By tierneybb
Oh dear. With the realization that this week marks the point at which I am exactly halfway through my time here in Nepal, and just past halfway through the semester, I guess this means I've settled in to life as a student in Nepal. This mostly mean's I've found my niche and accepted my identity here: I hang out at the mid-level integrated Western cafes, where it's mostly white people and monks but you order the lemon ginger honey tea to go with your spinach crepes and no one's using the wifi. I say I'm studying here for a semester and try not to claim that I live in Kathmandu, as it's rather obvious I'm not from around here and don't have the cultural capital of the long-term ex-pats. It's a nice balance as some of the truly local joints are beyond my abilities both linguistically and in terms of limits on my dhal consumption. I take public transit if there's a direct line, but as soon as transfers get involved I know to give up and grab a cab. I've bought local traditional fabrics to have tailored into an outfit, but it'll be western style not a chupa because... there are many things I just can't pull off.
I am in the midst of finals fever: not to be confused with a feverish rush of productivity and intellectual progress, this is that sticky and restless feeling of not at all wanting to do the finals that are due in the next two days. For SIT programs the semester is divided somewhat awkwardly, a little bit like a mix between a block schedule and a trimester: the first two months are accelerated courses with a final towards the end of October, and the month of November is devoted to an Independent Study Project (ISP) that is an immersive research experience in which students can live wherever necessary to follow their heart's academic desire. (I'm trying to apprentice in copper repousse in Patan at the moment, we'll see if that works out).
As we went in to the final weekend of all the students together we decided to blow off steam with a night out in Thamel. With the big Nepali festival of Dasain (15(+ in practice as things here are always somewhat relaxed) days where the entire country shuts down for family reunions and celebrations of the goddess Durga... which mostly involves animal sacrifice, I've already seen gutters running with the pinky hues of diluted blood, but comparatively its treated like Christmas) approaching our homestay families were concerned about the increased risk of pickpocketing (which is still much lower than in DC or most American cities) so we agreed to spend the night in Thamel in a hotel near the night life sector. Calling on our local friends they brought us up to a Reggae themed bar where a local band was playing rock hits. While they started with some excellent local rock the large group of dancing white students (us) prompted them to switch to American hits, but ones that worked so well for this scene in Nepal: Nirvana's "Come as you are" Sublime "Santoria" Clapton "cocaine" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious." One of our friends told us the band playing included Nepal's most famous band's (Cobweb? I admit to having never heard of them, but he hadn't heard the songs they were covering either) lead singer, who was killing the guitar solos. While I don't think this can be counted as truly local music, with the walls of many an establishment here plastered with pictures of Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain, it's been integrated into local atmosphere especially in Thamel. I will absolutely be returning there to hang out "late night" (this is until the midnight curfew, but everyone's up at 6:30am here so that seems much later. I like to pretend Its actually just three hours later than the real time all day).