Nepal Trip December 2000 - page 2
Bob Schmidt & Rupa Hamal
Relatives
Here are the stories of several important people. Everyone spoke excellent English except for Rupa's granny:
Rupa's Mom - Renu Hamal - an elegant woman who manages the house and made sure we were comfortable and well-fed during our stay in Kathmandu.
Rupa's Granny - now 94 years old, she lived most of her life managing a farm in Southern area of Nepal known as the Terai. She now lives in the house in Kathmandu, and prays and chants several times each day. She is a strict vegetarian. She understood I was a foreigner, so she often tried to speak to me in Hindi (the only foreign language she knows).
Rupa's brother Rakesh - a friendly, eloquent, well-read guy who seems to know people in every part of Kathmandu we visited, and almost everywhere we traveled around the country. He gave me much of the background material about Nepal.
Rupa's brother Rajesh - currently a star in Nepali movies. He was busy filming movies during much of our visit.
Rupa's sister Rita Singh - works as a Pediatrician at a clinic in Kathmandu. Rita kindly planned our travels so we could see much of the country during our visit.
Rita's husband Ashok - an engineer who works on government-sponsored agricultural irrigation projects; he is also an avid computer user, expert driver, and a fan of the National Geographic channel on TV.
Rita's daughter Astha - is a second-grade student who is fluent in Nepali, English, and various tongue-twisters, word games, and puzzles.
Home Sweet Home
Mom's house is currently occupied by Rupa's mom, granny, brother Rakesh, several servants who cook and clean, and Roshan - a man employed by brother Rajesh to answer phones and handle various organizational chores for the movie business. We stayed in a guest bedroom on the first floor, normally used by Roshan. The house is about 40 years old; constructed mainly of cement and stone, with wood only for window frames and doors. Downstairs is a living room, guest bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and storerooms. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms, a high-ceiling sitting area, balcony, and couple of bathrooms. Bathrooms are basically western style, but individual electric water heater units are mounted in each bathroom near the ceiling. In the kitchen, the cooking is done on a small gas burner. There is no kitchen sink, and the servants wash dishes in the rear cement courtyard with water pumped from a well. There is a refrigerator upstairs, but produce and meat are often purchased fresh from vendors every day.
Houses are very different in Nepal. They are typically made of stone, concrete, or brick. Wood is normally used only for doors and trim, except for old temples or very old buildings in the city, which may have intricately carved wood facades. Many buildings start with concrete support columns with steel reinforcing rods in the middle. It is common to see a multi-story house with another set of these columns on the roof, with steel rods dangling upward, awaiting the addition of another floor someday.
Houses do not have central heating. Instead people rely on bundling up with sweaters and shawls, using heavy blankets on beds, and electric space heaters placed near where you are seated. The weather is quite chilly (40's) in the evening when the sun goes down until mid-morning, so this took some getting used to.
The Neighborhood
The house is located within walking distance of the King's palace compound, down the street from the British and Indian embassies. These used to be a single large British compound, but were divided when India obtained independence from Britain. A single narrow, one-way road separates the walled embassy compounds, and the house is down that road. A steady stream of pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, and honking cars use this road, sometimes passing with barely inches to spare. Most buildings and houses are surrounded by walls, so you don't always see a lot just from walking down the street.
Weather
The weather was basically the same most days - chilly evenings (40's), fog in the morning, sunny and pleasant by mid day (60's). We had rain only a couple of nights, and the city was generally dry and dusty. Nice weather for walking, sightseeing, and travel, which explains why a lot of tourists like it here. I am told it can get hot during the summer, but not uncomfortably hot (like India, or Ohio during summer of 1999).
20 Dec 00 - Dinner with Rita
Rakesh and I took a morning walk to explore the British cemetery. Missionaries and civil servants were buried there, mostly in the 1800's and early 1900's. I took photos of outdoor classes being held at a local school. Each school seems to have different uniform colors. All children are required to wear the same uniform. Rakesh took me to the neighborhood barber shop. These shops are typically small, open air, and located right next to the street. I got an elaborate shave, with about 5 kinds of skin tonics applied, and an upper body and head massage which felt great, all for about $1 US, including a shave for Rakesh. Rakesh and I spent quite a bit of time talking about life in Nepal, and his family background.
Later in the afternoon we walked about 1.5 miles to Rita's house, passing narrow, crowded streets. Rita lives with her family and Ashok's parents. I was pleased to meet Ashok's parents. His father spent several months in the US during the 1960's. I got a kick out of the sweatshirt he was wearing - it had the name "Schmidt" embroidered on it. Apparently a souvenir from a visit to Germany; Rita and Ashok had lived there for a time while she was studying medicine and he was in an engineering program. We had a nice dinner, then used the computer a bit. Ashok has a recent model Pentium III PC, and we were able to access Rupa's web pages to see some of her pictures.
21 Dec OO - Borrowed Clothes
I had hoped to receive the missing suitcase by this time, but no such luck. Roshan went into Rajesh's closet and found me some clothes to borrow; some of the shirts and tops fit fine. Pants were a different matter, as I clearly lack a movie star physique. Rakesh loaned me a couple pairs of pants and some of his clothes. After a trip to the shops for some socks and underwear I was OK for the rest of the trip. It still would have been nice to have my running clothes but I decided to wait on that. I was very thankful to both brothers for loaning me a wardrobe in my hour of need!
Rupa and I walked to the old shopping area of Kathmandu called Thamel. Streets were narrow and lined with small shops, and quite busy with customers. We went into a carpet store and selected a 5x8 wool rug for our family room at home. The shopkeeper had it tightly packed and wrapped in a burlap sack with a handle so it could be checked as luggage for the return trip.
I got a bit of video from an impromptu demonstration. A group of young people, led by police officers who cleared a path down the narrow street, were marching and chanting slogans. Apparently the protest was about inflation and the high cost of necessities.
Rupa spent a bit of time going through drawers of old family photographs from when her father was alive. Her father served as a diplomat, and was stationed in several countries during the 1970's and 80's, including Thailand, India, Pakistan, and USSR. Rupa's mother showed me several photo albums from diplomatic meetings and gatherings.
22 Dec 00
We took a long walk today around the city, passing government buildings, temples, and parade grounds. We passed the building housing the Nepal Oral Health Society, where Rupa had worked as a dentist some years ago.
People make an effort to keep certain sections of the city clean, sweeping sidewalks with small hand brooms in the morning. Unfortunately, this also adds to the dust already in the air. People often walk or ride bicycles with a scarf over their mouth and nose to try to filter out some of the dust. Also many areas of the city are not clean. Trash disposal is a problem; it is commonly dumped in piles along the street, and stray dogs or cows will wander by and pick through it.
Bhaktapur
Ashok, Rita, Astha, and Rupa's Mom accompanied Rupa and myself on a short trip to Bhaktapur. On the way, we stopped by the clinic where Rita works as a Pediatrician. Bhaktapur is a very old city near Kathmandu; and is a former home to rival kings. The city center has very old buildings and temples, and is accessible mainly by walking.
Movie Premier
That evening, we raided Rakesh's closet again for a suit and tie. Rupa and her mother wore Saris. We drove to a movie theater for a private showing of a film that Rajesh had recently starred in. Several friends were also invited to the showing. The Nepali-language movie was a historical film set mainly in the King's palace several hundred years ago. Rajesh played an advisor to the King, who falls in love with a court entertainer, and gets caught up amid various power struggles in the palace. The plot was filled with romance, palace political intrigue, and tragedy. It was nicely filmed and featured a scene where Rajesh "played" piano for his lady. Rupa periodically whispered key plot elements to keep me in the loop.
After the movie, Rajesh arrived and drove Rupa, Astha, and myself to his house for dinner. I joked about his new found piano "playing" skills (which hadn't been evident when he visited us in Ohio). We had a nice conversation about the movie business, his travels to USA and Europe. Dinner was superb.
