Sirubari, Lamjung

Another day at school! Special food notes: Babita made this donut type thing called "sel roti" it was a nice treat first thing in the morning with tea! Spoiled again in the afternoon after school, she made popcorn from the kernels that were a result of the work we did yesterday. (Beda took the whole kernels to the mill first thing this morning) oh, and apparently I can handle more spice than I thought! I think I impressed the staff at lunch by eating two chillies without even thinking about it. I guess they're not used to us volunteers liking hot foods!

A highlight of today was having the chance to talk to Alanna and also to Karolina! Short as the conversations were it was nice to hear from home, I'm going to have to find a way to sneak away from school longer so I can talk more!

I definitely am enjoying school much more these last couple days, teaching English and helping with computers is exactly what I love doing. The computer part especially ;) Word + Excel + good company? Why not. It's fun! Mom sent me some photos of home yesterday so that I could show some students who were asking to see where I lived. They all say that it's a beautiful home, which I suppose it is! Sure does look nice in photos, though I thought I left my room cleaner than I did...

Something that bothered me today was 4 girls saying that they were ugly because of their skin colour. That they wanted whiter skin to be prettier. I can't believe that that's still a thing. Four young, beautiful girls with self esteem issues because of their colour?! It makes me angry that they think that... I made sure to tell them they were beautiful of course but if I remember being their age, what I say won't change their minds.

I had a chance to talk to Beda today about how long I'll be here for and I think I finally have a plan sorted unless things change again of course, which I'm totally open to, flexibility is key this trip ;) I'm going to Chitwan to see Satya from February 11-15 which gives me 2 days in Kathmandu before I leave for Singapore. I need those 2 days to do some shopping I've been putting off, to find a post office to mail some things home, to do some laundry, and to maybe maybe do a flight to see Everest and maybe maybe a downhill bike tour! I know I said I wasn't going to because of my knee, but... If it's holding up okay I really can't pass up the opportunity!!! Who knows when I'll get the chance to get back to Nepal, though I can tell you already that I would love to come back. The people are so peaceful and the life so healing that I would definitely come back. I also think that I will try to visit Pokhara in the next few weeks before I leave for Chitwan. Apparently only a day is needed to visit, though it is about 5 hours away (walking + bus). It's another city in Nepal that hosts the 2nd largest lake in the country and apparently is quite beautiful. I'll try to time it over a Saturday so that I can only miss 2 days of school instead of 3. Getting there will be interesting... The bus system seems chaotic. I'll have to ask for help! The time seems to be slipping by, with one Saturday dedicated to Pokhara (hopefully) I only have one free day to fill! And that will probably be filled with doing laundry... I do hope to be able to hike up to the top of the mountain range here as well though and take in the views. Maybe I'll see if one of the teachers would be interested in showing me, if I can communicate my request of course.

Anyway, I've already said far more than I thought I had to say! Oh but a fun fact for you Gary, no I haven't found any of your herbs, but I did hear a rumour about mushrooms growing around here...Read more