Settling In

It's taken us about a week to get settled into our apartment in the Gyaneshwor district of Kathmandu which is a little east of the central part of the city. Fortunately, the Fulbright Commission office is less than a minute's walk from us and the staff there has been wonderful.

When we first arrived we were handed a wad of rupee notes to get us through the first few days then escorted to our apartment where we met our landlady, Prava. She had spent time in the States earning a master's degree and has a son in Iowa, so we feel very comfortable with her. She and the Fulbright staff gave us a tour of the house including how to use the water purifier, water heater, water pump and small propane range. Later on, she came by with a list of utility bill estimates and asked how much we wanted to use Sita, the maid. Since we're not used to having domestic help, we decided to have her come by only three days a week to clean, do laundry, and cook the evening meal. Sita only speaks a few words of English, but between hand signals and my Nepali phrase book, we manage to get by. She lives inside the compound in a small house with her husband Krishna (who keeps track of bills, gardens, and acts as a security guard) and their 4-year-old son. Sita is a sweetheart and always in a good humor.

The apartment is spacious with an entry room and kitchen/dining area on the first floor, a master bedroom/bathroom, small bedroom, a second bathroom and a small living room with a 13-inch TV (which gets HBO and CNN) on the second floor, and a storage room and rooftop terrace on the third floor. There is also a very narrow terrace on the second floor. Prava's place is attached to ours. There is an 8-foot brick wall with barbed wire on top surrounding the half-acre compound and a lockable gate exiting onto Devi Marg, the small alley we live on.

Prava suggested that Bonnie and Sita walk to the Bhatbhateni supermarket/department store about a 15 minute walk away in order to pick up some essentials to get us through the first few days. Bonnie came back a few hours later by taxi a little flustered because of her inability to communicate with Sita. Plus, Sita seemed to be in a hurry. Despite all that, Bonnie brought home bags of food and household items. Later that day, I walked back there with Bonnie so we could get a better idea of what the store had to offer. It actually has almost everything you need: a large supermarket, fresh vegetable and fruit stand on the first floor then three more floors with shoes/clothing, appliances/electronics, and household goods. Generally the prices are less than in the States, but there are a few things (mainly processed foods) that are significantly more expensive. Imported European cheese is $16 per pound!! Beer is about $1 per can and wine starts at $5 per bottle. Canned goods are $1-2 each. Most of the fruits and especially the veggies are very inexpensive. Five pounds of potatoes is less than $1.

The apartment was furnished and had a few kitchen items, but we had to buy silverware, a frying pan, a toaster, an iron, a fan (an absolute must for comfortable sleeping), buckets and plastic containers for Sita, a mop, etc., etc. The Fulbright Commission gives us a $500 "settling in" allowance, and it looks like we'll be using all of it. A couple of other expenses were cell phones (about $35 each and another $15 each for God knows how many minutes) and the DSL internet installation ($32) with wireless modem ($70). It took several days to get the internet working because there wasn't enough signal coming through the telephone drop wire which had to be replaced. But now the wireless connection is great and relatively fast. It will cost us about $13 per month. All together for all utilities, Sita's part-time services, and pitching in a little for Krishna's work, our overall monthly expenses will be less than $70. We have no idea how much the rent is because we don't have to pay it -- the Fulbright Commission pays that directly to Prava.

By the end of the first week we had made several more trips to Bhatbhateni for supplies and Sita had finally settled into a Tuesday, Friday, Sunday schedule (after we had requested a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule -- but what does it really matter?). Sita's cooking is very good, especially after we requested that she omit the salt, use very little oil, and go heavy on the spices. She's partial to ginger, garlic and onions.

While settling in, we started exploring the streets of Kathmandu, the subject of my next posting.