Unfortunately, by the end of the day, I had come down with a fever, and was not thrilled to by flying back to Nepal the next morning feeling sick. I made it to Kathmandu tired and just wanting my journey to be over, to discover there was a transit strike going on, and no taxis and buses were running. There were lots of folks there trying to provide rides in their private vehicles, for and exorbitant rate. I had no patience for the man who wanted to charge me 2000 rupees to get to Roz's place (it should cost about 300, or $5), and eventually got where I needed to go for 700.
I stayed at Roz's in Kathmandu for the rest of the week, recovering. I discovered I'd picked up an amoebic infection in my gut, and once I went to the doctor and got it treated, I got better pretty quickly. It was so nice to have a familiar person to stay with, and she was house sitting for the director of INF in a very nice house. I got to watch movies on a real TV, instead of my computer even!
Even had I not been sick, I would have been delayed in Ktm for a few days because the strikes. The price of fuel had just been raised here in Nepal, and the transit workers were striking so they could raise their rates to match the price of fuel. Understandable, but frustrating if you have anywhere to go. I did get to see a couple of the folks who were leaving as they came through Kathmandu to fly out, which was nice, because by the time I got back to Pokhara, everyone was gone.
It was strange to get back to the hospital – not only was our reconstructive surgeon Dr. Sarah gone, but also three Nepali staff had announced their leaving and left during my three weeks away. A doctor, a physiotherapy assistant, and a nurse all had left to pursue further training.
In addition, the day I arrived a fun loving young man with leprosy (posing for me one day at right) had been sent to the primary care hospital with severe reactions to the leprosy treatment. He died the next day. The leprosy treatment itself is not dangerous, but for some patients, their bodies react strongly to the presence of the dead leprosy bascilla in their bodies. It can be an extremely painful reaction in some cases, and apparently sometimes even lead to death. Interestingly, one of the drugs that works well against some of the reactions is thalidimide, but of course it can only be administered in conjunction with birth control and under strict supervision in the hospital.
There were some good things too – Man Bhadur was up and walking around with his new prosthetic legs. He had been seriously burned as an infant, which had resulted in two useless feet, and a seriously deformed hand (pics below). He arrived at the clinic a cheerful teenager, despite the fact he was only able to get around by crawling. Dr. Sarah was able to reconstruct his hand, and prosthetics were made for his legs. Before I left for India, he had just had the operation on his hand, and was still using a wheelchair to get around. Now he was up and walking – fast. It was great to see his enthusiasm, and I'm glad I got back in time to see it, as he was discharged a few days later.
It is really hot in Pokhara now. Maybe mid thirties and humid. It rains heavily just about daily, but then the sun with come out, and heat everything up. I found it hard to adjust to after 3 weeks in cooler places, and I was still tired from being sick. All in all, it made the transition hard. This past week, however, has been a bit cooler, and I'm getting used to the heat more. I've got my energy back, and am more able to focus on developing Nepali relationships.
Sita (of paragliding fame) has become a good friend. Last Friday after church I went home with her after work, and stayed the night. Saturday I went to church with her – a much smaller one than I usually attend here in Nepal, and I was asked to play a couple of songs on the guitar with very little notice – similar to my experience in India the week before. At least this time it was in Nepal, so I actually could play a song in the local language! After church we went swimming together. It was a really nice weekend.
This Friday we celebrated Canada Day at the hospital. It was 2 weeks late, but really, in Nepal, it doesn't matter much. I did a presentation on Canada – sang the national anthem, and had lots of pictures and some basic Nepali explanations. I handed out my pins and flags too, which were popular. It was hard to get the idea across of lakes and rivers freezing so that you can skate (or even drive) on them. They really didn't get that. Snow is fine, people have experienced that here, or at least seen it at a distance, but ice seemed really confusing. I'm not sure they really understood that the leaves change colour in the fall, and that it wasn't just flowers on the trees. I showed a picture of my grandfather's farm, and they wanted to know if the barn I was showing was his house. It is interesting the things that are hard to get across through cultural and experiential differences.
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