Unfortunate firsts

There were a few more less-exciting firsts this week. Unfortunately, I spent a good portion of the first half of the week in bed… It was my first illness since arriving in Kathmandu, and from what I’ve heard, it certainly won’t be the last. What started as a mild cold somehow morphed into a full blown body attack. Fever, aches, stomach troubles… It wasn’t fun. I spent all day Monday in bed, and part of the day Tuesday. I managed to go into the office around 11am Tuesday, but still wasn’t eating normal food until about Wednesday night. My stomach still has some lingering issues, but hopefully these will work their way out soon.

I started language classes on Thursday. I will be taking lessons with Geeta, the woman who used to teach Peace Corps Volunteers. So far we have reviewed what I’ve previously done, and she has given me a lot of practice speaking, which is what I need. There is a big holiday coming up next week, and after the holiday break I will begin learning the alphabet and how to read Sanskrit!

Friday was a party in the office. It was the last day for two of the interns; one is the other American intern who has been working on the report with me. It’s kind of sad, since we shared an office, but she’ll still be around Nepal until I leave for Africa. In her honor, we had pizza and brownies from a restaurant nearby. The brownies were delicious, but the pizza was not quite up to standard. Maybe come March 2010 it will taste amazing… I also found out that the M&E Manager I work with in the office is taking a five month leave of absence starting on October 9^th, so I really am getting to be just one of few people in the office. Well, I guess I’m used to that after my years at Heartland International.

Yesterday I checked out the American Club, Phora Durbar. Originally it was sponsored by the US Government for ex pats living in Kathmandu. There is a fitness center, a pool, tennis courts, a café and a spa in a big gated area downtown Kathmandu. In the past several years, the US Government stopped subsidizing the compound, but it’s still a little oasis for ex pats, diplomats and the like. Margie is a member there and her adopted Nepali son works as a tennis hitter/instructor. I didn’t get to play tennis, but I explored the area. It’s about $60/month to be a member, but $4/day to sign in as a guest. I think I’ll stick to being a guest every once in a while.

Next weekend is Dashain, which is like Nepali Christmas. The stores have been packed and there are lights up everywhere. Most of the city empties to the villages for the festival, which lasts about five days. I’m expecting a pleasant and quiet Kathmandu next weekend.

There aren’t too many new pictures from this week, so I’ll post some more from Nagarkot, the hill top resort town.