February 17, 2012

My chest and head cold continued to keep me awake at night while my head wouldn’t stop throbbing or my nose leaking. The conference presentations continued all morning and I had my half hour review of my post with both Harry and Magda as we had agreed to do. She appeared genuinely surprised to hear my tale of woes and that the institution had requested a different fellow for next year. When I insinuated that Tahmina, at the embassy, had not bothered to talk to me about it, Harry intervened to deflect the attack by offering once again to have me at one of his posts in Kazakhstan, something I’m still debating whether I should accept or not.

I went over my litany of complaints; especially the lack of a counterpart who could keep me informed about what was going on or who could intervene on my behalf. Harry wholeheartedly agreed and indicated that the best counterparts are usually older professors with authority within the institution who can go to bat for the fellow. I also complained about the slow pace of reimbursements and the fact that the money for the conference in Nepal had yet to be deposited into my account. Magda promised to look into it and get back to me early next week when she returns to Washington, D. C.

A group of us returned to the restaurant where we had eaten the day before and I had the thali plate once again. The afternoon session just dragged on as the presenter asked us to reflect on what we had learned during the past three days and what we could use or implement once we were back at our posts. The Kathmandu RELO had arranged a party to celebrate the 50^th year of publication of the Forum magazine to be held at his house. The embassy provided transportation in two mini-vans and I had to suffer once again through the rush hour traffic, the dust and the noise before getting to the typical American embassy employee’s home: a three story house at the top of hill for a single guy that appears to be gay. Of course, why would you turn down such an offer if you don’t have to pay a penny for it? Typical of the Kathmandu area, his house was next to an empty lot full of trash.

                                                               At Fife's house

He promised that there would be about 100 people from the NELTA organization and had set up a tent on his driveway, but only three people were there when we arrived. I was tired, could barely breathe and wanted nothing, but to lie on my bed and rest. I had on one of my Nepali outfits, as we had taken a group photo earlier in the day, and that saved me from having to make small talk with those present. There was no food or drinks, as apparently the caterers had been delayed in traffic. A woman from the embassy showed up bearing three cakes decorated with the magazine’s logo. I was bored out of my mind.

We finally got to nibble on some cold appetizers and were offered wine and soft drinks. We sang happy birthday, had more photos taken holding the magazine and were finally released to go back to our hotel. The female driver we got this time took a different route and I was able to see that the city had started to build up vertically with office buildings, restaurants and shops occupying up to five floors.

I had had a chance to speak to Caroline for a few minutes and she told she had an appointment at 8:00pm with Magda and Harry to notify them formally of her intention to quit her post at the end of the month. Some members of the group wanted to go out to dinner, but I declined as all I wanted to do was crash. It’s hard to believe that I have been in the city for four days now and haven’t had a chance to be on my own at all. I hope to be able to go to the Thamel area, my old stomping grounds, tomorrow after the conference to buy a few things.