S,
So, I made a complete fool of myself today (more so than usual). I forgot to look into a visa for India! I assumed that I could get it at the airport, like in Nepal. Not true. So, I went to the Indian embassy in Berne to figure out some way to expedite the process. As it turns out, the earliest I can get a visa is Monday. One day after my flight. On top of that, it's pretty much impossible to get a visa in Kathmandu at present: it's festival season, so the already chaotic and inefficient Nepali bureaucracy is even more inefficient now (imagine a room full of drunk B's). So, I'm working on rebooking my flights. Oh, the hassles of traveling...
How are you, my friend? Did you touch the hem of Salman Rushdie's velvet garment? Kiss his dusty boots?
Cheers,
MDeer M,
Salman Rushdie came on Wednesday and graced the faces of Oberlin faculty and students with his sperm-whale-majesty. (If you don't get the pun, Shame on you!) That was two days ago, and I am still thrilled by my courage to come up to him and ask questions at the reception before the convocation - I inquired about the "blatant" allegoricism of Midnight's Children and whether it was consciously used to poke fun at some megalomaniac politicians who equal themselves with India and literary theorists headed by Frederic Jameson. He did acknowledge that it was his intent to employ the deluded mind of the narrator---Saleem---to parody those who allegorize history and put themselves at the centre (e.g. the former prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose electoral slogan was "Indira is India and India is Indira"), but he also emphasized that the weight was more bent to give the novel a sense of poignancy --- isn't it sad when poor Saleem finds himself a victim of history, instead of its master? While I find myself on the same boat with you (that is, I don't think I am his fan; taking a course solely devoted to one author is, contrary to my expectation, not fun! Rather than deepening my understanding of his works, it just tires me and deafens me to what distinguishes him from others), I have to say his smile, which was as mild and temperate as that of an Indian elephant bathing in the Ganges on a summer's day, did illumine my day a little bit.
... have a safe trip in Nepal/India!
S
M,
I am sorry to hear about your misadventure --- it is quite inconceivable to me that such an attentive mind like yours can make this kind of mistake; nevertheless it is still fortunate to know that beforehand. Do you know when you are flying this time?
Your recommendation for my fellowship, which was done with the utmost kindness and consideration, brought me to tears --- tears are the best balm for exhausted hearts: after cleansing, apply 10mg to entire chest with a cotton pad, avoiding the nipples. Do not rinse... NO, but seriously, I am really grateful for your kind words! I am most certain that they will love your eloquence and fight with the temptation to choose you for the position instead of me. I will let you know how it goes.
Your recommendation for my fellowship, which was done with the utmost kindness and consideration, brought me to tears --- tears are the best balm for exhausted hearts: after cleansing, apply 10mg to entire chest with a cotton pad, avoiding the nipples. Do not rinse... NO, but seriously, I am really grateful for your kind words! I am most certain that they will love your eloquence and fight with the temptation to choose you for the position instead of me. I will let you know how it goes.
It's midterm week in Oberlin. As of now I am occupied with so many things, albeit I may appear to be in leisure on Facebook. I admit -- I've been slacking!
See how Time flies like a fat old owl,
Frowning, upon us emptying its bowels.
Time does fly. And so will you, my friend, oh so soon. To east!
Say hello to B's sister for me,
Say hello to B's sister for me,
S
Namaste!
How are you? I've been in Nepal for a week now, and I just got back from the mountains! I'm still in shock from being back in civilization. After I first arrived in Pokhara, Dani and I trekked right away up to a small village called Ulleri. There were a lot of steps involved. We went there so I could document a children's home, which he opened a couple of months ago. The children are SO cute. There are only eleven of them right now, along with two caretakers, so it's like a little family. I ended up playing with children a lot more than filming them. Haha. I taught them how to swing dance. In return, they gave me lessons in Nepali dance. Apparently, when the children first arrived, they were really misbehaved and malnourished. I couldn't tell! They're always smiling and happy now. It's a wonder what a bit of love and care can do. While up in Ulleri, Dani and I also met with lots of families. In Nepal, EVERYTHING revolves around relationships. And it's important to have the town backing the children's home. As a result, we had to eat all kinds of things (including parts of a chicken I didn't even know existed! Dani's advice: "chew harder"). Because the people are so poor in Ulleri, they express their gratitude through the food (second, third, fourth servings). Other than those experiences, I quite like the food here. Most people eat "dal bhaat" for both lunch and dinner. It consists of rice, lentils, potatoes, and lots of spices. They also drink A TON of really sweet tea ("chiya"). At the moment, I'm staying at the house of the parents of one of Dani's Nepali friends. We don't understand each other AT ALL. It's quite funny. The grandmother always makes me tea and tries to feed me. The only annoying part: the grandfather turns on his radio REALLY loudly at 7am. And all the windows are screens, so there goes my sleep. We're staying in Pokhara for the next week, then we fly out to Leh (in Ladakh). From what Dani has told me, it's a pretty wild place. Apparently, when it gets dark, you have to stay inside, otherwise packs of dogs--many of them rabid--will KILL you.
Hope your midterms went well, like the emptying of the frowning, fat old owl's bowels!
Cheers,
M
Woah again, M,
For I was just writing a long email to my parents, dropping some "American" names including your names here and there in the same way I would season a bowl of rice by sprinkling some sesame seeds on it in order to stimulate the eater's appetite, nay, thinking and wondering whether you were by now in Nepalindia, when I saw the Inbox label blink and - dada! thou hast vouchsafethed unto me a letter! It is always delightful to know that a friend of yours is thinking about you, and the effect exponentially increases when you two do that simultaneously. I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE WELL!!!
I may sound a little oddly hyper right now, like a jolly baby in his wet diaper, because I am still awake at 3:35 in the morning finishing a German paper that is overdue, but also because I am in love. Yes, yet another love, and it is a different one from the last one. Whether this will end (or begin) happily or not, I have no clue; at least for me falling in love is a stimulant comparable to none. Again I am in the presence of a Muse, whom I infinitely paint and repaint in my dreams and daydreams, and the presence alone forms me and breathes life into me every morning (-or afternoon, depending on what time I wake up each day). AND I SAW EVERY THING THAT I HAD MADE, and, BEHOLD, IT WAS VERY CUTE. AND THE EVENING AND MORNING WERE THE SIXTH DAY.
Perhaps the prime cause of my present excitement is the walk I took with her this afternoon, a memory so vivid and being played and replayed in my mind even now, or the possibility that she might .... She asked me first if she can ..., and the rosy prospect made me swell with an infinite number of molecules of happiness-and-hope that I felt my whole body and mind throughly electrified. Therefore, please be understanding even if my words seem to be sporting in the dalliance of love, notwithstanding your letter which is filled with great news that aught to be celebrated with all might.
So! I am equally (ok, admittedly, a tiny bit less) excited about your trip to the mountains. All these things you mention sound very exotic even to my oriental (*ahem!) ears, and I am more than envious about this great time you must be having in the country of B. I have to admit, though: you do sound like a typical westerner for the first time experiencing the "wonderful" culture of this foreign country, trying to show respect and to understand their way of living, and mostly, sensing your wary feelings nullify as you see the poor children smile and old people acting endearingly. But then, I would have done the same things, and this is nothing to be ashamed of. Moreover I am more than sure that you will produce results that will proudly exhibit your unique insights and kind heart. Merely reading this email from you I can see that you are welcomed by the people there - and how can't they!
You must be excited (and a little bit intimated?) about the future destinations that lie ahead. That thing about the wild dogs does scare me. Be safe! Be polite to every creature you see, even the pebbles and trees, because in Nepal, every thing has a soul! I wish you a great trip - and may the great spirit of B the Dhungana be with you always!
Love,
S
Yours,
M
M,
How are you? It's been very busy and tiring days since I last heard from you, and I still behold a massive influx of work until the end of this semester. I've been wonderful with the quality of my course work yet horrible with deadline, so the grades for this semester do not look too promising, but I don't even have the time to care. Sometimes I really miss you --- coming here this semester I began to hang out with other Koreans a lot more, and while I did make a few good friends, your place as a someone to talk to is still missing....
I'm really tired now, but I feel oddly inspired these days, and I have the impending sense which impels me to do something - more than ever.
T C,
S
S!
I'm happy to hear that you are well! New love and inspiration often go hand in hand. And on the basis of your last two e-mails, you are mightily inspired. Be sure to channel your inspiration into sundry creative endeavors, so that I (and others) and can partake in it. I don't think I know your lady love, do I? Help me. How have your amorous matters progressed since you last wrote me? ...... I miss the privacy of my home. While growing up, my parents taught my brother and me that everyone in the house has a right to be alone. When you try to be alone here, they think that you're either depressed or sick. Otherwise, the project is coming along very well. I'm in Ladakh right now, documenting Nepali migrant workers. They come up here because of extreme hardship faced back home (the unemployment rate in Kathmandu is around 60%). Many of them, however, get stuck in Ladakh as manual laborers without the means to get back to Nepal. In order to survive the winters here (which are savage), they're often driven to sell off their children, sometimes still infants at the time. Men also tend to marry more than one woman and, when things turn sour, soak an old wife in kerosene and burn her. Oh, Nepalis. I look forward to showing you what I've captured so far and to hear your wry and brutally honest, but always heart-warming, comments. I too miss you as a conversationalist. Finding someone with whom you can really talk is one of the most difficult strivings on earth. I wish you luck in your search. I think it's good that you're surrounding yourself with more Koreans. Keep those American influences at a distance. America is one jumble/idiocy of a culture (which looks even more idiotic from abroad). On a very different note, have you read Steinbeck's "East of Eden"? There's a Chinese servant in it by the name of Lee who reminds me of you. Not because he's Asian. He is very wise and ponderous and has your sensibility and humor. You should read the book sometime in your ample free time. It's quite the page-turner.
From beyond the Himalayas,
With nearly frozen fingers,
M
