adventures

This is my beautiful house in Kathmandu. I feel like I'm entering the secret garden when I walk through the gate.....that is until Jack jumps up and attacks me and I smell like dirty dog. Dreams can only last so long.

Bishnu, Smina and I went to a new dental college expo. My favorite events to attend, naturally. Someone from the House of Representatives was there, and that was a big deal. I'm pretty sure I was on TV. Booyah.

......who cares if it was probably because I was the only white girl there.

I love the house upstairs/shop downstairs thaaang the Nepali's have going on. I really think they're onto something.

When Jeev isn't pretending to be a secret agent ridding the world of new age dinosaurs, or a kung fu master that is killing me, he likes to be a scholarly man.

....I think he just puts on the act for the ladies. I know who you really are, agent J.

There are so many days of rain and a few days with this glorious sky. my favorite.

This is Abighya. one of my favorite little girls here. Okay that's a lie. all the kids here are my favorites.

She's especially cool though because she lives above me and sometimes she plays hooky from school and we dance to Justin Beiber in my room. For hours. Then we take a little break and eat some corn. Then we keep dancing.

If you are in need of plastic farming supplies. My 12-14 year old self would have looooved this store. so many things for my chickens!

Guess who's a real Nepali woman now? all thanks to mendi.

Rebecca (my Nepali sister, as she calls herself) would get bored. So when the salon owner went to get something, she would dance her wiggles out. GAH we are so alike.

This lady loved me so much (maybe not her friend...) that she took off the white girl tax.

I saved 600 rupees. yessss.

Only until after she did my mendi, did someone inform me that the dark tips on my fingers symbolize that I have a boyfriend (or husband) that loves me VERY much. Hmm.....

Apparently the Nepali women here know more about my love life than I do....

xoxo,

Kate (or as abighya calls me, Katareeeen)

The key is this:

Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be.

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for"

...

meet jack:

He is my new Nepali best friend.

He likes to beg for food

ponder life's greatest mysteries

and scratch his bootay.

We vent our fears and sadness to each other.

meet jack.

...

antibacterial wipes save lives

*my little bedroom that I love

Kathmandu...oh Kathmandu. You are so much different from Lincoln.

I expected that of course, but seeing cows in the middle of the road and the lack of street laws makes it a bit more real.

I honestly think it was a complete miracle I made it here safely and didn't have any sort of disaster. Other than the ever present disaster of trying to use a restroom here, of course.

After my plane landed in Kathmandu, I was able to get my visa pretty quickly. I honestly think it was because I smiled a lot and totally butchered speaking Nepali to them that they probably just felt bad for me. haha.

I got my luggage way faster than expected, and the first American I saw, I followed. She led me to the bathroom. oooooooh man. That bathroom will forever be remembered as my first Nepali bathroom I conquered.

It took me about 5 minutes to get my bag and big 5'10" body into the tiny TINY stall, and only after I did, did I realize that there was no toilet paper, and pee everywhere. I just stopped and said a little prayer of thanks to my mother for insisting I bring antibacterial wipes.

I found the guy who was picking me up and we drove to the office where I am staying. The drive was......fun/so scary. No lines, no rules, no nothing. Just honking, animals everywhere, motorcycles heading right for you, and tons of little market shops. Crazy crazy crazy. just like me. That must be why I loved it! Other than the "i'm going to die right now" feeling I had a few times.

I'm now settled into my little room here and I thankfully have some limited internet! I will be traveling out to a village to live there pretty soon, so I'll probably only have it for a few more weeks, but I'll use it while I can!

I'm off to teach English to the CHOICE members here who have been waiting for "the american girl" to come and teach them. Yeah....we'll see how that goes. Hopefully the fact that it's my native tongue will make up for the fact that I've never taught it before. Haha.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible! more stories to come! (most likely involving stinky bathrooms...)

Namaste,

Kate