Home away from home

I write this from my new apartment which I moved into just a few weeks ago. I feel like it's been a long time coming and I'm so stoked to finally be settling into this new pad.

After a few weeks of looking around at not so great apartments, a little over a month ago this apartment came across my path as a family from school were moving house and were looking for someone to move in. I checked it out and really liked it, but needed some expert advice on whether this really was a good apartment or not. You see, in Nepal, it's not just about whether you like the look of a place. You've gotta take into consideration what the water supply's like (by February, Nepal will be short on water so working out if you'll need to truck in water and who pays for it if/when it happens is a big deal), how safe and secure the area is and how noisy it gets.

After getting the OK from a missionary friend who's been here for 10 years, I set upon writing up a lease agreement. Unfortunately, the landlord's husband was away for work and wouldn't be returning for several weeks so the lease wasn't signed for awhile.

After he returned and an agreement was made, he got the place painted and I started to move in.

In the weeks leading up to my move, I'd started to scout out who was leaving Nepal and who I could buy 2nd hand stuff from as buying things new is very expensive (if only they had IKEA here). I'd managed to track down 5 people and bought most of what I needed from them, including all my furniture (having a couch is the BEST), kitchen stuff, linens and lots of other bits and pieces.

I also had to get gas bottles filled, a water filter installed, the internet connected and work out who to hire as house help (the thought of having someone come to clean your house a few times a week may seem ridiculous, but it gives local women employment, and with washing machines being a rarity, it's definitely handy having somebody come to wash your clothes).

Then, there was the inverter - a backup power source for when the electricity goes out. Before coming to Nepal, I'd never even heard of an inverter, but with electricity cuts for up to 18 hours a day, having a source of power is a must. After trying to work out exactly what an inverter is and asking around for where I could get one installed for a good price, I decided on the help of a missionary guy who installs inverters as a 'Business As Mission' venture.

So, as I sit here on my comfy couch with christmas lights flashing around me, I'm so excited to be in an apartment that I love and that I can now call 'home'.

Looking forward to many more adventures (hopefully not to do with house disasters!) ahead!

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The Last Resort

I just spent a week with Grade 9s from KISC at 'The Last Resort' - an adventure camp about 4 hours out from Kathmandu.

We set out early on Monday morning, and after arriving at the Resort, we found our tents and began team building games. The guys leading our camp group were amazing at keeping the kids engaged and challenging them to stretch themselves and work better at communication and teamwork.

That afternoon, we walked to the centre of the bridge and we all had 3 goes at absailing down it - the first time the camp guys lowered us down, the 2nd time we lowered ourselves and the 3rd time we raced to see how fast we could go.

Day 2, after a fantastic breakfast (how many other camps cook you omlettes in the morning!) we split up into 2 groups and headed out on a long hike. Most of the way up the mountain required lots and lots of stairs so we'd walk for 5 minutes, then take a 10 minute break. It was very exciting, after 3 hours of walking, to make it up the mountain. After lunch, we headed back down and were totally stuffed so we just hung out and played cards for the rest of the afternoon.

Our 3rd and final full day, we got into our swim suits and got ready for canyoning! I'd never even heard of canyoning before, but it's where you absail through waterfalls - AWESOME!!! It was SO much fun and totally new for me which is why I think I loved it so much!

That afternoon, we headed for the high ropes course and spent the rest of the day doing obstacles between the trees.

In the evening, we were in for a treat. After a delicious dinner, some of the resort staff did fire dancing, and after that, there was live music by some other resort staff! Good times with some fun dancing!

Our last morning at the resort, before breakfast, we all had a go at 'horizontal bungy' which made us all really work up an appetite as it was hard work!!

Overall, a fantastic week of fun activities, yummy food and great company!!!! Probably one of the best camps I've been on EVER!

Looking forward to the adventures ahead!

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