One of many dalbats

I am sitting on the beautiful terrace at my work, looking towards the Himalayas. The fog made of pollution blocks the view. Been here six weeks and still not seen them clearly. I am eating lunch, the daily dalbat. Dal is a kind of soup and bat is rice. 27 out of 29 million Nepali eat this everyday. For lunch, dinner and for party. In addition can you get vegetables and if you are really lucky some meat

I look at my Nepali friends eating more rice than I thought were possible. I mix some dal in the bat, and suddenly I have some dalbat. They smile and laugh, and make a joke, where the only word I understand is Viagra. I laugh too, of feeling lost.

A bomb, a black chilli reaches my mouth, and I am so stupid that I drink some water. The Nepali workers smile and laugh of me while my face turns red. They try to teach me some Nepali and I teach them one Norwegian word “deilig”, and wonder if the expatriates ever will hear it in action from one of the female workers. I am doubtful!

So much potential in this beautiful country and its great people I think to myself while looking outward a city that has exploded in population growth the last years. The Nepali people just need to be a little bit more organised! Or maybe it is not just a just!

How will it be here in 2050, will the country manage to change to the better? Will Nepal have started a democratic path and an economical and socially boom like China in the seventies? I am doubtful, but I hope so strongly that I somewhat believe in a better future, just like the people, because I like it here in the country of charm and chaos mixed together in a wonderful cocktail.

I have eaten up the dal and the vegetables, but some rice and spicy stuff is still on the plate. After six weeks in Nepal have I still not learned how to eat bat like a Nepali, maybe next time.

I wish the Nepali people all the best!