Privacy is another foreign concept in Kathmandu. Almost daily we have random strangers walk up to our front door and lat themselves in to meet us. The first of a long string of guests were Babika and her sisters. One day I looked up from my messy bed where I was writing an assignment in my pajamas, and there they were. They were very curious about what we were doing and poked around in our stuff before leaving. Now they yell and wave at us from the window across the street whenever we make eye contact. I'm pretty sure that we are a major source of entertainment for them and the rest of the people living in the nearby houses. We've also had strange men make their way through the house to meet us, as well as the entire faculty and students from the School of Social Work.
Most of the people that we directly know here in Kathmandu (Gocool, Chandra and Gopi) are actually all from the same village and are related to one-another, as are some of our neighbors. Today we are going to blockade run past the strike to visit their hometown, a tiny village 3 hours drive from Kathmandu. As we wait for the private bus to show up, a wandering minstrel has set up shop on our front porch playing a tiny stringed instrument kinda like a lute/fiddle cross. He is singing and gathering a crowd. Very neat.
No comments:
Post a Comment