While talking with Naba, I experienced what was by far the greatest dissapointment of my travels so far. My dream was dangled in front of me and then snatched away. Naba got a call that one of the clients on the Everest base camp has altitude sickness and needed to be evacuated by helicopter. Naba asked if I'd like to go with the flight medics to the camp. It is hard to imagine anything I'd like to do more. . He said great no problem and then called the copter. . Which was in a different city. Usually they fly from Kathmandu which would've been no problem for me to join but this flight would leave from a city too far for me to get to in time. I've been nursing my dissapointment all day.
After second breakfast, I went to meet a representative from Citta in a coffee shop around the corner. Himalayan Java, is apparently famous. I had another cup of coffee and then got on his bike for the ride to the Kathmandu office. It's shared with kids for Kathmandu because their building was destroyed in the earthquake. I waited there talking with Sanjeev for a while about Citta's projects in Nepal. Sanjeev is the most profession and well-organized person I have met working for Citta. He seems totally on his game and has good ideas about how to make things run efficiently. He's working on starting a new hospital in a remote area of the Himalayas.
The head of the women's center in bhuktapur showed up and was going to take me there. I'm not sure I caught his name, but think it was Ranjit. We flagged down a local bus and squeezed our way into the mass of people. We had to change busses once at a seemly arbitrary stop and get into an only slightly less packed vehicle to go the rest of the way. It was about a 45 minute trip. And I got one photo below which isn't perfect but I think captures the atmosphere.
It was a short walk to the women's center, which is in an industrial segment of town. They knit and crochet items for specialty brands in the United States and also for J Crew. Poor and marginalized women are the staff and it gives them a chance to earn an income that they would orherwise not have. There are 7 full time year round women and about 49 that they hire part time when they can for larger orders. They also recently moved into a smaller building after the earthquake. There wasn't a ton for me to do, so I helped Ranjit figure out how to use his iPhone for a while and then went to sit with the women and crochet a hat. They didn't speak English and I don't speak Nepali but I think they enjoyed watching a foreign man crocheting. They'd also give me some helpful tips. They had just finished a big order (for dog sweaters in Brooklyn) and we're just making mats out of the extra material.
After a couple hours, I went with Ranjit to meet his friend at a scarf shop and then said goodbye. His friend is staying in the women's center with is family because his home was also destroyed in the earthquake. He taught me how to tell the real cashmere and pashmina scarves from the fake ones sold in all the tourist shops (including his own). We had some tea and I was invited to eat dinner (Dahl baht) with him and his family. Whenever I eat at someone's house, I make is a point to never ask for or receive second helpings. Sometimes they are foisted upon me and I happily eat them, but otherwise I say I'm full. Working in India, I saw firsthand the effects that come from the male/father/guest-first mentality that sometimes leaves the mother or daughters hungry.
After dinner, my new friend took me on a tour or Durban square. During the day, tourists have to pay 1500 rupees to enter but after dark there are no guards so it's free. He showed me some of the temples and more of the spaces where the temples stood before the earthquake. Signs of the damage are everywhere. Ton our way back, we walked through a temporary housing camp for victims of the earthquake. They were essentially a cluster of tents but the people in them seemed happy. My guide said that people here are happy because they have no ambition. Doesn't matter if the lights are on or off because whatever they were doing can wait until tomorrow.
Back at the women's center, they had put a pad with blankets and pillows in the corner of the room where we had all day knitting earlier today. When I wake up I'm going to try my hand at riding the local busses by myself back to Kathmandu. Wish me luck.
-AB
Naba and I
The bus
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