Kathmandu is playing hard to get

And I like it,

seriously, these days KTM is like playing the whole 'treat 'em mean keep 'em keen' reallllly well. KTM if I didn't know you better I might dislike you more.

In the last week Kathmandu has been trying to mess with me in the following ways:

its gotten colder
(which means my office has gotten colder)
the sun has gone away
(which means it has gotten even colder and now i can't see the moutains)
it rained
(which means I saw rain for the 2nd time in 3 months)
the load shedding has gone up
(which means its now 12 hours a day no power, and the 12 hours a day when you want it - before and after work, and usually during )
our hot shower has stopped working
(which means i can either wash my lions mane in lukewarm water, or not bathe at all)

photocredit :http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/926610.stm
road side filth. KTM is not winning any cleanest city awards any time in the next decade.

try as you might KTM , I have faith,  but don't pull this cold s*** on me too much longer, in dont know how much longer i can work with number fingers.

xL

establishing field cred

according to this pretty hilarious blog establishing field cred is a must for the aspiring or already aspired development/aid worker. while i wouldn't classify myself as an aid worker - writing reports and running surveys is hardly saving lives/children/the world , I finally made it on a field trip last week. and i think i got the ball rolling with the field cred. while I didn't manage to get any photos of myself, DSLR in one hand, cup of chiyya in the other, wearing a Kurta, boots, jacket and shawl speaking terrible nepali to female community health volunteers, I can tell you that thats pretty much how it looked.

View of the himalayas (obviously) from the road

I didn't go on the trip with my organisation, but another Nutrition NGO where my colleagues sister works, and they invited me slash i invited myself along on their field trip tip to Jiri, Dolakha district, east of KTM towards the Everest Region. Jiri used to be one of the main trail heads for Everest Base camp, but the road goes further into the mountains now, so there are fewer tourists passing through .

the field trip was: white 4WDs on windy nepali roads. dahl bhat chiyya dahl bhat chiyya. coconut crunch biscuits, LBM, going to bed at 9pm, listening to nepali 24/7, indian pop music, cold, clean, clear, refreshing, a season of how i met your mother, a paul auster book, 2 sets of clothes, no shower, chiyya, dahl bhat, meetings, community participation, health worker training, chiyya.

 Jiri is home to an ethnic group called the Jirel, tibeto-buddhist's. this was the quite attractive stupa and only main sight in Jiri. According to one of the people on the trip inside they keep guns and weapons, should there be a fight.....i wasn't convinced. but who knows...

Female community health workers have been integral to Nepal's progress and success and health gains over the past 20 years. initially trained to distribute Vitamin A capsules, they now distribute ante natal advice, immunisations, important health care messages, nutritional training and advice, sexual health education and basically any other community based aspect of health care operating in Nepal. Part of the trip was training a group of FCHVs from around Jiri on nutrition and eating habits, what foods to eat, what to avoid and what is nutritious. The education package is simple straightforward and effective. The women may not know what micronutrients are at the beginning of the day but by day 2 they can competently advise mothers what they should and shouldn't be feeding newborn children and themselves.
I have mentioned Nepal's staggering problem with undernutrition - FCHV training forms an integral part of trying to eradicate hunger in nepal....

Female community health workers at the community nutrition training, lady no. 2 from the left had a striking resemblance to Patsy from ab fab. i swear.

another list

my three favourite possessions in Nepal. its not very buddhist, but its not like i'm the dalai lama or anything

1. the coffee pot i bought from aus
2. my bike
3. my new puffy vest.

call me a consumer but i'm a girl who likes her stuff.

and three things i don't like
1. handwashing
2. handwashing my sheets
3. handwashing my sheets in cold water.

and now a photo for thought.

lessons learnt

 three things i learnt this week:

1. if you give a nepali bus driver the finger he WILL stop beeping at you
2. ask and ye shall receive ( a field trip)
3. sitting in a 5 day workshop conducted in nepali does not mean you will be able to speak nepali at the end of the week.

and one more

some things - never change. the tibetan refugee camp or settlement hadn't changed the roof that we painted 10 years ago, was still there and almost blue .

messing about in boats

I started 2010 with a terrible hangover on a boat on sydney harbour, under the sun, baking in the heat surrounded by old friends and dance music.

I ended it being rowed across Lake Phewa in Nepal, by a little old lady and her canoe with 4 new friends and 4 bikes.

Paulie Pecs having a paddle on thew way back across the lake

 the little lady and the 4 bikes

me and push bike benny bike riding into Pokhara under the himalayan sun

i wouldn't change a thing about 2010. you were amazing. 

xxL