Pictures + Finally at the homestay

Kanchan, me, Smita.

Smita and Rajan (her husband) at dinner.

Kanchan and Smita on the roof.

Making momos.

Big Buddha on the way to Kali mandir.

Extra powder at Kali mandir.

Giant spider proof.

View from our hotel in Dhulikel.

Puja (prayer)

Large, unknown vegetable. I forgot what the shop lady said it was called.

Walking around Dhulikel, we stumbled across many mandirs,  including this
one which had some function going on.

Program center in Kathmandu.

Singhe (Lion), doing his "Namaste" trick.

Nice garden.

Smells like a grapefruit. Found it growing on tree at the program center.

Classroom

Today I met my homestay family. There is a grandfather (hajurbhuaa), father (bhuaa), mother (aamaa), sister (about my age), a helper (who I will call didi or, 'older sister'), a German shepherd, and a 2 month old puppy.

The house is super nice. It is bigger than our house in Albuquerque and has running water. I have my own room and there is internet. It is a nice retreat from Kathmandu because it is clean and I can pet the dogs without worrying about rabies or mange etc. It is north of the palace, a little south of the US Embassy, and about a 30 minute walk from school.
The food is really good and the family likes to teach me Nepali. I have not talked to the didi very much yet because she is mostly in the kitchen, and I'm not allowed in there while I'm on my period. Hajurbuwa and buwa speak English pretty well, my sister is really fluent, and my aamaa speaks very little. My sister is really great. I think we will try to train the puppy.

Oh also our last night in Dhulikel, there was an earthquake! I have never felt one. It was a 6.0 with the epicenter somewhere on the Nepali-China border. It was pretty cool! I was half awake and noticed my bed shaking. Somehow I figured out it was an earthquake. I'm pretty surprised I figured that out because earthquakes are not something I usually think about. I wrote it off as a dream until it was a big topic at breakfast.