Changes

Life has changed dramatically. No more mega malls or fancy clothing for us. We have shifted from a first to a third world and let me tell you, it is an okay place to be!

Here are some of the major changes so far:

1. Rural living.
We now have chickens and we are tilling the land for a big garden so we can become self sufficient. The Nepalis around us watch us in amazement. Why would white people try to save the 20 cents it cost for a kilo of tomatoes??? Our gardener literally laughs at Axel at times cause Axel loves to play in the dirt.

2. Arise Early
There seems to be no way of staying in bed late no matter how hard you try. Once 5am comes, the ringing throughout the city wakes you up. Foreign birds singing, water rushing as people bathe outside, loud vehicles humming, Bollywood and local music playing, chickens clucking (thanks to Axel’s recent purchase), and bells ringing from the many Hindu shrines throughout the neighborhood. These are all the sounds that can be heard in the wee hours of the morning. As a result, by 5:15 we are up and out the door adding our noises to the rest of them.

Check out this sweet 'noisy' ride.


3. Asleep by 8pm
Since most of the city has no power in the evenings, once the sun goes down, the city goes to sleep. We have no TV or anything else that can really keep us awake, so once the kids are in bed, so are we. It is camping (except in a 7 bedroom house). We rock on our swing on our patio and stare at the stars until it lulls us into a slumber.




4. Living and creeping things are everywhere!
Xavier’s recent fascination for bugs has exploded since we got here. He has found every bug imaginable. Not to mention the gigantic spider that he accidently fed to the chickens. The thing was about the size of a golf ball. Axel has caught a great number of lizards and a HUGE snake in our back yard that got one of our security guards running. Good to see he's not a 'fraidy cat, I feel safe!

For the One I Love

Who'd a thought that I would be such an old fart that I'd be married for 10 years. I'd like to think I look exactly the same as I did the day we married (humor me, please), but I am happy to accept that I don't think the same as I did 10 years ago. Luckily, I married a man who makes me twice the woman I was. Together we make 3, not 2. I really won the husband lottery and I hope I will celebrate 40 more years with my love, my best friend.

The following are the lessons my sweet, dear husband has taught me:

1. That my gas really doesn't have a smell (compared to his).

2. I really only have one true friend in the whole wide world.

3. I have WAY better fashion sense than I give myself credit for (honestly, just because it is all blue doesn't mean it matches).

4. It is possible to be wrong (maybe only once a year, but still).

5. There are people in the world (no matter how many times you try to teach them) who will never remember the words to an entire song.

6. Bald, to me, is sexy. (I'd wish he would do it more often).

7. Brain tumors suck (but they can make you stronger and closer).

8. You should embrace eccentricities, it makes you more interesting.

9. When approaching a project, don't think, just do.

10. With him by my side, I can achieve anything in the world.

Photos from our anniversary day and night...

New Government

Photos taken from our car window

It is bizarre to be here during such a pivotal time in Nepal. Nepal has always been a kingdom. It was just since the recent elections that it has become a 'democracy'. However, the Maoists have now been elected into the government so I am not sure if you can actually call it a democracy per ce. Yesterday, the power was passed over to the Maoists (the communist party) and therefore, the entire city shut down. Axel had to close the office down for 3 days because of the unknown response of this change. On this day we went up to the Monkey Temple. In doing so, we passed a bunch of people either celebrating or making a statement of some kind. No one knows how this new government will all play out in Nepal. It is a time of great uncertainty. As we passed the crowds, we didn't feel so safe, so we found an alternative route home.

It is amazing to be here during such a significant change within this country. However, this excitement comes with some instability. You take the good, you take the bad. So, when you hear about Nepal on the news or about the bomb that just went off outside of Axel's work two days ago, don't worry. It is mostly hype and we are pretty secure where we are. I hope.

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

We decided to take a quick walk around the neighbourhood. Here are some of the sights:

Children everywhere. It is school time but these children are working the neighbourhood, selling fruit, veggies or whatever they can.

A boy selling watermelon

Cows all over. Xaiver said, ‘I didn’t know cows ate garbage!’ Neither did I.

Cows sitting in front of a local shop

Marijuana is freely growing for all to enjoy. There are fields of this stuff just a short walk away. Although it isn’t grown purposely, as people smoke it, the seeds find their way into the soil and whammo, you’ve got yourself a doobie heaven. I am surprise these places aren’t just stripped of all their goodies but it just sits there waiting for someone to appreciate its goodness.

Just a block from our house, this stuff is growing everywhere

Garbage, garbage, garbage. I am sure I will have many blogs discussing this amazing aspect of Nepal. It is too unreal to believe. What is worse, are the kids just playing in the piles of garbage either looking for treasures, or looking for food. You can’t really walk anywhere without encountering a load of garbage. This picture was taken on the walk my kids will make from school.

Dirt, dirt, dirt EVERYWHERE

I was unprepared for the dirt that I would experience here in Nepal. Ever since Xavier began to walk, we had named him ‘Pig Pen’(after the Peanuts character). It seemed like a cloud of dirt always followed him. But placing him in Nepal has created a child that requires a chisel in order to clean him off. It has gravitated to every one of my children and we now have a contest to see whose feet are dirtier by the end of the day. These pictures were taken despite the fact that I had made the children clean their hands and feet every time they entered the house and before every meal (about 7 times a day).

Sedona in all her glorious fattness

First Impressions

I have been keeping a log of our adventures. The next 4 or 5 posts are things I have written since we left Dubai and arrived in Kathmandu...

Once we got on the plane, Heavah looked at me and said, ‘Mom, how many days are we going to be on the plane?’ She was ready to settle in and make a home for herself right there and then. When I told her it was only going to be 4 hours, she was pretty happy. ‘Oh! That’s not long at all!’





We arrived in Kathmandu in the evening and it felt like a throw back in time. Old brick airport, cumbersome and useless forms to fill out, and one escalator for the entire airport. It was truly a different place and ‘Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.’ It reminded me a lot of my trip to India so the shock wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been had I not made that trip a year before.


Our arrival in Kathmandu

The house Axel got us was fun to explore. The kids ran around each floor talking about what room would be theirs. Heavah was delighted to see that ‘Santa has a very nice chimney to come down for Christmas’. Indeed he does. The house has character and it will suit our family just fine for now.


Our sweet fireplace. (Don't worry, once our stuff arrives, the curtains are the first to go)


Our front door

We have a fantastic view of the entire Kathmandu, including Everest on a clear day. It will be a perfect place for me to do yoga in the morning. It is also so cool to see the city at night.



Today has been a range of emotions. Anything from, ’What a cool country!’ to ‘What the hell am I thinking???’ We took a walk around the grounds and there will be plenty of space for the kids to ride their bikes and have their own garden. We have orchids, pomegranate trees, mango trees, and amaryllis amongst many other plants and flowers growing randomly in our yard. Xavier was happy to see there were plenty of bugs and Heavah was happy to see there were plenty of flowers to pick. Truly, it is a little Garden of Eden (Nepali style).



Axel and the girls on one of our patios

We explored the city by going to the ‘supermarket’ this morning. I was happy to see that despite the fact that I buy my butter and milk off the shelf (not in a refrigerator) that we have more of an assortment of cereals than we did in Dubai. So even though I am grossed out by the fact that I am drinking unrefrigerated milk, I am at least eating my ‘Blueberry Morning’ cereal.


Heavah picking out our bananas from the 'biggest' grocery store in Nepal

The next trek was the zoo. On our way to the zoo three boys (not much older than Heavah) were working their day job of selling cotton candy. We didn’t have the exact change for all three items we purchased. It caused quite a commotion. They all fought over who was going to get the split of the 60 cents we gave them. A good wake up call to my kids.




Xavier playing in the zoo playground. The slide was made of marble.



The city, although it is dense with people, is basically a village. Not many paved roads and no order. I think I saw one street light after going around the entire city, and cows just finds a home right in the middle of the street and no one complains. Fine, just drive around him. It made me so thankful that we have a driver. It is also nice to have Axel in the back of the van to help out with the kids. The people are very nice and very beautiful. I am in awe at their beauty. Most have very fine features and the fact that they are so nice really enhances that beauty.

It is strange to have people living on our grounds. We have Haleni but we have also inherited a new gardener and we will soon have a few others join our crew. Although we have a second home for the staff, it is a little odd to have such an open door policy to our home. But it is also nice to have extra eyes on the kids. I guess it is just something I will have to get used to.

Our 'staff house' In this picture, it is under construction. It is almost complete.

We ended the night with a bath. Hum, how to describe???? First, try stopping a 20 month old baby from drinking the bath water. Then, try not to get grossed out at the fact that our ‘filtered’ water is actually the colour of Nestle’s chocolate milk. It also made it interesting when I tried to wash my whites by hand this evening. I guess if I can bring myself to buy the tacky clothing they have here, I must buy them dark. No fresh, spring colours for us.



We are excited, we are anxious, and we are challenged. I have a feeling this will be an incredible, yet interesting 3 years...Here’s to our new adventure!

Family Photos

Axel should be sipping tomato juice and catching up on all the US movies by now. He will arrive in Dubai tomororow. It is nice that he will show up after everything is done. It is hard not to fly away with my superpowers. I am definitely running off of fumes at this point. One more full day in Dubai and I will then be writing from a little different location with a little different perspective. Who knows when I will get hooked up with the internet. I hope it is sooner than later.

I recently had some requests for photos of the family. As it turned out, I just got some photos back from a photo shoot we had done two weeks before I had Asa and two weeks after. We got some amazing pictures, but I thought I would post the real photos...

Best Baby Award

This child has officially won the ‘Best Baby Award’. Even if he is rotten for the next 6 months, he can rest on his laurels from today. This picture was taken in a moment of fatigue, hunger, and an overflowing diaper. He smiled and talked the whole way through. (It is okay for me to brag because simultaneously I am clearly admitting that I am the worst mother in the whole wide world).

Today was day #3 of moving and it was also the day of parties! Heavah and Xavier both had the entire day dedicated to them at school. It was kid overload from the morning to night. The girls at school were overflowing with love for Heavah and she soaked it all in. Not to mention the fact that she was the ‘Princess of the Day’. It was pure bliss. (But not for Asa who was sleeping on a pillow on the floor because his crib was packed up).




Xavier’s school also had a ‘minibeast’ party and he even got to bring the spider he found in the basement to class (scaring his teacher and every girl around him). His teacher and her assistant went on and on about Xavier’s American ‘accent’. It was day full of warm fuzzies. (But not for Asa who was absent for all the festivities).




After the children successfully climbed on every box in the house and drew beautiful pictures with the black permanent marker all over each box, we left to go to the hotel. Sadly, during this time, little Asa was hulled around like luggage and placed into a corner wherever we went.

Despite all the neglect, Asa was calm, happy, and content the whole way through. I can’t wait to finally settle, that way I can give this boy the many kisses and attention he deserves!