day lag which I will catch up on today...

As soon as I arrived in Surkhet, I called Shirley and we almost ran to meet each other in the middle of the bazar. She spent lots of time with me in Ghorahi, I went to see her in England when she turned 50, and she is the OBS surgeon that travels all over Nepal making women smile with healthy babies and healthy uteruses... (or lack thereof - the removal of a 'fallen' uterus is a common procedure - I won't go into the details!).. We chatted a bit and we have plans for a sunset seat and dinner tomorrow night.

The plan for the next few days is as follows - another interview or two today - notes writing and editing - tomorrow, another 3 interviews and then the car and my colleague head back to Nepalgunj. I will stay for a bit to finish off the notes and then head back on my own to Nepalgunj. After at least another 3 interviews there, I will visit some NFHP field work and then head to GHORAHI! Unfortunately, it won't be all fun and games - before Clayton meets me, I need to write a paper for U of T, and finish all my notes while listening to over 18 hours of interviews.

Beware: mushiness ahead!

Albeit being in the west is a needed break from Kathmandu, having Clayton sicky and not within arms length is hard. Yesterday, after jumping off the land-rover feeling somewhat nauseated and exhausted, I went to the nearby phone shop and called Clayton. A little booth with a window was my simil-privacy... I was at my wits end and wanted to cuddle up to Clayton and have a good cry - well, all the people in the shop could see me talk to Clayton and since I was visible, everyone stared... the WHOLE time... I tried to turn and make myself less visible... but then the observers reshuffled to get a better view... ARGH! After 20 minutes, it was just too much. A Carlsberg beer was quickly ordered and I drank it ALONE on the roof of the hotel! I miss my love and I'm counting the days. At least, with the pace of our interviews, I'm starting to sleep even without him... insomnia followed me around at first... but now I can't have the luxury of insomnia!

Being sort of single

So with Catherine-Anne away for 3 weeks, my lifestyle has undergone some substantial changes. If I were in Toronto, of course, I'd be a busy beaver: dancing, seeing friends and attending quirky yet hip events. But, since I'm in Kathmandu with only one real friend in the city, things are a touch different.

High points

• Playing soccer today at the highly guarded (and car-bomb proof) American Club and then going out for pints afterwards
• Increasing my billable hours by 30%
• Going to the gym every day (I vil be hyuuge!)
• Actually doing some reading outside of the bathroom

Low points

• Monday night: being sick, cold and alone in a dark house without electricity
• Having mild insomnia for 3 nights in a row
• Not having Catherine-Anne to talk to! I end up talking to myself as I wander around.

15 more days to go. But the last 7 will be easier, as I'll be in Dhaka, Bagladesh for a UBS conference. And working lots and lots. Then off to Ghorahi to see where C-A lived for a year!

Eight interviews out of 24!

On Sunday morning, Clayton and I went to eat out at Red Dingo for breakfast. A foreigner we know told us that in Nepal, you should avoid any place that started with a B. or ended with a -gunj... well here I am in Nepalgunj, and heading to Biretnagar in Surkhet district within a few days! I would disagree with him though, since the Terai feels so much more familiar to me than the bustling life in Kathmandu.

Calls to prayer give a certain rhythm to daily life here in Nepalgunj. The Muslim population accounts for a significant portion of the city and mosques air their chanting calls throughout the day. I've come to call Clayton before bed when I hear the calls, not that I need a reminder to think of him. The prospect of three weeks without my love is honestly daunting! I'm having a hard time sleeping without him - which hopefully will end... caus' man do I need my sleep!

I arrived on Sunday afternoon and started interviewing private health providers (PHP) about their management of childhood illnesses at 7 am on Monday. We've had the privilege of having access to a land-rover to our travels here and there throughout the countryside. Yesterday, I thought the land-rover would topple due to the condition of the roads - bumpidy-bump all the way! We interviewed PHP in relatively remote areas where they dispense from mud huts... Fascinating...

Interviewing in Nepali is more than a challenge... it's exhausting and inefficient. I've recorded the interviews and will need to revisit them at length... lots of work is ahead of me...

Saturday, I'm heading up to Chinchu - a little town between Nepalgunj and Surkhet. We will stay there for 1-2 nights to do interviews, then up to Surkhet. Following that, back to Nepalgunj to finish off what is missing. A third of our interviews is already done!

I'm presently staying at an INF-friend's place. She's away and she has generously let me stay... it's a real blessing to have access to filtered water, to a phone to call Clayton every day, and a mosquito net. My old friends, the geckos, are there to haunt me though!

Much love to all! And hopefully Clayton will edit this today!!!! (he did...)