First week of Feb

Dear All,

I know I haven’t written in awhile, but please don’t confuse that with a lack of affection. I miss you all just as much as I did the moment we said goodbye!

In any case, the last week or so has been remarkable, and I’ve been happier (and for a change healthier) than I’ve been in a long time. That’s not to say that I was unhappy before, but this is one of those times when the sun shines just a little bit brighter, and there seems to be a little extra joy in the world. Which is why I’m sitting down to share my new found treasures with you all!

In fact, I’ve recently learned that Kathmandu may be the greatest city in the whole world. And it’s not only because last week, I danced bachata with an incredibly talented dancer. (Bachata, can you believe it!?! I still get giddy thinking about it.) and it’s not only because my neighbor downstairs has a new puppy that is as cute and fluffy as any puppy can be. It’s because the other day as I was walking down the street a sign for a dance studio caught my eye. It said lessons were available for all types of dance, and then it began listing the classes currently offered: traditional nepali, bollywood, hip hop, salsa, western, break dance, and here’s the big one……ROBOT!! That’s right! You can take Robot lessons here, for all those days when you just have to break out the techno music and let the little robot in your heart out to dance. How dreamy is that! Sadly, there’s barely enough time for the Salsa I do now. So I won’t be getting my robot on any time soon, but I’m still fairly certain that proves Kathamandu to be as close to Paradise as you can get here on earth.



But I have managed to squeeze Salsa in lately, and I couldn’t be happier. My teacher is incredibly talented, and while the classes are great, I’ve found the open dance to be a great way to pick up some of the more advanced moves at a pretty quick pace. I was surprised how many really great dancers there are here. I’m really having a great time, even though, I still have the occasionally longing for an Ella Fitzgerald song and a great swing partner. But all in all, Salsa’s been a blast.

Finally, this Saturday, my friends all rallied to give me an amazing send off (I’m leaving for the field on Monday so long as the strikes in Biratnagar are quieted by this evening). So yesterday morning, the guys picked me up from my house bright and far too early at 7am. We headed straight to the movie theater, where we watched the recent Amir Khan film, Ghajini. It’s basically an Indian version of the movie Momento with the addition of Bollywood style song and dance numbers. It managed to make me laugh, cry, and hide behind my hands when the bad guys showed up, so I’d say it’s a pretty great film. I think my friends had as much fun laughing at my reactions as they did watching the movie, but I’m just glad we all had a good time.

After the film, we climbed back on the bikes and sped over to a local tea shop for lunch. We ate, chatted, ate some more and then headed over to another theater. The crew hadn’t informed me of the day’s plans, because they were trying to surprise me, but they’d planned a full day of theater for me. The second theater was a very Western style play house, where we watched two semi-professional plays. The two plays were very “artsy”, and thus a little difficult for me to understand. My Nepali is good, but not great, and there was a lot of political content in both the plays. Still, it was great fun to see another slice of Nepal’s society, and since most of my friends are artists of one sort or another, it was fun to see them in this light. Additionally, the first play made some really interesting use of costumes and discussed dress to a great extent, so my friend has requested a copy of the script for me to use in my work.

After the first two plays, we hit yet another tea house, and then we drove off to the final theater of the day. The last theater reminded me very much of some of the smaller theaters I’d been to in Ann Arbor. It was very small and intimate feeling, and most of the patrons sat on rugs on the floor directly in front of the stage. This play was a translation of a French play (le Just) set in pre-communist Russia. It was again in Nepali, but I understood most of it and found it to be really enjoyable. The actors at this theater were fully professional, and did a fantastic job. In fact, I noticed that one of the actors playing a smaller supporting role had recently starred in the full length Nepali film, Sano Sansar. It was interesting to see a “big” star cast in a small role, but the other actors were so talented, I didn’t doubt the casting for a moment.

By the time the final play had finished, we were all tired and each bike headed off in a different direction. But it was a wonderful day, full of art, serious ponderings, and as is always the case with my friends, tons and tons of laughter.

Tomorrow, I’m hoping to fly back out to the field, so it will be awhile before I’m back in front of a computer, but I’ll do my best to write you all a note or two from the field.

All my love!!!