Sunlight

I used to despise sunlight. It was too bright, too hot. I would always have to squint my eyes up and that made my cheeks and eyebrows uncomfortable, heavy. Nowadays it seems that any patch of sunlight is prime real estate. On my walk to Nepali Language class I have been taking a longer route to avoid a pack of dogs that would always attack me. Numerous countries, washed countless times, hopped over endless fences and a freakin pack of dogs tears em up. The bad part of this walk is that it is completely in the shade. I think from now on I am just going to walk the route with sunshine and carry a brick. A big brick.

So the entire power structure of Nepal is built upon hydroelectric dams. This is awesome to think about when you consider that there are tons of rivers with huge water flows all over the country. Numerous foreign nations are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into building these massive structures and even more to pay all the government officials to do it. It is awesome to think about until you consider that Nepal is one of the highest nations in the world and also one of the coldest. All the river water that pumps these huge turbines slow down drastically during the winter months because the snow is not melting. Right now we are down to 12 hours of electricity a day, government mandate. Those 12 hours are also scattered throughout the day. I have yet to find the schedule. Within the next month there is the very real possibility that the power outage will increase to over 16 hours a day. The entire landscape of this place changes when the power goes out. It is absolutely bizarre. During the day the streets of Jawalikhel are jam packed with people walking everywhere, vehicles going any which way, dogs everywhere, food cooking, ect.

Then the sun goes down.

Gone, as if nobody lives here. I normally end up walking home around this time if I miss the last bus, bundle up as best as possible and start walking and singing. Some nights there is so much pollution that even the stars are filtered out, the occasional motorcycle comes flying by, lights illuminating a dirt storm and thin beam in front of it. The other night as I was walking home, listening to the quietness, I watched as my shadow grew tall with a motorcycle coming up from behind me. At the last possible second as the driver went by my shadow broke into two different people. Now it takes a bit to shake me up, but another man following me for who knows how long without making any sounds made me a little nervous. I spun around to see his eyes watching me and stared at him for what must have been one hour, (actually 5 seconds but just count to 5 and you will understand) just waiting for him to decide and then he walked over to the other side of the road and disappeared into the shadows.

Already I am starting to hear of people dying from the cold. I can believe it too. There are too many people who have to try and brave the elements at night, try to make what little fires they can with what burnable trash they can come up with. The smells are something else too. It makes you choke and your eyes water. People huddled as close as they can get, their clothes singing just a bit. So I sit in my room, power out again, reading by candlelight until the flame starts to flicker because it has run out of wick. I was chatting with a good Nepali friend the other day who almost shuddered as he thought of the upcoming increase of power shortage. "It will bring the hell out of the souls of the people," he said. It is hard to argue with. So for now I wait for the morning light, share my candle with a friend or two.

With the mornign comes the light.