Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween- I have athlete's finger! Scary? Well, to be completely honest, I've had it for about two weeks. How on earth one acquires this I do not know, but I've somehow managed to make it happen. Lovely, and very attractive might I add. I can apply antifungals to the kids every morning but somehow have a problem with it when it comes to doing it for myself. Suppose it's better that than the other way around.

Well, in celebration, I am wearing my blinding neon orange Clemson t-shirt. That's as close to a celebration it's going to get to over here, as no Nepali has any clue what this Halloween business is all about (SOLE EXCEPTION: the 19 year old at home who has read about the craziness online). But if they ever realized all that they were missing out on, they JUST may be tempted to wear orange with me or (heaven forbid), wear a witch hat. Okay, okay, I took that one a little far. But the point is, I miss this holiday terribly. It's certainly one of my most favorite of the year and is the first time since I can remember that I've not dressed up as something ridiculous or at least carved a pumpkin. PS- the pumpkins are green here, and I've not yet discovered if they have edible seeds inside (something to put on the to-do list).

Following a glorious 11 hour sleep last night, I can't help but admit that I feel like I new woman. I lethargically moved my tookus from bed at 8am to give the kids their meds in 20 min (record timing!). I've also cleaned my room for the first time. And yes, this is also the first time I've used a doll broom to sweep carpet. Carpet. Of course, what broom is magically going to sweep up hair from a carpeted floor? So I definitely resorted to gathering the stuff by hand in an attempt to beautify my living space- lovely. Oh how I miss my Oreck. I've also cleaned the mirrors and bathroom sink with baby wipes, of which I simply cannot imagine that this had been done since I was born (that would be 25 years ago for those completely out of the loop).

I headed into the office for a bit and transferred vaccination files to the health laptop so I could work on this in the comfort of my room back at home. I'll also be able to tackle my monthly report on the children's home back there, and not have to drag my bum onto the bumpy standing-room-only macro van.

In addition to my beautiful fingers, I also have an omnipresent head bump. I've consistently been underestimating my height, and can't seem to get over assuming that doorframes and macro vans are tall enough for me to pass through without hunching over. So imagine the following scenario. There are 20 people in a macro van. There is enough room for 19 of them to sit down. 1 person is at least 6 inches taller than all the others and is the only one who cannot stand up without hunching over. Which person is standing up?

Me.

So shaving your legs in Nepal- is it really necessary? My instinctive response would certainly be no for many many reasons, the most important being that you don't wear clothing above your knees over here. Oh yes, and nobody is touching my legs, thank you. However, I'm going to act against what my common sense tells me and go on with the below knee shaving at the moment. Why? I'm not sure I'm really ready for Amazon woman status. I do have a razor and a shower and it takes about a minute. It's worth it knowing that at least I don't have to look at it. End of story.

My mission of the day is to buy an air mattress. I am over my rock. We've had our time togther, but I am OVER IT. Just speak with my back. I know that they'll be ridiculously expensive over here, but I do have an extremely hefty max price in mind, so if I honestly can't get one for under $50, I will stuff heaps of cotton into a homemade pillowcase the size of my body and prevail.

So I have a new goal for whenever I come into Thamel, and that is to eat as many fruits and vegetables as humanly possible, for obvious reasons. Sustaining oneself on rice, cookies, candy, and the occasional noodle certainly isn't the easiest task (multivitamins yah!). My heaping salad at the Organic cafe this afternoon was mighty tasty (with fresh mini coconut cubes!), and tomato basil soup!! I love it I love it I love it!

Though part of me can't help but imagine how the wooden bowl I ate from didn't harbor ridiculous amounts of bacteria unless it were finished with a glossy sealant (which it wasn't). But in all honesty, the least of my worries at the moment.

AIR MATTRESS: GO!

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