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!