A night out at the bar…

I had forgotten about this story and now that I have it on my mind I might as well share it with all of you. Go wayyy back to November, shortly after Jenn and I had arrived in Kathmandu. It just so happens that when I arrived in Nepal, my cousin Wes was here working on co-ordinating dental workshops for Nepali children. What is so strange about all of this, is that I haven’t seen Wes in years! It’s the usual story that while in Canada we both lead busy lives and we just never seem to meet. So, we both had to come to Nepal to catch up with each others lives… We had made a couple of attempts to get together, but due to our schedules we were not able to meet until a day before Wes’s flight out of the country.

We had arranged to meet in the evening at a popular jazz club in the Lazimpat area. Jenn wasn’t feeling well that evening, so I went by myself to meet up with Wes. I arrived a little late and having phoned Wes, I knew that he was already at the bar. I didn’t have any difficulties finding him, but when I did see him he blended right in and looked to me as if he could be Nepali! I sat down, ordered a drink and we proceeded to catch up on each others lives. It was great hearing what he had been up to. Wes has been working for a non-profit group that runs dental clinics in developing nations. The organizations recruit dentists from the US to come on a working holiday to countries like Nepal and Vietnam. They set up mobile clinics and offer free dental work for school children. What a great program! Wes’s job was essentially general management, co-ordination, logistics and host. Yikes, sounds crazy busy! Not only did he have to co-ordinate the clinics, but he also had to play host, and keep the visiting dentists safe and happy. Not an easy job, but from the sounds of it, very rewarding.

We caught up on each other’s family news and I told him what I was doing in Nepal. It was really great chatting and quite surreal given our location… As we were chatting, a server came by and interrupted us. He had a shot of tequila on his tray and explained to me that the shot was given to me compliments of “the woman in the corner”. I was kind of shocked and kind of embarrassed as well. I scanned the room and Wes did the same, trying to identify who this person might be. I felt pretty awkward as well, because I certainly did not want to drink the shot. Tequila is not my thing, particularly since I had a bad experience with it during my university days… we’ll save that story for another day perhaps. Anyway, as I looked around I did not see a woman in the corner. I did not want the tequila so I chose to ignore the situation and let the tequila shot sit on the table without drinking it. A few minutes passed as Wes and I continued to chat and the server came by again. This time he was more adamant and he told me that “you really need to drink the shot” and again that it was from “the woman in the corner”.

I was now feeling kind of pressured and I wasn’t being allowed to ignore it. I turned to Wes and told him “If I drink this and it is drugged with something, you have to take care of me ok?”. Wes laughed and assured me that he would. So, I mustered up my courage and mentally prepared for the assault on my stomach. I licked the salt that was provided to me, and downed the tequila! I had prepared the piece of lime to follow the tequila shot, but having tasted the liquid I immediately knew that I had been the butt of a big joke. The shot was water!! I looked around the bar and sure enough, Craig and Gary (my fellow Canadian volunteers) were on the other side of the room laughing and pointing at me! They had set me up! I had failed to see them as I was scanning the bar earlier. They both knew that I am not a big drinker, which made it all the funnier to them. I felt like an idiot, but laughed at how the whole scenario played out. I introduced Craig and Gary to Wes who was kind of confused as to who these two jokers were, but we all had a pretty good laugh in the end. The night ended in typical Nepali fashion at 11pm when the police came by to make sure that the bar closed at the proper curfew time. Wes and I said our goodbyes and he hopped into a cab to take him back to his hotel. Craig and I walked home amidst the other bar patrons and transgendered men that sometimes frequent the area. It was another interesting evening in Kathmandu to be sure….