tales over tea

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i had an interesting day, as one often does when lost in the middle of the mountains, meeting interesting people. i spent the afternoon walking along the lake with my big camera out, which often is an asset because people ask me to take their picture (like a little girl sitting in front of a guest house), or it serves as a conversation starter.

i was in pokhara joe's this afternoon, a little coffee shop, looking through my photos from the morning. a british guy asked me if i was a photographer. we ended up having an hour long conversation about everything from his jewish father that was a political exile from south africa, to the love/hate relationship many brits have with london, to maoism in nepal. turns out he did too many drugs in college and never made it through, so now he's a nomad of sorts, living a year or 2 in various places, taking on various projects. his crazy stories make you wonder how much of his life he made up for effect, but i guess this is the place to meet crazy people who do crazy things. i mean, look at me--i had to come to a far corner of the world to do research on women and sex, then i go back to the u.s. to try to find a job, then i'm coming back, then i'm going to dubai to give a talk to a bunch of arab women and maybe ride a camel. i sound a little crazy myself. and i'm not making any of that up. ken told me this morning on skype that he's never been bored by me yet, so i guess that's a good thing.

anyway, right now the brit (Dan, Dave, I cannot remember which) is helping to fund the construction of a guest house. he met some nepalis who live about 6 km off the beaten path in pokhara, liked their little area, saw a lot of other people liked the area, and agreed that a guest house would bring the family more business. so he uses some of the money he makes off of renting his flat in london to pay for the construction of it. after this, who knows--he wants to travel central and south america and spend more time in the u.s., a country he says he loves.

i also met a guy from india today, who said "namaste" to me as i walked past a shop. i muttered namaste back and kept walking, thinking he wanted to sell me some handicrafts or something. but he followed me a bit and said, "can i ask you a question? why do so many tourists not want to talk to us?"

"because we think you want to sell us something," i said.

"but i am just curious to learn new things. many nepali people cannot travel and learn new things like you can, so we have to learn from the people who come here." he told me how he tried to stop a guy with long dreadlocks and piercings all over his face the other day to ask him about the style, since they do not have that sort of fashion here. but the guy told him to fuck off.

so i stood and talked with him for a while, learned he was raised in india, but is hanging out with a friend in pokhara for a while who has a gem shop. he asked all sorts of questions of me--what i am doing in nepal, etc., and he said that i should keep smiling to make my dimples deeper, because dimples are nice. a woman sitting on the sidewalk in the sun nearby laughed when he motioned to my cheeks, probably not understanding the english, but understanding that he was talking about my smile.

my day was destined for a good start late this morning when i received a call from hasta in the village. "hi michelle, i am hasta," he said. he was calling to see how i was, and if i needed any help in my new apartment. if so, he was going to make the 3 day journey back from his village early for me. but i assured him i was okay. he promised to call me before i leave to go back to the u.s. at the end of the month, either to meet me in kathmandu or to wish me a safe trip back. i also received a text message from chandra, kiran's son, whom i have not seen since my first time in nepal 3 years ago at mary's christmas party. he is in kathmandu and wants to meet for tea.

apparently i'm a hot ticket today! sometimes it's hard for me to tell whether i am being hit on or whether these men are really just interested in what i am doing here and my work. there are not many female tourists, afterall. trekking is still a man's domain by far, so i'm sure a female foreigner is even more interesting that the usual australian or british men that come through here. and being the social person i am, and a sucker for a good story from someone new and interesting, i am usually attentive. but it's hard to decipher if an invitation for tea is innocent or a come on.

regardless, i had an interesting day. the bacteria i picked up appears to be responding to cipro (thank god!), and i went for a long walk around the lake--some much needed exercise. maybe tomorrow i'll be ready for a good hike before boarding the bus back to the 'du on thursday.

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