The 20th of April marked the six month anniversary of our arrival here in Nepal which gives us an excuse to look back over the last half year and see how far we've come. We celebrated the occasion with a candle lit dinner – necessarily so as the power goes off every Friday evening.

Our time here has shot by very quickly, but it seems like an age since we packed up our home in Sussex and dashed for the airport. We are settled in a lovely house in Pokhara, far better than anything we imagined we would be living in here. We have made some really good friends already, both among the small group of expat INF'ers and in the local church and community. People have been so friendly and helpful - we have been made to feel very welcome. (photo: recent family portrait)

Life here is so involving, I have found that you quickly forget havng lived anywhere else and just take each day as it comes. Some aspects of life here are very uncertain – you really come to appreciate it when the electricity works, or there are no strikes and the roads are clear. Other aspects of life you can be sure of: if you drink the water you will get ill; things will not start on time; and if you have a white skin, you will be stared at and everyone will take a great interest in the smallest details of your life. As people who enjoy privacy, this has been one of the hardest aspects of life here to deal with.

Five months of full time language learning is probably enough to drive anyone up the wall, but that too has been a positive experience, getting to grips with a completely new script and language structure. We are in turns amazed at how much we've learned and frustrated at how basic our understanding still is. We will probably continue having one or two lessons a week for as long as we stay here. We have started work and enjoy the feeling of being able to contribute. There is so much that you can get involved in, the difficulty is restricting your efforts to where they will be most effective.

We have generally stayed fit and healthy, adapting to the local flora and fauna quite well, although between the three of us, we've been on four courses of antibiotics in the last six months.

We have got slightly more used to the idea of having help around the house. Getting anything done here involves huge amounts of manual labour, and our household is no exception, with one Didi working almost full time looking after Evie, another helping part time around the house, and an old one eyed fellow who comes round now and again to help with the garden. Collectively they have been great and are very protective of us.

Evie has gone from being a happy but underweight baby who stayed where you put her, to a huge bundle of energy who shows a great interest in everything around her. She talks constantly (albeit in her own language), can climb stairs and is on the verge of walking. She is very happy and outgoing, just loving the attention that everyone here gives her. The Nepali diet seems to be good for her and she eats almost anything in sight - a huge worry given the number of bugs about! She is sitting on my lap now and her contribution is j hhipn fxf4t6e4rwq3swz\/ -[.ok m,m, dddddddddddddddd3r2e2w.

Looking forward to the next six months!

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We are coming to the end of another week, and another year here in Nepal, as Saturday is New Years day. The Nepali year has 12 months, but they are about two weeks out of phase with the Roman calendar, and new year comes around the middle of April. This system was developed in India 2063 (now 2064 years ago) years ago, but I think Nepal is the only country that uses it.

Photo shows a spectacular lightening storm over Pokhara.




It has been another busy week and time is flying by. Elle has taught English to two groups of ladies from church who really appreciate her. She is also a temporary 'Expat team coordinator' and has been busy preparing accomodation for a new nurse arriving over the w/e. I have been trying to write a paper outlining INF's approach to 'community based rehabilitation' for a potential new donor and struggling to review the first half year's financial reports – not the most inspiring, but a good way to learn about what is going on around the organisation.






Easter was a great time – the Pokhara chuches got together and had a massive rally through the town. Then a group of us stayed the night at a viewpoint overlooking Pokhara and saw a fantastic Easter morning sunrise. Hope all of you had a peaceful break.

(photo: part of the crowd at the Easter rally)




By her own exemplary standards Evie has had a troubled week, sometimes waking at night and not wanting to eat anything but bread. She is still great fun though – we have a long bookshelf and her favorite pastime at the moment is rearranging all the books onto the floor. She can currently reach the bottom two shelves, and it won't be long before no-where is safe. In a failed attempt at an April fool gag I left some large plastic insects at strategic points around the house, and woebetide any real snakes or scorpions that got inside as Evie would now head straight for it and try to eat it.

A mulbery tree outside our house has been causing great excitement over the last week. As its fruit started to ripen it attracted kids from all over the neighbourhood and nearly gave our landlord a heart attack – whenever he saw them he would run out of his house waving a stick throwing stones at the kids who would run off shrieking with laughter. One time I went out and thinking I could reason with them in my broken Nepali respectfully asked them if they knew they were stealing. One pulled a moonie at me while the others made monkey noises - I think they knew who was boss. Lack of respect is clearly a global phenomena – and they haven't even got hoodies here!

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The ride into work the other morning demonstrated two sides of life on the roads of Nepal. The good side: I was late and jumped on the pedals to overtake a bus, when my chain snapped (no, this isn't the good bit!). Frustrated, I coasted to the side of the road and spotted a bike shop near by. The lad working there didn't have any proper tools, but made up for this with enthusiasm, and within 5 minutes had repaired it using a large hammer, a pair of pliers and a small screw. When I was charged 10 rupees, I felt a bit hard done by - until I converted into GBP: about 7p.

The bad side? Just after getting my chain fixed, a bus coming towards me hooting its horn pulled out into the middle of the road to avoid a bit pothole. A motorbike that was overtaking the bus, also hooting its horn, was forced into a collision course with me. I swerved off the road, and without blinking, the motorbike shot past still hooting its horn. No one will deliberately kill you on the roads in Nepal, it is just that if you are on a push-bike, you are at the bottom of the food chain!

As far as I can gather, the word for road - bato - is also used for a dirt track, or even a footpath, and people don't really distinguish between them. As a walker therefore (or as a cow, buffalo, or dog), you have as much right to walk on a main highway, as you do on the path that leads to your house. There is no real right of way on the roads in Nepal, and everyone seems to have (or assume that they have) an equal right to any piece of road. People pull onto main roads, off main roads, stop to talk to other drivers or overtake without a thought of others around them. However, despite witnessing some terrifying manoeuvers I am yet to spot anyone getting angry or frustrated – not a hint of road rage.

A question from the Nepali theory driving test (optional): The car ahead of you puts on their right indicator (assuming it works). Which of the following is the most likely message the driver is trying to put across. 1) I am turing right. 2) The road ahead is clear, you can overtake me on the right. 3) It is dark, my headlights are not working and I am letting the oncoming vehicle know how wide I am. 4) The light has been incorrectly wired and I am actually braking.

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