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From ABC trek Jeremiah did last spring break

There's an app for that

Can't remember your load shedding schedule? Want a 30 minute warning before loadshedding hits? Download the BattiGayo iphone app and have the week's schedule ready to reference and set the alarm to tell you when loadshedding will start and end.

Staying warm inside: Poler Napsack

December-February brings such a chill in the mornings and evenings that houses, with no heating, stay cold all day.  4:30pm hits and I'm always looking around to see what window was left open and realize it's just cold and drafty.  Last year we learned the ropes: we layer, wear stocking hats, put slippers on, boil water for tea and hot water bottles and scour the internet for more warm things we can wear.  Enter Jeremiah, king of finding cool stuff, and the Napsack by Poler.

Basically a sleeping bag:

But come on, we can't spend all our evenings snuggled in a sleeping bag, we need to get some stuff done.  Poler to the rescue with side zippers you can pop your arms out!  Use your computer, read a book, drink your coffee, or in our case, change a diaper and play games with a toddler:

But no one wants to hop around in their sleeping bag to get around; Poler solved this problem as well - you can open the bottom!

The napsack arrived in the mail this week and I've worn it a number of times and love it.  It's sure to get a ton of use to keep me warm inside (not to mention outside)!  Also a bonus that the company is from Portland!

Making sauerkraut

This weekend a friend came over to teach Jeremiah how to make his own sauerkraut since we have a bunch of cabbage growing in our garden.  Of course they had a great pint-sized helper/taste-tester.

The supplies:

A bunch of cabbage

Salt

Optional other veggies (carrots)

A bucket - we used a water bottle with the top cut off

The process:

Cut

Smash

Add salt

Smash more

Cover and let sit for 3 weeks

It's now sitting in our pantry, hope it turns out!

The Kathmandu cab experience

"You know Rabi Bhawan? Yeah? How much?"

"500 rupees"

We walk away. "Ok sir, how much you pay?"

And the bargaining begins. I hate bargaining but even I will almost never pay the starting price a cab driver gives me. Phrases like "that's good price," night price," "I lived here," and "it's so close" follow. Walking away really seems to be the key.

Kathmandu's cabs are small (even my knees hit the seat in front of me), white, the inside often looks like the cars been partially stripped, and each backseat comes complete with a rug of sorts - the function of which I am unsure (comfort? - no, they are scratchy and always bunch up; cleanliness? - perhaps some desperate attempt to either prevent more dirt or a way to spiff up the environment a bit). Often the driver has added his own touches to the dash: a statue of a god, some solar-powered tchotchke, burning incense (my least favorite) and one even had grass growing! These cabs are anything but nice. Ironically cab drivers while waiting for customers are often wiping off the dust from their cars.

Added to the lack of comfort in the car itself is the condition of the roads. Bumpy is putting it mildly. Roads are torn up, ridiculous speed bumps everywhere and many roads just aren't paved. I hit my head on the roof and sides of the car regularly.

And the pièce de résistance of the Kathmandu cab experience: the horn. Basically it doesn't stop. It's used to communicate "move out of my way," "I'm coming through," "passing on the left," "passing on the right," and sometimes I think maybe the cab drivers just like the sound of it.

The upside of cabbing it in Kathmandu is when you then get in a car in another country you really appreciate it.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Soup du jour

In Taiwan after I had Tegan everyone kept bringing me soup. Soup with different herbs, proteins, vegetables - each with some quality that was good for new moms. Now in Nepal I also get a daily dose of soup; soup at every meal is the advise. Not that I'm complaining, I love soup and it's so cold right now it's nice to fill up on warm food.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Goodbye 2013

Happy New Year!

Love, The O'Sullivan 4