Nepal and Global Warming/Climate Change

Well, now I have a flat in Kathmandu, just outside of Thamel. I came here from India for the Visa but have decided to stay, maybe up to 5 years. I got an email that said we might be approaching God only knows what. So, of course, Nepal, wrapped here in the Himalayas are going to be affected, but you would not know it from the prevailing attitudes. Most of the people walking around the streets here, both Nepalese and "tourist" seem mostly intent on the affairs of that day; there is no talk of what might be coming down the pike. Of course, the Nepalese have blessed themselves into thinking that nothing is going to happen to them because no glacier affected river runs through Kathmandu. However, there are lots of other places that could be affected from glacial run-off. I do not think that is going to be the big issue here. I think it is going to be rain. I hope it is just water rain and not something else. Nobody is really talking about it.

Other than this, the political situation has devolved back to what it was about a year ago because the Maoists do not want the voting for the Constituent Assembly to go ahead as planned because the polls say they might lose. This, of course, is totally unacceptable to them because they have delluded themselves into thinking everybody likes a Maoist. I don't.

I am going to have friends coming over on the 22nd to stay for maybe up to a month. Joan and G are friends from way back in Delhi before I went to McLeodGanj before coming to Nepal in July. Joan and G are Tibetan Buddhists and do a lot of hiking in the mountains. We have talked about a trek to Muchtinath depending on the cold. I am interested in the trekking, but it is not the primary thing to me. I always like to make friends as a way of understanding something. This certainly helps in Nepal. G, however, is a Tibetan and, as I have been working with the Exile community for a long time, we seem to get along pretty good. Joan has been a Buddhist for a long time and actually spent many years in the nunnery. She reminds me of how I was when I first went to India in the 1970's. I fell under the influence of some of the Hindu trips in the Bangalore area and came away from the experience totally confused. It was my first experience of living around people who created whatever reality they want for the moment on a daily. Very confusing to me until I realized maybe it was an experience of impermanence.

Got to stop for now. These are my thoughts for today.