no news...good news...?

Can you believe?
Nobody had a slight idea what was going on in Boudha on Monday night.
The street was in fire.
Police was blocking the way.
No news on TV, nothing on the newspaper.

My admin, at the end, told me: "I mean, Ban Ki Moon is doing something, Obama is also doing something,. Tibetan monk are doing nothing. I see them with tablet in a bar drinking tea all the day"

And he was the same explaining that all the beggars in the streets, well, they are Indian.
Nepalese pride, maybe.

The same guy told me: "The Maoist civil war? I was not cheering for them and neither for the military. the two were beating us, scaring us and asking us for money. I just wanted it to finish".

And finally: "Of course we have no news about the monk who burned himself: China is paying the boots, the uniforms and the salaries of Nepalese police"

In this order: boots, uniforms, salaries.

seeking for attention

Well,
I'm living in Nepal now.
In a area named Boudha. Is the Tibetan area.
Is very nice, more quiet, you can have a walk and buy vegetable in the street. the shoe repairer always greet me. Namastee.
Very close to my house there is a stupa. Is a sacred monument for Buddhist. A vanilla ice cream scope whit the eyes of Buddha and prayer flags. Is a 3D mandala. In reality is impressive. Buddhist are touring around clock wise generating good energy and praying.
Well, few days ago at 8.30 a.m. a men decided to burn himself just there, in my neighborhood. Look like is dead.
I say 'look like' because whoever is trying to manifest against the situation against China, do not find friends in the news.

Since that the stupa is full of police.

Tonight, the road next to the main gate to the stupa was on fire.
I have no idea what is going on.
I will not find information in the newspaper tomorrow.
But maybe my nepali colleagues will tell me what they heard about.

I'll tell you

Rarely

Was a guy in Tajikistan, working for an Italian NGO.
He came from Sicily.
His English was...particularly imaginative.

For example once to the question "How did you purchased your generator", he answered "thanks to the wheels".

Well, we were friends and I can say he was the most unhappy guy in Tajikistan. Nobody understood him when he was speaking English, and no other Italian understood him while speaking Sicilian. His Italian was better than his English, but not his mother tongue. He suffered considerably. Like Rimbaud when he was looking for the right word to express his deep and troubled soul.

One day we were together walking in Dushanbe and someone stopped him asking for a cigarette.
And he, whit a perfect consecutio temporum: "If I had one, I would give you with pleasure".

The Tajik guy, whose English was quite limited, just smiled and get the message only by the shaking of my friend's head.
But then I suddenly saw my friend changing appearance and become more steady. He knew he spoke the English of the grammar books, and he knew he just met a guy whose English was worst than his.
He became taller and cooler: "You saw? Now I'm speaking English like Sicilian"
And me, merciless: "Yeah, rarely"
 

Is not always so easy to write a contract

As I told you was my first mission (yes...we call them 'mission', I know it's smug, but that's our lexicon), and I was shitting my pants to be the BOSS and completely in charge of everything.

And I started by the staff.
Almost all of them were knew by the organisation and they were working before for them, and the project was written accordingly with the staff already available. So the selection was easy: everybody in.

I wanted to look prepared and secure. So I just took the contracts I was using in Tajikistan changing the duty station and...the name.

"Ok, just tell me your full name and we print and sign the contract"
"Nyma"
"Ok, typing... Nyma and then?"
"Nyma"
"Your name is Nyma Nyma?"
"No, only Nyma" and he handed to me the ID card. In Chinese. Two ideograms: Ny-ma. that's it.
"Ok, next". I was thinking "Whatever but do not show them you are surprised because inexperienced"
And another guy entered in the office.
"Just tell me your full name and we print and sign the contract"
"Nyma"
"You kidding!"

Tibetan names are no numerous. Nyma mean sun, Dawa means moon, there are many Tashi and Tsering, Sonam both for man and female, Dicky, Lhamo, Jigme...and then variation like 'Dawa Tsering' and 'Dicky Lhamo'.
I've met around twenty Dawa Tsering.
And then, in the country side, when a child unfortunately dies for whatever reason, some people think that the demons took him because they were attracted by the kid. And so, when a newborn arrive, the parents use to give him a very ugly name, so that the demons do not want to take him. A friend sworn he met a  'Dog Poo'.

"Ok, next"
"Good morning"
"Hi, good morning, just tell me your full name and we print and sign the contract"
"Pupu"
"Enough!"

Where am I? Try again

I remember when I first arrived in Lhasa. Tibet.

Well, actually I do not remember. I mean.

I was starting a new project with a man who supposed to guide me the firsts months as a great expert of Tibet. i probably worked with him 3 days in total.
Anyway, we flew to Beijin and then to Xining and the he tough was very cool to take the new train to Tibet. Was 2006. The railway was new.
And in fact very interesting and amazing. The first few hours.
Let's say that after 26 hours of shaking in the train, whit hundreds of Chinese eating sun flower seed and spiting the husks on the floor, I was looking forward to arrive in the forbidden city.

Was my first mission after Tajikistan. I was young and inexperienced. And my task was to be the Country Director.
I was shitting my pants.

Anyway: I have no memories of Lhasa train station. No one. And after two years and an half I spent there, and I know all the corners of the city...well, I cannot point the train station in a map.
But I do remember the taxi bringing us to the hotel (in Tibet no foreigner is allowed to rent a house, everybody must live in hotels), and I remember what I saw.
I honestly was expecting a middle age city, whit no electricity, unpaved roads, old short buildings, maybe some oil lamp tiny light ogle from windows without glasses.
I saw Chinese teens whit fancy haircuts, advertisement of China Telecom, neon light like in Bladerunner for each Chinese restaurant, bar, shop, Chinese Post office huge building just beside the Potala, alone as a Tibet refugee.
I knew about the political situation of Tibet, but I was thinking Tibet was still Tibet.

I don't remember if I took this picture in center Beijin or in the Tibetan countryside...at the end China is China