My House and Other Things

Nepal, like India, has it's own time, and like India, it's different from ANYONE else. The time here is GMT + 5:45hr. Crazy. (I was told that Nepal wanted to be on a different time from India, so they decided to be 15 mins ahead).

My room/volunteer house: Not quite a plush as the accommodation in Siem Reap. During some free time yesterday I took a rag to all the window-sills in my room, they were a tad filthy. The room is carpeted, and Kathmandu is dusty. Not the best combination. Apparently carpet is cheaper than anything else, but so very, very dusty. The (shared) bathroom is full of cast-offs left by previous volunteers (used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, half used bars of soap, etc). There's no wi-fi in the house. :( BUT, I there are windows on three sides in my room, and the views are good. So that's something.

The view out my window

I had dal bhat with a different house this morning than the one last night. I'm making the rounds, to see which house I want to be placed in. After eating, the girls got ready for school. There being some 30 odd girls, this took awhile, especially because they all have to braid their hair, it's part of the uniform. It was amusing to watch, they're excellent hair braiders. Once the braids were in, the ties tied, shoes shined and pens filled with ink, we set off for school. It was about a 20 minute walk. It wasn't too long before one of the girls wriggled her hand into mine and started chattering away. Their English is excellent! She spent 15min or more trying to teach me her name. My English tongue has a hard time wrapping around the Nepali sounds. :P

Today I'm off to explore the city on foot. I'm sure I'll get lost among the warrenous maze of streets that make up Kathmandu, but it'll be an adventure!  

Some recent expenses:

3-month tourist visa - $100USD

SIM card and some credit - $1.25

Package of biscuits – 0.55

Chapstick – 0.35

Breakfast – 2.00

p.s. Keep the donations rolling in for the Umbrella Foundation (it's the whole reason I'm in Nepal)
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/jewelinnepal