TGIF x10!

Yesterday marked my completion of 10 weeks here in Nepal. I still have 11 weeks remaining, but they are passing quickly. I like the saying, "The days are long, but the years are short." 

Speaking of short years, my elder brother, Kent, will turn 60 on Monday -- an impressive milestone. I wish I could be with him as he celebrates by visiting our mother in S Arizona this weekend. Kent has been 1.5 years ahead of me my entire life, and it has been a comfort having him blaze the trail for me.

Today I was also thinking about the 2015 movie, THE MARTIAN, starring Matt Damon. As I recently re-watched it, I could somewhat relate to his character -- since I am living is a very foreign environment. I really like his line, "Every day I go outside and look at the vast horizons – – just because I can." 

This morning I went outside and I saw the beautiful sunrise here again. I am amazed at how consistent the weather here is. It has been sunny and warm every day of the past 10 weeks -- without any rain. 

It was another early (8:00AM) morning here with a seminar of final year students reviewing specific dental knowledge.

Afterwards, I went to the cash canteen with Anil and Siras. Manisha was on leave today to attend a function at her daughter's school. As usual, I had already eaten, so I just drank milk tea. For breakfast they had this interesting food. It reminds me of a Mexican quesadilla, but it is actually far different. The cooks take an elastic dough that is rolled into a small circle and fill it with the same filling that was used in yesterday's samosas (a tumeric-spiced potato and bean mixture). Then they seal it into a spherical shape and flatten it before cooking it on a griddle. The dough is super elastic, because these don't rupture despite being seriously filled. After cooking it gets sliced (and you can see the interior filling). This is very similar to the samosas, except for the shape and the fact that this is griddled instead of being oil-fried. Samosas are an India-originated food. I don't know from where these griddled foods come.

Many of the foods I eat here have what bto my palate is a nearly identical spice profile. I miss the wide variety of favors in the American diet: Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Mediterranean, Mid-eastern -- and even Indian/Nepali. To be fair, the spice profile here is much broader than the foods I eat, but my digestion can't handle the stronger spices.

Back at the department office, the clinic was a bit quieter than usual because the dental interns are all on leave preparing for their national licensing exams tomorrow and Sunday. Even so, with Manisha also on leave, Siras and Anil were kept busy. Because the school is at the bottom of a very tall and steep hill, The sun only barely makes it into our office windows for a few hours each day. Here I am welcoming its warmth and toasting to a "HAPPY FRIDAY." This is the same insulated coffee mug I bought at the BX at Yokota AB, Japan, when I was stationed there in the summer of 2021. That trip was 10 weeks in length -- now equalled by my time here in Nepal.