Body, why don't you love me?

So, I got sick. It was bound to happen. Two days ago I was sitting in a fabric store in the middle of the city when I started feeling sick. It came on suddenly, one moment I was sitting there, feeling fine. and the next moment I was running to the bathroom to vomit (sorry for being so explicit, but one has to be here. bowel functions are not hidden. Today on the bus, the man sitting next to me hocked a lougie, and then reached into his pocket to take out a container FILLED TO THE BRIM with lougies and simply added to his collection. just picture this. yum.)

back to my sick story. basically, i blacked out and went to CIWEC to be cared for by my favorite doctor of all time, Doctor David. Two years ago, Doctor David told me that because I pet puppies in Tibet, I had at least ten years to worry about contracting rabies. This time, he told me that if my illness was caused by a kidney stone, I was likely to die. Two years ago, I almost cried. This time, I laughed.

I had a 102 fever and was quite sick throughout the night. I rested all day yesterday and am feeling much better today. I think it was the combination of some bacterial infection and dehydration. The Kathmandu Valley is extremely hot right now, and the pollution is absurd. I've been walking around a lot because I've been lost a lot.

Anyhow, this illness is one big lesson. BE MORE CAREFUL. My housemate Emily is extremely careful about using the water and what she puts in her mouth. I, on the other hand, think that if I just build up my resistance against all these little scary bacterias and parasites, I'll become immune and never get sick. I'm not quite sure if my theory is coming into fruition. So... I'll stop brushing my teeth with the faucet water (maybe), and I'll be more careful about the food I get on the street, and I'll make sure to drink lots of water throughout the day. But really only because I don't want to see Doctor David again, and for him to tell me how else I'm going to die.

Daal Bhat

Bishnu and Katie, in Bishnu's room after eating daal bhat. Daal bhat is the traditional Nepali food of daal (lental curry/soup) and bhat (rice). You eat it with your hand! Sometimes it gets messy, but as one friend puts it "the hand is sweeter than the spoon."

New Clothes!

An exciting thing about being in Nepal is that I get a brand new wardrobe. Unlike in the United States, ready-made clothing stores are not popular here. Instead, you go to a fabric shop and pick out the fabrics you like, then head to the tailor where they will measure you and help you decide on your preferred style of shirts and pants. Women most commonly wear a kurta (also called salwar kameez in India) or a sari. I am told that the present fashionable thing to do is wear a short kurta with jeans instead of with the traditional flowy pants.

With the big festival of Dashain coming up, everybody is making new clothes. I am joining in on this festivity! My friend Bishnu and I picked out two fabrics last week and I received my new shirts yesterday. Pictures are sure to come!

Hope you are all well in the US (or wherever in the world you are), and are enjoying the changing colors of the fall.

What Am I Doing Here?

This is a question I get asked a lot, whether it be from people in the United States or people in Nepal. So, what kind of work are you doing? What field do you work in? tapaai ke kaam gardaihunchha? What are you trying to achieve? These are good questions. These are questions that I ask myself everyday.

I can answer in a literal sense. Starting on Friday, I will be working for the Poverty Alleviation Fund, which declares itself an autonomous institution (as opposed to a non-governmental organization, government organization or donor organization), whose primary goal is to reduce extreme forms of poverty in the program's districts. Specifically, I will most likely be working in agriculture and promoting a certain kind of rice farming methodology called SRI (http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/). Evidence shows that this really works, and increases rice yields at least 50-100%. I haven't started work yet, so once I do I will further inform you on what my job entails.

There is an ideological issue that also corresponds with this "what are you doing?" question. And that is, really, what am I doing? Who am I to say I know anything about this place or what life is really like? Is my presence and eagerness to "change" the world for the "better" a new form of western imperialism and colonialism? The reinvention of the white mans burden? Do I do more harm than help? Who am I to govern what direction public policy, government or civil society moves in this country? How much do I really know about this place, its culture, its people, its food, its religion, its language? Why do people care more about what I have to say than what my Nepali friends have to say? Why does success have to correspond with how well someone knows English? What kind of values do I consciously or unconsciously promote? With my pale skin, my brown hair, and my (summer) freckles, I represent the West. It doesn't matter how much of the language I know, how long I've been here or how many Nepali friends I have. I am still a bideshi, a foreigner. Thus, I constantly battle with my role here. I know I will always battle with this role. I think it is important to keep wrestling with this issue, and understand that it is an area of ambiguity. What I should or should not do changes upon the situation.

One of my professor's told me, “Grace is like rain. It falls on everyone. The key is to realize that one is receiving it, cup ones hand to collect it, and then spread it around." When we spread such grace around, we must tread very lightly. We must always evaluate and reevaluate what we are doing because the consequences of our actions reach far beyond our sight and our control.

And what I do know, is that I've come here to learn.

A Warm Welcome Back

After my semi-successful attempt last summer at a travel blog (http://ksp26.wordpress.com), I am deciding to have a go at it again! Hopefully with more frequent updates, a stream of consciousness or two, juicy events and photos (if I can get my act together)! I arrived here the evening of Friday, September 5th and today will be my fourth full day. I am living in Patan, which is one of the Kathmandu Valley's four cities. I am sitting in my kitchen right now, the monsoon rain is drizzingly slightly and without even looking outside I know I am in the hub of the city. Behind me, I hear someone is using some sort of hammer. They may be fixing something in their home, but most likely they are an artisan. To my right side a new house is being built. To the north east, two little kitty cats are meowing and licking each other and below, music is playing. My landlords own a recording studio and their eldest son is in a folk instrumental ensemble called Kutumba. They are extremely talented musicians and happen to practice on the ground floor. I am lucky to be surrounded by such sounds!