Springtime

I just got back to Kathmandu from Darjeeling, and spring is here! It's lovely and warm out, and the tree down the street from me has the beginning of leaves on it. Today I am walking around in a skirt and flip-flops, which feels great! Kathmandu also feels much more pleasant after our weeklong trip to Darjeeling, India. We visited Darjeeling because about 80 to 90% of the population is of Nepali descent, and most speak Nepali, but it felt like a vacation. We had a few lectures, and language class most days, but a lot of our time was spent wandering around the city. Which is gorgeous - huge trees, lots of flowers, very steep hill, and a beautiful Hindu/Buddhist temple at the top of the hill where I was attacked by a scary little monkey who grabbed my skirt. On the way back we had to take bicycle rickshaws through lowland Nepal because there was a general strike. Although I felt badly for the drivers, they earned a lot of money, so I felt a little better about that, and the ride was amazing - water buffalo, fields, houses, lots of bicycles on the road, and wonderfully warm. In two weeks, though, we leave for the Everest region (the Khumbu), where I'm told it is very cold. So I'm enjoying the warmth while I get the chance and spending time with my Nepali family. Kriti and I were writing our names in Devengari on the concrete porch yesterday in chalk, and I can now write an entier letter in Devengari! Today in Nepali class we read an entire book in Nepali, which was fun but utterly exhausting. It really lets me know how hard it is to learn to read!