its my birthday!

Its my birthday! Its my birthday!

Thailand!!!!

I am going to Thailand from 19 April to 4 May, with my BF and other friends.

Will report upon arrival.

Back from INDIA

Back from India, nearly 2 months after having spent 1 week in Delhi and Agra, I am finally uploading pictures and updating my blog...

I would have procrastinated longer but since I am going to Thailand on Saturday... I need to get things in order.

Ok, so Delhi is a big, crowded, polluted mess. Really. Its chaotic, expensive, full of cheaters of all kind and sexual harrassment is very present.

I went to Delhi by land with an expat friend from Nepal. We walked accross the border and then took a taxi to Lucknow, the closest major town (about 2 M inhabitiants). We paid 30$ for a 5 hours ride... Upon reaching Lucknow, we tried to board the night train to Delhi, but the station was such a mess that we couldnt figure out where to go and what to do so we had to sleep in Lucknow. The people at the train station were horrible; They kept sending us back and forth to different offices, saying we needed to make a reservation, saying that we didnt, that it was full, that it wasnt... etc...
So we found a hotel and the next day, we bought a train ticket to Delhi, first class, from a travel agency: more expensive but so much less trouble!!

Everyone kept asking us for "backshish" tips/compensation for the slightest thing done, even if we paid fair price for this service, they kept asking for more. Just booking a hotel room or taking a taxi, and they ask for backsheesh! For what?!

The train ride from Lucknow to Delhi takes 7 hours but the 1st class was really comfortable. It cost about 45$ but was completely worth it. They fed us a lot and I had a great book to read (thanks to my BF for the thoughful gift).

After arriving in Delhi, me and my friend split as we had separate plans.

To be continued...

Going to India

I am going to India from 8-16, to Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal). I will respond to your email when I come back.

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Je vais en Inde du 8 au 16, a Delhi et a Agra (Taj Mahal). Je repondrai a vos emails a mon retour.

Geographie du Nepal

Nepalgunj, ou je vis, est situe au sud du Nepal, a 6km de la frontiere de l'Inde. Le Nepal est diviser en 3 zones climatiques distinctes (3 longues bandes est-ouest): La chaine de montagnes Himalayas au Nord (a la frontiere de la Chine/Tibet) les "collines" au centre du pays (Kathmandu est situe dans les collines), et finalement, les plaines au sud, a la frontiere de l'Inde. Les plaines, s'appellent le Terai, c'est completement plat et pratiquement au niveau de la mer (60-90 m), c'est une zone d'agriculture et le climat est tropical. C'est ici que la majorite de la nourriture du pays est cultive et c'est aussi la region la plus peuple.

Le parc National Bardiya (ou je suis aller en Safari) est dans les plaines, environ 2hr de voiture a l'ouest chez moi. Lumbini, ou Bouddha est ne, est aussi dans les plaines, environ 5 heures de voitures a l'est.

Dailekh, le district ou je suis aller en visite en debut Novembre (ou j'ai pris les photos des mamans et des enfants) est situe dans les collines. Une de ces photos s'intitule "climbing the hill" tu peux voir un peu la topographie de la region. Les "collines" sont plus hautes que la montagne de St-Pie, mais j'imagine que comparees a l'Everest (plus de 8 800 M), elles sont toutes petites.

Les photos de l'Himalayas j'en ai pris de l'avion en quittant Kathmandu (abbreviation: KTM) car meme si KTM est dans les collines, cest a la frontiere entre les collines et les montagnes donc on peut les voirs les jours ou l'air est clair. Aussi, les photos de Nagarkot (2) ce trouve juste a coter de KTM, donc aussi entre les collines et les montagnes.

Je n'ai jamais vu l'Everest parce ce qu'il est situe a l'est de KTM et Nepalgunj est a l'ouest.

Coter temperature, meme si c'est "tropical" a Nepalgunj, il fait quand meme 14C a l'INTERIEUR de ma maison la nuit. C'est horrible et je n'arrive pas a chauffer!!

More Pictures!!

**English follows French**

Plus de 35 photos d'ajouter depuis Decembre!
Incluant: photos de ma maison, le party du nouvel an ainsi que des photos de travail sur le terrain (Bardya district - meme district que le Parc National ou je suis aller en Safari)

Click sur NEPAL / Slideshow

http://picasaweb.google.com/canadianglobetrotter

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More than 35 pictures added since December!
Iincluding: pictures of my house, new year party, as well as field visit to Bardya district (same district where I went on elephant safari in the National Park).

Click on NEPAL / Slideshow

http://picasaweb.google.com/canadianglobetrotter

New Year in Nepalgunj, my plans for 2008

Bonne Annee!! Happy New Year!!

**English follows French** L'anglais suit le Francais**

Le party du jour de l'an chez moi a ete un grand success! C'etait un potluck ou tout le monde devais emmener un repas et que l'on partage. J'ai frit du poisson, fourrer des oeufs et preparer une salade, en plus des chips, biscuits, etc..
Environ 25-30 personnes sont venus, incluant mon boss qui a bien manger, bien bu et bien danser!

Pour Janvier, je planifie une autre visite de terrain pour le travail du 21 au 28 dans un district qui s'appelle Rukum. Je vais aller superviser quelques uns de nos nouveau programmes de paix et reconstruction. En Fevrier, pour mes vacances, je vais aller en Inde pour 1 semaine, mais pas tres loin, seulement au Taj Mahal (en Taxi a partir de Nepalgunj) et ensuite a Delhi pour faire du magasinage et visiter quelques sites. Je vais etre avec un collegue les 3 premiers jour et ensuite seule car il part de son coter. Rien de tres extravagant comme voyage.

En Mars ou Avril, je retourne en Inde mais cette fois en avion et pour de vrais vacances, 2 semaines: j'y vais avec mon amoureux et on va a la plage, dans le Sud, probablement a Goa et/ou Kerala. J'espere bien passer mon certificat de plongee sous-marine.

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The New Year party at my house was agreat success!!
I organised a poluck dinner and myself, made some fried fish, devil eggs, salad and all kinds of snacks. About 25-30 people came, including my boss who ate well, drank well and danced well!!

In January, I am planning a field visit for work in a district of Nepal called Rukum. I am going to monitor our new PRRO projects: Peace and Recovery Reconstruction Operations.

In February, I am going to India for 1 week, but not very far, I am taking a taxi to the Taj Mahal and then, I will spend a few days in Delhi for shopping and sight seeing. I am going with a colleague for the first 3 days and then I will be on my own as he has other things planned. Not a very extravagant trip.

The real trip will be in March or April. I will fly back to India for a real holiday with my boyfriend. We will spend 2 weeks in the South, perhaps in Goa or Kerala, on the beach, where I hope to complete my diving certificate.

Christmas and New Year in Nepal

What is it like to spend Christmas and New Year in Nepal?

well, nothing exciting really. I get 25 Dec and 1 Jan off. On Christmas Eve, I went to my friends place (he lives in a hotel, permanently) and we had stuffed chicken dinner with red wine, and watched Christmas movies on TV. The next day, we did exactly the same... ... no party, no Christmas trees, no Christmas lights or decorations, no turkey.

Nepalis being primarily Hindus and Muslims dont celebrate Christmas of course. They have several other festivals during the year that lasts for weeks (see October posts). One of those festivals, Tihar is the light festivals. Traditionally people used to light many candles all around their houses but nowadays, they use colored light bulbs similar to western Christmas lights style. Its very pretty all around town. That was in November. During this festival, they worship dogs on one day, they catch stray dogs and feed them and put flower necklaces around their neck before releasing them. The next day is cow worshipping day (they always worship cows but more so then), and another day of this Tihar festival is brother worshipping day. Thats right, sisters are expected to worship their brothers!

For New Year, I will host a party at my house. My place is quite big, 6 rooms with a large balcony and a big hall as well as a large garden so I can easily 30-50 people. I will let you know how that goes next week!!

Happy Holidays!!!!
Happy 2008!!!

PICTURES!!!! YEAH!!!

I published my first PICTURES from NEPAL!! YEAH!!

Here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/canadianglobetrotter

click on "NEPAL" and then on SLIDESHOW

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J'ai enfin publier mes premieres photos du NEPAL!! Hourra!!!

Elles sont ici:

http://picasaweb.google.com/canadianglobetrotter

Cliquer sur "NEPAL", puis sur SLIDESHOW pour la meilleure resolution!


ENJOY!!

long time no posting

I haven't been posting in a while and I apologise. The reason is that I have spent several weeks in the field for work. I went to Dailekh district for 7 days in early November, Kapilbastu district to visit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, and had a chance to visit LUMBINI, the birth place of BUDDHA! Then, I went to Kathmandu for a few days and just got back yesterday. The day after tomorrow, I will go back to Kathmandu again, this time for 10 days.

All this to say that I am sorry I havent written in a while nor posted any pictures. I only have access to the internet at the office and I am hardly ever there.

And by the way, my phone was stolen so I need to get a new number soon.

Will try my best to keep you posted. See you soon!

New House and Nepal Monarchy

"Nepal to discuss Monarchy future" on BBC NEWS today:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7066869.stm

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FINALLY!

I just moved into my new house Friday!! OH, this is sooo exciting! My house is sooo big, I keep getting lost! No joke. And today, I also got my final piece of luggage which was stranded in Kathmandu for 3 weeks! So, I am really getting settled now!

Environment

Le français suit l’anglais (French follows English)
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** There is a link at the bottom of this page to suscribe to my blog. You can also post comments directly on this page – click « comments » **

I will alternate between French and English language with the hope to satisfy everybody. If you send me a specific question which you want me to asnswer, I will post the reply in the language which the question was asked.
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Salut tout le monde,

Il y a un lien au bas de la page pour s’inscrire a ce blog et être informé par email chaque fois qu’une nouvelle entré est publié. Vous pouvez aussi me laisser vos commentaires a la fin de chaque publication, il y a un lien « comments », anonyme ou pas. Si vous m’envoyez une question spécifique, je vais y répondre dans la langue que vous avez utilisée. Autrement, je vais alterner entre le Français et l’Anglais dans l’espoir de plaire à tout le monde. En passant, désolé pour les accents, je n’ai pas encore configuré mon clavier et il m’en manque.

Commentaire du jour inspiré par les questions de Claudine sur la température et la végétation :

J’espère qu’il ne fait pas trop froid au Canada! En tout cas ici, la température extérieure oscille entre 25 et 32 degrés Celsius le jour et environ 20 a 25 le soir. Il fait presque toujours soleil mais depuis les 25 jours que j’ai passé au Népal, il a plus environ 5 fois. A propos des moustiques, il n’y en avait pratiquement aucun a Bardiya National Park mais a Nepalgunj, il y en a beaucoup, particulièrement au coucher du soleil. Nepalgunj est entouré de rizières et comme le riz pousse dans l’eau peu profonde, et bien, c’est l’environnement idéal pour les moustiques. Au moins, la malaria, encéphalite japonaise et autres maladies tropicales transmises par les moustiques sont plutôt en force durant la saison des pluies (Mai-Août) donc pour l’instant, pas trop de danger. En fait, la MALARIA (Paludisme) a pratiquement été irradiée du Népal donc je ne prends aucun médicament pour la prévention.

Coter végétation, Nepalgunj, de son statut de petite ville est très vert, en fait, Katmandu aussi. Surtout en ce moment, après la saison des pluie et avant l’hivers, il y a plein de fleurs et de verdure. Les champs sont verts et il y a beaucoup d’arbres. De beaux grands arbres. Dans la jungle du parc national, il y avait de très vieux arbres. Par contre, au contraire des images qu’on se fait de la jungle tropicale type “Amazonienne” la jungle était plutôt clairsemé. Il y avait aussi d’énormes lianes dans Presque la moitié des arbres. Par contre, ces lianes ne sont pas du genre que Tarzan se balance avec dans les films. Non. C’est lianes semblent être des parasites. Elles partent du sol et s’enroule autour des arbres matures jusqu’a leurs cimes pour atteindre le soleil. La différence entre ces lianes et celles de Tarzan c’est qu’elles ne sont pas souples. La plupart sont très grosses et sont en fait composer de plusieurs lianes toutes enroulées ensembles comme une énorme corde qui étouffe les grands arbres. Peut-être que Tarzan se balançait après les bébé lianes car avec l’age elle deviennent très solides et rigides. De la façon dont elles pendent des arbres on dirait de gros serpents et comme il y a beaucoup de serpents, il faut bien regardé pour être sur. Il y a des cobras, des pythons géants et une panoplie d’autres serpents vénéneux.

Ce qui me fait un peu rire dans ce coin de pays c’est que chaque petit ruisseau a un nom inscrit sur un signe a proximité. Sachant qu’au Canada nous avons de grands lacs qui ne portent même pas de noms, et ici on nomme le moindre minuscule, obscure et boueux ruisseau! Dans les villages, il est clair que la population n’a pas accès à l’eau potable. Les ruisseaux qui passent en bordure sont sales, très peu profond et le courant est faible. En remontant le ruisseau, on peut y voir les buffles qui se rafraîchissent, les enfants qui se baignent, les gens qui se lavent tout habillé en public, et les femmes qui lavent les vêtements et la vaisselle. Pas surprenant que l’eau soit sale et que les gens soient malades! Mais bien sur, s’il n’y a pas de pompes pour accéder à l’eau sous la surface du sol, ou d’autre que dans le ruisseau peuvent-ils subvenir a leurs besoins? De plus, beaucoup d’eau est irriguée vers les rizières.

Au moins, le Népal est mieux nantie que l’Inde: Le Gange par exemple, fleuve sacré, mystique et mythique de l’Inde descend des montagnes nord du Népal et de même pour beaucoup d’autres rivières de la région. Donc, le Népal à la première arrivé d’eau glacière; la plus propre. Rendu en Inde, l’eau a déjà été polluée et le courant s’est affaibli.

Je garde les autres questions pour plus tard.

Bye!

De retour du Safari a dos d'elephant!

ERRATUM: le numéro de cellulaire mentionné il y a quelques jours manquait un chiffre (0), je lai donc corrige. Si vous l'aviez déjà pris en note, veuillez faire de même.
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De retour d'un long week-end passe a Bardiya National Park!

Le week-end c'est super bien passé, c'était très relaxant et plaisant!
Vendredi après-midi: départ de Nepalgunj pour Bardiya avec mon ami Domingos. Le voyage c’est fait en 1:30 ou 2 heures. Puis, nous avons passé la soirée a l'hôtel Tiger Tops, le plus beau et le plus cher hôtel du coin. Au cas ou vous vous demandez, oui, nous fîmes chambre a part! (J'ai dit ami, pas petit ami). Samedi matin 6 AM, départ a dos d'éléphant dans la jungle pour 3 heures. Donc, on a vu des singes, des chevreuils de toutes sortes, et après avoir traversée quelques rivières, nous avons appercu a moins de 20 m un gros rhinocéros qui broutait tranquillement. Il nous a regarder, et nous de même. Environ 30 minutes plus tard nous avons rencontré dans la savane une maman rhino avec son bébé mais ils sont partis rapidement. Ensuite, nous sommes rentre tranquillement au camp. La balade était plutôt fatigante car un éléphant en marche, ça brasse! C'est plutôt dur pour le dos! Après le lunch, nous sommes allé avec notre guide, marcher dans le village avoisinant. Tout les enfants venaient a notre rencontre pour dire "Good Bye - Good Bye", le seul mot anglais qu'ils connaissent. Nous avons visité les maisons de terre battue et observé les gens qui cultivaient le riz et élève des buffles.

Plus tard en après-midi, nous sommes aller faire une promenade a pied dans la jungle ou nous avons appercu (encore des singes)de même que des traces de tigres en bordure de la rivière, mais, aucun tigre en vue. Par contre, il y avait des constructions géantes de termites, de super châteaux de sable durci, parfois de 2 m de haut! Ils y en avait des centaines! A tout les 100 mètres au moins. Très impressionnant. J’ai bien sur pris des photos. Par la suite, nous sommes rentrer a l'hôtel, avons souper avec les 2 seuls autres clients de l'hôtels (un couple anglais) et nous nous sommes bien sur coucher tôt.

Dimanche matin: Lever a 6 AM (oh joie), puis départ a 6:30 pour du rafting sur la rivière Karnali. En fait, c'était plutôt du "floating" que du "rafting" car il y avait que peu de remous. On ne s'est même pas mouillé. Mais la flottaison était très relaxante. On a vu, encore des singes, et pleins d'oiseaux. 2 heures plus tard, nous étions de retour sur la berge et après 1 heures de jeep en terrain TRES inégal, nous sommes rentré a l'hôtel. Juste avant le coucher du soleil, nous sommes reparti pour une autre balade a dos d'éléphant, et seulement 15 minutes après le départ, nous avons appercu un ENORME rhino qui broutait de l'autre coter de la rivière mais quand on s'est approcher, au contraire du premier, il est parti a la course dans les buissons. Puis, 2:30 plus tard, toujours aucuns animal en vue, alors, c'est en rentrant vers l'hôtel que nous avons vu ce superbe éléphant sauvage, male, avec d'énormes défenses. Les éléphants sont des animaux extrêmement dangereux alors nous avons du rester a distance. Quand il nous a appercu sur notre éléphant, qui paraissait tout petit a coter de ce géant, il s'est approcher d'un air menaçant alors nous sommes parti aussi vite qu'un éléphant peut courir, ce qui veut dire plutôt lentement mais sûrement...

Lundi: Lever tard, déjeuner, puis départ pour Nepalgunj. Nous n'avons pas vu de tigres, ni de crocodiles ni de dauphins d'eau douce mais on a été plutôt chanceux de voir un gros pachyderme d'aussi près. Donc, 3 nuits dans un hôtel prestigieux au milieu de la jungle Népalaise, touts les repas compris, ainsi que les activités pour un grand total de 300$ par personne. Beaucoup d'argent considérant le coût de la vie au Népal mais bien peu pour tout ce qu’on a fait et vu! C’est vrai qu’on s’habitue vite à être riche…

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Link to a great article on BBC NEWS regarding the tradional animal slaughter during Dashain Festival (see last journal entry).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7052543.stm

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Happy Dashain!!!

Happy Dashain!

Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Hindu annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese of all caste and creed throughout the country. The fifteen days of celebration occurs during the bright lunar fortnight ending on the day of the full moon. The goddess Durga in all her manifestations is worshiped with innumerable 'pujas', abundant offerings and thousands of animal sacrifices for the ritual holy bathing, thus drenching the goddess for days in blood.

It is a deep rooted tradition to do puja on vehicles. Every UN office in Nepal do this as well as it is very important to assure our safety on the road. The drivers would even refuse to work if puja was not performed annually on their cars.

This morning, WFP in Nepalgunj (my office) performed Puja. In the morning, all the staff gathered in the courtyard for this semi-formal ceremony. People brought trays of flowers, fruits, coconut and incense. After washing all the vehicules, they opened the hood and put 'Tika' at the front. (read below for tika description). They put some flowers and pieces of fruits on the motor and incense as well. We did not sacrifice an animal, only one coconut for each vehicle. The coconut was smashed on the ground and the juice sprinkled on every side of the car, clockwise. We did this for every UN trucks, UN motorbikes, staff's motorbikes and bicycles. We even performed Puja on the generator! (Due to frequent power cuts - about 5 times a day - it is absolutely necessary to have a generator to perform our work). I took lots of pictures of the entire ritual and will post them as soon as possible.

After the puja ritual, our eldest staff gave us the Tika (also known as tilaka). The tika is a blessing given by the eldest on the youngest ones. Some redish powder is mixed with water and with one finger, a dot is placed on the middle of the forehead.Tika may be worn on a daily basis or for special religious occasions only, depending on different customs. The tika is decorative and is also an identifying mark. Worn by a priest, or worshiper it shows which Hindu tradition he follows. In Nepal, it is made with a mixture of abir, a red powder, yoghurt, and grains of rice.

This year, Dashain festival coincides with Eid, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan. As a result, this is A 4 DAY WEEKEND!!!!!! YEAh!! and today, we even get to leave at 3pm instead of 6pm! Thats awesome!

Everybody felt so sorry for me when I told them that I did not have plans for Dashain. To Nepali, it is like Christmas - they visit their family, even the ones living far away, they buy new clothes, they prepare special food and enjoy the festivities. Even poor people wont work during this period. The country is at rest.
To me, it didnt seem important as I just started work and I dont have friends or a house yet so it made no sense to take a holiday. And of course, it is not my festival so I dont feel like I am missing out on anything...

At last, I decided to make plans for the long weekend: I am going on a JUNGLE SAFARI! Yeah! 2 days and 3 nights in Royal Bardya National Park, including elephant tour to observe the wild animals (tigers, rhinos, crocodiles, wild elephants, deers, monkeys, birds, etc...), jungle walk and jeep ride. Food and accomodation and everything included for 230$ (US). Not bad. I am going with a UN colleague, the security coordinator at OHCHR. He's been living in Nepalgunj for 2 years! He's Portuguese originally from Cap Vert (Cape Verde).

I just visited a house today. I hope that they will accept my offer. Its a big villa near the office. It was recently built and its newly painted and very beautiful. I offered 200$ per month for the upper floor, furnished with AC and water included. The family who owns it live in Kathmandu and so they only come here for holiday. They wanted to keep the upper floor to themselves and rent me the lower floor but I offered more money for the top floor because it is more beautiful and there is no AC downstairs. In other words, it really is a two family house but since they only come on holiday, I will have the whole place to myself.

To be continued...

My Contact Info

Le Francais suit l'Anglais (French follows English)
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Dear All,

below you will find my contact info. Please take note of it as I will remove it from my blog after 1 or 2 weeks. I promise to send a postcard to everyone who sends me one and include their address. As this is my work address, please make sure to send the postcard in an eveloppe to protect confidentiality. I sure dont want everyone at the office to know about my personal life!

If you call me, please make sure to verify the time in Nepal first. I work 9-6, Monday to Friday, you can call me even if I am at work. Please be patient, the mobile network is awful and its likely that the call might not go through the first time.

Thanks!


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Chers lecteurs,

ci-bas, vous trouverez mon adresse et numero de tel. Veuillez les prendre en note maintenant car je vais effacer cette information bientot. Je promets d'envoyer une carte postale a tout ceux et celles qui m'en envoiront une. Je vous demande seulement de mettre la carte dans une enveloppe car, comme je recois mon courrier au bureau, je desire preserver la confidentialite de ma vie privee.

Si vous voulez m'appeler, soyez patient car le service sans fil est tres mauvais. Mon horaire de travail est du Lundi au Vendredi de 9-6. Vous pouvez m'appeler meme pendant les heures de bureau. Priere de verifier le decalage avant d'appeler!

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Work phone: +977-81-525132 ext. 409
Mobile: +977-98580-22959

(Dial international code first, from Canada: 011)
(Composer le code international dabord, du Canada: 011)

Address/Adresse:

UN World Food Program (WFP)
Att: Annie Dumont

P.O. Box 107, Kathmandu
Chakupat, Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur
NEPAL

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Link to Time Table Montreal/Kathmandu:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingtime.html?month=10&day=17&year=2007&p1=165&p2=117&p3=-1&p4=-1

Namaste! Greetings from Nepal!

-For most recent personal news go directly to the bottom.
Sorry, no French translation available at the moment.

Namaste! Greetings from Nepal!

I have been in Nepal for 2 weeks now. I am working with UNWFP - UN World Food Program since Oct. 1 and will be here for 1 year.

Basic Description of NEPAL:

Geography and basic description:
Here I am, in Nepalgunj (Nepalganj) in the Southern part (Terai) of Mid-West Nepal. Nepal is composed of 5 regions: Eastern, Central (where Kathmandu is), Western, Mid-Western, and Far Western regions. Each region is then divided into Districts, for a total of 75 country-wide. Nepalgunj is located in Banke district, and the city is less than 6 km from the Indian border, the closest major Indian city is Lucknow.

Nepalgunj is a fairly big city, and after Kathmandu, it has the biggest UN presence. UNICEF, OCHA, OHCHR, UNHCR, UNMIN (UN Mission to Nepal), UNDP and of course, UNWFP where I work, all have an office in this town. Furthermore, there are also many international and local NGOs such as the Red Cross, Plan, Care, Concern, SNV, etc...

The first thing that struck me in Nepalgunj is the heavy traffic... but not vehicle traffic: bicycles, motorbikes, rickshaws (small cart attached behind a bike which you can use as taxi), tuk-tuk or tempos (3 wheels motor vehicles), and horse/mule/ox carts. Yep, few cars in sight, the only motor vehicles around are UN trucks who drive defensively in this crowd of human/animal power transportation modes. I would be really scared to bike on the main road because people drive on both side and do not seem to follow any rules except, bigger=priority, hence, UN trucks pushing people aside. As Nepal is a Hindu country, cows are holy and roam free in the streets.

Ill try to take a short video and publish it to show you what I mean.

Political Situation/Safety

Nepal is a very volatile country. The communist rebels (Maoists) fought the government for 10 years until, finally, the King gave up his political powers in April 2006 and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in November 2006. Elections were scheduled for November 2007 but last week, they were indefinitely postponed due to the refusal of the royal government to accept the conditions of the Maoists. In other words: the political situation is highly uncertain and volatile. After 10 years of ongoing violence, and only 1 year of truce, the whole country needs only a small spark to return to violent chaos. The postponement of the elections might well be that spark.

Of course, there are also some tensions between Hindus and Muslims. In the whole country, Muslims are a small majority but in Nepalgunj, they represent almost 50% of the population. Less than a month ago, another district of Nepal succumbed to violence, especially because of religious tensions. Hundreds of houses and cars were burnt, including one of our WFP truck delivering food. The driver escaped unharmed but dozens of people from that city died in the process.

This is a very simplistic assessment of the political situation, for details please email me.

Nepalgunj is country’s the busiest port of entry between India and Nepal, and this city has a lot of potential for renewed tensions and escalation of violence. The Mid-Western region of Nepal is the heartland of the Maoists, and Nepalgunj is the capital of the region.
By UN standards, this is currently a phase 3 (of 5) security assessment. If it turns into a phase 4, I will be evacuated to Delhi (India) but nationals performing the most essential work will remain, at phase 5, the UN cancels all the programs, close the office and evacuate all staff (nationals are evacuated within the country). At the current phase 3, we must respect the curfew between 12 – midnight and 4 am (yes, that means I must be home by 12, everyday), and mandatory radio checks daily.

Radio Checks:

Everyday at 8 pm, there is a radio check. That means that I have to carry this big VHF radio with me at all time and at 8 pm, there is a coded message which I must respond to, to confirm that: My radio is on, it is well functioning, the reception is good, AND, that I am listening and of course, safe. When travelling on official duty, radio checks are conducted every hour, at the very least.

Environment:

Nepal, because of its geography and population pressure on the environment is extremely prone to natural disasters. The most recurrent and serious ones are floods, landslides and earthquakes but any other natural disasters you can think of also take place here, including, hailstorms, bush fires, etc… Between 1998 and 2003 there were 236 natural disasters.

Remember your high school geography classes? How do mountains take shape? Because of frictions between tectonic plates, right? Well, Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the whole world so you can imagine that seismic activity is extremely high. There are regular small earthquakes but every 75 years (approximately) there is a major one. The last one was in 1934, 73 years ago. Disaster is on the verge of happening.

Scientist have named Kathmandu as the #1 city in the entire world which is:

-most likely to be hit by a major earthquake
And
-where the damages would be the greatest.

It is estimated that if, or when, an earthquake of 7.5 on the Richter scale hits Kathmandu, there will be 40 000 dead (in the capital alone), 100 000 injured, 60% of the buildings completely destroyed, 100% of the water pipes affected and 50% of roads and bridges destroyed. In other words, a major tragedy. An earthquake of 7.5 on the Richter scale has the equivalent force of 178 megatons of TNT explosive charge. The nuclear bomb on Nagasaki had an equivalent force of an earthquake of 4.0 on the Richter scale.

Floods on the other hand, are fairly predictable; they regularly displace thousands of people every year. The raining season lasts from May to August, approximately. But sometimes there are a lot more precipitations than the soil can absorb and crops are destroyed, people displaced, livelihoods wiped out. Every year WFP has a major Emergency Operation to help the hundreds of thousands of people who have just been displaced by the floods.

Social:
Nepal is a country with alarmingly high food insecurity. 40% of the population live below poverty line and consume less than 2 250 calories per day (UN minimum requirement). 50% of children are underweight and stunted, less than 60% of the population is literate and the gender gap is large.

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My Work and Other Personal News:

BIG NEWS! Perhaps you were wondering why I am talking about Nepalgunj when I was supposed to go to Damak to work in the refugee camps. Well, upon arrival in Kathmandu, where I stayed for 1 week for briefing and administrative duties, WFP suggested that I go to Nepalgunj instead of Damak as the need for international staff was greater. In fact, I am the only international in the office, out of 18 employees, of which, only 2 are women (including me!). So, instead of being Programme Officer – food distribution to refugees in Damak (south-east Nepal), I have been promoted to Deputy Head of Sub-Office in Nepalgunj (Mid-western, Nepal). That means that I am the officer in charge when the big boss is not there. There are only 3 sub-offices in Nepal, and the head office which is based in Kathmandu, of course. Basically, I am in charge of managing 18 employees, and the 3 major areas of work which are ran from this particular office, as well as all the many programs under each work areas. Those work areas are: EMOP-Emergency Operations, CP-Country Programmes, and PRRO-Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations. Basically, my job is to represent WFP at meetings and in working with our implementing partners (NGOs, other UN agencies), sign official documents on behalf of the organisation, handle and manage all employees’ concerns and needs, oversee and approve monthly reports and other SITREP, etc… . Exciting part is that I will get to travel to the field at regular intervals to monitor and assess the work situation.

As most of Nepal is not covered by roads, going to the field implies that, by helicopter we go to the nearest landing site and then walk to the village most of which are situated at about 4 000 meters above sea level! This “walk” can last for as little as 3 hours to as many as 4 days! Chances are, we will be sleeping with the goats and eating buckwheat with our hands (Rice is only grown in the south of the country, in the hills and in the mountains, people can only grow some varieties of wheat and/or millet). In those parts of the country, you must wear a winter jacket in June. The mountain areas are the poorest of Nepal. Food commodities can cost as much as 20 times more because there are no roads and thus, everything must be airlifted. Of course, there are plenty of experienced field monitors who cover all those areas by foot, they are in excellent physical shape and speak Nepali, I will be going to the field to ‘observe and learn’ so I don’t think that they will take me to the hardest places, at first…

Otherwise, I am still staying at the hotel, I shall go visit a few houses this week. The hotel where I stay at is run by an old American lady who has been living in Nepal for 30+ years. It is THE hang out place among expatriates in Nepalgunj because she has an all-American food menu, and even by international standards, the food is EXCELLENT!

The only problems is that there are leeches in the bathroom… I heard that Nepal has a leeches 'problem', those things climb in trees and literally ‘jump’ on people walking underneath to suck their blood! I am not joking! It hasn’t happened to me but anyone who went trekking could tell you.

Other insects/animals around include butterflies as big as small birds, very many small, cute and harmless lizards, and frogs in the hotel pool. I've heard of the dozens of different types of venemous snakes around but I haven't seen any yet, and not looking forward to it...

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If there is anything which you want me to cover in my next posting, please send me an email with your questions.

I will post pictures soon and notify you when it is done. The problem is that the internet connection is so slow that I don’t know how it will be possible. I will notify you once the pictures are available.


WFP Nepal Link: http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=524

A new weblog for Annie

Dear All,

for some years, I have been writting on www.easytravelpage.com/annie but due to technical difficulties, I can no longer update it! This is my new virtual space to post my latest updates! Enjoy!!