Christmas in Kathmandu

I have to admit that I was a bit concerned about Christmas. I had an emotional week leading up to it and I’m entirely sure why. I tend to think it had something to do with the short days, lack of electricity and being virtually alone at Christmas. I was starting to feel a bit homesick. I went into Thamel, the touristy part of town on Christmas Eve and ended up partying until the wee hours of the morning with three very young girls (one Canadian and two Aussies) who are volunteering at an orphanage on the other side of town. We had a great time together and once they went home I continued on with some Nepali friends. I haven’t been drinking much of late and it somehow didn’t register I’m sorely out of practice. Fortunately a Nepali friend made sure I made it home safely sometime around 3:00 AM.

I spent Christmas day with Deborah at her place. We sat out on her terrace in beautiful sunshine, had a great lunch and drank a few glasses of wine. At about 4:00 we headed over to another friend of hers, and spent the remainder of the evening in the company of three other American women. They all had great stories and were in Nepal for various reasons. It is very hard to meet women here, as it would be improper for Nepali women to be out and about after dinner. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to spend Christmas in the company of these four Western women, talking about everything imaginable and just being girls. It was a fabulous day.

In visiting these two apartments, I came to the realisation that I am living in a dive. Deborah has a lovely apartment, similar to mine in size but much nicer. It is on the third storey of a building, has lots of sunshine and a beautiful terrace. She pays less rent than me. Heather pays the same as I do, but her apartment is fit for an ambassador. It’s absolutely stunning and also well situated. In addition, both of these apartments are located on a part of the power grid that isn’t affected by load sharing, likely because some government official lives in their neighbourhood. I can’t tell you how envious I am of them not so much for their fabulous places but for the fact that their power is always on. The only consolation is that they have both been here for several years, and lived in places like mine when they first got here too. I guess it takes awhile to get to know the ins and outs of a new city. It’s good to know that these great places do exist here, and when my commitment to this place ends in March I will try to find something better.