Sunday November 27: A Day of Rest?

 I awoke this morning at the Kumari Inn, Kathmandu guesthouse. I packed my bags, enjoyed a light breakfast, and checked out. My three nights' stay there with breakfast and light suppers was less than $70 US. 

Then while waiting outside for Dr Kafle to pick me up, I met Lucy, the resident pet dog of the Kumari Inn. Lucy is 14 years old and has bad teeth such that she cannot chew meat anymore. She never comes inside and remains in the perimeter of the Inn barking at other dogs in the neighborhood. 

Adjacent to the Kamari Inn is this high-rise apartment building, the New Horizon. This building used to be a primary housing location for US Embassy workers, but it was severely damaged in the 2015 earthquake and has been vacant until last month when repairs began. If you look closely at the image you can see underneath the green netting how this building is severely damaged.

After a pleasant commute with Dr Kafle, I arrived back at my room at Dhulikhel Hospital. This is a view of my building from the uphill side. My room is on the other side, with a balcony facing over the valley below. In this image you can see the solar hot water apparatus on the rooftop. Today I had my first hot shower here (in that funny bathroom). I learned that you need to run the water for a long time before the hot water gets to my unit. The shower actually has great flow and pressure.  

From my balcony you can see these red flowers. These are actually poinsettias growing wild. You see them quite often here in Nepal. Since I'm only used to seeing them in small pots at Christmas in the US, it's pretty amazing to see how large these poinsettias bushes grow here in the wild.

The dental school is working today. They work every Sunday. However I have been granted "American weekends" so that I can have both Saturday and Sunday off for my own activities. After getting unpacked and resettled in my room, I walked across the hospital campus to the Himalayan Java Coffee shack and enjoyed my 1st cup of brewed coffee since arriving in Nepal. Perhaps I've become spoiled by Nescafé instant coffee, because this cup of java tasted bitter. I didn't even drink the whole cup. This coffee cost me $3.20 US. 

After that coffee, I walked outside the hospital gate to the street market and picked up this the bread and small jar of peanut butter. I made a peanut butter sandwich for my lunch. It tastes just the same as in the US!

This afternoon I had my first Nepali language lesson. The major vendors, Rosetta Stone and Babble do not feature Nepali. I found an online program, "Ling Language Learn," which seems adequate for my needs. I plan to do a lesson every Saturday and /or Sunday.

After that I began preparing some lectures for later this week.

It gets dark around 5 PM. About then, I walked outside the hospital gate to get some food. This is the street outside the main gate.

I looked at the multitude of vendors in each small cubby and I selected some fried bready foods from one vendor. There is no low-carb diet here. This group of foods cost $8.50. Then I bought the metal plate ($1.20), and the chocolate chip cookie ($3.20). I then returned to my room and enjoyed my dinner. Of course, the cookie was good, but the 2 dumpling-like "Samosas" were surprisingly really good. The contents of the samosas were vegetable, mostly potato, with a curry seasoning. The other items on the left side of the plate were sweetish breads that weren't very good (I only tasted them). I don't think I have lost any weight here yet!

Tomorrow is Monday and I will be at the Dhulikhel School.