A day in the life

Well might I have considered those not so keen on the rain!!Rain came into Kopila's house during the night with minimal damage fortunately.  Then, we arrived at the office to find that bricks and mortar, let alone bamboo and mud, couldn't keep the rain out.  Our carpet was sodden, a beautiful appliqued banner drenched, our Australian flag dripping.  But these would dry, our stock was fine and our slicer secure under its heavy wooden cover on its raised surface (reinforcing the value of a raised surface and wooden cover quite nicely).  Team work saved the day and carpets are now nearly dry.  The rain quite literally came in through the wall but we all agreed it was most unusual rain and came at such an angle that ANY wall would have struggled.  (Update: a second downpour has left the room with a nasty pong and we are trying to source the points of water entry!!!)Last Saturday was chutti (the weekend is only one day long here - tough for Australians!) so we made our twice annual girls' shopping expedition.  This time to the Gorkha Department store in Itahari - a highway town about 1 1/2 to 3 hours away depending on how you get there and what happens on the way.  It is the  home of the astonishing Chintan Chautari Sculpture park -  an ever changing source of astonishment.  Bina and Mina had never been to Gorkha before so the 5 floors (with elevators no less?) of stuff was pretty fascinating.  We worked our way down and the girls made decisions about jeans, T- shirts, kitchen utensils etc etc.  I got some more mosquito protection in a wild fit of self indulgence.  (Well,yes there was the tonic and the gin as well but that was really for Binod. Tonic water is rare as hen's teeth in these parts.)We were going to catch the Kathmandu day bus home so that we might have a seat and given the somewhat flexible arrival time we waited (with our bags and bags and bags of purchases) at Kopila's aunty's home where we were given more cups of chiya than one woman about to undertake a long bus trip should really have.  Family members arrived to witness our spectacle and some of them watched me while I watched  a Hindi soap opera that I intially mistook for India's version of Dance, Dance, Dance.  When I asked if these were the semi finals, the plot was explained.  Quite complicated really but I think Puja's father will realise he has made a really big mistake.  But I fear it will all be too late.  Hope I haven't spoiled any one's fun there.We met Sandesh (seated on the floor), a 12 year old who had run away from a tough situation and had been working for a pitiful wage washing dishes in a hotel.  One of Kopila's relatives had offered him the chance to go back to school and stay with her son in return for sharing with some home duties.  This is not uncommon although more often than not, the going to school bit can be omitted.  In this case it wasn't!  He was obviously a really bright little boy.  He had never met a videshi (foreigner) before, let alone spoken with one, so he wasn't going to waste a second.  He never took his eyes off me and grilled me.  One funny moment was when he asked me what saag (spinach) cost in Australia.  I told him that it cost around NRs 300/- compared to NRs 20/- here.  You could see him doing the maths.  Could I send saag to Australia to sell? It appeared the Kathmandu day bus may have come or not come or would not come so we got another bus that had come.  Bird in the hand I thought....  It did not have spare seats but would have seats after a town several stops away in a while.  Which it did.  We all swayed along, lurching abruptly every now and then and once again, I was filled with DEEP admiration for the Nepali capacity for very deep, sonorous sleep in circumstances I would have found quite tricky to doze in.Because some of us were small, the Nepali ones, we obviously didn't need as many seats as there were people in our party so soon after Pathari each of us had part of us on a seat and off we merrily went.  Disembarking meant gathering quite a number of bags and individuals, including two we'd picked up at the Department store.  In this last photo you can see Kopila, Bina and Mina heading home through the cornfields ready to unpack our day.  What a joy.