Nepal update

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Ok...so it has been a while since i have updated this thing.

I was feeling extremely sick. I had a runny nose..cough..felt run down. It is freezing here in the morning and at night..so I was constantly cold...then my stomach started to get messed up so I wasn't inspired to write much. I was just generally miserable. But now..I feel better so here I am writing once again.

So I have moved to my host family and started my project. My host family is a man (DT Sherpa) and his wife (Anju). DT is 45 and Anju 30. They are both amazing wonderful warm people. They take fabulous care of me! They feed me 3 times a day and I dont have to do anything..no cooking..no cleaning..nothing. For those that know me well..u can understand how much i appreciate that. My host family run an orphanage for 14 abused and neglected children. I decided to sponsor one of their kids. For a small fee....about 60/month it provides..clothes/food/school/shelter for one of the kids. I met the girl I am sponsoring..she is 13..super smart..really sweet. So that makes me feel good.

It's funny..I came to Nepal because I wanted to be more idependent..but it seems that the opposite has happened. I dont cook for myself, I don't clean up after myself, I don't drive myself, I always have someone to go out with. I think I am just accepting the fact that I like to be reliant on others and that is ok.

My placement in the monastary teaching english is great. At first I was really nervous. I had no idea whatt to do with the kids. But on the 3rd day I went out and bought them books and now I have some kind of plan. It is great. I have only 5 kids in my class. They are8-11. They do not speak very much or understand much English but they are so eager to learn. I have never seen kids so excited about school. We sit outside everyday (5 days week) for class for 2 hours. It is very informal and they work in a book with me directing them. I have no clue what I am doing but hopefully I am helping them learn. They are mostly learning some vocab words..shapes..colors..etc. I decided not to go to the orphanage at all. I heard from so many it was too demanding and that people are always asking for money there. And we are not talking a small amount..they ask for 100's of dollars. I am so happy where I am at I don't want to go to the orphanage. So I told me coordinator and I will be staying in this placement the whole time.

Since I last wrote besides starting my placement and moving to my host family I went climbing. The climbing wall was in Thamel. It was pretty scarey. Not exactly like it is in the Us. Unfortunately I will probably not end up climbing much. I will have to start all overwhen I gethome :-( I met an American guy at the climbing wall....34..from the midwest. Really nice guy...we ended up going out for a night on the town. Dinner with a great bottle of wine...dessert..it was a real treat. Then we went for drinks and smoked hookah. I had a great time. He was the first native English speaker I got to talk to in a while. Jsut him and the Australian were really the only ones. But he also speaks American Enlish and knows what a mile is..and lbs and feet!! It was nice. Funny thing though..I am so used to speaking slow for my host mother and others that I found it hard to speak normal English with him. He is here for another month and we hung out once more..but he is going to be trekking around Nepal now and leaves in a month so I probably won't see him again.

I have made another friend with a new volunteer...Andre. He is from Denmark. He is 20. He is going to do Everest with me. I recrutied him within 10 minutes of meetnig him!!! We went out last night to a great Israeli restaurant in Thamel. I had salad for the first time in a month. Hope I dont get sick!! He is awesome. He tells me ..you dont look 30...you don't seem 30. I hear that alot here. I am thinking i should jsut start telling people i am25!!! We are going sightseeing today and then back to Thamel! I love Thamel. WIthout it I would proably only wiegh 110 lbs because I barely eat unless I am there.

OH...I went and got another massage yesterday for only 15 bucks. God I love the cheap prices here!

Anyways....I will try and blog more often..but with the 9-12 hour power cuts per day it (at unpredicatable times) becomes a real pain to blog. All I want to do is check fbook and email. But I will try my best.

Miss everyone!!!

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