What I really like about Nepal

To those of you foreigners currently living in Nepal: what is the one thing you really like about Nepal?

I get asked this question quite a lot, especially when I speak a little bit of Nepali:

“Tapailai Nepal kasto cha?”, which translates into “How do you like Nepal?” (well I’m not sure if it’s tapailai, tapaile, or just tapai – this part of grammar really confuses me)

I often answer “Dheri man parcha”, which means “I like it very much!” And I’m not lying when I say that. My experience so far has been a generally positive one.

And then they ask “Ke man parcha?” (What do you like?)

The food, the scenery, the variety, the people… I don’t quite know how to say this in Nepali, or for God’s sake, in any language other than English: it has been rather life changing so far. My communication, especially in the rural areas, has been limited due to my limited ability to converse in Nepali. But that got me thinking and contemplating a lot about what I really like about being here.

Old city: buildings

Hill views

Lake view

City: people and cars

I really treasure visiting and getting to know so many families. Not just people – I meet random persons on the street all the time, but families. Cook and eat dal-bhaat with them. Play with their babies. Help them plant rice paddies. Practice Nepali with them. Laugh and sing and party (although I still cannot stand the smell and taste of alcohol).

Every family I have met has been quite different – some are wealthy and some are poor. Nepalese people are very smiley, but you can easily tell that two people are part of a family by the way they behave – how they talk, how much they look at you, how far they stand/sit away from you.. Like this Sudra family I met yesterday was so light hearted and hilarious – all seven brothers and sisters teased me in good-hearted ways (okay well people tease me all the time but still..)!  In Nepal, families are really tight.

I love the families. I especially enjoy spending time with them during their day-to-day lives and experience. I’ve contemplated about many things, sanitary wise, but I eventually decided: my skin grows and shed, but I only live once. Sometimes I wonder why I don’t spend a week in a different family’s home. But with a 20kg suitcase and my work schedule and how small most Nepali homes are…

Planting rice..

Newari party!

One of the families I visited

And yes, Nepal has made me think a lot, but this one may be of particular interest: what is wealth? What do you mean when you say someone is “rich”? – and I don’t intend to present the argument that happiness = rich.

The terai (low land) region is the wealthiest in Nepal. But looking at living conditions – small houses and unsanitary households and animal dunk everywhere, it’s hard to imagine how this region can be so rich. The people don’t take wealth in terms of cash or modern houses or expensive salon cars. The richest families have huge pieces of fertile land that produces food to export, herds of cattle and buffaloes and goats, and how much the community respects them.

Huge lands of field... and a big bird

Houses made of wood and straw and... clay? mud?

Someone I met said, “Who cares how many rupees you have in the bank? The government is so unstable that your rupees may devalue very quickly. But when you have fertile land and animals and respect, you never go hungry.”

And so it rains in Kathmandu. May tomorrow not flood, may load shedding stop, and may tonight be filled with more contemplation.