New Home

I spent my first night at my new place. I am starting to get settled and spent much of yesterday shopping. All of the dishes here are metal, which is fine if you’re camping, but not exactly appealing on a daily basis. I picked up some dishes and sheets and a pretty bedspread. Bedding is funny here – they don’t sleep between two sheets and fitted sheets are unheard of. They put a flat sheet on the bottom and a blanket (or comforter if you’re rich) on top. As a result all sheet sets consist of a flat sheet and two pillow cases.

The most excitement involved my fridge and TV. I bought them in the morning and had them delivered in the afternoon. As I was showing the delivery men in, my landlord, Kiran, spotted us and came to supervise. By the time everything made its way into the apartment I had a crew of seven working on the job. Kiran’s mother was practically swooning over the fridge – I didn’t think I was going to get her out of my kitchen. I have all manner of tables, bookshelves and assorted furniture in the apartment, but Kiran had to send his brother, Romus, to find a more suitable table for the TV. I am still not 100% sure that this wasn’t pilfered from their own living room, but they refused to hear of any alternative or allow me to replace it. As I type this, another crew of three are drilling a hole through a window frame to accommodate the cable, which is supposed to arrive later today. I was just about to jump in the shower so am looking a bit shoddy, but figure I’ll wait for them to leave to perform my ablutions.

I’m looking forward to my first shower here with some trepidation. The water heater has to be turned on prior to my shower in order to have hot water. I have heard differing reports of how long it takes the water to heat, but the consensus seems to be between 15 and 30 minutes. The water heater has a caution scrawled across it big black letters that say that it will explode if left on for more than one hour. I’m actually considering getting an alarm clock to set every time I turn it on in case I get wrapped up in something else and forget. Apparently the water stays hot for 12 hours after heating, so I’m assuming it will be fine once the guys leave and I’m free to use it. I mean, how long can it take three Nepalis to drill a hole?

My first night wasn’t bad, but not the best sleep I’ve ever had. The bed is hard, but not as uncomfortable as I was expecting, so my hips didn’t give me too much grief. I heard a few sounds in the night, like dogs barking in the distance and some parents comforting a child a few houses away. I don’t think any of these actually woke me, as my sleep was disturbed by my own brain. First night jitters, I guess. Strangely, I was able to catch up in the early hours of the morning when the city was coming to life and it was much noisier than it was all night. Kiran has just informed me that there is an alternate-day policy for water here, so there were lots of buckets being banged around this morning as people filled reservoirs. Tomorrow morning should be quieter. My only real concern at the moment is that I like to run in the morning before the streets get too busy. I didn’t want to get up and run at 4:30 when I was wide awake, and then I finally fell asleep through prime running hours this morning. I’m hoping I’ll get into a more useful routine in a while.

As for the water situation, I have it all the time. I’ll have to determine if Kiran and his family have to fill a reservoir every second day. He certainly made it clear that there was a water shortage so I am making every effort not to use too much. It amazes me that Nepal has more water than every other country in the world except one, and still can’t seem to keep its capital city in water or electricity.

I just went to check on the hole. It’s ready, but the cable guy basically just delivered the cable and took off, so Kiran and Romus are trying to put the connector on the coax. Needless to say, I can’t offer my services, although I could probably do it in two minutes with my eyes closed. It’s rather painful to watch.

Several hours later…

Cable is up and running and I have sorted out the internet connection. It will probably take a week or so to get installed so I’m back at the internet café. Will post this now and write more later – lots of email to deal with while I’m here.