Kathmandu Art Scene

So after a brief bit of work at the Citta Nepal office (This time without the overpriced Taxi) I arrived back in Thamel for some R&R. I am coming down with a cold, so R&R primarily means black tea with lemon and a nap.

A few hours later I am awakened by Michael Daube RUSHING into the room and telling me to get up we are going to an art gallery opening on the other side of the King's Palace.

Now.... I like art. I appreciate art. And I even like some of this guys pictures. However I am not an art gallery guy. Thankfully this was a gallery/cafe called Imago Del. Good food, nice atmosphere, and there was even a nice warm fire to warm up by.

I just hope this cold doesn't get the better of me.

On to some musings. I have been learning Nepali while here. And while it is VASTLY different from every western language, some things apparently never change. It was something I had learned from Anthropology, but until you experience it it is hard to internalize. People communicate more through their body language than their mouth.

Gestures reign supreme when you can't talk to people. And it is such a basic and pure form of communication that you can get a lot of information accross than if you wasted the time to try to teach each other the language. A few things to note about gestures in the east however. Shaking the head from left to right, while in America and most of the western world means "No." Here it is "Yes, Ok"

Another gesture that I find very interesting in Nepal is the 2 handed pass off. Nepali tradition states that it is considerd polite to hand someone something with both hands. That goes back many thousands of years supposedly. However in the modern day and age it has evolved into a new type of gesture. Now you are polite by touching your left hand to the inside joint of the elbow while handing with the right hand. You see it happening everywhere, and unless someone points it out to you, or you spend enough time here, you may just miss it.

Speaking of miss. I miss you all, but it is time to go for dinner.