ANZAC day

just got home from our ANZAC day breakfast at the Australian Ambassador's house (and let me tell you - its a nice house! felt like i was warped back to Australia). there were monkey's stealing the food, but the atmosphere was so warm and they laying of the wreaths to the bugle playing was such a touching moment. i felt so proud to be Australian ( and maybe also lucky to be Australian and invited to such an event!).

there were havaianas, quiches, lee jeans, anzac biscuits, and even the tea cups had the Australian government's emblem on it. wow i have never noticed such small iconic things about Australia before.

but it was great, loved my little snapshot of home this morning...even if they thought i was nepali and spoke to me in nepali at first =P

here is a great tribute to our soldiers from a 5 year old boy:

sickness...

so i was thinking, in Australia when the seasons change most people normally get cold's and flu's...in Nepal when the seasons change most people get diarrhea...go figure eh?

i think i know where i would like to be right now as spring is turning into summer!!

p.s. this is my dog friend that waited with me for the work car this morning

Just Sharing...

well... i was just looking out my window in the plane and...oops! just happened to see the Himalaya's staring back at me!

The Girl Effect

Just found this really great site, focusing on a really great need. share it so we can create greater awareness to help girls like you and me.

lately...

so i haven't posted anything on this blog in a while so i thought i would write an update.

i've been feeling pretty flat lately, and a little bit over nepal and i think its because of last week spent out in the terai region (flat, dry, dusty bit bordering India). it was pretty intense, especially the heat! oh the heat! it was probably the hottest heat i've ever experienced.

i'm not sure whether it was the bandh (road block) where we drove 3 hours only to find there was a road block and had to drive all the way back only to find there was another road block because a truck had hit a goat so the owners of the goat were demanding compensation... this was so frustrating!

anyways lucky we had our organisation sticker on the car so they let us through, while a line of buses and trucks had been waiting for over an hour. i'm pretty sure this incident which led me to staying in a hotel room all by myself for another 2 days is what drove me crazy (that and the mozzies buzzing around my head at night which have probably given me malaria - silly buggers)! in less than a few days i experienced all of nepal's fault's (did i mention electriciy shortages and gas shortages as well?) which all really added onto each other and now i just want to get out of here! even if its just for a weekend or something!

anyways, thats my little rant...i am glad to be back in kathmandu, but sad because i think the mozzies have followed me here. but hey, at least its cooler and my husband is here =)

just packing

so i just started packing for my trip out west...now what do i bring?

-hiking shoes
-camera
-a roll of toilet paper
-anibacterial liquid
-mosquito repellant
-rain coat
-vogue

what is the odd thing in this list?

Wonderful Weekend!

Again a wonderful weekend was had with my husband! Yesterday we went into touristy Thamel and bought some $3 dvds...all the latest goodies! And had a bite to eat at New Orlean's Cafe - which was hippie-ish and had the best fruit juices!! yummmmo!! after, we wandered over to Durbar Marg and discovered a real 'shopping centre' to my absolute joy!! and just to add to the joy, they had a charles+keith shoe store which is where i bought my wedding shoes, but in the Philippines. On our way out we 'bumped' into a baskin and robbins ice cream store just to put the icing on my day!

This morning I had to walk to work much to my dismay, due to there being another strike 'surprise surprise'! but it was a nice change because there were barely any cars on the roads and barely any people...which means that i can walk the streets without being honked and tooted at to get off the road...wish it was like this everyday!!

Old Kingdoms & Holy People

On Sunday my husband and I had a wonderful day. We ventured out and visited Patan Durbar Square, previously the Palace for the Kingdom of Patan (in Kathmandu there used to be 3 kingdoms). Beautiful architecture and a little bit of peace despite the beggers and tourists running around like mice beind their guides.

We were glad to discover a hidden oasis behind all the kaos which was a small cafe/restaurant hidden behind the 2nd palace surrounded by beautiful gardens...I do believe this was the best find by my husband and I since our 2 months living in Nepal. We actually had a normal meal and felt incredibly satisfied afterwards. So satisfied we barely batted an eyelid to the 2 Nepali women shouting and pushing each other - fighting over beaded necklaces or something!
A downer to the day was getting ripped off by a 'holy man'. We paid him $5 to take 2 pictures with him!!! I could put on his outfit and say I was holy too...

Climbing mountains to high villages

On Friday I finally got to get out of the office and venture into the wild! We went and visited a rural village observe a women's cooperative meeting. I thought we were observing, but then I ended up being a special guest all the way from 'Australia', crowned with flowers and given a special seat. I need to somehow tell these villagers that I am learning just like them!

From recent posts...

Here are some pictures I have been meaning to post. Up first is the man and his bike/wheelchair thing that I wrote my first post on, and then my puppy friend who I seem to see around so often!! He loves waiting with me for work in the mornings...