Political Bewilderment

It’s 4h30 pm and we can still hear cries of celebration here and there. As we left for our weekly Saturday breakfast, we were stopped mid-way as a large gathering of Maoists were celebrating their potential victory. The red flags, the red powder smeared on all passerbyers, and the cheers were all quite disconcerting for me.

At this point in time, it seems the Maoists are on their way to a plurality, if not a majority. Final results nationwide will take weeks… but the merriment and discontent of many have begun.

Our breakfast plans had to shift as crossing a mob is not quite our idea of a relaxing and safe Saturday… As I sipped my coffee, a flood of emotions took me by surprise. I’m scared… I don’t know how to reconcile the fact that only four years ago I lived under curfews, bombs, and general unrest because of the Maoists – deemed a terrorist group by many… and now they may be the party in power. How can one explain that the Maoist have had a landslide victory in Dang when they have caused so much havoc? Children went missing, forced conscription, deaths… I’m bewildered. How will a new group who only weeks ago were making bizarrely optimistic projections in the event of victory and thinly veiled threats should they lose run a whole nation? It will all remain to be seen…

One thing is sure – the king is toast.

p.s. Photo borrowed from Reuters - we didn't get that close!

Gasp!

Early results show the Maoists to be doing better than expected... They are leading in 40% of Kathmandu ridings, tied with Nepali Congress, the incumbents. This is surprising, since Kathmandu isn't exactly a Maoist stronghold.

Who knew?

The blue stain

We just went on a 10-minute walk to explore our neighborhood on Election Day. The roads are empty – only authorized vehicles are allowed – UN, Election Monitoring, ambulances etc… The only noise this morning was the gathering of our neighbor’s family as they all went together to vote and the cries of a variety of animals in the zoo, which are usually muffled by car horns. At the local poling posts, foreign faces with large badges are surveying. After voting, people have a blue mark on their right thumb indicating that they fulfilled their civic duty. There have been some scattered reports of problems in Western Nepal. Maoist groups took control today of some poling stations in the hopes of filtering the voters. Yesterday, one major candidate from Surkhet was assassinated, postponing the elections there for one week. National results will be streaming in for more than a week for sure – making for interesting events to come.

Election Fever

So tomorrow is the big election! Much has happened in the 12 years since the last one. A royal massacre, an insurgency, a peace process and a demoted king. But there is much hope that tomorrow will be a turning point. Once the dust has settled from the election, the royalty’s future will be decided and the Maoists will hopefully be fully politically integrated.

The run-up to the election has been a bit rough at points. A blockade of the entire south of the country (resolved by an agreement), some kidnapping, assaulting and assassination of political candidates, and a few small bombs. Not yet a Canadian-style election, but not Zimbabwe either.

Nepal’s symbology is blissfully unaware of Europe’s, so the following sign makes perfect sense here:

Hammer and sickle is, of course, the Maoist symbol, and everyone here votes by stamping a swastika next to the symbol of their favourite party.

There may be election fever, but it’s not from a hangover. Alcohol sales are banned for the week, and no cars can drive tomorrow. It’s also possible that there will be some communication cuts. But we’re not in any real danger.

The interesting time might actually be next week when the Maoists discover that they only got 20-30% of the vote, which is actually a pretty good showing in a country with oodles of parties. The problem is that the political wing has been telling the military wing that they’ll be taking power. There are even (soon to be embarrassing) posters proclaiming Prachanda as Nepal’s first, future president. Hopefully all the parties will accept the results without too much of a fuss. I mean, Jimmy Carter’s even here to make sure that the voting is on the up-and-up.

We’ll keep you posted!

fashion mistake

I know, I know… this is seriously not to my standards of fashion – especially for a Quebecoise who abhors white socks… but when you only have a 30-second trot to the gym and you can’t wear your runners… what is a girl to do? So we are settling back into Kathmandu – Clayton even convinced me to go to the gym – not quite the best idea on a semi-empty stomach except for an evening beer.

I have been postponing a blog entry, mostly since there is SO much on my mind that I don’t know where to start… maybe that explains my need for an evening beer!... so I will just keep this one to my day-to-day now.

I’m in the Qualitative analysis phase… with 25 interviews done, all in Nepali, it is keeping me busy. Clayton has written a program to cluster my codes together in Excel – he’s not only a cutie, he’s useful! I’ve listened to all the interviews, filled in the notes, and have started coding. It’s almost fun. This picture exemplifies my qualitative state!

After our travels in Western Nepal, it seems our perspective has turned slightly towards home. We miss you! We are especially sad to not be able to attend Rachel and Shayne’s wedding this Sunday. We wish you the best!

As for us, there are 6 weeks before we leave Nepal, 5 weeks before I turn the fateful 29, 4 weeks before I must produce the completed results of my research, 2 weeks till our engagement anniversary, and 1 week before the Nepal elections. And a partridge in a peartree.

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!