Greetings blog readers! My life in Nepal is beginning to fall into a pattern: I am spending the weeks living with a school teacher and his family in a village about 2 hours from the city of Pokhara, in the foothills of Annapurna. The weekend is half-day Fridays and Saturdays off in Nepal; not for any particular Sabbath, just because the government declared it so. I spend each weekend in the city, at a friendly hotel with "toto pani" (hot water! Bliss!) and a communal fire in the courtyard (guitar coming in very handy for campfire songs with fellow travellers).

It is hard to know where to begin in describing the myriad surprises and sensations of being in such a different culture. below are a few of the events and little things which bubble to the surface of my mind as I write to you:
Food is a universal interest as well as necessity. no matter what country, people discuss what flavours, how best to cook things, what is good for you... here daal bhat is the staple food. in the village they have no money; they grow all of their food, mill the rice, milk the buffalo, grow the vegetables and spices... seeds and spices are ground on a stone outside and we sit on the floor to eat. most people use their hands, not cutlery. still lively discussions ensure about spices and improvements. I have been told I have to learn to cook daal bhat for my host family this week (perhaps because it is a woman's role here and they're excited to teach me their traditional meal). no pressure...