Expat Life in Kathamndu

In the days after my field visit I have had quite the life (excluding the no electricity and water fiasco, but hey at least I can drink beer…). As previously mentioned I moved to a new house which is beautiful and in a nice neighborhood. We do still shower out of buckets and do our dishes on the balcony (its the closest working tap), but regardless i am really happy with the new place. Anyway...I have met a lot of people who live in Nepal for various reasons, and have found out that the social scene is relatively small and you are bound to run into the same people wherever you go. For instance, last week I went to a cheese ‘party’ in a small farm outside of Kathmandu where my colleagues from university also ended up in. To be honest I didn’t even know it was supposed to be a party. I thought I was going to a stinky barn where a Nepali farmer would give me a the tour, let me milk a cow, and then sell me some creamy delicious cheese at a low cost. Turned out that the farm was owned by a French guy, who lives in a beautiful self-built cottage and the ‘tour’ I was imagining ended up being a party celebrating spring, with plenty of drinking, smoking, and food. The crowd included expats from prestigious organizations, local bar owners and rock stars, and people like me, who are clearly neither. It was a nice surprise and I ate and drank my heart out until my body decided to rebel and get a cold. So yes….I again spent 2 days in bed recovering from my ongoing health ailment. This is getting old, seriously!

Thats it for expat life.... I am currently taking a break from the office and enjoying a mini vacation in Pokhara for 5 days. This is the second biggest city which sits on a lake and is the beginning of the Annapurna range and all its trails. Its beautiful, quiet and relaxing in contrast to Kathmandu, and its wonerful to take a little break from the fumes. As far as work, I don’t have a field visit till the end of April, and NGOs in Kathmandu are ignoring me so I hope I have better luck tracking down people to interview after my vacation.

(In the picture you can see Bea, my Spanish roommate, enjoying the festivities)