New Year

Happy New Year People. 2006. Wow.

I started this morning by going to 8am meditation, which was a surprise even to me. I had not planned to, but bang at 7.30 my eyes popped open and I thought, I'm awake...why not. why not start the year with a bit of comtemplation, why not gather my thoughts and breathe a little. The second half of 2005 was such a whirlwind of new jobs, new people, new places, new smiles (and that was before I left London!) and now I am in Nepal surrounded by people I've only just met, and 2006 is a complete mystery to me. So after sitting watching my breath for an hour and trying not to let my thoughts wander, I took a deep meditation-ary breath and thought about all you people and thought about me and thought... 2006, yay, I'm ready for it. (and for the first time I sat in meditation for a whole hour and my leg didn't go to sleep! not quite enlightenment, but a start!).

So raise your glasses peeps, here's to 2006, here's hoping it brings lots of smiles and lots of quality friend-time, and happy family-time. Here's to a year that we all can take hold of and make our own in whatever way we choose to cos (and this came to me as I thought about you lot) you people are all amazing and you all deserve a year that makes you grin and say "yay me, I rock!" (cos you do)

Talking of rocking, I had such a fun and random new year's eve - nepali style, here are some highlights...

- not exactly a highlight but a random-light was seeing a banner that said something along the lines of "here's to 2006 and peace in our land" and then under this banner, a maahusive army truck was parked (blocking the narrow street) and inside the truck was filled to the gills with Nepali soldiers brandishing great big sticks and guns. They were there (i think) as NYE crowd control, but as they were blocking the road they were more like crowd agitators. I hope that 2006 brings peace to Nepal, but if this was a sign, I think there is still a way to go.

- Having roast beef, under the stars, by an open fire, in a nearby restaurant place with 4 lovely people

- Sharing thoughts about 2005 and dreams of 2006 with these lovely people, most of whom I will probably not see again.

- Finishing off the meal with amazing carrot cake

- drinking Margherita's under the stars by the open fire

- dancing to salsa music under the stars by the open fire and not caring that the DJ had about 5 salsa-ish songs on loop (one of which was THe Macarena)

- The midnight count up (the NEpalis count up rather than counting down to midnight but non of us westerners knew what number he would end on...and at one point he lost count and started skipping numbers, then going backwards and finally he just yelled 12! and all these balloons fell out of the sky and the nepali's went crazy and the westerners realised that 2006 had arrived!)

- Moving on to another club and dancing in a crcle of Nepali's trying to learn how to dance NEpali style and hoping that your turn to 'freestyle' in the middle of the circle wouldn't come!

- Seeing how the Nepalis celebrate 'Western calender' new year - they mill and wander around the streets and sit on pavements and dance in the street and eat a lot (pretty similiar to most evenings in Thamel actually!)

So yay to NYE and thanks to Simone, Nara, Christie, Harold and Kathmandu for making it a good un!

The alternative Queen's speech

HAPPY CHRISTMAS / HOLIDAYS / CHANUKAH / DECEMBER and as they say in Nepal
LA SABAILAI X-MAS KO HARDIK SUBHAKAMANA lovely people! I hope that you all (or those of you who celebrated it) spent your Christmas stuffed with turkey, tofurkey, mincepies and cake. I hope that you laughed at the cracker jokes, drank too much, ate too much and fell asleep in front of a fire. I hope that you got to celebrate being surrounded by family goodness and friend fueled drunken ness. I hope that you got to raise your glass to the future and the past and most of all I hope you all got/get to rest your weary heads, cos man 2005 was a toughy (and a goody in many ways) and I know that you all needed to put your feet up, take a break, juvenate, refresh, refuel and prepare yourself for jumpin back into whatever 2006 has in store.

As for me...I did none of those things. But Christmas in Nepal was cool and fun in its own way.

Christmas eve I celebrated Nepali style - i.e. start the night at 6pm, laugh, drink, eat, SING but be home by 10.30! In fairness to my Nepali-saathi (friends / colleagues) this early to bed plan is partly to do with the present conflict situation (the streets are heavily patrolled by the army after 11 and it's just not nice being out and about on your motorbike) and partly to do with the fact that most of them still live with parents. But man! Between 6-10. so much random fun was had. At one bizarre point, one of the guys at our table started singing cheesy ballads. Now this was not in a drunken fool way, but in a full on "heart and soul, man I am feeling those words" kinda way. By this point the restaurant was mainly filled with just men (girls tend to leave first) and as our guy tripped over the words for the second verse of "have I told you lately that I love you", a group of streetwise looking Nepali lads started whispering amongst themselves. I was just waiting for them to start hurling abuse at our table, but instead they were simply conferring on the words and before you can say happy Christmas in Nepali, they had joined in with just as much gusto! After 'Have I told you lately', there was a perfect rendition of 'Last Christmas' then 'I haven't stopped dancing yet' and then some crazy 50s ballads that I had never even heard of! And I don't think this was just a result of Christmas spirit - as far as I can tell Nepali's love to sing and they love to dance and when they sing or dance they give their whole heart over to it and jitterbug or croon like their lives depend on it. I love it. No inhibitions, no worrying if you look cool or not, becasue no one judges you, everyone else is too busy winding and twirling and singing to notice!

So that was Christmas Eve Hindu / Nepali-style.

Christmas day I did Buddhist style. At one point on Christmas eve it looked like it was going to be Christmas day loner style, but I suddenly realised that I wasn't quite ready for Christmas on my own, so I joined my one non Nepali friend Simone and some 0ther people from the local meditation centre on a Cora (i think that's how you spell it - it means to literally walk in a clockwise circle around a holy place). So we wandered around a nearby temple (Soyambol or monkey temple on account of the many vicious monkeys) turned prayer wheels, threw rice, got attacked by monkeys, lit candles, chatted about life, saw amazing views of kathmandu, laughed, smiled in the sunshine and generally flowed. We even got invited to paint our own mini stupas (temples) that are then placed inside the big temple. A group of local people had been sitting making and painting hundreds and hundreds of these mini temples for weeks, just giving time when they could to sit in the sunshine, catch up with friends and paint! For Christmas lunch I had tibetan soup and nasty Nepali maize based-alcohol (why not we said! It is Christmas after all!) and I ended the day eating pizza in bed and watching american movies on cable.

So all in all it was a good day. The temple was stunning, the sky was blue, Simone is an inspiring lady with a laugh that seems to come up from her toes and I liked the way that the day just unfolded, no pressure, no stress, no preplanning. Also it helped that it was unique and in no way tried to be like Christmas day - having said that, as much as I enjoyed my very different Christmas day, next year I am going to pull crackers and sit by christmas trees and stuff myself to the gills with turkey and wine and cake and family!

ps: I am also liking the Buddhist way of thinking. At times during our day Simone would stand still and just be in the moment, which means that you take a moment to absorb your surroundings, realise you are there, breathe it all in and it helps stop the day dissappearing from you, so at the end of it all you don't have that feeling was I even there?

So yay that was my day!

The end.

Photos

So now there are photos too! Just go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/gemmaq/ and you can see me and Nepal and the like. I have posted them in chronological order, but the site loads them backwards, so please start on page 5 (i know a lot of photos!) the first picture should be abudhabi airport. (actually the first picture is the european elite - but that has nothing to do with NEpal). If you do it this way the story makes more sense.

ok hope you like...

My first Bandh

I got my first taste of a 'Bandh' (or general strike) in Kathmandu this morning.

It was all sparked off by an incident yesterday when a lone Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) soldier entered a nearby mountian village called Chihandanda (in Nagarkot, where I got my first glimpse of the Himalayas) and shot randomly at a group of villagers killing 12. Supposedly there had been some kind of argument between him and the villagers earlier in the day and he then returned in the evening with a gun. This incidindent was then used by the seven opposition political parties (who have formed the 7-party alliance) as the spark it has (supposedly) been looking for to start a campaign of strikes and public protest against the government, the army and the king.

So last night a strike (Bandh) was announced in Kathmandu, which means all the shops are meant to stay closed, no buses, no taxis and no traffic is supposed to be on the roads - and the people are meant to come out onto the streets in protest. I walked into work with my colleague, it took us about an hour and we did not pass one open shop on the way, although there were a few brave taxis and people on motorcylces - I bumped into my new friend (who I met in yoga and is lovely) and she said that she saw a group of people attacking and throwing stones at a taxi (becasue it was trying to work). All around on the streets there were rocks and broken glass, from clahses between the students (who are the most politically active) and the army. On the main road near my work building there is a student campus and as we approached I could hear them all shouting anti king and anti government slogans. The air smellt of burning tyres, trucks of army soldiers were driving slowly passed and the road was littered with glass and rocks. As we approached, you could feel the tension in the street and u could see that something big was about to kick off. But at the same time it felt more strange than firghtening. If you looked across the street there were soldiers standing outside the gates of a campus and from behind the gates you could make out students yelling. If you looked up the street, in the distance there was a huge group of army men running in the opposite direction with riot gear and big batons and guns. But on our side of the street, people were just trying to get to work and chatting with friends and almost carrying on as normal. Occasionally, we would stop and nirmal (my colleague) would look around and we would scuttle up a side street and wait to make sure the protests were not coming our way, but other than that it was almost like watching it on television. I guess this is the part that you don't see on the news, the other side of the street where people are just getting on with their day and not throwing rocks and not yelling or protesting. Supposedly, Bandhs were a regular part of life before February 1st (when the King took control and shut down the news and the mobile phones and the internet and declared a national emergency) but there have not been any for a while. Now that the 7 party alliance is trying to bring down the present government, I think it may be a winter of discontent. I am just glad that I am friends with lots of Nepalis, as it means I will always know what is going on. The few tourists on the streets today, just looked so confused.

One more cool thing...

What number am I up to 21??

21) When a nepali phones you (ah maybe not all nepali's but when one of my lovely colleagues phones me) they say "hello Gemma", I say "hello" they say "hello Gemma?", I say "hello", they say "hello Gemma?" and this fun can go on and on and on until I say "yes.."!

It took me a while the first time to realise I had to say something other than hello. I knew the second time but it was fun to do it again. The third time, I knew I had to stop finding this so much fun!

Tiny steps - big achievements!

It is crazy how when you are in new lands, the smallest things can seem like the biggest achievements! Far the past wee while, I have been under the careful and considered tutelage of one Upendra-Gurubaa*, who has been showing me how to navigate the streets and buses and tempo's (three wheeler tin can) of Kathmandu. Each morning and evening we would take a different form of transport to and from the office, Upendra explaining excitedly (because whenever Upendra talks it is always excited) where we were going, what we were passing, the places I could get off / on, should get off /on, might get off / on and should definately avoid! We took foot bridges and underpasses, waited on sides of roads (no sign of a bus stop), flagged things down, queued up, skipped queues, leapt on moving buses, leapt off moving mini vans. I learnt hand signals, facial expressions, landmarks, backroads, sideroads, mainroads...

And then finally the day came. Upendra had a morning meeting and wouldn't be at the office til late, I was on my own. Just like Daniel-san in his first fight without mister miaggi, I was nervous - was it wipe off / wipe on? Take the number 17 , which in nepali looks like 98 or the 98 which looks like 17? Could I remember how the route passed the fruit sellers and mini shrines to the bus area? Was it best to get in a full or an empty mini van?

ButI did it! In record time. I jumped on without hitting my head and got off without loosing my feet, I remembered the route and they understood my hand signals. To say I got in to work and home again, on my own, on public transport, does not seem that big a deal, but man, the feeling, that first morning when I realised I could do it and I had done it and it was ok...that was just perfect...

*Upendra is my colleague, who lives near me and whose office I share. Gurubaa literally means guru-father and I think means wise male teacher type.

Some more cool things I've discovered...

11. (I was up to 11 right?) that schools have really cool names here. I used to live near Lovebuds High School and the other day I spotted a bus heading to Gems School.

12. that my name also means 'very long skirt' and 'grandmother' (I am sticking to the Tibetan version)

13. that everyone here is still lovely

14. that drinking water from a bottle without letting it touch your lips is really not so difficult afterall.

15. that i still don't know what all the different variations on shaking and nodding the head mean

16. that i have a lot to learn about bartering and it turns out that smiling excitedly and saying "only 100 rupees, cool" does not help.

17. that i have to stop converting everything to pounds cos it just blows my mind how cheap everything is here - the other week i had burritos, rice, salad, refried beans, water and a mojito for less than 2pounds.

18. that a lady cannot live only on nepali food - and sometimes a mexican and a cocktail is just the ticket.

19. that i am no longer of traveller mentality and can't take nasty toilets, sticky bedsheets or too much tie-dye.

20. that learing nepali is fun when you have a teacher whose smile is bigger than his head.

20 (and a half). that there are some hard nosed, mean people in the world of development!

Me and the mountains

my first meeting with mountains was a couple of weeks ago on a work training trip to an area called Nagarkot, about 2hours drive uphill from Kathmandu. The place where we stayed was all windows, looking out on what we were told were panoramic views of the mountains, squint hard they said and you can see everest. whilst the view was dramatic, it was more dramatic in a cloudy way, like you could reach out and touch the clouds if you wanted to, and occassionally in a green valley and village down below, kinda way. I took hundreds of photos in the general direction that the mountains were meant to be (god bless digital) in the hope that something would come out on film. but nope, nahthing. Just lots of pictures of fog. then finally on the last morning, i actually saw the mountains and they were stunning. Peaks seemingly floating on nothing, white and clear against the blue sky. I squinted hard and yes there was something in the distance that might or might not have been everest (i like to think is was!). I returned to Kathmandu feeling all proud of myself. I had seen the sun rise over the mountains, i could talk about the beauty of the himalayas with the rest of them, i knew wht people meant now whenthey talked about how stunning Nepal was. Then last weekend happened..and I realised I knew nothing. I was on another work field trip (really weekends have no meaning here!) and we decided to take the old indian road that goes up over the mountains. We drove up and up and up, round and round and round the side of a mountain. To one side there was a sheer drop , but luckily the views were amazing enough to keep your attention away from thinking about that too much (except at one particularly hairy moment when all the nepali's moved to the other side of the mini van away from the edge!!). Im afraid idiot that i am took my camera without my battery so you will have to trust me when i say that nepal really is one of the most beautiful countries. at the top of the mountain road (6000ft??? I think) there was a 180degree view of the mountains that just...you can't describe it...it was just...beautiful, but beautiful isn't enough. there is something about mountains, something to do with their size and majesty i guess that makes them fill you, so you feel all still and amazed and in awe...and i haven't even got really close to them yet. Then on the drive down, the sun was setting and we passed through all these mountain villages where people still live an incredibly traditional life, farming plots of land that are cut in this amazing tiered way and thinking nothing of walking for days to reach the next village. and you just think wow, the world is a crazy-kool place, full of so many people living their lives in so many different ways!

And that is the story of how i fell in love with a mountain range.

ps many thanks to my djs - DJ-JJ, Rossko the music man and the delectable Miss-T-lady for providing me with a great sound track for my trip.

Waking up to a changed world article

An article I wrote with my colleague Kripa, to be published on the UNESCO newspiece mailshot thing they send out- bit cheesy (it was our first attempt at writing for UNESCO!)but gives an idea of one of the projects I am involved in..

Waking up to a Changed World!

When she entered the Chetana Sadan (Awareness Centre) of Vijaya Development Resource Centre at Gaidakot, (Nawalparasi District, Western Nepal), little did Apsara know that the next seven days would change her perceptions of herself and the community she lives in. The date was Aug 1 2005 and it was the first day of the Radio Reporters Training for a new program by Equal Access, an international non-governmental organization, that produces development communications programs for positive social change.

The new program, Changing Our World, is an Equal Access/UNIFEM Initiative. The objective is to empower young girls and women by training local women to provide content for a weekly radio program on women, for women. This is the first time that Equal Access has drawn so heavily on locally trained reporters, to generate locally relevant content. So far 12 women from the four districts of Nepal (Dang, Banke, Makwanpur, Chitwan) have been trained to find, collect and record stories from women in their community. These will then feature in the 26 episodes of the program. Apsara Khanal is one of these 12 newly trained reporters. “I was always curious while listening to the news and other radio programs, how the material was collected and recorded”, says Apsara, an Admin/Finance officer at General Welfare Pratisthan, Banke Office (a developmental organization committed to making positive changes in the lives of marginalised communities.

This interest and the challenge she saw in collaborating with local women to let her record their stories for the program, led her to venture into this completely unknown field. Since the training, Apsara has been collecting the ‘voices of the voiceless’; going into the communities, visiting police stations and other organizations working with women and trying to find real life stories of issues covered by the “Changing Our World” program. “I have spoken to such a wide variety of people from different walks of life, Apsara reflects. “From illiterate rural women to lawyers and from sex workers to police...meeting so many people has changed the way I see my community and has helped me develop as a person”.

The name of the program in Nepali is Sundai Pherindai – ‘Listening and Changing’ and although only a few episodes have been on air so far, Apsara can already see changes taking place around her. During an interview with some women involved in sex work, she found out that they had been spending all that they earned. She explained to them the benefits of saving for the future and now two have opened savings accounts in the bank.

This small change is just one example of how the Changing Our World Programme hopes to make an impact in the lives of women. The program uses success stories of women who have overcome their sufferings, voices from the community and views from experts, to raise awareness of particular issues related to women. The local reporters are central to collecting all of this information, which is then packaged into a program by producers at the Equal Access office in Kathmandu. The project hopes that these 12 newly trained female reporters will go on to have long careers in radio. Apsara is excited about this prospect “I had never thought about being a reporter before, but now I am really excited about my work and hope to use my new skills as much as possible in the future – perhaps I will have my own radio show one day!”

Written By: Kripa Tiwari and Gemma Quilt

Kripa Tiwari is the Database Officer at Equal Access Nepal, and is supporting the Changing our Worlds Program as a researcher. Gemma Quilt, a radio producer from BBC World Service, is currently working at Equal Access Nepal. Gemma and Kripa are working as Ethnographic Action Researchers for the Changing Our Worlds program.

Why you should always say yes...

Yesterday I had already eaten one greasy, local lunch wrapped in newspaper (don't get me wrong, the food here is great, it's just that lunches tend to be a little samey) and my collegue - who I share an office with and who is the guy I work most closely to - asked me if I wanted to go for piro aloo (hot potato). My head and my still slightly delicate gut screamed "no", but as I am still not sure what Nepali for no is and shaking the head can also mean yes, before I knew it we were hot footing it out of the office and into the afternoon sunshine. Now had I managed to say no, the afternoon would have been pretty predictable. But because I said yes - I had a totally unexpected and amazing couple of hours. First we walked down the longest, straightest 'gulley' (alleyway) I have ever been down. On each side there were little shops and dark rooms where people hammered on metal or tailored or laughed with friends or just sat and watched the world go by. Then the alley opened out, and we walked in to this amazing square area with old temples all around (durbur square). My colleague ducked and weaved through the crowds and the cows and the kids and the lovers and took me into a dark room where 2 old ladies sat on the floor in front of huge cooking pots. A quick back and forth exchange in Nepali and we were climbing a rickety stairwell and up and up and suddenly out on to the rooftop. THe view over the square was amazing and we sat on tiny stools with other local lunchers and feasted on whatever had been simmering in the old ladies' pots. So far I have only really seen the crazy traffic, people every where, horn blowing, traveller meandering, inside an office side to Kathmandu. But this quiet, temple filled beauty took my breath away. And all because I said yes.