We had to select 15 villages to build the water supply systems, in Tibet.
Sorry, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, part of the Great Republic of China.
Of course, and not because is China, first thing to do is to cooperate with the local authorities, so we were going around with a man from the District that was the photocopy of the Inspector Gadget.
The good feeling was immediate.
And so we passed the first week going around together, 10 people in the same Toyota Land Cruiser. Completely illegal, but we were with the Authority.
We were young and we still found funny to seat in the trunk like teenager on a Friday night when only one guy of the band had the driving licence.
Me, my expat fellow, Dawa the factotum, Diky the translator, another Diky and Jigme as social promoters, the Two Nymas (Nyma Big and Nyma small), Drudak the driver and Mr Gadget.
The aim was to visit possible villages with no water supply system, talk to the community to know if the people was interested in this kind of project, and then collect data, visit the spring if any and study the feasibility.
That day, after 4 hours driving, we arrived in this very very very isolated village up the mountains with a bunch of scattered colorful houses. we park and sit in the courtyard of the head of the village.
They start to offer us Chang. The home made barley beer, that Tibetan are not nonalcoholic and they can and do drink. And they are extremely welcoming hosts.
So, to show you appreciate their hospitality, you should drink not one but three cup of Chang.
Was a sunny and warm day, we enjoyed a lot sitting there, drinking Chang, waiting for the people to join the meeting. And when a new family arrived, three more cups of Chang for everybody.
Six hours later the courtyard was a clandestine casino, as the staff tough everybody how to play blackjack. Children were playing also, but with their own new invented rules, and the driver left our Government representative without a penny.
Everybody was so drunk and happy that we were forgetting to make the meeting. But at the end we did, even if I will never know what was told because I was helping the translator to reach the car while she, crying, was saying: "I'm too drunk to translate, now you gonna fire me!"
On our way back we stick on the raincoat of Gadget "Kick me".
By the way, since then we learned to call the village before coming and to give appointment for the meeting a couple of hours in advance.
At the end that village was selected, and the very day we opened the water supply system, an old lady came to me and asked me: "Can you give me a washing machine, now?"
Sorry, in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, part of the Great Republic of China.
Of course, and not because is China, first thing to do is to cooperate with the local authorities, so we were going around with a man from the District that was the photocopy of the Inspector Gadget.
The good feeling was immediate.
And so we passed the first week going around together, 10 people in the same Toyota Land Cruiser. Completely illegal, but we were with the Authority.
We were young and we still found funny to seat in the trunk like teenager on a Friday night when only one guy of the band had the driving licence.
Me, my expat fellow, Dawa the factotum, Diky the translator, another Diky and Jigme as social promoters, the Two Nymas (Nyma Big and Nyma small), Drudak the driver and Mr Gadget.
The aim was to visit possible villages with no water supply system, talk to the community to know if the people was interested in this kind of project, and then collect data, visit the spring if any and study the feasibility.
That day, after 4 hours driving, we arrived in this very very very isolated village up the mountains with a bunch of scattered colorful houses. we park and sit in the courtyard of the head of the village.
They start to offer us Chang. The home made barley beer, that Tibetan are not nonalcoholic and they can and do drink. And they are extremely welcoming hosts.
So, to show you appreciate their hospitality, you should drink not one but three cup of Chang.
Was a sunny and warm day, we enjoyed a lot sitting there, drinking Chang, waiting for the people to join the meeting. And when a new family arrived, three more cups of Chang for everybody.
Six hours later the courtyard was a clandestine casino, as the staff tough everybody how to play blackjack. Children were playing also, but with their own new invented rules, and the driver left our Government representative without a penny.
Everybody was so drunk and happy that we were forgetting to make the meeting. But at the end we did, even if I will never know what was told because I was helping the translator to reach the car while she, crying, was saying: "I'm too drunk to translate, now you gonna fire me!"
On our way back we stick on the raincoat of Gadget "Kick me".
By the way, since then we learned to call the village before coming and to give appointment for the meeting a couple of hours in advance.
At the end that village was selected, and the very day we opened the water supply system, an old lady came to me and asked me: "Can you give me a washing machine, now?"
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| goliardic games on our way back, that day. Gadget is the one on the right |
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