How's life

I’ve started thinking how has my life changed from the beginning of my time in Nepal. And in a way not much. The chores and the life rhythm are pretty much the same as in beginning. I still go to work with the same buses, I still wash my laundry in the balcony, I still watch series or movies from my computer in the evening etc.

I’ve learned a lot though. I know my way around in Patan and in some extent in Kathmandu. I know where to find different kinds of shops, which bakery has the best croissants or where to find the right buses (most of the time). I understand how to behave in different kind of situations: how to greet, how to signal I want out of a bus, how to interpret peoples facial expressions and body language.  Of course I don’t always get it right, but enough times to make my life easier.

In some ways life has gotten more demanding. The power cuts- or loadshedding as they are called here- are getting longer, now 9 hours a day. This means evenings in torch and candle light, without a computer because the battery doesn’t last long enough. This is a country in electricity crisis; not enough power plants and they run on water anyway and now is the dry season, a lot of people, and no money to buy electricity from abroad. The temperature drops near to zero in the nights, so without central heating the houses get very cold. I sleep with quite a lot of clothes on. Showers are no picnic either in the cold air, and my boiler can’t always decide wheatear to give me hot or cold water. And at times also the water runs out. The unstable political atmosphere also causes it’s own problems; maioists decide to have a strike which closes everything and stops all traffic, there is a demonstration, or there is a banda, which means that there is no traffic in or out of the valley. 

It is one month to go, and then I have to be on a plane on my way to Finland. The things described above tell of things that makes returning easier; electricity all the time, working internet connections and phone lines, safe water on the taps and the water is cold or warm just as I wish, and warmth! Of course it’s also wonderful to see friends and family again. But  there are more things that I’ll surely miss than what I wont. The people, the mountains, the colours, the laughter, the religious music from the streets, the positive attitude towards life, downstairs neighbor always wanting to chat, the dogs and other animals that are around you all the time, the beautiful architecture, coworkers shaking hands each morning they meet, momos…

Though it’s nice to go back to Finland, to the things you know and to a working infrastructure, there are so many things I wish I could take with me. But I’ll try to concentrate on the present, so life doesn’t feel too much of a countdown. And if my mind starts to travel I’ll concentrate on the idea of a evening with electricity and my friends in Finland (maybe with a bottle of cider also), so the rest of my time here doesn’t feel so bitter sweet.