Visa Woes and Becoming a Tabla Master

Nepal's tourist visa policy only allows me to stay in the country for five months in a calendar year on the tourist visa. MCC's registration with the government hasn't yielded any more non-tourist visas for me so we had to find an alternative for the other seven months per year. The original plan was for me to take Nepali classes at a university here but we later learned that the time required for the classes wouldn't allow me to also work in an office.

I was then told that I could either study fine arts or music. I am a great appreciator of both art and music but not a producer of either one so this is all a little intimidating, though also exciting. I decided that I wanted to take sitar classes but Kathmandu University currently doesn't have a sitar teacher so I went for the tabla. I've now had three lessons and am really enjoying them. Getting out to the lessons is an adventure in itself but I have a good teacher who has a good balance of making fun of us and encouraging us.

Recently I learned a new grammar structure in my Nepali class that allows me to express what I or someone else will do after something. My Nepali teacher asked me what I will do after I learn tabla. I thought she was talking about my lesson for the following day but she said, "no, just in general." So I told her that after I learn tabla, I will be a tabla master. She just laughed at me.