Like a Zombie in a Narcoleptic Nation

So my official goal for this coming week is to take pictures of the dozens of sleeping Nepalis I encounter everyday. "What exactly do you mean by this?" you may be asking. Well, it seems that the Nepali people have a genuine knack for sleeping in any position, anywhere, and anytime. I have passed people stretched out for a morning nap in the road's gutter, slumped over the side of a bridge's concrete barrier, passed out against trees, sprawling in the dirt next to their livestock pen...seriously anytime and anywhere. This is one genuinely gifted narcoleptic nation, wouldn't you say?

As you may have gathered from the news, life is a bit crazy in Nepal these days with this past week's Anti-Chinese riots by hundreds of Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu. The peace rally that was actually organized by Amnesty International was crushed quite heavy-handedly by the Nepali army. Basically, Nepal is in an awkward position with Big Brother China because of China's international aid donations to Nepal. As a result, Nepal has taken a stance of harshly quelling any Anti-Chinese sentiment that arises among the refugees and others who have taken up Tibet's cause. I would really like to see so many more Olympic athletes take a firm stand against the atrocities that China is still committing in Tibet today. I understand that China has invested a great deal of money in development for the Olympics in Beijing as well as the hundreds of athletes who have been training so it would be ridiculous to assume that the Olympics could effectively be boycotted. However, I think there is no greater time to speak out against China's policy in tibet when so much attention has already been rallied for the Olympics and has the potential to raise a great deal more of awareness.

I have just under a week left of practicum and am really quite thrilled to be wrapping everything up finally. It has been a rich experience: full of growth and also moments of the slightly less than ideal circumstances. But overall, it has definitely been genuine. I'm actually going to be quite sad to leave my dear little host family clan in the silo. Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a family of Smurfs, except they're from the Twilight Zone. Sleeping in my little room in the Silo, right above Papa Smurf's Carpentry Shop where the power saws wail to life at 5 am. Papa Smurf, who wears the same red plaid lumberjack shirt every day that I've known him. He kinda reminds me of a modern-day Paul Bunyon, just a lot shorter.

It's really quite quaint though...the five daughters all sleep in the same bed, just like the seven dwarves I suppose. Except didn't the dwarves have their own log beds? I'm going to miss my oldest host son especially. He has the quite the repertoire already at age 27. He's a Hindi supermodel who has debuted in a few Bollywood films and his current passion is bodybuilding. This is evidenced when he struts into the kitchen for dinner wearing a tight strappy racerback tank top that says "BodySculpt" and is not even long enough to cover his bulging six pack of abs, with a cabby hat perfectly tweaked to the side. It's just like Ben Stiller as Zoolander just walked in. No joke. So this dashing, muscular supermodel also works as the part-time lab assistant at my clinic in Chapagaon....how would you like to give your stool sample in a cup to a Bollywood star, who resembles Derek Zoolander, to inspect for Giardia? I did. Just quite possibly the most awkward moment of my time in Nepal.

I'm going to miss hanging out on the Silo's rooftop, just me and crazy, cackling Granny. I won't exactly miss Granny's habit of sunning topless however. I think I will forever laugh about how Harrison discovered that Granny had been sneaking into his room during the daytime and snuggling into his sleeping bag while he wasn't there. It took him the longest time to figure out why his blankets were always rearranged and why someone had turned down his sleeping bag for him.

I got extremely sick again this week, but at least I know it's not Giardia right? :) Thanks to Zoolander's microscopic inspection. So my host mother, The Helga, storms into my room with six bananas and a tower of dry, white Wonderbread to help my stomach feel better. You've got to be kidding me, six bananas?! And 8 slices of dry Wonderbread? I've resorted to hiding entire loaves of leftover bread in my luggage until I find a way to properly dispose of them without angering The Helga. I've already tried to plead with her for less when I told her I was getting to fat to fit into my bridesmaid dress when I go back to the States. She just laughed and told me I was looking healthier. Gee....thanks. How many double chins constitute "healthy"?

We've been running the 3 or 4 miles to the Temple every morning where there are (counted them) 353 steps to the top. The only thing about running in my village is that you have to be on guard against squatting kids. One morning I nearly collided with a toddler who ran out into the trail in front of me and dropped his pants faster than I could almost react. Who would have thought? And why the trail? That's Nepal, right?

These three filfthy ducks are the first foul I have ever met that actually eat garbage. They live outside my host family's silo and occasionally invite themselves in to scavenge around for some dirty mud puddles to drink from.

Beautiful Patan. Just 5 miles away from my village of Chapagaon.

These children were laughing hysterically, seriously rolling on the ground laughing their hearts out. They totally made my day! Durbar Square, Patan.



Just showing off my pinkish troll hair that has persisted from last weekend's "Holy" wars.