**Updated**
About my flight: Etihad (pronounced: Etty-hawd) is by-far the nicest airline I've ever flown with regardless of destination. Now, I will say that I was the most blue-eyed and blonde-haired person, but I wasn't the only American. I met a handful of fellow Americans on my journey and even got to know a couple of very interesting nomadic travelers who I will be referring to from now on as "The Mikes".
The Mikes: I met two fabulous people at O'Hare prior to departure. They are both missionaries named Mike and their "State side" residences are around Huntsville, Alabama. They both spend roughly 6 months out of the year over in this part of the world.
Mike number 1: Husband and father of two is currently running a non-government organization in Western Africa where they help feed and give diapers to babies who need them through the Alabama church he represents there. He is in Nepal to help out Mike number 2 with a few things that they are trying to do with 2's organization. This Mike absolutely loves Nepal and the people. He let me know that by the time he leaves Nepal, it's his mission to, "...have them drinking sweet tea and sayin' ya'll". Ladies and gentlemen: I've found a true southern gentleman.
Mike number 2: Father and husband as well. He oversees the other missionaries from his Alabama church and spends roughly 6 months out of the year traveling between Bangladesh and Nepal.
Interestingly enough The Mikes will be heading back to the States at the same time I do, so I know I'll see them again if I don't run into them in the next two weeks during my tour. They were happy to help me out with any questions I had regarding the area, some of the customs, getting my Visa, etc. I was very fortunate to run into them.
Plane Ride Company: As I stated before, I was definitley one of few fair-skinned females of the bunch during my two different flights (O'Hare to Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu, Nepal). The longest flight was endured sitting next to an interesting Indian man who worked as a consultant for State Farm Insurance Company. He had been in the States for roughly six months and had some serious "I miss a woman syndrome" and it was during this discovery where I learned Middle Eastern men (at least those I've encountered so far) are definitely not accustomed to a woman who "back talks" and blatantly puts her foot down. For those of you who know me, I'm sure you're chuckling because you are aware of my normal character. I'm not sure what stunned him more: My blatant "leave me alone because I'm tired" or the fact that I boldly told him I was not interested in his feeble attempts at holding my hand.
Seriously!
He told me that he had never had a conversation with a woman that went bad like that. I thought to myself, "Okay Romeo, consider yourself schooled." Hmmmmph!
Now, I do understand that I look a lot different than most females around this region. However, just because you see the rare bird doesn't mean you need to go trying to catch it. Not to mention the fact that if Romeo has not enocuntered a strong white woman before he's in for a real treat when he enounters the strong white woman's husband who would no-doubt fly around the globe to handle any less-than-tasteful situaiton that pertained to me.
Later on Romeo decided that he wanted to know more about me and what I did as an occupation. I really wish I could've just said "bank teller".
Does anyone else ever have this issue? The issue where if you just tell them your title it leads to another 30 questions. Why I didn't say something like teacher or ninja I will never know. I just knew that I was not super interested in entertaining hours of conversation with this character, but I was stuck right next two him with no one else. Damn.
Side note: If I say the words "Homeland Security", people generally understand what that means rather than saying "Emergency Manager". I've also found that when you say the words "Homeland Security" to a foreigner, it oftentimes can become misinterpreted to mean "Border Patrol".
Guess which one I picked?
That's right. Romeo became quiet and looked as though he were trying to choose his next words wisely because I may or may not have the power to order the emergency hatch to be opened on the plane and have him tossed. Out of the two of us, I figured I would be the one experiencing culture shock, not him.
As the conversation wore on he began to tell me about how he had directed a couple of short films and was in the middle of writing a book. He asked if I would be kind enough to look it over and give my feedback. I was cautious at first, but his book was actually non-fiction and had to do with economic impacts of the Indian culture due to globalization. Pretty tame, non-romantic stuff so I began channeling my inner scholar.
After I provided my extensive feedback (Hey, it was a 14 hour flight, what else was I going to do?), he told me that he thought I was a very interesting individual and that he probably would mention me in his book. I said, "If you want that book to sell, I suggest you leave me out of it. I'm not exactly a best-seller magnet." He laughed and said, "Yeah, right."
Scavenger Hunt:
Somewhere during the flight (probably about 5 or so hours in) it became apparent that I was going to need the facilites. The bathroom was a challenge to say the least. Finding the button to flush was the first scavenger hunt, which was followed by the sink challenge. The button to flush the toilet was carefully positioned in an obscure location that only Sherlock could normally find. Then, I nearly thought I was going to have to enter a password to turn on the water. I stood there for a few minutes dumbfounded as I was thinking, 'Everyone else made it in and out of here, so either they figured it out or we're all in danger of E. coli poinsoning" ,when I finally saw a little slit down the back of the faucet--it was a hidden button. My mind was just running a mile a minute, "What is with this plane and buttons? Is this a segue into the new culture I'm about to become more aquainted with in Nepal?"
I hurriedly went about my routine thinking that someone was going to be knocking on the door at any moment (hopefully not Romeo getting ambitious) and I didn't want to be "that person" who was the reason for a line formation of nine or more people with a screaming toddler in it.
On a more positive note the bathroom I used in the Abu Dhabi airport did not give me quite the same "Napoleon" experience. Almost all of the bathroom fixtures seemed univseral there besides the fact that it is no longer called a "bathroom". Apparently, in this part of the world the interpretation of "bathroom" is far more literal in that it is for bathing. The "toilet" is where you empty your bladder. I saw very descriptive signage that led me to appreciate the difference between the two because I really wanted a shower, which was nowhere on the itinerary. Sigh.
Time Change Jumble
It wasn't until I changed planes in Abu Dhabi that I realized how much of a time difference 9-10 hours really made in terms of circadian rhythm. I slept a few hours on the plane ride to Abu Dhabi, though not sufficient, it seeemed like I slept a large part of the night.
Nope!
I was quite disorriented when I awoke on my second flight (only about 4 hours long) to see that it was getting dark outside after what only seemed like 4 hours of daylight that I had experienced during my second flight.
Once I landed in Nepal around 8:30 p.m. local time it was nearly pitch-black out and I was wide awake. I felt as though I could just go to work and go about my daily routine. I met up with my point-of-contact here that would take me to where I'm staying. It's basicallly a bed & breakfast-type place that has running water, electricity, WiFi, and a bed. Those amenities suit my basic needs for the time being and I am really unclear of how long I'll be in this particular area so I'm not going to be super picky.
I'd like to take this time to thank my friend, Toby, for getting me set up with the hospital and the place to stay. Just from what I've seen in the area, this is one of the nicer places to stay and even then it does not compare to what many of us in the States are accustomed to for overnight accomodations.
Yes, that is a mosquito net and after sitting down to type alll of this I know why it's there. If there's one thing I have learned from traveling it is to never skimp on the insect repellent.
Why did I this time? TSA says all liquids need to be in a volume of 3 ounces or less. I do not think "OFF!" comes in a bottle that small and even if it did, I doubt it would have sufficed for the duration of the trip. I'll put that on tomorrow's shopping list. For now I'l just have to deal with the mosquitos that appear to have midwestern housefly-like reflexes and are extremely difficult to kill. I'm used to the mosquitos that give you a one second delay or better.
Not these!
These mosquitos have undergone Darwinian changes that produce a cross between causing stigmata and whack-a-mole when they land on humans. If the Nepalese people do not know what whack-a-mole is now, they will before I leave. Along with sweet tea and 'ya'll' ,according to my southern friend.
For Curiosity's Sake
Thankfully, I was able to get an update on the situation in the jurisdiction back home where I am an emergency manager. There was a considerable amount of rain over the course of the last week and it caused a lot of flooding. Fortunately (sarcasm), I had this trip planned and left about 36 hours before the flooding became really bad in that area. I was reassured by many of my staff that they would have it under control (You know who you are. Thank you!), but that doesn't dispell curiosity of the overall outcome. The Deputy Director let me know that it's down to a dull roar and that he even had a state official make a VIP appearance yesterday to take a look for themselves. (Gah!) A big thanks to everyone back home who worked so many hours to oversee that emergency. I'm so proud of you all. You have all really done such a wonderful job. I look foward to Googling the news clips from the TV broadcasts for that incident and seeing all my staff (aka: rockstars). For now, I'm going to try and read myself to sleep after being able to type out what all has been rolling around in my brain for the last 24 hours or so.
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