Welcome to Jordan!

Jordan Sunset
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

That's a phrase I've heard repeatedly since arriving. Although I was in western clothes, Arab men opened doors for me, smiled, and welcomed me to Jordan. Women smiled and welcomed me, the hotel staff, the teenagers skateboarding on the sidewalk when I walked to an ATM -- even the men going into a mosque that I passed on my way to the bank. Very nice. I feel completely safe here -- truly.

I haven't seen much yet, but should later today. My tour group meets in the lobby at 11:00, and after introductions, we head down to the Red Sea. I can't wait! It's been a while since I've seen a good beach.

Now for an explanation of what happened in Kathmandu with the protests and my blog:

After posting the photos and stories about what I saw and heard that day, I collected my things to leave the internet cafe. A man asked me about my photos, asked if I was a reporter and then asked what I did for a living. He introduced himself as a reporter and wanted me to come to his hotel the next morning for breakfast and then to a cafe that journalists hang out at. As I left, he moved over to the machine that I had been using.

The next day, his hotel front door was locked, so I was unable to meet him and I found that I was denied access to my blog. When I returned to my guest house, I mentioned this to my South African friend (who is a journalist currently living in India) and Sarita, the owner of the guest house. Well, they read me the riot act in a big bad way. Apparently, Asia is not like the States and I can get myself into big trouble by writing such things. They were worried that this man was able to look up the websites that I had visited on the computer that he switched to and read my blog. They were very worried that he wasn't a journalist at all. They said that there are people (including Tibetans) on the payroll of the Chinese government keeping an eye on things in Nepal. They told me that people get abducted for writing these things all the time. Between the two of them, they hatched a plan to get me out of Kathmandu with Sarita's friend Prem to go trekking. Afterwards, I was to leave almost immediately for Chitwan and then Pokhara. I was also not allowed to get into cabs without staff from the guest house checking them out first. I was to tell them where I was going at all times and not deviate from the reported locations.

If you ask me, it was all much ado about nothing. I don't believe that I was ever in danger, nor do I believe that Google blocked my access because of this. They have given me no explanation except that someone had complained about "objectionable content". But to keep my new friends happy, I played along.

And now that I'm safely out of the region, here's what I learned about Nepali politics and government:

The Nepalis are stuck between a rock and a hard place -- literally. To the north, they have China who is the most populated country on the planet and has probably the largest and certainly one of the most powerful armies. To the west, south and east, there's India. India is the second most populated country on Earth and also has a very big army. Nepal has only 25 million people (as opposed to over a billion in each of its neighbors) and is a very poor country. While I saw police and army around a lot, I'd say that 90% or so don't carry guns. They can't afford them. Instead they carry sticks. That's right. They carry 4 foot bamboo canes that are nicely shellacked in order to make them stiffer and more painful. This is what they have to fight the bad guys and any invading countries.

Past governments have basically bent over backwards for China and India rather than start any animosities or conflicts. They have made deals that have hurt the Nepali people (unlimited free visas for citizens of China and India -- allowing India to process the sugar cane grown in southern Nepal and then sell it back to the Nepali at 2.5 times the price that they sell it for in India, etc.). They have turned over small portions of what used to be Nepal to India (one such area is where Sarita grew up). At the same time, these government officials (the recently ousted King included) have padded their own pockets with kickbacks from their neighbors. This at the same time that most Nepali cannot afford sugar and many other goods. This is why they recently ousted them all and elected Maoist party candidates. It's not out of some sort of sympathy or attachment to China, but rather the belief that Maoists will do what's best for the people and not simply make themselves rich. The new government is just now getting their act together and starting to govern, so we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, Nepal just tries to not make it's neighbors angry because they just don't have the means to stand up to them. That's why all of the protests that have been happening at the Chinese embassy (and there have been many over the last 4 months or so) go unmentioned in the press.

OK. I'm going to breakfast now.