Crazy is a state of mind

I had the following conversation with my friend Dan (hereby referred to as Nanou) on msn this morning:

Nanou says:

how u?

Lou says:

ok

Lou says:

I slept in- aside from the gas lady ringing the doorbell twelve times at 9

Nanou says:

twelve times?

Nanou says:

dont these people have any decency!?

Nanou says:

after 2 or 3 rings she should have realised either you weren't home or weren't getting up!

Lou says:

I KNOW!

Lou says:

in all fairness we’re supposed to write the reading ourselves on a piece of paper stuck on the wall near the lift, but I hadn’t remembered

Lou says:

but she was asking other people on our floor too

Nanou says:

u have to write your own reading!?

Nanou says:

LMAO

Nanou says:

what if u lied?

Lou says:

i know

Lou says:

i dont know how they check it

Lou says:

i guess people are so used to being in a police state that they are honest..

It's true that the "You tell us how much gas you've used... no, don't worry, we trust you!" attitude is a little strange. However the fact is that until Dan pointed the absurdity of writing your own meter readings, it really hadn't seemed abnormal to me, though now I think about it I can remember a time when it did. That is very true about many things here- when I first started this blog, it was easy to see 'strange' things and write about them, but now after living in Shanghai for the last 16 months these once strange things seem normal.

I am reminded about this email I sent to family and friends after I had been living in Nepal for about 10 months:

17th May, 2003, Ittabhatta, Nepal.

Warped reality.

Hi Everyone,

It has come to my attention that my "standards" for normal have been warped far out of shape by my time immersed in Nepali culture. I realized during my visit to China recently that I had already forgotten the "normal" things like shopping complexes and home delivery ("You mean to say, that all we have to do is make a phone call and give a man some money and he will bring the pizza TO OUR DOOR???!!").

But this warped reality was strongly brought home to me this afternoon during a conversation with my sister, Liz, on MSN Chat. The conversation went like this:

Lou: Guess what I just bought?

Liz: What?
Lou: A Power Rangers inflatable wading pool

with....

four yellow squeaking rubber-duckies!!

Liz: WHY???

Lou: Because it is hot, it was only $20, and now I can have pool parties in my living room!

Liz: lol

That's crazy!

Lou: No it is not, it is perfectly sane.

We are going to have a champagne cocktails bikini pool party!!

It is the perfect way to cool down!

Liz: But why?

Lou: Because we are crazy bideshis (foreigners), we'll be in the privacy of my own house, and because and we can.

Liz: See - you are crazy.

Lou: No we are not crazy by our standards... only by Nepali standards.

After all, what is wrong with having a pool party?

Liz: In your living room? In a power rangers inflatable pool? With rubber duckies? What ISN"T wrong with that????

Lou: oh. I actually hadn't thought of that.

Liz: That’s sad

So, yeah, I guess now I am willing to accept that a Champagne Cocktails Bikini Pool Party in a Power Rangers wading pool in my living room -with rubber duckies- probably isn't all that normal. Once I realized this, I started wondering about all the other things I have gotten used to seeing and/or doing (or being able to get away with doing) while I've been here in Nepal.

1. Walking down the road to buy one egg
2. A double bed in every living room
3. Riding a scooter/motorbike on a public highway in sandals and a cotton Kurta Surwal
4. Phrases such as "Did you meet with your phone?"
5. "guests" arriving at 6am
6. The inclusion in every movie of a song and dance scene situated on an alpine mountain top, regardless of the genre.
7. Buying alcohol from the corner shop/shack
8. Being able to buy cigarettes (if I smoked) individually (i.e. one cigarette at a time, not the whole pack)
9. Burning my rubbish in the front garden
10. Not using toilet paper
11. Moving house with a tractor instead of a removals truck
12. The power going out every day
13. Having only sunlight to light my office (even when the power is on)
14. Paying 50 cents for a bag full of veggies
15. Walking around with my money stored in my bra
16. Eating a full meal of Daal, curry and rice for breakfast
17. Not having to line up anywhere, or even x-ray my baggage at the airport, because I am white
18. Never accepting the first price
19. Knowing that everyone is looking at me.
20. Buying a Power Rangers inflatable wading pool and Rubber Duckies in preparation for a pool party in my living room!!

In retrosoect there were many more strange things about living in Nepal that I didn't even register at the time- like the fact that there was a civil war going on, and if you went for a walk after dark you were likely to be shot.

I'm interested to skip forward a few years and see what my perseptions of China will be in hindsight.

My "strange" life in Nepal:

I was asked to be this baby's mother- I politely declined

My colleagues and I standing in a tea field.

Riding a massive swing made out of bamboo and jute rope during the Tihar Festival

Planting rice during the monsoon.

And, of course...
Sitting on my roof in the rain in... The Power Rangers Inflatable Pool with Rubber Duckies!