Random update

Hey all,

I don't have anything in particular to write about, so I figured I would ramble on about small tidbits of information that you may or may not find interesting, and perhaps post a photo or two. We have electricity until midnight, which is fairly unprecedented, so I figured I should take advantage of this opportunity.

-RR told an interesting story at dinner (and I subsequently read the story in the newspaper) concerning the fire-fighting capabilities of the fire departments in the Kathmandu valley. Throughout the Kathmandu valley, there are four fire engines. The newest fire engines were manufactured in 1976. The fire engines are never filled with water, and so they must first drive to Boda (sp?) through heinous traffic to fill up their tanks, and then back to the rubble that had once resembled the building that had long since been reported aflame. Also, there are limited fire hydrants city-wide, but even these are of little concern, because the water board has already cut water to them. There are also limited (if any) sprinkler systems in high rises throughout Nepal. No new firefighters have been recruited in the past 15 years, and so they call in additional help from the Armed Police Force, and the only training these people receive is on-the-job...meaning they train when there is a real fire. There is no money to retrofit a new water tank, no money for new fire engines, and the roadway system is inadequately designed for eight-foot-wide vehicles. Long story short: avoid an open flame at all costs.

-An individual wrote on my wall on Facebook informing me that it was snowing. I wrote back saying that that was utter madness, and given her posting time of 4am, I'd assumed school was cancelled. She wrote back saying that she had actually pulled an all-nighter working on art projects, and that I was the only one on at 4am so she decided to send me a celebratory message. I was about to write back expressing my glee that the strange time difference and electricity schedules here were finally convenient for SOMEONE, when the electricity suddenly went out and I was disconnected from the internet.

-I'm really excited about a new lens Nikon is coming out with when I get back in March. Yup, I'm a nerd, and do not really have very much money. But I'll probably still buy it, it's supposed to be cheap. It'll also probably be backordered, so I'll have time to save up anyway.

-We had a meeting today to narrow down concept boards for the disability awareness campaign. I took some photos, but predictably, I like very few of them, because taking photographs during a meeting is hard. Oh well, I'll upload some more photos later.

-We ate lunch at a place RR recommended called "Rice & Bowl." When RR said the name of the restaurant, my dad heard "Rice & Bowel," which I would imagine would be a far less popular establishment. Even so, "Rice & Bowl" proved interesting enough. There was good food, and there's always gonna be something special about a Chinese restaurant in Kathmandu that is also playing smooth jazz covers of songs like "Tequila" on the radio.

-After the meeting and lunch, we went back to the office being rented for the Nepal Disability Awareness Campaign program that my dad is running. We got some interesting photos on the way, and also Penny and Len interviewed the two paid employees at the office, Kedar and Jamuna. Jamuna was in a terrible bus accident when she was a child, and has lost both of her legs. Despite this, she climbs a flight of stairs up to the office to work every day, and is a great asset to my dad's campaign.

Photos now!

2-10-09 NDACP meeting and others

-Carey