Fuel

We have become avid listeners to the World Service, including the Nepali language service which is good for our language skills or so we delude ourselves. We hear, as a result, a remarkably different set of news reports to those on Radio 4. Even so some of the bigger international stories must have filtered through to you. We listened to two with particular interest as they had connections for us in Nepal.
The first was the shortage of electricity in Gaza. We were horrified that almost without notice people were without electricity. We expressed this view sitting in the dark and cold in our flat because we were in the middle of our three hour slot (of the six hours per day) that we didn't have any electricity. We are so much better off we said, because we know when the electricity is going off, and we know when it is coming back on again. In fact you can almost set your watch by it.
The second big story which caught our ear was the snow in China and their lack of electricity. Many people were without electricity for 8 days. Again we thought how well off we were with only 6 hours a day without. I know how cold you feel at the end of the 3 hour stint when there has been no heating. So many reasons to be cheerful.
In fact the shortage of electricity is not the only fuel shortage here. Cooking gas, kerosene, petrol and diesel all have to be imported from India. Continued unrest which disrupts the road routes and unpaid bills between Nepal and India all disrupt the availability. So people queue to get all of them. Our VSO friends have no hot water at the moment, it's heated by bottled gas and they can't get any. The reason we haven't gone for a kerosene heater is because you have to stand in unbelievably long queues when it is available. Not only that but people seem to know by osmosis when there is going to be some kerosene to queue for, I have yet to develop the instinct. And the petrol queues get so long that they cause unbelievable traffic jams and then everyone has to walk to work any way.
The fuel market is highly regulated by the government and so they get plenty of criticism for the situation. In spite of the shortages they decided to increase the price of all the fuels a couple of weeks ago. That was the last straw for many who are normally calm and accepting in the face of all the disruptions and inconvenience. So we were treated to bit of people power Nepali style and we had two days of road blocks and tyre burning which brought Kathmandu to a halt and was solved when the fuel prices were reduced again.
Our hot water is heated by the sun. A couple of very efficient panels on the roof provide as much as we need and it doesn’t need much sun to get really hot water. I feel very virtuous about showering in hot water heated only by the sun and what really makes it enjoyable is when the two days before have been cloudy resulting in cold showers.
If you consider food fuel then we do very well in that department. Lots of fresh fruit and vet and I have mastered a pretty good Nepali style dhal bhaat on the two gas rings. You can buy something called a miracle oven which does oven cooking on the top of the stove. Those volunteers who have tried it give it high recommendation and I think I might have to buy one so watch this space for more on the cooking front.
Namaste
Julie