I've failed to think of an imaginative name for this update, so I shall call it...Update

The past two mornings have consisted of bucket baths, which for those unenlightened few among you, means that I take a bath out of a bucket. Not altogether unpleasant, and I'm really getting quite good at it.

2/15/09

THE FOCUS GROUPS ARE DONE. Not that I was particularly stressed about it myself, but it'll be nice for my dad to be able to relax for the first time since we've arrived, and just nice to get the ball rolling on our baseline stats on the perceptions of people with disabilities.

After the focus groups and leaving Mahesh (Rotaract president) in charge of changing the video tapes for the focus groups, my dad, Penny and Nirmala and I went to Thamel to wander around. To be frank, I much prefer wandering around in locales that are NOT described as 'tourist hot spots.' This isn't because I have so much of a problem with the tourists, but just the people who are conditioned to sell things to tourists. I am very cheap, and fairly practical in my purchases (fairly). There are many things I don't need, and I feel terrible, but sometimes the only way to get someone to stop trying to sell you something is to ignore them outright and walk on.

That said, I bought a pretty B.A. hat. It's kind of wintery, and is impossibly awesome and somewhat silly. It was clearly a necessary purchase. And I bought guitar picks, which are among the few items that I've discovered in Nepal to be more expensive here than they are at home. I told the shopkeeper this, and he merely expounded upon their extraordinary quality, and left me somewhat mystified. Unfortunately, I actually needed them, and am a terrible haggler despite my Jewish heritage, so I grudgingly purchased two. The shopkeeper seemed rather put out that I didn't need more.

Other minor tidbits:

-We ate lunch at the Namaste bar and restaurant, which was very nice, had a rooftop view, and live music in the evenings (so we didn't hear it at lunch, but it may be nice to go back).
-Jim trained the Rotaractors on how to give a survey, and it was very well received. I videotaped the whole thing and am planning on making DVDs to distribute for those that missed it.
-Penny, myself, RR, Chandra and my Dad had a kind of drinks and snacks get-together at RR's house, and after that, we went to Masala Indian Cuisine, which was, unsurprisingly, quite good.
-After this, I was far too tired to update the blog.

2/16/09

The time is 3am. I awake in the midst of an intense sweating episode, and realize with much dismay that I not only have terrible terrible heartburn, but I also feel mildly like vomiting. I get up and take a swig of Digene (discount Pepto-Bismol) and a half hour later, I fall asleep again. And I wake up in the morning, and despite being tired, I feel completely fine. *bullet dodged*

Today my dad and I picked up Nirmala and went to Kirtipur to visit Namrata, another blind student my dad sponsored. We walked around Kirtipur and ate at a restaurant called Kirtipur Restaurant and Beer Garden. We were the only patrons.

The food was good. The wait staff was friendly. However, they seem ill-equipped as a restaurant to serve people in numbers greater than one. Our food came out in waves (almost as though it were a fancy multi-course meal, but needless to say, I don't think that was the intent), and my dad, on his way to the bathroom, glanced in the kitchen and saw our former waiter hard at work over a solitary pair of burners. All told, the meal couldn't have taken longer if the chicken in our chicken chow mein was hatched, raised and THEN cooked for us as we waited.

I then came home and had a wonderful hot shower, because there was water and electricity simultaneously. Yes. It was glorious in its magnificence, and magnificent in its glory.

My dad attended a Rotary meeting, but I was too tired from my temporary illness and stayed home, read about cars on the internet, played guitar, read a book, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Focus Groups, Kirtipur

-Carey