Boudha without its top

After damage from the earthquake Boudha is without its iconic top (see the image at the top of this page and here). However, there is an impressive structure of bamboo scaffolding and piles of bricks so hopefully there will soon be a new one.

Monkey Temple revisited

Previously.

Holi madness

Holi fell on Tuesday in Kathmandu this year. So, we celebrated on Saturday. Tegan pronounced in the midst of water and color flying "this is the best holi ever!" Liam, who last year was pretty sure he hated the holiday, was a bit more convinced this year that it can be a fun time.

Lisbon

A perk (or hassle?) of overseas work is the necessity to travel for professional development. I'm spending a long weekend in Lisbon, Portugal for a school counseling conference. While most of my time is inside the hotel, I did get a bit of time on the front end to see some of the city. It's super cute and will for sure be back sometime to see things properly.

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.

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.

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.