Friday 4th April 2008

Hello again you poor sods!
Another mammoth maya-email? Already? It hasn’t even been a week yet!!

Well, tough shit you lazy buggers, I’m insanely busy and have far too much to write about to wait a week!

Our little fundraising event is only two weeks away now, and things seem to have escalated ever so slightly out of my control!

We met with the restaurant again to discuss where to have the dances etc, and were then informed that the band we were going to use (their own house band) have all gone home to their villages already to vote, and won’t be coming back until after the election! That means no rehearsals, and also if there’s any kind of trouble post-election (hmmmm, what do you think?) the bus services will most likely shut down and they may not make it back in time!

Bit of a dilemma, but luckily through our fabulous networking recently we approached Anil Shahi, guitarist and local celebrity who’s also our new best friend and he agreed to help us out. Continue reading →

Sunday 30th March 2008

Well, Karla and I have been busy busy busy organising things like crazy.
It’s really a lot of fun for me having some really specific goals to achieve and work to do, as I’ve mentioned before.

We’ve literally been ‘networking’ every day and have met so many people through other people recently. A lovely Californian guy called Jim who runs a Tibetan art gallery here came to visit us, and although I doubt he will be able to help us financially, was extremely helpful in introducing us to people. Almost every conversation we have goes like this:

” Do you know Shyam? He’s quite high-up over at Thai airways – he has helped out some charities in the past – I’ll introduce you sometime”
“Oh you must know Sudesh? The owner of the New Orleans? He helps out that orphanage over at Boudha.”
“This guy Rob Tamang, he owns the Bamboo club, he’s supporting a couple of children’s homes out by Bhaktapur”

We’ve been meeting with a lot of local businessmen, including (thanks to Jim) Sudesh, the owner of the New Orleans, a popular restaurant/bar in Thamel. Naturally most of our meetings happen in the evening, and involve a certain amount of wine to be consumed, which makes it all more fun! (although I’ve been spending an obscene amount of money lately eating out all the time, but I think it’s for a good cause. If only I was being paid for this and could write it off as a business expense!) Continue reading →

Saturday 22nd March 2008

For the first time in 7 months, I recently felt genuinely afraid of going out in the street.
There was shouting and screaming, and loud explosions, people covering their heads and running for shelter.

Both Karla and I ventured out and ended up running for a taxi, and refused to get out until he drove us right up to the door of the hotel.
We made it from there to this internet cafe, but sadly not unscathed.

The reason the streets are so unsafe right now?
It’s not riots over Tibet (although there have been a few), nor is it election-related violence (although we’re prepared if there should be any).
No, it’s Holi festival, and for the last week the celebrations have been increasingly difficult to cope with. Continue reading →

Monday 17th March 2008

Hello all,
(I should point out that the two topics in my title are completely un-related, for anyone who might be confused!).

Firstly, China.

Due to all the people that they are not shooting in Lhasa at the moment, my trip (due to depart this week) will most likely be cancelled. They’ve “closed” Everest from both sides, so I can’t go to base camp, and they categorically have not closed the border or shut-down Lhasa, so I find it extremely interesting that no-one is allowed to go there.
As with the rest of the world there have been massive protests here – especially as we probably have the highest number of Tibetan refugees than almost any other country (over 2,500 Tibetans a year enter Nepal). So the police have been having fun beating people with sticks to show China how much we support their views. Continue reading →

Friday 14th March 2008

Hey everyone,
Thanks for your lovely responses to my last email – but really don’t worry about me – I know sometimes I may sound a bit miserable or down, but remember I’ve pledged to record all of my experiences, and want to include everything – the good and the bad, but usually I’m only down for a few hours at most – I’m really fine and have just recently had an AMAZING bout of good karma!

Karla, the Finnish volunteer and I have been planning a huge fundraiser to have in April for the orphanage. As well as writing my little Annual Review, which you will all soon be able to see courtesy of my lovely sister who is creating a website for us, we’ve both been brainstorming ideas for a fundraiser.
We want to hold it at a particular restaurant in Thamel, called the Northfield Cafe, which is a perfect venue – it’s right in the middle of the tourist district, with a really large, outdoor garden with a little stage and a Nepali band that play every night. Continue reading →

Monday 10th March 2008

Ok, after the rather depressing note of the last email, thought you’d all like to know that my date with hot German last night was fantastic and he wants to see me again on Friday, so yay!
Sadly (as fate would have it), I’m leaving for Tibet in a week, and by the time I get back, he’s off on a meditation retreat and then going to Tibet himself, so we won’t see each other again for ages, but nevermind.
He’s very lovely.

Now then, onto the rest of the email!
In the last 7 months it has slowly crept up on me that I’ve changed quite a lot in many small ways.
For example, I’ve become a vegetarian, managed to give up smoking (well, so far it’s been 2 months anyway), I’ve lost ten kilos and dyed my hair red. Continue reading →

Monday 10th March 2008

What a week!
Ok, I’ve been up and down like a rollercoaster this week so better get on and tell you all about it.

The ups:
We took all the children for HIV and hepatitis tests this week. We took 12 kids on Tuesday and 13 on Wednesday, and every single one of them came out negative for both! So yay!

Also they were amazing – 25 kids aged 2-14 and only three cried or made a fuss. Parna the youngest (about 2 and a half) had to get jabbed in both arms before they could get a vein and she barely whimpered!
They were soooo good and well behaved! Afterwards we walked back through town and stopped at a local restaurant for samosas and tea – a real treat for the kids, as they hardly ever get out and about. After that we got a tuk-tuk home, and the kids all thought it was a brilliant day out! I never thought I’d think of an HIV test as a fun day out, but the kids were just so amazingly good and really had fun!
So there we are.

Leaving the hospital – and all HIV negative!

Continue reading →

Saturday 1st March 2008

There’s this tree….

It’s on Ratna Park, which is the major hub of Kathmandu, a huge public park, and the road around it is where all the buses and tuk-tuks terminate etc.

Every time I’m walking along the side of the road at Ratna park, I always notice this one particular tree.
It’s hard not to, as surrounding the base of the tree is an awful lot of shit.

The first time I went past it, I thought, “this must be where all the dogs come to poo”, and immediately forgot about it.

The next time I went past it, I thought, “Wait a minute, dogs don’t do that, they just go wherever they happen to be standing.”

At the exact same moment it occurred to me that dog poo doesn’t look like that either. Continue reading →