Happy Easter

Easter is my favourite time of the year and we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus at the international church in Kathmandu, followed by lunch with friends and phone calls to our children.
On Maundy Thursday we hired a taxi after language classes and drove up to Nagarkot, a hill on edge of the valley and had a 2 night break. At 2165 metres the air was clean, the temperature cool and the bird song in the mornings magical. Unfortunately cloud obscured the views of the mountains but we will return after the monsoon to see the views.
We watched the eagles soaring overhead and during our 4 hour walk saw a number of new (to me) bird species, my favourite was the monarch, a bright blue bird about the size of a blackbird with a glorious song. There were a few of the famous rhododendron trees out in flower too.
On Saturday we shouldered our rucksacks and walked down through the villages to Telkot. The trail  wound past village houses badly damaged by the earthquake a year ago. Some were partly destroyed, with people

le living in one part of the building , but others were so damaged their owners were in tents or corrugated iron temporary shelters. These must be like an oven in summer and freezing in winter, here are some pictures so you can see for yourself:

Getting to grips with language learning and everyday life here

We have been here three weeks now and I am getting used to the heat and dust and the noises of the city.  I am even sleeping through most of the barking dogs at night.
Both our neighbours here have chickens so waking to the sound of the cockerel crowing remind me of Devon.
Every day we walk or taxi to the UMN office in central Kathmandu. We have 2 -3 hours of 1 to 1 lessons each day and my language is coming back very quickly, I am remembering more than I knew I knew! Both Nepali and ex-pat colleagues are very friendly and I already feel part of the team.
They say a picture tells a thousand words, so here are a few:
The street children collecting rubbish who I gave bananas too, my fruit and veg seller, the old lady who sells corn on the cob cooked on a fire at the side of the road with big vehicles going by. Animals and birds can be seen even in the city , here is a picture of fruit bats in the trees above the main road also one of a monkey that had been chewing the electrical cables above the street.

 

Settling In

We are now settled in our temporary flat and I am getting adjusted to life here. We have worked out which lights run on the invertor system so when the electricity is off , which is most of the time it seems, we still have one light that works in each room and some plugs for recharging things like phones and laptops.
It is getting warmer every day and we had a brief thunder storm a couple of days ago which meant that the next morning I could see a glimpse of the mountains from our flat roof, a real treat.
I also felt my first earth tremor when sitting down working at my desk, it felt  like the ground was moving as if I was on board ship-just a little after shock
Now we have bought iodine solution I am able to sterilise the fruit so we have been enjoying grapes and papaya from the fruit sellers barrows. The water here is so contaminated that one can only eat cooked fruit and vegetables, anything eaten raw must be peeled or soaked in iodine solution. I filter and then boil all the water we drink or brush our teeth in.
My language is coming back so I am finding it easy to bargain for taxi fares and buy groceries but I am looking forward to starting my refresher language class next week.
Every  day is very busy at the moment, I have to travel right across the city by taxi to a hotel where my 5 day course on basic project management is being held. It is run by a British trainer from Mango, an organisation which provides training all over the world. The participants are mainly Nepali with some from other Asian countries too. I am learning all about budgets , cashflow and spreadsheets and it is surprisingly interesting. I know it will be invaluable when I start my project work.
We have been made very welcome by the UMN team and have already been out to dinner and to tea with different colleagues. So, if I was writing a report on the first week I would say"a promising start!"

Arrival in Kathmandu 2.3.15

After so many weeks of planning, interviews and trainings , not to mention clearing the house, it is great to be back in Nepal. There are still minor tremors , I have felt two this afternoon, but much of the earthquake damage to the roads  in the city has been repaired. The fuel blockade has ended and there are vehicles on the streets again although they must join long queues of 4 hours or so to refill their tanks.
It is pleasantly cool about 22 degrees but very dusty since the monsoon has not started yet. The lack of water in the rivers means that the hydroelectric power plants cannot meet demand so load shedding continues to be in force, with  12 hours in 24 without power. In true Nepali style there is great internet coverage here in the city, better than BT can provide at our end of Tipton anyway!
We are staying in a comfortable guest house to rest for a couple of days before moving into our apartment and have already been welcomed by colleagues with a food hamper and card.
Tomorrow we start language refresher classes , two hours one to one with Nepali teachers should help me regain my fluency.