Last of the sickness and another farewell

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01-NOV-2007
I got so much done at the office today! I felt truly productive and that I put every bit of time to good use. This is so difficult to do around here, since everyone works a little bit slower in Nepal. People tend to take their good ol' time in providing you with information you need to move forward. But hey, minor victories.

After conducting the health checks in the morning, I wrote up our first monthly report and put together the mega health kit for the home. I spent the afternoon weeding through old meds, determining the medicinal purpose of random creams, and putting together a list of questions we need answered to move forward with the vaccination program. So I had to carry a conspicuous bright green 4' x 1' bag with 'Hospital Pack' written in large white letters on one one side, all throughout Thamel. I opted for a taxi as to not injure anyone on the super packed bus. And I felt people staring at me even harder than they do so normally with that thing on my arm. Luckily, no one seemed to to think I was an actual doctor, coming running up to me for help.

Yesterday's mysterious silver box (the Charity health kit) was also quite the attention grabber, as everyone's eyes seemed to be glued to it as if it contained stacks and stacks of cash. All I needed was a a handcuff to attach it to my hand to complete the look.

Tonight was completely miserable once again. I was in such pain from head to toe and couldn't stop coughing to save my life. I even managed to get a case of those nasty violent coughs that you can't control and start gagging and turning blue in the face. I asked for hot water beginning at about 530pm and continued 2 or 3 more times until they finally shoved it my way at 8pm. Thanks for being there, guys. How about you just sit on your bum in front of the tube after I've clearly asked for hot water to alleviate my horrendous cough on 4 different occasions? I know you understand me and though I don't know the Nepali language inside and out, I clearly understand nakhanne, tato pani choinax (no eating, no hot water). I realize that you don't like the fact I'm not eating your daal bhaat, but I am not feeling well. Hell, I can barely choke it down when I'm in top condition. For crap sakes, I am sitting in the corner with all my winter weather clothing on my body (festive ski hat and all) with a clear look of pain and absolute disparity on my face. I am coughing up my lungs so much that tears are streaming down my face and you are scolding me for not eating. Thank goodness grandfather clearly realized what was giong on and demanded hot water on my behalf as he was happily puffing away smoking tobacco from his water bong. I like him.

Moving on, I did get the water and a cup of hot liquid medicine that tasted like a mix of salty bullion cubes, lavendar, rosemary, and various other herbs and spices. I believe grandfather may have requested this as well.

02-NOV-2007
So yes, first night on the $37 air mattress and to be completely honest, it's really not everything I hoped it would be. Perhaps this is because I was sick and miserable to begin with, but it did feel a bit softer on my bony hips and tailbone. It's really more of a Thermarrest than a proper air mattress, taking about 5-10 puffs to get the thing properly inflated, getting to about 1" in thickness. But still, this is an inch of padding that I'd not had the luxury of enjoying previously.

Back on the daal bhaat. I gave in for the sake of peace this morning for the first time in about a week. Yes, since it was nearly noon, it was stone cold, and I noticed a few very hard crunchy bits as always. But this time I just didn't drink some water to flush them down without inquiry. I wanted to know what these mysterious bits were. Ready for this? Little bitty pebbles!! In my daal bhaat! Mitho choinax (not tasty). I honestly wasn't too surprised, but really, pebbles? And for the record, I have also pulled dark hair from my food as well (clearly not mine, as it's lightened significantly since I've been here).

I headed back into the office for the 5th day in a row to inform Paul (the volunteer coordinator) that one child only had two days remaining of his seizure meds (and the office is closed on the weekend). He wasn't in, so I randomly ran into him in front of a shop later on. We planned to head over to the hospital Sunday morning for that and to speak with the nurse who would be administering our vaccinations for more details.

I stopped by Charity after dark to provide some cold meds and play with the kids for a bit. I got some amazing phtos of Aka and Bishnu all smiles on the swingset- love those two! I was quickly mobbed by a myriad of neighborhood children as soon as I started taking photos so I made my escape from them quickly thereafter. They love my attention and all, but if I was going to be spending time with anyone, it really should have been with the Charity kids.

03-NOV-2007
No breakfast for me- I desperately wanted to avoid those stones! So I picked up some tasty biscuits and Chocofuns to fill my belly. I am sad to report that there are ants in my bed. I know that this is due to nothing else than my incessant need to eat biscuits within the confines of my room, but they had to be dealt with. It became prime time to shake that dirty blanket out once and for all. You would not believe the amount of dust, ants, and crumbs that came out of that thing- lovely. Okay, lesson learned. Biscuits on the balcony from here on out.

Saw the kids hold their own church service back at Charity for the first time- quite the experience! I absolutely love the fact that the kids are Christians so that I can talk with them about Jesus and Christmas- something I never thought I'd have over here. The service was a combination of songs sung in English and Nepali and a sermon/sharing session in Nepali that I didn't understand a word of. My favorite song went 'Everyday I want to telephone Jesus' x3 'Hello?!'. So cute!

04-NOV-2007
Okay, so after the heath check, I gave into the daal bhaat. I picked up the child who needed his meds from the hospital- so obvious that he's done this before. There's no way I would have got there without him! The bus let us off at the teaching hosptial where there was this shop size walk-up building for medicine distribution. You just waltz up there, tell them what you need, hand over the money, and it's yours. No prescription required- even for seizure meds. I thought the point of going all the way up to the hospital was to have the child seen by a doctor and to obtain a new Rx. Nope- it's just that the medicine is specialized, so won't be sold at a standard corner pharmacy.

Paul and Kamaal arrive. Kamaal is the Nepali man who works for VSN and is responsible for placements and purchasing goods for the organization. We head over to Kanti children's hospital to speak with the nurse for our vaccinations. We were finally able to get answers for prices, timeline, transpo and other logisitics- score!

Back into Thamel (again) and enjoyed the best veggie burger of all time... and I don't even like veggie burgers. I met this extremely helpful guy at the restaurant (Alok), who showed me around the non-touristy areas of Kathmandu as I've never ventured beyond the borders of Thamel when coming into town! He took me to a couple malls and was of so much help by negotiating prices as well. I scored a hair dryer, genuine Puma hoodie (I missed my hoodies terribly) and nail polish! I never thought I'd be able to get these things in Nepal! I saw Durbar Square for the first time, but at night- I can't wait to see the magnificence of that place in the daylight! Alok was so sweet to escort me around after being in a motorcycle accident the night before!

So I hate Thamel- the incessant avoidance necessary, that you cannot even stop for a moment or risk instant bombardment, as well as overpriced, touristy CRAP. It is nice every once in a while for the modern conveniences, but after seeing the other parts of downtown, I couldn't be bothered by the place.

I met up with everyone at the Tradition for Steve and Dani's last night in Nepal. Dolce Vita was the restaurant of choice, and I was definitely spotted by the waiter who had given me his number about a week before- oops. Duck out, FAST. I honestly lost the thing- who writes their information on a napkin? I'm sure I must have used it to blow my nose or in the bathroom at some point. Hey, those things are hard to come by!

Tom & Jerrys for drinks! Long Islands are always a bad move, but here is my reasoning. You get the most amount of liquor for the cheapest price. So I tell myself it's the most economical way to go and that I'll drink them slowly. Right, you know how that goes. When I'm drinking, I need to have my hand ON A DRINK or I'll feel naked. And no one wants to feel naked in front of a bunch of people. Unless you're into that kind of thing. At which point, you should probably talk to somebody about that.

We finally head to Fire dance club (where else really?). It was Steve's birthday at midnight and you know how I am with my birthdays. So that's my excuse. 😉

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