realestate.com - Nepal Needs You!

Just this weekend, I moved out of the house I'd been staying in since arriving in Kathmandu.

The KISC hostel was a great place to stay upon arrival in Nepal, but hearing that I would be sharing a bedroom with another girl and a bathroom with 5 others for the next 4 months quickly put me on the look out for somewhere else to live.

Luckily, an Australian named Antonia (also a teacher at KISC) had a spare room at her apartment and so, I decided to move in with her...for the time being.

Although Antonia's apartment is nice, I want to find a place that I really like that I can set up as my own, and so, began the search for a place to call home.

Now if I were to search for an apartment back in Melbourne, I would jump on realestate.com.au, domain.com.au or one of those other realestate websites, check out apartments that look good, then go and visit them. Not so in Nepal.

I heard of this business called TJ's Home Finder where you go into the office, tell the guy (I don't think his name's TJ) what you're looking for, and he'll help find you a place. So today after my Nepali language class, I went over to TJ's for a chat. He told me about a few places, then I hopped on his colleague's motorbike and we cruised around the area, stopping every couple of minutes to look at a property. I must have gone to 6 or 7 places but unfortunately, none of them were really what I'm after.

I'm hoping to find a furnished 2 bedroom apartment on the 1st or 2nd floor (most 'houses' are 3 floors) that has a good water supply, isn't too noisy (which may be an obstacle as a lot of landlords have dogs) and is close to school. I'm not in a rush to move out of Antonia's, but it'd be good if I can find something in the next couple of weeks so that I can be a bit more settled. Your prayer for this would be VERY much appreciated!

Oh well...looking forward to the adventures (of house hunting) ahead!

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Missing Bek

I miss Bek.

I'm sad that I can no longer go grocery shopping on her behalf, help her finish a loaf of bread or a carton of milk, or keep her company after watching a freaky episode of Criminal Minds.

But I love it when we talk on skype and she tells me all about her day, or plays me her favorite Flight of the Conchords song. I also love it when she starts skype conference calls and I get to talk to a bunch of people all at the same time.

I miss Bek (and lots of other people too!).

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1 Bag, 2 hours and 720 Rupees Later

Today I went to Kathmandu's Cargo Storage building to pick up a bag that I sent over.

We (I went with a Nepali man from school named Bukta) arrived at 10:30am and were quickly surrounded by a group of men. One man asked for my documents and a copy of my passport. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought a copy of my passport so he brought us to a building to make a copy = 5 rupees (7 cents).

We were then told that the building wouldn't open til 11am so we stood around the front of the building while others arrived. It was interesting to watch the Nepali men interacting with each other, smoking, spitting and shooting snot our of their noses. Gross.

At 11:15am the building opened. The man with my documents was already inside and told Bukta and I to wait on some seats. We waited. 1/2 hour later, we were still waiting. Bukta finally went over to a desk to see what was going on. He called me over, and after waiting a little longer, I signed a piece of paper and the man with my documents then led us to another room on the opposite side of the warehouse = 55 rupees (80 cents).

I then went to about 3 other desks and signed my name numerous times before my suitcase was brought out. I then placed my bag in the middle of the warehouse and opened it while a group of men stood around looking to see what was inside. The inspector man (and a few others) shuffled through my stuff before deciding it was ok for me to take = 40 rupees (58 cents)

*note to self - pack sanitary items more discreetly so that Nepali men don't hold them up for all to see and ask each other what they are

The man with my documents then ran around for another 15 minutes doing something, before coming back to us to say it was ok for us to go = 400 rupees for his efforts ($5.84)

While we were in the van, we were stopped one last time on the way out of the complex by the security guys at the gates = 120 rupees ($1.75)

Was an insightful morning and a reminder that what may seem like chaos to me, may somehow have some kind of order to others.

Looking forward to the adventures ahead!

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Kathmandu - My New Home

It's quite late at night but I can hear the animals in the zoo nearby going nuts! There are elephants, lions, monkeys and a random dog barking. Welcome to Kathmandu!

I was sitting in the middle section of the plane totally engrossed in a movie I was watching when we landed in my new home, so I didn't even catch a glimpse of Kathmandu as we were approaching.

The airport was pretty average (what you'd expect from an airport in a developing country) and a little chaotic, but I found my way alright, picked up my bag without any hassles, and was met by someone from KISC (Kathmandu International Study Centre) - the school I'm teaching at.

I was then brought to the KISC guesthouse where almost all new teachers stay when they first arrive, and after settling in a bit, was taken out by a few of the other teachers to the shops to buy a few things. The rest of my first day was spent unpacking and just chilling out.

Today (my 2nd day here), I went to the International Church in the morning, out to lunch with some of the other teachers, and then Esther (another teacher who just arrived the other day) and I went to Patan Square with Antonia (a teacher from Australia!). It was really cool to go out and explore a little bit and be more exposed tothe craziness of the streets!

This week I'll start a bit of KISC orientation but it'll be pretty relaxed I think. The following week (13 Sept) I'll start my language and Nepal orientation program (LOP) which, looking at the schedule, will be full on!

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for me! I'm feeling really excited to be here and know that the peace I have is totally because I'm where God wants me to be.

Looking forward to the adventures ahead! xoxo

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Koh Samui = Island Paradise

I started this blog to keep people up-to-date on my adventures in Nepal, and now that I've arrived, I thought it was about time I posted again (sorry for my laziness over the last few months...now that I'm here, I'll endeavour to post a bit more regularly). But before I write about Nepal, let me tell you about the awesome holiday I just had...

Oh my gosh! If you have ever want to go to an island paradise, then Koh Samui is it! It was amazing, from start to finish!!!!!

Hannah (my friend that I was travelling with) and I were met at the airport by someone from the Samui Reef View Resort where we were staying, and after unpacking our stuff a bit, Hannah and I went and lounged by the pool for awhile, had some lunch, then headed into Lamai - the 2nd biggest city area on the island. After a massage on the beach, we swam for a bit, then grabbed some delicious food for dinner - pad thai, mango smoothie, mango sticky rice and banana and nutella pancake. YUM!!!

The next day, we hired a scooter and checked out other parts of the island. We headed to some waterfalls which were a bit ordinary, then went up to Chaweng - the busiest part of Samui. After cruising around for awhile, trying to find our way, we made it to the beach where we swam, chatted to some Burmese and Nepali people we met, then got red curry for dinner. On the way back to the resort, we found a fruit stand so Hannah stocked up on fruit which we ate on our balcony while watching the lightning. Perfect!

Our last full day on the island was actually spent off the island. We took a snorkeling tour to nearby KohTao and Koh Nangyuan. STUNNING!!!! The beaches there were amazing and the fish and sea life we saw were really beautiful! The highlight was swimming amongst a massive school of fish, as well as seeing this mini shark kinda thing. Was really cool!!!!

On our last day, we headed back into Lamai, hang out on the beach, ate an awesome lunch which we bought from people selling stuff on the beach (smoked corn and papaya salad), got another massage, went back to the resort to pack up our stuff, then was brought to the most amazing airport I've ever been to!

Apparently, the airport was only built 2 years ago, and it is REALLY modern! After checking in, as you walk to the boarding gates, you walk through this outdoor mall area which has heaps of cool shops! Then, you get to the boarding gate which is like a lounge and there is a courtesy corner with free food! If we'd known the aiport was gonna be so fantastic, we woulda arrived earlier! :-)

I'm now in Nepal (arrived yesterday) but will write more about my first impressions when I get a chance in the next few days.

Looking forward to the adventures ahead! xoxo

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