Random Observations: Part 5

When Americans express agreement, we usually nod our head or say yes. Here in Nepal (also in India from what I've seen on television), to show agreement, the people kind of shrug, moving their head from side to side, and they don't say anything. For me, I'm used to this meaning "I don't know" or perhaps even a negative answer. I'm finally getting used to this after 5 weeks, but it took me a long time to get used to it. I remember several times repeating my questions when really my Nepali friends were saying "yes" the whole time.

The Venga Boys are also still extremely big here. (?) If you don't know this cheesy (and that's an understatement) pop group, you've probably heard their song on the Six Flags commercials with the old guy prancing around to "The Venga bus is coming. . ." Pretty annoying, but catchy---it's one of those songs that will definitely get stuck in your head for a week. The other day I went over to a student's house---she's so sweet---and I transcribed the lyrics for a Venga Boys song (as well as the Titanic "My Heart Will Go On") and I can still remember it all unfortunately.

Marijuana grows wild EVERYWHERE in the country. Supposedly there is a day here, like a festival or something, where they can smoke it legally.

There is a lot of garbage lying around; I was walking in Thamel, the tourist center of Kathmandu just last week after a few days of a garbage strike and trash was piled up thigh high in the narrow streets, feet away from vendors selling vegetables and fruit. The Bagmati river that flows through Kathmandu and Pashiputinath (the most sacred Hindu temple complex in Nepal) is rank with the stench of being a public dumping ground. In stark contrast to this, however, Nepalis recycle and are very careful about their glass bottles. Most of the time you buy a soda, you get it in a glass bottle and they pop off the bottle cap with a bottle opener old-school style (like how I imaging in the 50's). It's a lot cheaper to buy this way rather than plastic (15 rupees, about 25 cents for the glass bottle; 35 rupees, about 55 cents for a plastic bottle) even though usually the shopkeeper won't let you leave the shop for fear of losing his bottle and you have to drink your soda there. After you're done, you give the bottle back to them and then they keep it to be picked up by the bottling distributor who will then take it back to the plant to be refilled. You just hope that the bottle is being washed in the meantime, but I've since learned to not over analyze sanitation in this country, otherwise I would have gone stark raving mad a few weeks ago.