riots and conferences

just to add a touch of the surreal to the VSO winter conference.

very recently, actually the night before we left for the conference, things have gotten worse here in Nepal. a soldier opened fire on a group of civilians the night before we left for the conference. we actually drove past Nagarkot, where the massacre and subsequent riots happened: there were smouldering tires and tense security forces on the road as we went past.

On friday, as we enjoyed a breathtaking view of the himalayas fromt he hotel (sorry, no pics, my camera is being fixed by a nepali friend-of-a-friend), a banda (strike) was called for the entire country. there were more riots in Bhaktapur, a curfew in Kathmandu.

today, my first day back in the capital, we had a meeting near the VSO office. one of the volunteers, a sexagenarian who was coming up from Pattan, got caught in more protests going on around Ratna Park (check out the map if you're lost). her taxi was turned around by military police, so she decided to walk the rest of the way. she got a whiff of tear gas, enough that her eyes welled up and she wrapped her scarf around her face but nothing worse.

all the old volunteers keep telling me it was a lot worse even a year ago.