The countdown to September 15th has kicked into full gear! The excitement of 4 weeks of vacation combined with visitors from home arriving on that day is making the days fly by. Plus September and October hold the biggest Hindu festivals (akin to Christmas in Christian countries). First is Dashain which is a large, 10-day, family celebration with lots of sacrifices, meat eating, dancing, singing, and returning to home villages to give prayers and offerings to family members. Then about 2 weeks later is Tihar (like Diwali in India) the festival of light. So, lots of joy and celebration ahead has left me feeling incredibly grateful this week – the cup runneth over with goodness, prosperity, and happiness!

• Pants with no holes. Such simple pleasures really. After toting some rather tired-looking clothes to Nepal, hoping that they would wear themselves out while here, I discovered that they listened. But only in the form of large holes in the crotch (too much information? sorry), while the rest of the fabric is like new! Ordinarily, I would just buy myself a new pairs of pants, but when your entire 4-pair pants wardrobe is in cahoots and decides to commit collective suicide and to reveal your bits to the world, it means war. So, those old pants got a new lease on life this week thanks to a neighbourhood tailor. After trying about 6 different shops and getting full belly laughs from the proprietors about my large-thigh problem, I finally found a man who was willing to help. Granted, he and his friend spent a good ten minutes exclaiming and laughing to each other about how fat I was, but finally he agreed to help. The solution, while not perfect but absolutely acceptable, was to cut about 3 inches of length from the cuffs and use those two pieces to sandwich the weak fabric in the middle. So, 4 days later and they are as good as new…we will just overlook the fact that my entire pants wardrobe is now an awkward mid-ankle crop…
• Cinnamon rolls. I inherited a big jar of yeast from a friend who was moving back to Canada from Nepal (Hi Anne! Say hello to Vancouver for us!), along with a great big bag of walnuts and an almost full can of dark Canadian maple syrup (and many many other lovely kitchen items…I am also grateful for hand-me-downs!). Inspired to bake something that reminded me of home, I quickly decided on the comforting yeasty-ness of cinnamon rolls. When I was younger my mom would sometimes get up very early and bake us fresh cinnamon buns before school…such a treat (I also remember the homemade elviss mcmuffins…real cheddar, English muffins, egg…my absolute favourite!). The husband loved them – he ate most of them in fact – and the maple walnut crunch with cinnamon was delicious! The bun recipe was an adaptation of The Pioneer Woman’s but instead of the maple glaze on top I  slathered inside butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon.  It may not feel like Fall here but it sure did taste like it!
• Money. The pain was all worth it. I received word this week that the National Campaign for Education, Nepal (NCE Nepal) with whom I am working, has been approved for a rather large sum of money for this year and two more years funding contingent on success this year. It amounts to about $100,000 USD, in Nepali rupees is close to 7,769,999.69 NPR. To put this into context the majority of Nepali families in villages live on 3000-4000 NPR or less per month…this is BIG money! The proposal writing process was probably one of the most painful and exhausting times I have had here in Nepal but I couldn’t be happier that at least it was all worth it. This will be enough to hire two more staff and do some really exciting work on education advocacy including research, policy advocacy, and setting up regional advocacy networks. So, it is an exciting and wealthy time for NCE Nepal. It makes me slightly sad to be leaving and unable to see the implementation of all these great ideas. But it leaves them in a good spot…all I can do now is hope they use it effectively and ethically.
• English translation errors. Last weekend we went up to near the Tibetan border to stay at a lovely resort called Last Resort. A beautiful and peaceful place to recharge the internal battery and refocus on what is inspiring about Nepal. We enjoyed the company of good friends, good food, and adventure! But I also enjoyed this – almost more than anything…I am still chuckling about it actually. 🙂   Whoops!   Just a bit more space needed between the first 2 options and the last option, unless of course vegetarian is in fact a new gender!  And I was thinking that this would be a good submission to Engrish.