While I was in Nepal I learned the truth of three things Nora told me about the Nepali culture:

1) Nepalis re-purpose everything!

2) Nepalis make it work.

3) “That is not a problem!”

Bonus item: One more thing I learned… If you see a Nepali running it means one of two things, either it’s about to downpour on the laundry that’s hanging on the clothesline, or it’s an earthquake. This would take on a new reality in the days to come…

Friday, April 10, 2015

In the morning I did laundry in preparation for trekking. Laundry amounted to a washtub of water and some soap, then hanging everything outside on a line in the sun. It was kind of cool to do it so simply. Then I skyped with Adam a long time, and headed up to the school where I worked on the networking. On my way up I videoed the path that Nora would make multiple times a day. It took 4 minutes of brisk walking uphill to get there. I sped up the middle portion in the video clip below, but it gives some idea of what it was like to walk the various paths around the compound. I easily put in several miles a day while I was there.

After lunch we went to the bazaar and got Nora’s picture taken for the trekking permit, bought some things: souvenirs, a washtub, and a power supply for the network switch.

The power supply didn’t cut it, though I was of course assured it would by the merchant – anything to make the sale – but they also assured me they would take it back if it didn’t work. They are both kindly aggressive, and also honest business people. Then we hurried back to get her clothes from the tailor. I had quite a load to carry back! We also did a little site-seeing at the same time.

Getting Nora’s photo was an interesting ordeal. We found a shop to do it, but when we went in we found that it was actually up on the second floor, and getting there was more of a ladder than a stairway and very narrow. There was a studio of sorts where the picture was taken. After that we sat and watched while the young Nepali man carefully photoshopped the image way more than we needed or expected. All this for a a couple dollars, and we got to listen to Hindi music while we waited… for better or worse. Ha!

That night we picked up dinner across from the hospital at a little house-front shop/restaurant; buff mo mos! Mmmmmm! We sat in the back looking out the narrow opening where we could see the red hospital roof across the street. Meanwhile the owner cooked our mo mos on the stove that was behind the sales counter, while his family sat out on the porch preparing food, and I think, doing laundry. We combined the mo mos and soup with corn on the cob from the bazaar and salad made from fresh bought vegetables and had our $2 dinner! I should mention that corn there is not like the sweet corn here. It is very course and almost seems like it’s really old, though it’s not and tastes ok, but has less flavor. Regardless, it was a perfect Nepali setting, and the dinner was great!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

I woke up at 5:30 am again and since it was clear we up to Srinigar to watch the sunrise. The stairs up to the top are long and fairly steep at points, and they skirt along a pine forest. Yes, pine, like in Oregon! I had begun to notice many similarities to the terrain of my home. At the top is a small shrine, and an observation platform from where we watched the sunrise.

The distant mountains some 70 miles away I estimated, loomed large in the morning light. I could see snow blowing off the tops in what must have been a howling wind! We looked down on the ridges several hundred feet below, where TMH was located. Nepal is certainly I country built on mountains – very little there is flat.

The rest of my day then consisted of an oscilloscope “lesson” to the biomed lab. It didn’t go that well, because while I thought I knew all about it, it turned out to not be so… there are many variables (voltage, questionable equipment, etc.), but I did the best I could. I finished the antennae changes and got one computer online. We also got a replacement ups for Nora’s house because the old one had passed away unexpectedly. Thanks to Luke from Australia for his help with picking that up.

I had just two more days there until we left for Pokhara… I was sad to think that I would not return to Tansen on this trip.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

I woke up at 5:30 to birds singing – lots of birds, it was wonderful! It was just getting light outside as I looked out my bedroom window. To the east I could see it was another clear day and the Himalaya Mountains visible. So I went up to the school playground to take pictures and video. When I got back Nora said next time it was clear she’d go with me to Srinigar, a hilltop shrine which is up behind the hospital compound.

The rest of the day was consumed with work on the wireless antennae, trying to get the computers working, and trekking plans. In the evening we went to dinner a Jessie’s, along Sophia the British doctor. After that we all went to bible study at Tim and Val’s. Tim was the head of IT for the hospital and we had seen a lot of each other in the past couple of days… It was a pleasant, low-key fellowship time. We sang a bit and discussed scripture, had tea and snacks, and then walked home in the cool evening.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

First thing in the morning a whole crew from the workshop showed up at the door! Four men along with two didis to clean up after them. They installed a new gas shower, patched several holes in the plaster, fixed a toilet seat, painted a bathroom and a few other things. I felt a little bad because I think I inadvertently shamed them into action by asking about “the list” and working on some of it. It was good that it was all done though.

Later I worked on school’s Internet issues. They had a wireless repeater network set up that had problems because of antennae placement. In the before picture below the repeater was over a metal roof, on a rotten bamboo pole, and didn’t have line of site to the source. The blue blob in on the wire is the wall-wart power supply that was twisted on to bare wires, then wrapped in plastic and tape; left to hang on it’s own wire, no messenger, and it would have lasted long between the extreme heat, rain, and wind. In the after picture it’s on a higher metal pole, and moved 50′ to the side to where it got much better reception, and the power supply was connected with a connector and shielded from the elements under a roof.

The other project I was working on was getting our trekking route set, and getting appropriate information and maps together. I poured over blogs, maps, and government websites to figure out where to get permits, where to trek, what to take, what it would cost for guesthouses and meals, and tried to get some idea of the distance we should cover each day. The information available was quite varied, so I had to take some best guesses. I was able to get a taxi lined up to take us to Pokhara on Sunday, where we would check into a guesthouse and leave bags while we trekked for nine days.