Well, that didn't go as planned: Episode 5 - 8

I had some extra time to think this week as mid-shower I ran out of water and was forced to be done at that point. I was thinking this would be perfect for the next episode of "Well, that didn't go as planned..." That's when I realized there are quite a few little things that have finally clicked for me this week. So, this is going to be an extended edition. (Yippee!) 

1. There is a water shortage here. Water is not necessarily hard to come by, but it has to be brought in in very large tanks. Every house has gigantic 1500L water tank or tanks on the roof which hold the water for showering, laundry, sinks, toilets, everything. Above is a picture I found on another blog of the tanks: https://36nepal.wordpress.com/page/2/ When the water gets low, more water is brought in and piped up to fill the tank. However, this takes electricity. If you didn't know, there is also an electricity shortage here as well, which is managed by load sharing. So sometimes there is water, but no electricity. Sometimes there is electricity, but no water. Sometimes, there is neither. After thoroughly conditioning my hair and mid-shaving, the water just stopped. The stream of water started to slow, but I didn't think much of it because water pressure is bad to begin with, but then it stopped altogether. I was left, leg lathered, hair silky with conditioner, with no water. I admit, I took a moment to stand there in self-pity for a moment, lamenting, whyyyy?????? A few seconds later I noticed there was just the smallest trickle of water still coming out of the spout. You better believe I stood there shivering with my head under the spout for another 3 or 4 minutes trying to rinse out the conditioner. Once I was resigned to the fact that my hair was going to be receiving a deep leave-in condition for the day, I got out of the shower and went on with my day. It wasn't a good hair day, but life goes on. 

2. People stare. Everyone, all the time, uncomfortably long. I anticipated this, as I heard that staring is not considered rude here as it is in the U.S. However, I didn't realize how uncomfortable it would make me. I know I am not the first white girl they'be seen. I suspect my curly hair has something to do with the stares. I try to walk and keep eye contact sometimes and smile at people, but not very many smile back. I am often fidgeting, thinking that there must be something on my face, or my hair is doing something special, or maybe my pants have ripped. Something other than just me walking down the street has to be attracting this attention, but no. At first, I felt like a movie star, now I just want to be invisible. I'm not insecure, I just don't like being the center of EVERYONE'S attention ALL the time! I try to ignore it, but some people are so conspicuous that there is no way to not feel their gaze.

3. People spit. Men, women, gentlemen, farmers, ladies, they all spit. When I say spit, it's not like that cotton mouth at the gym, spit out the pain kind of thing. I am talking sucking mucus to the back of your throat, coughing it back up, and really hawking a loogie. It's disgusting. Makes me cringe every time, and seriously, everyone does it. It's so gross! Lots of people smoke, I would say there are more people that smoke than people that don't. So maybe that has something to do with all the coughing and hacking and spitting. I don't really know or care what the reason is, it's disgusting. 

4. Nodding your head 'no' actually means 'yes.' I have been so confused by this gesture but I finally figured it out this week. Think of the head movement and facial expressions you make when saying, "nah," or "no." Well here, that gesture means "sure," or "yes." CONFUSING! Up til this week I thought people were rather rude, like they were saying yes, but with sarcasm. Not so. They don't nod there heads up and down like we do in the States to gesture agreement or understanding. Rather, they sort of bob the head side to side. This only took me 3 weeks to figure out. 

Just now as I am editing this post, the power has gone out. It's fairly predictable and usually goes out about this time of day (7:30pm). The guesthouse has an inverter that is charged when we have electricity and that provides enough electricity to power one light bulb in each room when the power is out. However, there is no charging of electronics when the power is out, so you have to definitely plan ahead. Lucky for me, it creates lots of time to read.