My Weekend

On Saturday morning I went to a Christmas bazaar on the grounds of the Hyatt Hotel. It was like other Christmas bazaars in many ways: Christmas carols playing through the loudspeakers, games for the kids and lots of wonderful arts and crafts to buy. It was unlike other Christmas bazaars in that it was held outside, I wore flip flops and there were Buddhist artefacts for sale. I came within inches of buying a beautifully carved rocking elephant but couldn’t really justify it at the moment, especially with no toddlers around to ride it. I did however pick up a few Christmas gifts for myself and got business cards for some artisans that I will definitely visit again.

In the afternoon I attended an awards ceremony with my boss. I think that they were hosted by the Nepal Tourism Board, but I can’t be sure. There were 15 people from various industries being honoured for their participation in building “the new Nepal”. Khem was the only one of the award recipients asked to give a speech and his words were the only ones spoken in English at the event. We arrived at the hall and took seats in the front row. We were joined by Bharat, Khem’s brother, as well as a couple of people from the college and a handful of students. Deborah was also with us, grumbling throughout. Saturdays are the only true weekend day here, and she considers them sacred. Having to be at a business-related function was a fate worse than death for her and she had tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to weasel out of it. When the event finally started a half hour later than planned, she was unexpectedly called up to the stage to sit with the rest of the VIPs on couches arranged in a straight line stretching from one side of the stage to the other. I almost split my gut laughing at her sitting up there rolling her eyes. As each award was announced, the recipient went up on stage to receive a kata (prayer scarf), marigold lei and a plaque, before sitting behind the couches on rows of cheap plastic chairs. All of the VIPs and award recipients wore these bright purple and orange bread plate-sized doilies pinned loosely to their jackets with safety pins. They sort of resembled the rosettes used at 4th of July celebrations, but were made of plastic and looked like they were assembled by pre-schoolers. Everyone wore them with honour as if they were the mayor’s chain of office or something. Several of the dignitaries made speeches and I found out after the fact that in true Nepali form they were all political in nature and had nothing to do with awards being presented. Throughout the event, kids were running up and down the aisles, people were talking (yelling) on their cell phones and there was general pandemonium in the hall. Even the VIPs sitting on the stage were answering phone calls throughout the ceremony and talking loud enough to disrupt the MC. On top of that, the college students sitting with me were being typical teenage boys. I’m not sure exactly what was going on but I think it may have been a fart game of some sort. Whatever it was, they were stifling laughter to the point of asphyxiation through much of the event. I haven’t had that much fun in ages – it was a total zoo.

After the ceremony Khem, Deborah, Suresh (from the college) and I went for a coffee. Deborah has decided that Khem needs a makeover, so after dinner we took him across the street to a new shopping mall and had him try on about 50 different outfits. We did convince him to pick up a couple of trendy things that change his image dramatically and drop about 20 years off his look. Nothing like adding “stylist” to my list of duties before I’ve even had my first day at work.

I’m happy to report that today, Sunday, was a little less eventful. I was wakened at 5:30 by the previously-mentioned, high-volume honks and squeaks of a wedding procession. 5:30!!!! Who gets married at 5:30 in the morning?!? I did get down to one of the shops that I discovered at the bazaar and ordered myself a winter jacket. It should be ready shortly before Christmas so I just have to hold out that long and then I’ll be warm. After having hired various tailors around town to make me clothes, I have decided that I really want to do some sewing for myself. I went looking for a sewing machine this afternoon and after much to-ing and fro-ing , finally found the back alley where sewing machines live in Kathmandu. There was tons of choice and dozens to choose from. The problem is that you have to buy the machine, then the table top that it sits on, and then the cast-iron legs, treadle, and wheel assembly. That’s right, they do not have any electric sewing machines here, which is probably just as well given that the power is off more than it is on. Given that I don’t have a car and I live several kilometres away from “sewing machine alley”, I’m not sure how I can get all this paraphernalia home with me. I’ll have to muse on this one for a while, and perhaps enlist the help of someone with a car and/or a decent grasp of the Nepali language.

So that was my weekend. I am having a quiet night in in anticipation of my first full day at work tomorrow. The power will be off tomorrow morning from 6-10 which means I can’t heat the water for a shower before work, unless I wake up at 5:00 which I’m hoping not to do. I’m going to try heating it tonight before bed and seeing if there’s any residual heat in the morning. If that doesn’t work, I guess it will be a sponge bath with water heated on the gas ring. Wish me luck.