We are just back in Nepal - and its great to be back! We've received a warm welcome from our friends here and are feeling settled in and are looking forward to our work over the coming months. It feels good coming back this second time knowing what to expect, but at the same time looking at life in Nepal with fresh eyes.
While not a lot has changed things have definately been happening in our time away. The good news for us is that the office building under construction last year opposite our home here is now complete giving us a bit more peace. There is also a new restaurant/pub opened up next door which is promising to show the football, and perhaps even rugby and the chance for a beer or 2 in the evening. This is a first for Banepa so we are interested to see how it takes off as nightlife is not part of the culture here.
Politically there has been a lot of unrest in Nepal lately - mainly this stems from the failure of the government to draft a constitution by the end of May. They've had 4 years (with many extensions) and still no results. Its unclear if the government has legitimate power at present, and there is much speculation as to what will happen over the coming weeks/months. People are definately very fustrated with the situation.
We have also been reintroduced to the Nepali way of life, as we went to purchase a sim card for our phone we were expected to provide copies of passports and visas, passport photos, our parents name, grandparents name as well as our thumb prints on an ink pad! All details were manually entered on a ledger before we were on our way with sim card in tow.
We are looking foward to catching up with the progress of some of our old projects, especially to catching up with our friends in the the more rural villages and are starting planning for some very exciting new projects too!
While not a lot has changed things have definately been happening in our time away. The good news for us is that the office building under construction last year opposite our home here is now complete giving us a bit more peace. There is also a new restaurant/pub opened up next door which is promising to show the football, and perhaps even rugby and the chance for a beer or 2 in the evening. This is a first for Banepa so we are interested to see how it takes off as nightlife is not part of the culture here.
Politically there has been a lot of unrest in Nepal lately - mainly this stems from the failure of the government to draft a constitution by the end of May. They've had 4 years (with many extensions) and still no results. Its unclear if the government has legitimate power at present, and there is much speculation as to what will happen over the coming weeks/months. People are definately very fustrated with the situation.
We have also been reintroduced to the Nepali way of life, as we went to purchase a sim card for our phone we were expected to provide copies of passports and visas, passport photos, our parents name, grandparents name as well as our thumb prints on an ink pad! All details were manually entered on a ledger before we were on our way with sim card in tow.
We are looking foward to catching up with the progress of some of our old projects, especially to catching up with our friends in the the more rural villages and are starting planning for some very exciting new projects too!
Glad you arrived back safe! From Fern.
ReplyDeleteHey Yvonne
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are enjoying being back and settling in nicely. Will continue to read your blog with interest. Love the photos's
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