Let’s keep this short and snappy shall we?  Time has been creeping away from me lately and I find myself on a Friday afternoon facing into a weekend jam-packed with meetings, presentations, language refresher classes, and proposal reading and have just finished up a week that contained a 4-day volunteer conference with full to bursting days.  So, I am in the mood to get straight to the point – no waxing poetic or philosophizing about life in Nepal.  Just some honest-to-goodness moments of gratitude worthy of sharing and then on to enjoying this lovely Friday evening.

• Debate. Alright, I hate debate.  I loathe the strict and structured format, the polarization of opinion, and the outcome of motions “standing or falling”.  However, this week, I saw the value of debate.  It kep people quiet.  More specifically, it kept the people who talk too much quiet and gave the people who did talk a time limit.  And while I don’t find the process of debate fulfilling, I sure do like the silence it can provide.  I can think of a number of meetings where this would be helpful here in Nepal – keeps the loud ones quiet enough to here the voices that are mere whispers.
• Miracle ovens. One of the highlights for the volunteer conference was that we had a cooking demonstration session.  A group of us put together a collection of easy recipes one can make on a 2 ring gas burner or in a miracle oven.  I took the challenge and produced a chocolate cake!  Over a gas burner!  Thanks goes entirely to the magical Miracle Oven. A miracle oven is like a bundt pan that sits oven a gas flame with a lid over the top.  The centre hole in the pan allows heat to move through the centre and create an oven-like atmosphere in the bundt pan.  Amazing, but true, a perfectly moist and delicious chocolate cake was mixed and baked over one gas flame 🙂  Loaves and fishes…pshaw…chocolate cake is the true miracle!
• OR2K. One of my favourite new restaurants in Kathmandu, serving up magically delicious Israeli food.  How I did not find this months ago, I will never know, but surely am glad I found it now.  Last night we went and had falafel, hummous, baba ghanoush, a soured cream cheese dip, and a spicy tomato spread all slathered on thick and soft pieces of naan bread.  I will admit that the place is more than a little touristy but the food is so delicious it is hard to resist and the prices are reasonable.  It is hard to imagine getting jazzed up by hummous but the escape from curry was heavenly, even just for one night.  OR2K means “Light to Kathmandu” in Hebrew.
• Great chimeckiharu (neighbours).  We live in a building with great people.  We have caring landlords and even a couple of fledgling friendships with people in the building.  Yesterday, I rescued a pigeon trapped in our stairwell with the girl downstairs.  And Rex might take motorcycle lessons with the guy on the first floor.  They are good people and I am so grateful to have good people who live in such close proximity.  There should be a day every year for people to honour their neighbours…to thank them for being good and neighbourly…I think it should be May 22nd every year.  In fact, I think I will begin this year – if you want to join me cross the hall, road, or field and bring that neighbour of yours some cookies!