It was a frustrating week.   It was one of those weeks that crush the spirit, drink your energy for breakfast, and then spend the rest of the day hammering away at any sense of confidence, understanding and intellect that you might have left.  The smallest tasks seem daunting and the thought of climbing out of bed each morning is exhausting.

I will be the first to admit that I do try to keep these kinds of days to the minority – I hate feeling this way and hate living this way.  But I also know that some great self-indulgent and self-focused care can ease even the worst week into nothing.

So to indulge myself this week I will endeavour to honour those things that this week did NOT go wrong, did NOT make me feel like a puddle of sludge, and did NOT cause me to throw my hands up in despair…

• Mosquito nets.  In Kathmandu there are mosquitoes…not as many as in many places in the world and not of the malarial persuasion but still…they are a pesky and annoying addition to any dark and sleepy bedroom.  The constant buzzing, the surprise attacks just as you drift off the sleep, and the lovely red welts that decorate any exposed skin the next morning.  So, we bought a net for our bed.  With a few simple ropes we have now gently encased ourselves in a cozy haven, swaths of white netting romantically draping from the ceiling.  Aside from the intense and rather toxic chemical which make these nets killing machines, they are rather lovely and romantic.  And I haven’t heard a “bzzzzzzzzz” in at least a week.
• Emergency drills, while tedious, help couples communicate.  This week VSO Nepal undertook their annual security drill.  A scenario is sent from London in the morning and offices need to practice their emergency procedures.  This year the scenario necessitated the evacuation of all VSO volunteers.  Through my work in the VSO Office, I was helping to contact the Education volunteers about evacuation procedures but also took the opportunity to contact myself and ask myself to evacuate.  Meanwhile, at the same time, Rex was being contacted about his evacuation procedures.  Except, he was given two options: 1) have VSO fly you back to your home country or 2) have VSO  give you the money for such flight but instead take a vacation.  So, in the case of an emergency evacuation, Rex will have chosen to vacation in Thailand and I will be back in Canada…whoops…good thing we sorted that one out before an actual emergency!
• Gin.  and tonic. By Thursday, I had reached what I would call a gin and tonic crisis.  Hard to go wrong here…dependable and solid it made a mockery of my silly week and reminded me that sometimes the best medicines do come in a glass with a squeeze of lime.  Good thing that…
• …Friday was a holiday.  One less day for things to go wrong and the only day this week that found me eating pancakes, relaxing in a pool, and recharging the internal battery.

Happy early Earth Day!  Although two days early I wanted to be sure I didn’t forget.

In fact, I think we have been really celebrating Earth Day for the past 5 months, decreasing our energy consumption (we don’t really have a choice here!), water consumption, and food consumption…basically reducing our consumption…of everything (except for maybe rice and pirated DVDs…consumption on those has definitely gone up!).  We are living by the seasons which dictates so much of life here.

Seasons here are marked properly, in the agricultural tradition of seasonal cycles of fruits and vegetables.  It makes me laugh now to think how “novel” this idea has become at home.  We were full fledged participants of local and seasonal eating habits back in Vancouver and of course I knew it wasn’t a new idea.  Much of my childhood was spent in summer eating only food from the family garden and in winter devouring all that freshness through home canning and preserving.  However, when I returned to this idea as a young adult it was different – it was more glamorous to eat locally, more trendy to know a farmer, and more fancy-pants to consider your food miles before tucking in to a nice meal.

I had been fooled.  Local eating is one of the least fancy and least trendy habits of most of the world.  In Kathmandu, gardens pop up between apartments, appear from behind office buildings, or can be found hidden down the most unsuspecting alleyway.  In fact, I would bet that MOST of my fruits and vegetables come from within a 20 kilometer circumference.   And those that come from outside that distance come from our neighbouring country, India…eating locally is economically sustainable to most people here and provides the majority livelihood for the majority of Nepali citizens.  And the best part is that long-distance, imported options in the produce department simply are not available!  Here, eating locally is a real, humble, and humane act of necessity!

Tonight we are celebrating the fact that we have just moved through orange and lime season (from about November to February) and are moving into mango season!  But the best part is this is just phase one of at least a four-phase mango season.  Four distinct varieties will grace our plates this monsoon from now until about August and I look forward to trying them all – in lassis, curry, on yogurt, in muesli, slathered on toast, dipped in local coconut shreds, or drizzled with honey 🙂

So, our first crack at a cooked mango recipe was an adaptation of this delectable mango loaf.  Compliments to Rachelle S. who posted the recipe – I have shown my adapted version below for your perusal.  And I must admit that I hesitated to share it since I know that the majority of you DO NOT live in local mango growing areas…hmmm ethical dilemma.  So, I share it with you and trust that you will use it sparingly and in good conscience and wherever possible source your own local produce, not because it is trendy or cool, but because it is one of the nicest things you can do for the planet.

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup diced mango (about 2 medium mangos)

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease & flour loaf pan. In large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, and butter. Mix until flour is just incorporated. Do not over mix. Gently stir in mangos. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 1 loaf.

As you read this I am slowly making my way to Chitwan to bask in the tropical, humid, and hot jungles of Nepal.  If it makes you feel less jealous of me, you can bet that I am likely dripping with sweat, stickily uncomfortable while crammed into a small car with a dozen other people, and perhaps even stuck on some mud track somewhere either due to a road bloackade and protest or a landslide which has wiped the road clean away!  But your jealously is not about to detract from the single most exciting thing in the past 4 months:  I am about to ride an elephant 🙂

• Falafel.  In efforts to expand my culinary repertoire I embarked on the ambitious and satisfying task of making falafel.  Mashed chick peas with spices, cilantro, grated carrots (my own addition for extra veg), sesame seeds, garlic and onion fried up in small patties to golden brown then stuffed into a warm, fresh, hand-rolled tortilla and topped with grilled paneer and a cabbage, carrot, and tomato salad.  Intense flavours and soul-satisfying textures.  A meal to remember!  And stunningly, uses all the same ingredients as my curry dinners but tastes totally different.
• Culinary basics.  I have come to the conclusion that much of the worlds unique culinary flavours are still based on the same core ingredients.  I made a mexican, indian, and middle-eastern fare this week and used almost identical ingredients for everything – flour tortillas/roti, beans, tomatos, coriander, various veggies, garlic, onions, chilies, and rice!  By varying the spices slightly and cooking them in different ways, the result was 3 very distinct meals.  Kudos to our great agricultural forebearers who cultivated such adaptable, hearty, and basic ingredients that find themselves on tables all over the world.
• Dark Was the Night.  This week a friend received one best presents to ever be sent – a teeny tiny USB key filled to the brim with new music!  While we sometimes feel utterly and incredibly connected here it is impossible to keep up with everything.  In my life, pop culture is floating adrift – I can keep up with news from home, the lives of friends and family, even what is happening at UBC in Student Development!  But music, movies, and tv are lost and I admit that I miss these things.  So this week, I soothed my musical ear and found one album that both musically and philosophically I resonate with.  A collaboration of various artists which supports the Red Hot Organization, an international HIV/AIDs charity organization.  Take a listen and soothe your soul.
• The hopeful corner of my mind where future dreams are stored. I had a moment today where I once again contemplated a dream that I have carried for about 15 years.  I tucked it safely away with confidence that I would revisit it some day.  And I haul it out, turn it over, and try it on again (to see if it still fits).  Then I tuck it away again waiting for the right moment to tackle it.  Well, today I pulled it out and indeed it still fits…in fact it may fit better now that before!  Hurrah! I got all queasy and flushed thinking about it…it feels like it might just be the right time to embark on it and I can hardly contain my excitement.