last entry before home!

dear friends,
so sorry it's taken me a year to get back to the computer. time is so different here. i really am so in awe of this place, and i know i've only seen a breath of it. last week i got to go to a different school and speak with children about writing. i climbed the swayambhu stupa (also known as the monkey temple - man those guys are cute but fiesty) also saw a beautiful area called patan with incredible stupas, each devoted to a different hindu deity. most importantly i got to draw with soo, learn clapping games with bim and hari and watched all the children draw the world in chalk on the front steps of the orphanage.

the day is so different here....
people up before sunrise making fires in the fields to boil water.
roosters, dogs and cows roaming the streets.
there is a reason and a moment to pray every second.
the clocks are 15 minutes differnt from india to show their independence i believe.
word is there will be elections in the spring (which is the new year here) but not everyone believes that.
and 5:30 is usually when the electricity goes off for a few hours because most people turn their lights on then.

but the most humbling and heartbreaking lesson i'm learning (so slowly) from these amazing children is how unpredictable it all is. the future is so silly to plan on, and the past is so unknown.
i sat with a boy named sumba who showed me pictures that he had drawn - theya re all AMAZING drawers here and love to copy flowers and farms and birds out of their text books. sumba had drawn all of the zodiac signs as well and quite beautifully. he pointed to acquarius and said "this is me" to which i replied "oh! whenis your birthday."
"no," he said. "i don't know."

these children are astounding. they have no idea about their pasts. they have a faint thought of the future. but what they know is now. this moment. today they got new socks. today sasku's hair is standing up straight and that is a reason to laugh and right now, it is a privilege to be able to have this experience and to share it with you in what i hope is a relatively coherent dribble. i will be home soon, which thrills me, but already my heart is weepy missing these amazing moments.

i'll be in a yoga center for the next two days and then on a plane for a few more but i hope to add to this blog and get a lot of pictures on my website when i get home. if i don't talk to you before then, merry and happy and love to all!

xoxooxo,
a

gab - names changed because there are still factons terrorizing the villages and kidnapping and the children are under close watch

ram sopana daiknoos

i know i'm spelling that wrong but it means have sweet dreams.
i also say kasta cho and tik cho which means how are you i am fine.
and yesterday the older girls called me over and painted my eyes and nails coal black.
i wish i could describe how beautiful they all are.
p (trying not to name names because i heard it wasn't wise for their safety) breaks my heart with his wide eyes and his eyelashes that stretch to the moon. he is a bit slow so he needs help putting on socks and all i want is a smile from his tiny stubs of teeth.
s is exquisite and so kind to her younger brothers and sisters. the other day we got to take some of them to a party at the british school (a huge country club like place with armed guards) and the children were given guacamole and salami sandwiches, cake and chips and they all reached for the fruit first!
then i got an amazing trip to boudinath on a motorbike - which is about 99% of the time going into oncomig traffic - no lights of course and at night very little electricity. boudinath has an incredible stupa (temple) where there are prayer wheels and people make ceremonial circles around the stupa and turn the prayer wheels. then there was a special candle lighting ceremony in the center of the square. they spelled out "prosperity for peace" and lots of words in nepali on the ground using candles made of ghee (clarified butter). at least 1000 candles. little children lighting the ones in the middle so they could be airlifted by the older men. one ittle boy wore a sweatshirt that said "bitch" in big bright letters. then after all the candles are lit we just watched them and smelled the incredible rich hope in the middle of this crazy city - piles of buirning garbage and starving children and dogs and yaks on the streets and on the motorcycle ride home there are no lights except the random lantern, people still outside, selling sunglasses, sweatshirts, lighters and potatoes, swatting away the dust.

thank you again for all your comments - rebecca i will definitely tell them you say hi! so great you have these pictures. i am reloading my camera as soon as i get off this keyboard
anna - left hand is for washing/wiping after the toilet ..nuff said
aunt laurel - please tell jenny to take it easy on plank and do it with bent knees. also ask her if it's tendinitis in the wrist or elbow please :-)

off to the next adventure! hope to include pictures next time! xoxooxoxoo,
a

simi, susila and indirika say namaste!

namaste!

and thank you uncle dan for the great text - my phone seems to work at odd moments.
right now i'm in an internet spot ...hope the electricity stays on :-)

hope everyone is well. so sorry i can't respond individually - it's taken about an hour to get the hang of this computer. but thank you thank you for the comments and all boots have made it safely.

i met the kids yesterday - i'm at the house called sagamartha house which is in the soyambhu region near thamel. so far i remember the names mani, vim, durga, simi, buddha, susila, indirika, lela and norama.

there are 38 kids in my house and i want to know them all. mani already beat me at basket ball. the house manager and susila and i went on a walk into town and susila got her picture taken at a shop. i'm not sure if it was for school. she says she wants to be a social worker, a flight attendant or a model. the best part was on the walk back she held my arm. i ate dinner with all of them last night - daal bat - which is rice and lentils and curry vegetables. we eat it on the floor (yay!) in tin plates and the didis (aunties) cook it for breakfast and dinner.

after dinner we play a bit more and maybe watch bollywood videos. by 6:30 i was so tired i could barely talk.

so far, i think i go to the house in the morning (staying down the road with the other volunteers), help the kids with daal bat and walk them to school. then have 10-3 to explore. then i pick them up from school, we go back, have snack and play, do homework, daal bat again, maybe a little tv, and i'm home around 7.

met a few other volunteers but haven't met the leaders yet! also had to buy toilet paper because i'm not into the left hand thing. and i drank the unfilered water by mistake, so i'm trying to be really careful from now on. from here i'm going to thamel to try to find a cafe and maybe a scarf.

hope you are well and love to all!
(ps - they think that i am lying when i tell them i'm 34 and i think it may be a big big sin that jay is only 29)

xo,
a

hi friends! this is my blog from nepal....once i get there!
i'll be in planes and airports for the next thirty hours but can't wait to send you pictures of Qatar's vending machines.

be well!
i miss you already bird.
gabra i lost your boots on the train.
xo,
abby