Kathmandu News

I have never been one to read the papers on a regular basis, and it has been no different here. At least at home I can be reasonably sure that the news will somehow trickle into my consciousness through radio and TV broadcasts, or seeing headlines in the grocery store line. In Kathmandu, I can go weeks without knowing what's going on in my own back yard much less the rest of the world.

On Saturday evenings I often go to a cafe down the road that shows a movie and provides some good company. This past Saturday, I sat in on a conversation about all the weeks' best headlines. It would appear that as I went merrily along in my insular news-free bubble, I missed a military coup here that was aborted minutes before it was to proceed. It seems the #1 guy got cold feet at the last minute and decided this was not the way to go about changing the government of the country. So we're still being run by the Maoists, but I guess it's safe to assume that there is some dissension in the ranks. I did hear some rather sharp bangs in the night last week, but so far I haven't heard of any executions, so I assume the Maoists are taking a softer hand with their critics than they used to.

The other big news, and this one fills me national pride, is that there is a drunken French-Canadian running around butchering the stray dogs in town with a machete. It doesn’t sound like he’s very good at finishing the job, so the poor things are left in a sorry state in ditches around the city. I have to admit that I’m not particularly fond of the curs myself, and they seem to be exponentially more vocal since my return from the Khumbu, but I can’t see this as the solution.

And speaking of noisy dogs, I’m not getting much sleep lately. They are really annoying, as are the mosquitoes which slip in through the cracks around my windows and torture me all night. The advantage of unemployment is that I get to nap a bit in the afternoon to catch up. Now if only I could take a shower, I’d feel great. I’m down to my last bucket of water and am saving it for cooking and drinking. Today and tomorrow are bad electricity days, so I’m guessing that we won’t get any more water pumped until Wednesday. Unlike the majority of my Nepalese and expat neighbours, I still haven’t really adjusted to the idea of going out in public smelling like I just ran a marathon and with my hair hanging down in strings, so I think I’ll be staying close to home for the next few days.

I am really getting ready for all this to stop. 17 more sleeps.