So here I am outside Katmandu in the Valley where the dogs are barking and I am surrounded by wheat fields, homes, chickens and cows. We (my friend/producer) and I are holed up here for it was a better alternative than being kept captive at the hotel by the "shoot on site" curfew now I get confused is it "shoot on site" or "shoot on sight"? See how confusing english is! I get the point though and despite my occasional foolhardiness or courage I have not tried to deterimine the distinction. The last days the people have been demonstrating and although I have been among some demonstrations I have not been in the midst of any large violence ones. No one wants to take me to one and I have not gone out of my way to find them. It could be the police shooting in to the crowds or the tendency of the crowds to attack those they think they are breaking the strike. So between the strikes from the "agitators" and the "shoot on sight" curfew from the army I have not been quite able to get around. Yesterday the king in what I thought to be important speech hit the ball into the court of the political parties by handing over executive power to the parliment on the condition they choose an interim prime minister. We celebrated last night with some Ganga and beer only to find out this morning that the parties think its not enough and the Maoist are unhappy! When are Maoist happy? Was Mao truly a happy go lucky guy? I saw a demonstration by the Marxist yesterday and they all had red flags with hammer and sickles on them. I wondered that maybe the news of the fate of the Soviet Union had not gotten to them yet, maybe the mail is late? So we are staying at the coordinator of GAN the charity that we are making the film for. The family is very lovely and hospitable. We are learning Nepalese culture. Living here is a man, a wife, a 17 year old daughter (what are you insinuating?) the 14 year old NBA obssesed son, a dog and "the boy". I have undertaking training the dog "Astro" who is an shepeard mix and really sweet but has a bad habit of playfully biting, jumping on people and devouring any sock he finds! He eats socks whole! The father has no experience with dogs and the habit of keeping dogs as pets are new for Nepali people. I have made much progress with the dog and hes my pal. Tonight I bought him a flea collar and a giant water buffalo thigh bone. He was so happy to get that bone. THe family likes the dog but has no clue as how to deal with the poor behavior that could have been cured off long ago. I love dogs. The boy is this boy that is from a rare tribal group that he lives in kind of a dog house. He does most of the household chores. He is perhaps 15. Whats odd is that he eats on the floor while the family eats on the table. While the family watches tv in the living room he sits at the edge of the room on the floor and watches from the distance. It kind of bugs us out. We chalk it up to culture not cruelty but still. Tonight while dining we heard something scratching the plate and Audrey thought it was the dog, but no it was the boy. He does not seem to mind, but then either does the dog. I think they kind of relate to each other. In the hierarchy of things I think its something like DAD, SON, WIFE, DAUGHTER, DOG, and then "my boy". On a lighter side I think everyone should have their own boy. Its quite useful, he did our laundry (apart from Audreys "knickers" which the mother told her not to give him). IF the dog eats socks…now I wonder if the boy eats knickers….? things that make you go hmmm…
continued in next post!
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