Thamel is not the ideal place to see true Nepali culture. What you do see is catered specifically for tourists, for a profit of course. So I can't say i've delved into Nepal's culture a great deal, despite trying within the limitations. But today i discovered an interesting aspect of their culture - Nepals interpretation of the rest of the world, through the food. All the restaurants here offer the most popular of international cuisines - mexican, italian, american (?) but none of the Nepali's have ever tasted, let alone seen a meal from a country other than china or india! The result is a rather humorous interpretation of dishes, mixing in a little Nepali. You can't expect to get exactly what you order!
This discovery was brought about by a little bit of homesickness. Not of mum or dad (maybe oscar and elle), but reminiscence of bacon and egg rolls and cereal! Craving what ive taken for granted for 17 years, I declared today a westerner day, where I can be unashamedly touristy and ignore the local customs/cuisines.
To kick off the day, I had waffles and a coffee for brekkie. As expected, the coffee required a lot of sugar to make it drinkable but of course the waffles weren't really waffles - the cook had put pancake mix in a breville maker! I had wondered why it was taking him so long.
I greeted everyone at the office with a big G'day instead of the usual Namaste (spiritual blessing). Not that there were that many people at the office. For the past couple of weeks there has been up to 20 people lazing around out the back of the building, but only 4 ever seem to be working and one of the workers is the cook who brings tea for everyone else! From what I understand, Ravi makes them all come to work even when there isn't any. Maybe they are all bludging because he is away.
In the office itself, it was just Amrit and I with an occasional tea drop off.
I wasn't being given anywork, even when I asked, so I spent most of my time playing solitaire and occasionally helping Amrit write an email. At about 2pm, Amrit said he is going to the hotel and left me all alone in the office! I had no idea what to do as solitaire is only captivating for so long. I had a book and notepad to plan some side trips in Nepal, but Amrit had stolen my pen! For an office that relies greatly on handwriting the forms, there was not a pen in sight. Annoyed, I waved farewell to Guru Ama and had a Carlsberg overlooking the streets of Thamel.
For dinner I went to an upper-class restaurant that caters for those pansy tourists afraid of delving into the local culture. I ordered a pizza and coke but as cows are sacred, I couldn't exactly get a bbq meatlovers, so I just pointed to the house special. Kicking back, I listened to two fat americans complain about the service. What the hell? I was being treated like a god, to the point where it was embarrassing. Somehow I imagine the two to complain no matter where they go. My pizza arrived pretty damn quick too. Now aware of the style of meals that the cook has only heard about, I wasn't surprised when I got a naan bread (like lebanese) with cheese, minced tomato, potato and rosemary sprinkled on top. Still, it was pretty satisfying and the cheese was authentic - not yak cheddar. And for 6 bucks I wasn't going to go the full tourist and complain like the Americans.
