so make a plan or hold a hand but don't ever be a passerby

We have a lot of turmeric here. Lunch, for example, was rice, dal (with turmeric), potatoes (with turmeric), and cauliflower (with turmeric). We were not about to pass up the opportunity for turmeric-less rice-less Thanksgiving dinner. Although we four Americans (Lucy, John, Nikki, and I) aren't cooks, we managed quite a feast between us. (And emails from mom. Thanks, mom.) We cooked chicken, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and had bread, apple pie, and ice cream afterwards. It was fantastic. It will be another long while before we taste rosemary or celery. Mr. Patel was very surprised when we chucked all the "good stuff" out of the "soup" to make gravy. Also, he was disappointed to not be allowed to dump turmeric and masala on the chicken, but was allowed to refry the leftover chicken as he saw fit. A couple photos of the miracle can be found at my PicasaWeb page.

Mary Knox arranged a generous donation of ten laptops from her school, which made it through customs cleanly. We set them up in the computer lab, and have spend the past week and a half teaching five 40-minute classes a day. We teach grades 6-10 typing, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher. For the most part, they are quick learners. Most students are remarkably uncreative, though. We think it's the rote educational system that just pounds out any individuality. Whenever we did a creative writing project, like writing a letter about themselves, they would do something like write their name and stop. If we gave them suggestions for further material, they would copy it down and stop. If we didn't suggest new material fast enough, they would close the document and start over again with exactly the same letter. When asked their favorite food, half wrote "Nepali food". When asked their favorite music, half wrote "Nepali music". It was very frustrating. If you let them loose with free time on PowerPoint, even after they knew how to use it, some would simply wait for further direction. Most kids have never been out of Kathmandu, and few have hobbies that we could coax out. I spend two days trying to get a kid to write more about swimming than "I like swimming", but never succeeded. One kid said Pokhara was his favorite place, but when juiced for more information, he had none, and it turns out he had never been there, and had heard remarkably little about it. Older kids were much better. One even wrote a QBasic program on his own. For the most part, kids enjoyed the computers tremendously, and we hope they will continue to be used to their full potential when we leave. You can find a few pictures of kids using their computers at my PicasaWeb page.

And on that happy note, I bring more sad news: we have abandoned our computers in customs. We went to the airport today to take one last stab at freeing them. While we have been trekking and teaching, Mr. Patel has visited many times, so we did not have much hope of actually getting them, but we wanted to do what we could. We re-offered the maximum bribe that Mr. Patel had offered (about $1200 US) without success. The asking price is actually pretty funny. Each of the eight computers is being valued at $750. Customs wants to charge duty (17%), "premium" (101%), and $200/day storage fees. This works out to something on the order of $15,000. The customs officials have generously agreed to consider the storage fees. (Insert eye-roll.) We were able to "inspect" the computers today, during which time we were able to smuggle out some RAM and wireless cards. They noticed, of course, and kicked us out, but in the ensuing discussions they forgot to frisk us. We asked for a second "inspection" later, which was denied after about half an hour. We were considering sabotaging (maybe permanently, maybe reversibly) the computers at this point, but did not get the opportunity, which I think might be a good thing for my conscience. A few officials were actually trying to help, but most were useless, greedy, and afraid. These officials do not say "No, no, no", they say "I want to help, but I can do nothing. Come tomorrow. You can speak with my boss. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow." They have in fact "agreed" to deliver the computers to us several times now. They pass the buck faster than a sawmill. There is no accountability. Mr. Gyanendra needs to agree to this. I have no authority.  He is next door. He is coming. Yes he is coming? What, he has not come? Then, he is over there, by the green line. No? Then he is over there, inspecting the machines. No? Then he is not available now. Time has come for him to leave work. Come tomorrow. I would like to help, but it is not allowed. 80,000 rupees will do nothing. I might lose my job. You must speak with Gyanendra. Come tomorrow? You are leaving the country tomorrow? I am sorry, I can do nothing.

AAAAAAARGH!

--Nils