Seasons Greetings.

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Hi everyone,

Merry Christmas, sorry its a day late, but over here dates dont seem to matter, so as long as i celebrated christmas in the same week, all is good.

Well this week has been extrememly busy, but it didnt start off to well. On monday i was supposed to start my first day at the spinal injury clinic, expect on sunday night and monday i had vomiting and diahorrea from a stomach bug. Not cool. so i had the day off and rested at home, so i was really disappointed that i missed my first day, but what could i do.

But on tuesday i was out and about again, not 100% but i wasnt about to be sick for 2 days in a row. so i headed to the spinal clinic which was great. in one day i learnt more than in 3 years of uni. plus i had heaps of fun, mucking around on wheelchairs and stuff. our ot supervisor is great, and takes time to explain everything to you. the centre has really good facilities considering the country. there are modern wheelchairs, and the patients recieve reasonable care. its just really difficult to grasp the different things the clients need to be taught, because of the different cultures.

Wednesday was another good day at the clinic, except i woke in the middle on the night again, with diahorrea, this time it was gardia. so i missed the clinic on thurs and was bed ridden again. really not happy this tme. but i took medication and stuff and kicked the bug in the but. So im sweet as now.

On saturday 7 of us jumped on a plane and headed for phokara for the christmas weekend. phokara is a sleepy little town situated on Nepals largest lake (not sure how true that is) with the himalays in the background.

we stayed at a really flash hotel and just spent our days having fun. on saturday after we arrive, i expolored the town. but all the resturants in phokara were closed, because there was a strike (there is a different protest over here every day, after a while its f** annoying), so the first nights meal wasnt great. but by sunday lunch they had worted themselves out and all was good.

so sunday was spent on the lake is a row boat, the a hike up a massive mountain to see the world peace pakoda (not really sure waht it is, some buddist temple) but it looked pretty good and had a great view of the lake and surrounding valley. i then hired a push bike and set off exploring the village. i got some really great pictures, and then had a roast chicken for dinner, it was great for chrissy eve.

then monday, chrissy day, not that it really made any difference, 7 of us hired scooters and tried to frind some local attactions, we got completely lost but had the best time on the bikes. it was a great chrissy morning, the afternoon was spent lazing around, before we all headed out for a chrissy dinner of roast turkey (australian).

except this was a total disaster. we chose the most expensive resturant in town and it took 2 hours to get our entrees, so we wended up getting up and leaving, and there was all this drama blah blah. so chrissy dinner was basicaly ruined, and we didnt eat until 10.30pm and the group split up. it was pretty bad, but we all ended up drinking together in the end so call was good.

today i caught a cab to this amazing lookout tower to see the fish tail (nepal's holy mountain, no one has every climed it) the day was beautiful and clear so we got an amazing view, not as good as nargakot but still pretty breathtaking. then we jsut lazed by the lake until it was time to fly home this afternoon.

the flight home was amazing. i sat on the right side of the plane, so i had amazing views out my window for the whole 20 minutes. we followed the himalaian range from the annaponas right through to mt everest. there were snow caped mountains as far as the eye could see. it eas fantastic, then we had to circle down in the valley so we could land, it was a bit scary becasue at the end the plane is tilted 45 degrees down, just so it can make the landing. and we we hit the runway its so fast i half expected the wheels to come off. but it was a great to fly for 20 minutes rather than a 7 hr bus journey.

ok well thats a rap for my week. i only work 3 days this week before we have 4 days for new years. im sure that is going to get messy.

ok love you all lots
sorry its so lond and i hope you enjoy
Have a great new years and good luck for 2007
Mopsy

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