american country club

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I’m sitting in the American Club in the middle of Kathmandu. It’s a huge compound, surrounded by a high concrete wall. It’s not as nice as I was expecting—the furniture in the café is dirty, the tennis courts look old, and the chicken fingers I ordered are not like chicken fingers back in the States. The pool is nice, but it’s too cold to swim. The commissary, where they have all sorts of groceries imported from the U.S., doesn’t really have anything you can’t get at Bhat Bhateni. But I am drinking a bottle of Snapple peach iced tea, which I have not had in months. And they are playing John Lennon on the radio. And let’s not forget all the Christmas decorations. Wouldn’t be American with those!

Supposedly I am to pay $40 a month for “membership privileges,” but I walked in just by flashing my embassy badge and didn’t even have to go through a metal detector. The Nepali staff must assume that just because I am white I belong here. There’s no way I’m paying $40 a month for an “American club” anyway. I just came to check it out. It feels like an American country club. I hate country clubs. They do have a pilates class once a week though that I might try to take…

This week has been boring and lonely. Deepti left Monday for the last part of her UNICEF job. Sushila was supposed to return from Darjeeling on Sunday, but so far no word from her, and her mobile is switched off. With Chanukah being this week, I think I am especially nostalgic for home. Hasta and Bom made me latkahs yesterday and today, which were more like pancakes, but it was very sweet of them to try. They said they would make them all 8 days for me, but I said 2 days was enough.

Sunday night I went to a wedding reception with Renuka and Dinesh and Dinesh’s friend from college and his wife. There are separate receptions for the bride and groom for 2 days before the ceremony. This reception was for the bride, who was dressed in red and gold, traditional for a Hindu wedding. She was a bit older—probably in her mid 30s. Renuka said she is very well educated (a master’s degree), which is why she is marrying so late. The reception was held in a party hall, and we just spent a few hours sitting around, eating appetizers (the tempora and prawn chips were good), and then finally a cold dinner. The bride sat on a couch in the corner of the room while guests came to congratulate her and give her gifts. I didn’t really know anyone, so I was bored, as was Renuka. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I’m not a big fan of weddings anyway, unless it is for a close friend. So a wedding reception for Nepalis I don’t know where no one speaks English was not my idea of a fun evening.

Monday I went to The Coffee Shop in Durbar Margh, which is an overpriced restaurant. But I’m trying all of the nicer places in Kathmandu, so now I can check that off my list. Yesterday I went to Java again because I was in the mood for pizza. I gave the half I didn’t eat to a leper sitting on the street outside. I looked up leprosy in Nepal, and it has the highest rate in the world behind Brazil and the Congo. You see a lot of them near the temples, but several also hang out in Thamel. You forget that such an ailment exists when living in the U.S., but it can be awful.

I was going to stay home today on account of minor stomach troubles—maybe from the spicy vegetables Bom made last night that were so hot my eyes watered and my face turned red. But I couldn’t stand sitting in the house all day. I tried booking my flight home using frequent flier miles for January, when I will be in the U.S. for a month for interviews, but the Delta office in Delhi was telling me that I have to sign for the ticket in person, and since there is no Kathmandu office, that’s a problem. So I’m waiting to hear back from Delta via email. So frustrating! And this morning I had trouble talking to my mother and grandmother on Skype because the line was bad. Not the kind of problems I want to have during a week when I’m feeling lonely!

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