Living in the Dark

Cards, rupees, and chocolate coins

On Monday the power was off when we woke up, and it was dark and rainy, so today's pictures are from other days. The lights came on around 9:00 and were off again from 1:00 to 7:00. Claire and Sajal made lunch, which they ate for breakfast, of lentil soup, rice, salad from the garden, and vegetables, and then they went to work. I huddled on the sun porch to work until the power went off, then worked in the living room under a blanket until the computer battery died, then Rajya and I played cards in the dark till I began to win back some of the money I had already lost to her (33 Nepali rupees, about 40 cents). 

Claire on front steps with Trevor

Claire and Kimo

The Sthapits have an incredibly spacious and comfortable home by Nepali standards, but they are subject to all the governmental limitations everyone else lives with—the water from the tap is undrinkable, and there is not enough electricity. Nepal has plenty of natural resources for generating clean energy—the mountain rivers would supply all the hydroelectricity everyone could use. But since the government cannot form itself, cannot write a constitution, cannot build a dam, the load shedding goes on. 

Rajya

Street scene

When I said something about lack of government in Nepal to some of the Americans on the Turkey tour, one of the pastors said that’s the kind of government he favors, none at all. I told him he should go to Nepal and see what privileges he is belittling: in the U.S. the electricity is always on (too much on, in my opinion), the water is clean (though people still buy unregulated bottled water for 10,000 times the price of regulated tap water), and the roads and sidewalks stay smooth so people can drive too fast and walk too little. I don’t know what he thought about my little tirade, but it felt good to say it straight to someone’s face.

Still, there is much to love here. The limitations slow life down and bring everyone together. Fresh food is plentiful and cheap. Clothes are handwashed, but a woman comes every morning to sweep, mop, straighten, and every other day she takes the family laundry outside to wash and hang it to dry. I am down to one wearable pair of slacks, but expect to be able to change clothes soon.

After work Claire picked me up and we went to the tailor shop a few blocks away. Several young men and women were sewing on their machines, and the owner measured me for my kurta. It will be ready Thursday. Then we stopped by Almonds, the restaurant, to pick up some of the delicious paneer (cheese) in cream sauce, and some chicken for the next night. The power was still off, so outside it was still quite dark. You can see the stars here most nights, and the mountains most days. 

Rajya had made chapattis (flat bread), which we ate with the paneer, some lentil soup (dal), cauliflower (cauli), followed by Turkish delight I brought from Turkey, then Claire and Sworupa and I played cards till we went to bed. On Tuesday morning the sun was back.