Dudes with Cameras

I don't know if Abbey and I looked fantastic yesterday or if we had boogers on our faces that we didn't know about, but people could not stop taking our pictures. We've been very aware of everyone staring at us since we've been here, something understandable since we live in a part of the city that rarely has non-Nepali visitors, but we were pretty astounded by the level of attention our pale faces got yesterday.

We have both been very sensitive about the pictures we take. I think I may only have one picture in which the sole purpose of my photo is to show a Nepali person. We'll get to that in another post. We like to take pictures of the experiences we have here, and yes of the family we stay with, but never try to make the locals feel uncomfortable. Apparently it is not customary to return the favor.

We first realized the extent of our stunning beauty yesterday morning on the way to work, wearing our typical hiking pants, dri-fit shirts, and chacos. We were rounding the corner before our favorite bridge when two teenaged boys stopped walking on the other side of the street. They started to laugh and one took out his phone, aiming it at us. We were both a little confused and just continued to walk, a bit stunned that someone would blatantly take our picture, even if we do look very different from them.

The next paparazzi encounter came later that evening in Lakeside, the super touristy part of town down by the lake (go figure) where people from all over the world can be found at any given restaurant or shop. As we walked along the length of the river back towards the restaurant to meet some friends, we both noticed a man a little older than us taking a picture of a sleeping dog on the sidewalk. We had overheard his conversation with friends on our first pass, which stood out because he was speaking English with a British accent, something which always catches our ears in a foreign place. The closer we got to Telephoto Lens Man, the more confused our facial expressions appeared, as it seemed that the dog was not the subject of his photography. We finally passed right by him, his lens following us the entire time as he turned around in his seat to get a better look, and we each gave him our meanest faces and picked up our pace. He put down his camera and smiled as he muttered "Sorry," and we continued our walk in amazement.

We were a little surprised by the local boys who took our picture that morning, but were so confused by the grown British white man who followed us with his camera in touristy Lakeside, where people who look like us can be found in just a few minutes of people watching. Then again, I can't say I blame him. If I were a guy and hadn't seen a cute (cute=freshly showered) girl in a few weeks I'd try to capture her image forever as well. Too bad we were mean-muggin.