The Election (as not seen from Nepal)

One thing that I have been constantly thankful for on my trip here is that I have heard blessed little from McCain or Obama. Every time I see a headline with Obama or McCain's name in it I immediately turn my head away and keep walking. This is something I would not have been able to do in the US.

Most of the people who I have met here feel the same way I do. The election is going to happen, I have cast my vote, and I do not care anymore. I don't need to know who McCain is getting money from, or what Obama did as a child. It is not important. It doesn't matter. Have I said that it isn't important?

The reason is this. They have been campaigning for over a year. IF you don't know about the candidates now, you either a) don't care, b) live in Nepal, or c) live in the US, but under a rock.

I say all these negative things about the election, but in reality I miss all the hype, the illusion I used to have that any bit of information about the candidate was so important and necessary to my every day life. It took a few thousand miles, a few rounds of Puja with the local Porcelain Deity, and 2 weeks of detox, but I finally understand that the election has been over for months. The only thing keeping it going was the lack of a vote.

Here whenever someone is trying to sell you something they will ask who you are voting for. Its their way of getting you invested in them, and by extension, their product. Ahh.... reminds me of home.