Monday-Monday, December 6: Deskwork in KTM

 Today I worked on projects on my computer from my room at the Kumari Inn.

My desk faces the window with a great view over KTM. Workers finished drilling a water well below my window in the backyard of the Inn. Their technology is almost totally manual-labor dependent. Water well drillers in the US have their rigs built onto the back of a 1-ton truck and are operated by motors and hydraulics, such that only one or two men are all that are needed to operate it. This Nepali rig requires a 4 or 5 man team. It takes two or three guys to spin the big wheel that winches drill pipes up and down. It is effective, as the soon had a water-producing well completed.

Around noon, I decided to take a walkabout to find some lunch. From my window, I could see a place, The Cups Bar and Cafe. At night it is all lit up. I can't walk directly there, but must walk a block or so down and around to get there. 

At The Cups Bar and Cafe, I was the only patron. I found a warm sunny seat. This is an open-air establishment without external walls or windows. I ordered a cheese pizza and a Coca-Cola ($4.70 US). I only ate about half of the pizza -- it was just ok. Yes, there were other foods on the menu, but I was not feeling particularly adventurous -- and I like pizza!

From my sunny seat, I could look uphill and see my window at the Kumari Inn. My widow is the middle floor right side. They have started adding a 4th floor onto the roof, so there is a lot of construction noise going on.

These are some street scenes from my walkabout today. I need to get better pics looking into the many little shops/stands -- but I feel particularly obvious and invasive when doing so.

I should explain that during my outings here, I never feel unsafe. I believe that crime is really not an issue here. Undoubtedly, I stand out -- fully obviously a foreigner. Many shopkeepers will inquire regarding my home of origin and if I am enjoying Nepal. Even as safe as I feel, I am not yet comfortable walking around alone at night -- especially down dark alleys.

I was told that the life span here averages early to mid 70's. Although this surprises me considering the very hard manual labor jobs that people do here, their lifestyle is so healthy. They have a plant-based diet with no obesity and plenty of exercise/activity.

I should comment on the air pollution here -- it is really bad. Lots of people wear masks here, and I think it for pollution and not COVID. It makes a level orange smog alert in Dallas seem like a blue-sky day. Even so,  my nose and lungs don't seem to be offended at all by the pollution. I had a sneezing fit this morning at the breakfast meal when the Inn's hostess was walking around with some sort of smoking/burning incense. I think she was explaining that it repels insects -- or maybe it wards off evil (sometimes I can't understand all that is communicated).

Today I was thinking how my father spent 5 months in Denmark as an International Foreign Youth Exchange (IFYE) student during his college (maybe 1959-ish). I wonder if his experiences were similar to mine with language, food and culture. I sensed that he appreciated that term as a positive and formative experience. Similarly, I am appreciating my term here in Nepal.

I walked down the street to catch the sunset tonight -- before 5 PM. Despite the relatively low crime risk, the nicer houses all have fancy security gates.

At 6PM I enjoyed another soup supper with tea. This soup was kind of like a US corn chowder -- with tofu!