Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Our version of the "Pumpkin Patch" trip

We went to the market to find some pumpkins today. It's not quite the same experience as we have at home, but we came away with pumpkins that will serve their purpose.








Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Petrol problems

Petrol, among many other items that Nepal gets from India, has become scarce. With a newly adopted constitution that has been in the works for a long time, some things have gotten complicated in the relationship between Nepal and India.


Taxis line the roads waiting for gas stations to get gas; most of these cars were sitting parked with no drivers. The roads are very empty. The news reports small batches of tankers with gas have been allowed through the border, but it's not enough to fill the need. Cylinders of gas for cooking are also in short supply.

We are hoping for a quick resolution. The people of Nepal are still recovering from the earthquake in April, these shortages make day-to-day life very hard for many.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Inside shoes

While we often go barefoot around the house, sometimes we wear our shoes. Tegan's first statement is always "mom, why do you have your outside shoes on inside"? At school, with her didi (nanny), at playgroups, she is surrounded by people who have a separate pair of shoes only for wearing inside. Indeed, she has a pair at school and at home - she picked the ones with Hello Kitty on them (she was born in Asia after all).

When I explained that not so many people have inside shoes in America where we grew up, she quite confidently made the connection - "Like, Grandpa always wears his outside shoes inside but my didi always wears inside shoes".

Cross-cultural understandings start young.


Saturday, August 22, 2015

Back in Kathmandu

After a summer back in America we have returned to Kathmandu for our 4th school year.

If you are thinking "they went back after the earthquake?!", you aren't the only one. We got asked a number of times if we were going to stay in the states (though, to be honest, we get that question every time we return - "well, now that you are pregnant"; "now that you have two kids"; "now that you've gotten that out of your system"; "now that....."; "you'll stay home, right"?).

Yes. We're back, and excited to be. We've even had a few aftershocks.

So here's to another year of exciting culture, learning, adventure, friendships, and travel.

Showing off her henna

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Staying well

Living overseas is a rotation of leaving people or being left behind. It's emotionally taxing, though the goodbyes become so regular that we often forget to leave, and stay, well. Pollock wrote about building your "RAFT", to start your new adventure without bringing a bunch of baggage with you (pun intended). What about those of us who are staying put? That's hard too! Amidst natural disaster coping, this year it's been a challenge to say the least. Here are some things to think about for those of us saying goodbye to people moving on who have touched our lives in some way; best friends, co-workers, friends of your kids, etc.

(In that we are in a post-natural disaster situation, this doesn't cover leaving or staying when people have quickly evacuated and are not coming back. I wish I had more on that, perhaps in the future).

1) Go ahead and build that raft even though you aren't leaving. Reconcile with the people leaving, affirm them, say farewell. Think forward with them, and think forward positively for yourself.

2) Set aside time to spend with them in the last few weeks.

3) Take pictures, write cards, make farewell gifts that will pack easily - whatever fits your style.

4) Be conscious of making plans for the future in front of them, they will of course be left out.

5) Share in their excitement about their new post or repatriation.

6) Acknowledge the awkward, the sad, the happy with each other. Put words to it. It'll make people feel better and normalizes the whole thing we go through all the time.

7) Understand they are coping with a lot and your relationship might change as a result.

8) Grieve; it's ok. Change equals loss, loss equals grief.

9) Have kids?  Teach them how to say goodbye, help give them words for their feelings, don't shoo away the feelings with "you'll find a new friend" just acknowledge the sadness/frustration/guilt/anger.

Have other great ideas?

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Bubbles

After a big shake last Tuesday, in which we evacuated school and took a day off for buildings to be reinspected, things have calmed down.  There are still aftershocks here and there, though it's getting to the point that sometimes people feel them, sometimes they don't.

In our community nerves are raw; focus is lacking.  But we're in our houses.  We're back at work doing pretty normal things.  Sure, there have been changes, but for us, life is pretty normal.  Go to school, come home, play, eat dinner, read books, kids' bedtime, read books without pictures in them, go to bed.

Temporarily rebuilt

Except the knowledge that we are in a bubble.  A bubble of resources, of options, of support.  Expat.  Privileged.

It's hard to live in that space.  It's uncomfortable on many levels.  We've picked up our pieces, and there are so many without any pieces to pick up.


As a school we are supporting our local community and beyond. We have received numerous questions regarding donations. A PayPal account has been created: Lincoln School Kathmandu Earthquake Relief Fund through our business manager Janne (Shah) Gadegaard.

Money collected will go through a process of thorough vetting of needs to rebuild homes, provide medical and supporting the communities. No administrative costs will be incurred. We are sharing how the funds are distributed through our website and our Facebook page.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Saturday April 25th, 2015: A week later

We must be creatures of habit. Minutes ago Jeremiah left the house to go to school, I have just put Liam down for a nap upstairs in his crib, and Tegan and I are hanging out downstairs. Exactly what we were doing this time last week. Until about noon, that is, when the ground started shaking. Luckily Tegan was already in my lap, I held her tight, avoided the shelf that crashed to our right and frantically thought about how I was going to get upstairs to Liam. I knew I couldn't make it up the stairs right then, I couldn't even take a couple steps without falling. Tegan was terrified.



After what felt like ages the ground stopped shaking and I got a text from Jeremiah that said "get out now!".  I put Tegan outside, told her to stay there, and raced to get Liam. I'd known we'd placed his crib in a place that no furniture would fall on it but had no idea about the structure of our house.  I walked into his room and saw him just waking up and with great relief I grabbed him and raced down, snagged some shoes for all of us, and sat in the yard with both kids on my lap.  Jeremiah met us just a few minutes later - he'd made his way down from the 3rd story of our school building and ran home.  Aftershock after aftershock hit.  Neighbors gathered in our yard, a space that is away from things that can fall.  People were gathering in the streets.  I emailed my mom "we're ok", knowing it was the middle of the night there but that this would be on the news when she woke.  I tried to call our friends.  Nothing would go through.  I sent texts.



We decided to go to school - just a few minute walk.  Jeremiah went into the house to grab essentials to pack a bag.  And we booked it.

At school we met up with other folks who were either on campus for school-related activities or those who were nearby and made it to school as we had.  No one was hurt.  Hugs, tears, shaking; we sat for awhile.  We hung out in the field and tried texting, calling, skyping, to account for everyone.  Turns out facebook was the easiest thing to use, when texts or calls wouldn't go through, a facebook message would.

We pulled out snacks for everyone.  Water.  Blankets.  After awhile we determined we would sleep there.

We slept in a tent that night.  Aftershocks continued.  They still continue as I write this exactly a week later.



Our school is well equipped, we felt safe and well supported.  Folks that lived nearby grabbed food and supplies from their houses.  Friends helped with Tegan and Liam.  People checked in regularly so we'd always know where everyone was. It was a scary and difficult time, but we have good people around us here.

Food set up in the middle of the basketball court

Making a house out of sidewalk chalk


In the coming days we would sleep in a classroom, on a friend's ground floor, on our own ground floor and finally 5 days later in our own beds upstairs.  We slowly got back cell service, power, wifi.  We are still waiting on our water, but who cares at this point?



For the first 4 nights I slept with clothes and shoes on.  And was glad I did as we evacuated for aftershocks.  We've had a bag packed by the door ready to go with money, passports, diapers, wipes, snacks, water, headlamps - what we've come to realize are the essentials of our life right now.  In seconds I could go from asleep to scooping up Liam and ready to go.  As we slept with groups of people everyone strategically placed our layout so everyone could get out quickly.  Every time I was indoors I knew how we would get the kids and get out if needed.

Doing dishes


Things are settling down for us.  However, for so so many people of Nepal life only continues to get worse.  Living with that gratitude that my family is safe with the heartbreak that others are not is a daily struggle.

Many have asked us how to help.  There are a lot of forces at play here that are barriers to getting help to those that need it.  I won't go into all that here, but our school has set up an account that will allow us and folks connected to the community to help in effective ways with no administrative costs.  On our website you will find a link, with the following information: 

"As a school we are planning to support our local community and beyond. We have received numerous questions regarding donations. A PayPal account has been created: Lincoln School Kathmandu Earthquake Relief Fund through our business manager Janne (Shah) Gadegaard.

Money collected will go through a process of thorough vetting of needs to rebuild homes, provide medical and supporting the communities. No administrative costs will be incurred. We will share how the funds were distributed through our website and our Facebook page later."

Friday, May 1, 2015

Earthquake update

Day 6 - We have been back in our home a few days now, and last night spent the first night upstairs after sleeping on our ground floor a few nights for quick evacuation from aftershocks.  Our power and internet were back after 3-4 days though we are still without running water (our pump is broken; we are getting bucketfuls of water from our ground tank).  We had a day at work today to prepare to start school back on Monday, we are excited to see our students.

Much of Nepal is still quite devastated and in need of resources. Perhaps I will have more words about this whole experience, perhaps not, but for now, we are safe and thankful.


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Earthquake

I'm posting from my phone to say that we are ok. It's been a scary and intense day but we are in a safe location in tents until we figure out what buildings are structurally sound. It's 9pm now, just had another aftershock not too long ago. Thanks for everyone's concerns. It is indeed a sad day for many; we know how fortunate we are to all be safe and together. 

Monday, April 20, 2015

Packing a carry-on for infants and toddlers

The bigger they get the more they can help you carry all their stuff!


This list is assuming you are also checking luggage.  Our method for long flights (I'm talking 25-30 hours travel time with 16 hour legs) is to have 2 diaper bags.  One bag goes at our feet and one up in the overhead bins.  Each is complete with some of all the items, and the bag at our feet can be re-stocked during layovers or mid-flight when depleted.  Here is my list of must-haves for our two little ones:

  • Diapers: more than you think you will need at least to get you through the flight and the first day at your destination.  In a pinch some airlines have them, and some airports, but don't count on it.
  • Wipes: great for more than just diaper changes
  • Clothes: a few changes of clothes for the plane; think comfy/cozy and something that will make diaper changes in those tiny bathrooms easy; some for the grown ups too if you have space, but really, who has space?
  • Entertainment: toys (quiet ones that won't roll down the aisle if dropped), books, coloring/drawing supplies, ipad (toddler headphones - amazing!), etc.  New items are a bonus.
  • Meals and snacks: like diapers - more than you think you'll need (what if they hate the in-flight meal, what if there is no in-flight meal?); snack trap
  • Milk/water bottle: (watch the pressure changes; our camelbak kid's water bottle [which, by the way, is the best we've come across in terms of leaking in non-pressurized settings] become geysers mid-flight, it's pretty embarrassing when you spray the surrounding 5 rows)
  • Medicine: tylenol, diaper cream, aquaphor - whatever your go-tos are.  Travel-size it if you can, otherwise I've had good luck getting things through security since they are baby items.
  • Plastic bags or wetbag: lots of uses, when you need them you need them
  • Blanket for domestic or budget airlines: use it as a blanket, pillow, mop up spills, play peek-a-boo
Other things you may need: formula, pump, special blankets/stuffed animals, prescriptions, and pacifiers.

With each person getting a carry-on + personal item, and lap seats getting an additional carry-on we haven't had a problem with airline allowances when also checking luggage.  It does get to be challenging to carry all that around the airport plus the kids though!

Good luck!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Tongba

Tongba is a millet-based traditional alcoholic drink, sometimes also called hot beer.  



I took a sip and called it quits, some enjoyed it more than I did though.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Spring break: Part 1 - Kiev, Ukraine

We split our spring break between 2 places - Kiev and Stockholm.  Probably sounds a bit random, but we have friends in both places we were visiting.

Kiev was much nicer than I was expecting. It definitely had what you would think of as a Russian feel to it (though we've never been to Russia so who knows). We found it had good food, transportation, parks, enough shopping but not crazy shopping, and was incredibly inexpensive (has obviously fluctuated a lot in the last year).

With an absence of playgrounds in Kathmandu, this was one of our first stops

Watching the kids play at the playground

Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the central square in Kiev; 
site of massive protests in 2013

Candles at Independence Square

Coffee from a pink snail?  Yes please.

Another park

Andreevskaya, or Saint Andrew, Church on Andreevsky Spusk street

Architecture

Love the gold roofs

We spent 4 days in Kiev and could have spent more, but having a friend/tour guide certainly helped!  Next up: Spring break Part 2 - Stockholm!  

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Friday, March 13, 2015

Village welcome

Part of my trek a few weeks ago was visiting small villages who shared their space with us, letting us set up our tents to stay overnight.  These villages are remote and not on a typical trekker's path so they don't often see expats.  Twice we were welcomed by a full ceremony complete with flowers, tikkas, speeches, thank yous, singing, and dancing.  It was fun and awkward and humbling.  With no way to communicate with many of the villagers I put all my effort into the most expressive thank you face I could deliver, brought my hands together, and bowed.  It's something, putting all your energy into that simple gesture.










Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Sari shopping

I've been itching to get a sari since I got here, but what with babies and all I didn't get around to it until now.  With a fundraising event to go to I decided it was a good time to wear one.


Walking into the shop was quite overwhelming but luckily I had a few friends with me who had done it before.  We took our shoes off, hopped up on the platform and started running our hands through the stacks and stacks of sari fabric.  As we narrowed it down to a few different options we asked the ladies working to wrap us up.  A few absolute no's and a few thrown into the maybe pile.  After decisions were made we bargained on the price with the shop owner.



Finally, the tailor came in to take our measurements since we wanted saris made for expats - with a zipper up the side!  Sari's without such modifications rely on expert folding and tucking yards and yards of fabric.  I wasn't bold enough to trust a few folds to hold up all that fabric, it's risky enough baring your stomach!


It was fun to wear and I'm already planning to get another.  (Not sure how many times I will be able to pull-off a hot pink sari, that, yes, matches my hair!)

Monday, March 9, 2015

Holi rescheduled

Holi fell on a work day this year so we rescheduled ours to a convenient Sunday, in our yard.  Water guns + holi powder + toddler = a good time.  Same equation sub the toddler for a 1 year old = a terrible time.  Oh well, maybe next year it'll be his thing.




Saturday, February 28, 2015

Trekking

I just got back from a 5 day school trekking trip, my first trip of this sort.  The weather was great for most of the trip, we were welcomed by a number of communities, and saw beautiful sites of Nepal.  I'm also happy to report that I was able to keep up with the middle of the pack of students!
Kids walking to school, many walk a long distance on rough trails to get to school


Pink skies one morning

Coffee beans drying

Morning coffee

Cute tot at a welcome ceremony

Giving tikkas

Students watching a group play musical chairs

Headed back home at the end of the day

Namaste

A storm rolled in bringing a lot of rain and hail - we sought shelter in a family's home (sure wished I knew some Nepali!)

Homes on the side of the mountain



A day's path along the top of the ridge