The only crunchy apple in Nepal

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12-NOV-2007
I lounged in the toasty sun on my balcony for a couple hours this morning and managed to get a bit darker on the ol' arms! Ended up sweating bullets out there in my tank and hiked up jeans (showing my shoulders, what the hussy I am!). I took care of the meds for the small kids not involved in the Tihar performances and watched them diligently sift through rice for a good while before heading back home where they provided me with three more rotis that were a bit on the stale side, but still very exciting. Had to dip them in my chiyaa to easen task of chewing them.

Just as I was leaving for Thamel to get a necklace for my Aama, Rupis (the eldest boy in the house) handed me 4 bananas, an apple and a green orange- perfect! The sharer that I am, I enjoyed them with Steve on the van ride into town. Extra points for launching the peels and cores into the narrow ditch lining the road. I gave Steve the apple, but to my shock and horror, it was the best apple grown in the country. Usually they're quite pithy and soft, but after having a bite discovered that it was crunchy and mouth-watering juicy. I will probably never find another apple that delicious again here.

We promptly marched to OR2K for the epic veggie burger as well as the tastiest pizza on the planet with sliced green olives. I have not had them in so long! They remind me of pizza night at the DeVilbii residence where we'd bake frozen pies, slice up green olives, and pile those bad boys on until the cheese was barely visible. We need to do that again once I return home because that's good eatin'! But I guess I'll have to settle without yak cheese... it adds a bit of smoky, almost bitter kick to it. But maybe I don't know what bitter means.

We then head downtown for some window shopping and to get this necklace task out of the way. I had a large purple number made just for my Aama for a quite a bit of Rupees- hopefully this will safely get me out of as many daal bhaats as possible. I indulged in a magical slice of Tiramisu that made me HAPPY. I like good food even moreso now that I'm slave to the same meal day in and day out. So I tend to go all out whenever I get the chance. You would too, you know.

After trying our hardest not to end up in Thamel and to explore other parts of the city, seems as though it's the only place you can get a drink after 8pm. So we reluctantly return, but with the caveat that we'd check out new establishments. First was Kilroy's- apparently the mountaineers hangout- with log walls and ceilings and a fire burning in the fireplace. It was very cozy, like a log skiing lodge, but could have used more comfortable furniture.

Next we stopped by this quiet sit-on-the-floor with cushions place (just like The Full Moon) where they entertained our Jack Johnson music requests. What can I say?- I'm a convert. We did end eventually end up at the Reggae bar as always, but it's only because we were sick of walking in and out of places that weren't what we were looking for. Here, I was privy to yet another marriage proposal and was asked for my sister's contact information. No to both. You're lucky I look out for you, Katharine. After enjoying some tasty chow mein, we bolted out of there (but not before, of course, tripping in a bit hole in the floor and breaking 6 of my glass bracelets). 6 Rupees down the crapper, right there.

13-NOV-2007
Woke up at the same time as usual, but went to bed 5 hours later. My remarkably consistent body clock is out to get me.

Today I had the best cake in my life. It is called chocolate love- it was so tasty I almost cried. You know what I'm talking about. But this is a bad development- we all know that I'm going to have to indulge on my slice of heaven at every possible opportunity.

After aimlessly wandering about town (as opposed to my usual purposeful power walk past everyone selling/wanting anything), Steve and I checked out Kilroy's for a taste of their menu, and I really was not impressed. My sandwich looked like it was suited for a 5 year old, and the supposedly famous French Onion soup was not salty and without melted cheese on top. Disappointing.

To feel productive for the day, I headed into the office to ensure that someone had checked on the nurse's availability for Vaccination Day, as well as follow up on the permission letters. Check and check. I dreamed about chocolate cake the rest of the day.

For the bus ride back home, we were treated to a big macro van in which I could actually stand straight up- no hunching required! You can imagine my excitement about this. However, there was nothing to hold onto so I grabbed hold of the seats and hoped for the best. I felt like I was snowboarding home! Because Steve managed to place himself in a fairly inconvenient position on the bus, he didn't have much choice but to exit the bus each and every time it stopped. The woman next to me and I were laughing so hard at him, my belly hurt and I had tears streaming out my eyes. We didn't speak the same language, but we did have quite the bonding moment. As much as I thought were were on the same team, she burst out into another laughing fit when I told the busboy I needed to get off the bus in Nepali. It's always worked before without incident. Maybe she was drunk.

The Charity health checks were quite the challenge with the dwindling light and the rambunctiousness of the kids at that hour. Holy difficult. One of the boys was in such an ornery mood because I wouldn't give him more than one vitamin. He sits there and tells me I haven't given him one, when I just did 10 SECONDS AGO. Don't you dare lie to me, little man. So he started pinching me when he didn't get his ways, at which point the foot went down and I firmly scolded him. I will pick you up and carry you outside if you do it again. He didn't. Exchanges like this make it so evident what kind of parent I may make someday- firm but fair disciplinarian. I'm not taking any crap. Kind of sounds like my parents- funny how that works out.

Daal bhaat was not the best, but not awful either. I turned in rather early due to exhaustion.

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Photos

Sifting through rice
Dheri dheri bhaat