Camping with Curfews

My stay in Nepal thus far has been…interesting.  After 9 days of bandha (strikes that disrupt transportation and commercial activity), today, 19 November, is finally Election Day, where the people of Nepal will cast their ballots to elect the members of a Constituent Assembly, whose job it will be to draft a Constitution.  While most major political parties are in agreement regarding the election, some parties missed the deadline to participate, and are disrupting life in Nepal by causing the bandha, political rallies and demonstrations, and spontaneous protests.  Vehicular transportation is (technically) not permitted between the hours of 6 am and 5 pm, as confrontations can occur between motorists and protestors.  The strike started on Monday, 11 November and will most likely last until tomorrow, the day after the election.  Because of this, most businesses are closed and volunteer sites cancelled. 

Needless to say, I have barely scratched the surface of my volunteerism this time around.  Devon and I went to the monastery only three times last week (where, on Monday, my first day back, I was greeted with big hugs by my favorites, Dorjee and Ajay), and I have yet to get to Peace Buddha to see the girls.  I am also supposed to be working at SASANE (an organization that helps human trafficking victims with life skills and getting rehabilitated back into society), but I will most likely not get there until next week, giving me only two weeks there.  While it is exciting to be here during this election time, it is also frustrating to know that my work time is being cut short (unless I get crazy and decide to extend my stay, but I did promise to be home for Christmas, so that probably won’t happen). 

So back to the past 9 days.  The CPNM (Communist Party of Nepal – Maoists) started the strike, with the purpose of keeping people from voting by shutting down transportation, thus preventing them from going home or to the area in which they are registered to vote (clearly there is no absentee voting here!).  Here’s a breakdown of what we have observed during this time. 

Monday 11 November – Devon and I walked to the monastery, and there were noticeably less vehicles on the road (I totally could have crossed the streets on my own), although they were not completely empty, as they were “supposed” to be during the bandha.  No one (Anish, Santos, Bijaya) came into work that day.

Tuesday 12 November – Again, we walked to the monastery, and there were more vehicles out on the roads.  Anish came to work (by motorbike and using the back roads), as did Bijaya (via taxi), but they definitely seemed stressed out. 

Wednesday 13 November – Anish and Bijaya both came to work, but told us to stay home that day.  On Tuesday night, there had been reports of 7 petrol bombs being thrown at buses, and already 3 incidents were reported on Wednesday morning.  We found out that these attacks were happening in more rural areas, not Kathmandu, and the reason for them was to scare the people who were defying the bandha and attempting to get home to their villages. 

Thursday 14 November – The city seemed almost normal.  Back to a lot of traffic, although no one came into work that day, but we attempted to go teach at the monastery, only to find out class was cancelled once we arrived.  At least we got out of the house! 

Friday 15 November – Back to the monastery as usual, and Anish and Santos both came into work that day, although still seeming unnerved.  Then the 4 of us volunteers at the house were told that until after the election, we needed to be home by 6:30 pm at the latest, and that on Monday and Tuesday (18^th and 19^th) we shouldn’t leave the house, except to go across the street to Yogesh’s restaurant for food.  There was definitely some tension in the air around that conversation.  Partly because we had fun plans for Friday night, and partly because, as adults (or more realistically, as stubborn Americans), we didn’t like being told what to do.  Particularly because from everything we had read and heard, Kathmandu, and especially our area of the city, was perfectly safe.  Also, as tourists, we weren’t the ones being targeted (although our moms are probably happy we are following orders).  Plus, Jimmy Carter is in town looking out for us, right?  But out of respect for their wishes, we agreed (for the most part).  Which obviously meant we had to go have happy hour on Friday afternoon at Marisa’s in order to make it home for our newly imposed 6:30 curfew.  During our happy hour, a friend referred to our living situation as a “concentration camp,” in the home of our Jewish friend, by the way, and we are all now known as “campers.”  Too much?

Saturday 16 November – Again, the city seemed to be mostly back to normal.  We took advantage of our outside time during the day by going to the Farmer’s Market and having an early dinner before heading home. 

Sunday 17 November – The last day before lockdown was spent at Marisa’s apartment in Thamel, where Leiben taught us how to make momos and we had an impromptu dance party.  I am not a good momo maker, but I can most definitely put them away.  To date, my record stands at 21 momos in one sitting.  Definitely not losing weight on this trip. 

Monday 18 November – Day 1 of Lockdown – We made it out of the house around 1 to head across the street to Yogesh’s for (what else) momos.  There were a lot of cars and people out, just like any other day.  By 3 we decided we were fine to walk to Thamel, which is only a half mile away, but we decided to be home by 5.  And all was fine. 

Tuesday 19 November – Day 2 of Lockdown – We made it to Election Day.  Today is what we envisioned the past 9 days would look like because of the imposed bandha, as there really are no vehicles outside today.  We know this from going up to the roof to check out the scene below and from talking to Yogesh during lunch.  And as much as we have gone back and forth about going out today, we decided to stay in per Anish and Santos’ request (although our friend Bishal, a member of the Armed Police Force, asked us to come to the polling center where he is stationed and he insisted that everything outside is fine and that people are enjoying the election).  So here’s to a day of sitting on the computer (although the Internet is currently down), continuing to scour the newspapers in a futile attempt at understanding the whole election/strike situation, and stuffing myself with momos. 

I attempted to start writing about the current political situation here in Nepal over a week ago when the bandha first began, and again a few days later, and a few days after that.  But the truth is, I still don’t fully understand everything that is going on.  The many newspaper articles, Google searches, and discussions with Nepali people have yet to clear everything up for me.  Obviously I didn’t get any of my Dad’s smarts when it comes to understanding political issues.  And I am genuinely interested, but it’s a lot to take in when I didn’t know anything about it before.  So if you want a real rundown on the issues at hand, check out CNN (I read that they are in town for election coverage), because you clearly won’t be able to find it here.

Here’s what I do know.  The people of Nepal are not all taking this lying down, as is noted by the fact that many of them are ignoring the transportation strike.  And good for them.  They shouldn’t let one party who is pissed off about not being able to get on the ballot in time control their lives.  Nepal was declared a democratic country in 2008, and it’s good that some of the people are recognizing this to be true.  They have a voice and a right to be heard.  On the other hand, there are still many people who are following the rules of the strike, afraid to drive, afraid to get too far from home, afraid to vote.  For change to happen, people cannot be scared, apathetic and hopeless.  For many people, they don’t see voting as a chance for change because no progress has been made in their country in the last 5 years.  They don’t seem to think it is possible; therefore they just refrain from even voting.  Others, however, such as Leiben, Bijaya and Yogesh, have expressed that they truly do want to vote, but there is too much of a risk for them to take the public bus the 5 plus hours back to their hometowns, which is both sad and understandable.  Then there are the those people who told us they just didn’t want to wait in the 45 minute line in the hot sunlight.  My opinion is that if you are able to vote, even if there are no good candidates or choices, there is always the lesser of two evils, and even the smallest step towards progress is better than no step forward at all.