I missed last Friday`s post and then was late on this Fridays…a sure sign that work is getting busier and there are fewer hours when free-time and electricity coincide.

• Friday socializing. The cohort of volunteers that arrived right before us have instituted a lovely casual Friday gathering for anyone who is interested.  It is usually a chance for us to reconnect, debrief, and share with other volunteers.  The crowd changes depending on who is free but the conversations always remains engaging, lively, and interesting.  Last night I had a fantastic debate over the role of INGOs in development work…clearly there are various opinions on this and it was a good opportunity for me to test some of my own theories and assumptions about our organization.  Thanks to NB for the great debate.
• Royal Tandoori. By far our absolute favourite restaurant for cheap and delicious food in Lazimpat, the region of Kathmandu where we live.  They have curries and naan bread that put anything found in Vancouver to shame (although Indian Oven is a pretty close contender).  We can eat 4 pieces of naan and 2 different curries and pay about $3…we could eat there everyday.  We go there so frequently that we see the staff cycling around other areas of Kathmandu and they wave hello…perhaps time I invested in a brick oven to make my own naan?
• Kurta surwaal. Imagine the ease of getting dressed every morning for work when all you needed to do was jump into loose baggy pants, a long tunic top, and wrap yourself in a scarf for warmth?  This is my work outfit most days of the week.  And imagine again if everyone was wearing these outfits in purple, pink, red, orange, green, and blue patterns – like looking through a kaleidescope – everywhere you turn the clashes of pattern and colour in clothes jumps into vision.  So, I joined the parade.  I have had some lovely kurtas made for me but my favourite is the first one I bought in a deep orange colour with some paisley green and yellow patterns.  Honestly, getting dressed for work has become one of the easiest and simplest parts of my day!  Below is a picture of me and my friends H and M in our beautiful kurtas.
• Candles. Simple reality that with 20 hours a day without power the simple and humble candle becomes the source of all light in our small apartment.  It felt romantic and quaint for the first couple of weeks – now it is just a necessity.  BUT, it provides a great excuse to purchase cheap bottles of wine as the bottles double as candle holders when the sweet elixir has been drunk.  Thanks to candles for forcing me to buy wine…