Mmmmmm.

I’m too full to sleep so I thought I’d do some blogging yet tonight. Chris, Hannah, and I ate dinner at Dinesh and Rekha’s house, and it was so, so good. Of course I like the didis’ daal bhaat, but this was just amazing. Snacks to start—fried rice puff things, peanut masala, vegetables—and then rice flavored with dates and fresh coconut, chicken, zucchini curry, some bean dish that was great, spicy mango chutney, and cheesecake to finish. I rolled out of their house. Sadly, Chris informs me that even if I stumble upon the rare Nepali restaurant in the U.S., it will never taste the same as the food here.

Yesterday during our afternoon snack, I wanted another cup of chiyaa (sweet tea with milk), so I asked the didis if I could make it and they showed me how. I think I did all right, if I say so myself. Today was laundry day, so I got my first taste of laundry, Nepali style. It involves a lot of swishing, soaking, and scrubbing your clothes on the cement with a bar of soap and a brush. This definitely isn’t the country to wear a shirt for 5 minutes and throw it in the wash—you make sure your clothes are good and dirty before you put the effort into washing them. The didis have also been letting Hannah and me help with more of the chores, like dishes and the kids’ laundry, although I still feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel a little guilty when I’m outside playing football (or soccer, for the Americans reading this) with them and the didis are inside cooking.

Today Chris, Hannah, and I visited a Tibetan refugee camp. After China took control of Tibet, many Tibetans fled to Nepal until Nepal stopped accepting the refugees. Now, they live very poorly and often rely on tourists for their income. We’ll go back another day to watch the Buddhist monks say their daily prayers—we were too early today.

Tomorrow is the kids’ day off from school. They shower in the morning, and then around noon we will all go to the Lakeside district of Pokhara—the tourist area—for ice cream. From 3:00 to 5:00 a dance teacher comes to the house, so I’m pumped to learn along with them. Then tomorrow night Chris and Hannah and I will stay in a hotel in Lakeside, just to satisfy our spoiled American selves and eat something other than daal bhaat for dinner (although, surprisingly, I’m not sick of the food. Yet.).