Thanksgiving in Kathmandu

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22-NOV-2007
On our morning walk, we are blessed with a refreshing chill, morning mist, the sound of bells, and beautiful quaint villages. We stop for morning tea at the usual spot and I pick up two of the bigger rotis to hold me over until breakfast.

The kids are out playing by the school when we arrive for the health checks so we head over to take care of them and put in some good ol' quality time with the little ones. I quickly head back home to pack my things because I'd to be able to escape before morning daal bhaat. Done and done.

Unfortunately, the time has come for visa renewal. So we head to the south end of town for a few hours while business is processed. I am absolutely starving, so I pick up some foot for my rumbly belly at this restaurant attached to the big mall in town. I order a cheese sandwich. The waiter says it comes with fries so I'm sold. When it arrives, it is just that- 2 slices of cheese between 3 slices of bread with 4 fries... 4. No veggies, no toasted bread, nothing. Most definitely the worst 75 Rs I've ever spent. It took all of my self control not to laugh out loud. After picking up some chow mein and a grand roti hunt to actually do something for my belly, it was time to pick up the visas.

On our way back into town, I picked up the best ice cream of my life. Yes, it was Baskin Robbins. Funny that my first experience with it was in Nepal. I only got one bitty scoop, so I picked up more at another place as well. You can say I'm on a bit of an ice cream kick. At the Tradition, we end up with the EXECUTIVE room. It's 1 floor below the top, so it makes for quite the view, and is on the corner of the building, so yes, not one, but three luxurious sunny windows. It felt like we were sitting outside with all that sun and breeze!

It is Thanksgiving and we've booked two seats at New Orleans for a grand Thanksgiving feast. When we arrive, there's a lovely reserved sign waiting for us at our table. We are STARVING. Because they're having a wine sale with the Thanksgiving menu, I simply cannot resist- it is a holiday. Steve doesn't drink wine, but doesn't factor into my decision much.

Our first course consists of delicately paper think homemade tortilla chips with freshly chopped salsa atop the tastiest golden brown onion rings I've ever had. Next, we're served a delicious chicken soup with tons of chopped veggies. Since I'm used to weeding out meat at home, I sieve out the broth and leave the rest to Steve. So good. I made him eat the meat because there's no way I could see that go to waste.

The veggie main course consisted of a heaping pile of mashed potatoes amidst a savory vegetable gravy, a vegetable roll which was actually a torpedo shaped hunk of stuffing!, and a fresh herb salad topped with pomegranate bits. The whole dinner was sprinkled with shredded cranberry as well as the traditional rosemary flavor that is perfectly Thanksgiving. And for dessert, a lovely spiced apple pie topped with pomegranate bits as well... so amazing.

We met up with Paul, Richard, and Ben at Tom & Jerry's where it was surprisingly lively. For the first time, there were actually many other people dancing before we took stage. Near the end of the night, things started getting a bit out of hand. First, I managed to spill my drink all down my jeans creating the lovely illusion and feeling of peeing my pants. Then, this Nepali guy mistakenly took my drink as his and compensated me by filling half of Steve's rum & coke with vodka he pulled out of his bag. Thanks for ruining it creep. Put that drink down and let's get out of here!

23-NOV-2007
Against all desires to sleep the morning away, we had to be at the office at 10AM for a fun-filled day of health checks. I scooped up a couple pastries on the way in to hold me over because they are GOOD. We piled into the back of the jeep and headed out to JCH first to check up on a boy who was supposedly very ill. It ended up that it was just an ear infection and certainly could have waited a few hours until the check rather than screwing up our schedule for the day.

Near Bistachaap, there is a school that VSN supports called CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation). They take care of around 12 children up to age 20 with physical disabilities and as such, is a placement for some of our volunteers. We'd never conducted a heath check there before, and with the combination of not having Dr. Puri on hand and the special needs of the children, it took HOURS. That room was freezing- I really could have used my action vest or a warm pair of socks.

I carried the printer on the way out after reviewing the findings with the volunteers, only to completely miss the step leading to the door, landing on my hands and knees on the cold, hard, marble-type of floor. Printer goes flying. But it's okay, I'm okay. It's time to head to JCH where we fly through the checks.

We stuff our faces at K-too before taxi-ing it home with a cabbie who's evidently learning manual. The cab shook and stalled out the whole way back. Time to switch gears, my friend. And he also had the nerve to ask for more than 150 Rs upon dropping us off. Mmm maybe if you didn't bring us home on horseback...

24-NOV-2007
Health checks, church time, and then the jeep and Dr. Puri arrive for the monthly escapade. Dr. Puri asked if I'm married, if I have a boyfriend, and if I want to go see a movie with him. No, yes, and no. Little white lies never hurt anybody. The power goes off during the checks, downgrading me to a pen and paper for all further recording. This makes following up on previous health issues impossible. Near the end of the three hours, the power returns, and I type everything up for all 51 kids like a madwoman. I try to finish up as much as possible before being rushed off to GPPM in the jeep. Since there's only 9 boys there, that flys by and we're done with work for the day. The sun ducks behind the mountains and I'm cold now- sleeping bag is calling.

I give in to a lovely nap before being awoken for evening daal bhaat. You know that first few moments after you're woken where you have absolutely no clue what's going on? Enjoyed a little bit of that before heading down for the rice business. It was spinach and rice, so very very easy to throw down- no gagging or choking this time around. I love it when they make things easy for me.

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