Today while walking all around Kathmandu in search of SIM cards and cellphones, my roommate Swetha and I walked past a Bakery Cafe not too far from our apartment. We were both starving and Swetha remembered that other Bakery Cafes in town employed deaf people so we decided to go try it out. Like she remembered, virtually all the employees were deaf (I think all but the manager, who was hearing, but knew sign), and I started trying to converse immediately! I drew smiles from our waiter who was both shocked and amused that I was signing (and not in his language!). Fortunately though, several signs were the same, and we were able to determine that we were both deaf (it took a while for him to believe me because I was talking to Swetha), I was from America, and I knew American Sign while he knew Nepali. After he left, the waiters began signing in a frenzy- I was apparently the topic of conversation as they kept gesturing towards me, and one by one they came over to the table. Through the conversations, one which took place in written English (!) I learned a number of Nepali signs, and was glad to see that many were the same or similar to ASL. The waiter's written English was incredible - it renewed my interest in Deaf Education in Nepal, because they have obviously learned ways to successfully teach literacy to deaf individuals. The employees at Bakery Cafe may get sick of me by the end of the week because I can't wait to go back and learn more about their histories, and learn more Nepali sign. My experience at the Cafe completely made my day - and quite possibly my week!
Other happenings in Kathmandu. My luggage is still missing! Fortunately I came prepared for that eventuality, but I thought that when you were prepared for the worst, the worst wasn't suppose to happen! With any luck my luggage will still be found, but it's looking less and less likely as all of the airlines say that they don't have it. Very frustrating! Suspecting that I would be needing supplies, I have purchased several Nepali outfits, so I have some clean clothes, but I will need quite a bit more if my luggage does not show.
I've been struggling with the fact that my deafness is not apparent in Nepal, where my accent sounds simply foreign. I'd forgotten about the difficulty I had when I had more hearing and better speech in the past, and people would not believe me, or would forget that I couldn't hear them and expect more of me than I am physically capable. Case in point: I was chatting with a very kind Nepali man where I bought one of my kurtas and mentioned I was deaf because I was having difficulty understanding him. He understood and asked me if I wore hearing aids (no), could hear at all (not really) and how I understood him (speech-reading). As I left, he gave me the number to the shop and told me to call if I ever needed any help in Nepal (?). There have been many similar situations, and while it's rather flattering that I communicate through spoken language well enough to appear hearing, the miscommunications compounded by the disbelief is frustrating.
That's enough for now! Namaste :)
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