Setting up home in Budhanilkantha

Dear All,

There is something very amazing and overwhelming about arriving in Kathmandu. No matter how many times you visit, the differences between Australia/USA and Nepal are just incredible. There are so many things we expect as part and parcel of our modern lives but when you are in a country like Nepal, you realize that these things are not expectations, they are absolute luxuries: running water at any time of day, electricity at any time of day and garbage pick up at regular intervals. I watch women pump water from a communal well, children use old car parts as toys, and we have gone from ATM to ATM needing to withdraw local currency only to be told that there is a currency shortage so there is a strict limit at the ATMs.

It has been so wonderful seeing all the children, they are all growing like weeds. They are all still slowly arriving from their villages after the holidays and it might be another week until Michael has full houses again. There is also a house full of volunteers, so things are, as always, quite hectic but exciting here.

This trip, Tom & I are doing things slightly differently. We have rented an apartment at the edge of the city, and Kabita and Apsara have moved in with us for the month. We have 24/7 hot water and electricity. What a treat! Apsara has declared that she is going to have a shower every single day! I also have a little kitchen to cook meals and a couple of appliances at my disposal, namely a fridge, a microwave (its timer dial is not an exact science!) and a mini toaster oven.

Tom and I haven’t quite slowed down to Nepali time yet. We groan in disbelief and frustration when we cannot get our mobile phones to work like they should (“network error” or “network busy”), and we shake our heads at poor customer service. Yet, there are so many wonderful people here too. Because of the location of our apartment in relation to the city and to the girls’ school, we have a personal driver this trip. After having met quite a few taxi drivers who have been vying for the “worst driver in the world” award, we now have one of Nepal’s best drivers. Tikaram is delightfully punctual, careful and incredibly patient, oh and he knows his way around in a country that has no street signs or house numbers! What a bonus! If anyone is coming to Nepal, let me know and I will give you his number.

Today we walked to the Sleeping Vishnu temple in Budhanilkantha and the tide of humanity was overwhelming. The girls and I did puja at a temple and I am sure I stepped in some pretty funky fluidy thing. After returning back to our apartment, I ushered the girls into the bathrooms and we all washed our feet thoroughly!

Another cultural difference we struggle with, given our language barriers, is the pairing of terms eg “salt & pepper”. It just does not exist, or if it does, their pairings are equally obscure to us.
We are still jetlagged and attempting to work out a daily routine. I have a feeling parents are not allowed to ever suffer jetlag and have to hit the ground running at any given time; we have hit the ground but are not quite up to running speed yet.

Nonetheless, we still feel very blessed, and send you all lots of love,

Fi

P.S. I pretty much packed everything, plus the kitchen sink, but managed to forget the USB cable for the camera. Never fear, Tom has an ingenious way of uploading photos, but it'll take me a couple of days to figure out and then I'll post.