My home life

Dear all,

First off, let me apologize for the multiple posts (I’ll be posting again tomorrow with new pics once the internet connection stops hating me). I have a lot I want to tell you all about, because so many different things have been going on but they wouldn’t make sense in one big post. So, let’s just start with a quick snapshot of life with Didi and Dai, my nepali older siblings, with whom I’ve been spending most of my time. I usually stay four or five days with them, and then a night or two at my own apartment, before I’m back at their house. I don’t think I could be half as happy here in Nepal if they hadn’t given me a home. The apartment in Ranibari is nice, but without a family in it, it’s just a space.

Anyway, let’s get to the little story I wanted to tell you. Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but this excerpt from my diary sums it up perfectly. But this is from my diary, so it’s just between us, alright? 

Oct 10th
“Well, I don’t normally start with the end of the day first, but I’m so happy in this moment, I just need to dwell for a second. Right now, I’m listening to “No End in Sight” and the only thing keeping me from singing at the top of my lungs is the beautiful baby sleeping in the other room. Although, as I’ve quickly learned, in a nepali house quiet and sleep have nothing to do with each other, and the baby is sleeping peacefully through the show the Voice of India and the sound of her mommy and papa talking over it. Right now, Didi is giggling and I can just barely hear it over my music, but still it makes me smile. Just two minutes ago, I reluctantly untangled myself from my comfy seat on the couch next to her to come in here and write. Anyway, let’s start back at the beginning and we’ll get back to here and now.

This morning, I woke up to a room full of sunshine and Jyopsi not so gently demanding a bottle from Dai. But Dai was as dutiful a father as always, and pacified her without getting Didi or I up. So I laid in bed, drifting back and forth between the sunny room and my dream world. After a bit, I rolled over to face the door, and a moment later, a pint sized boss was standing next to the bed.

“Auntie!” She practically commanded.
In my best I’m still sleeping voice, I answered “Hajur”. (the nepali way of saying “yes, I’m listening”)
“Auntie!” She tried again.
And just a smidgen louder, though with a concentrated effort to sound even more pathetic. “Hajur”
“Sutyo? (asleep?)” Even questions are royal commandments from our little queen.
“Sutyo.” I answered, barely daring to hope she’d let me be. But to my suprise, she said “la (ok)”, head wobbled (a common nepali gesture that contains entire converstations), and waddled off to bother Dai. Of course, it was only ten or 15 min before she was beside my bed again demanding I got up. By that time, I was more than happy to oblige and happily crawled out of bed and went off in search of some chores.”



Of course, not every morning starts just so adorably. Often we wake at at quarter to five to the sound of Jyopsi’s crying and I jump out of bed to try and be out the door by 5:30. My Dhimali language lessons begin at 7 am each morning, and it’s a long trek out to Jorpati, so I’m always rushing early in the morning. But I usually nap when I get back home after class and then we all settle in to our daily routines. Lately, Didi has needed some extra help with housework, so I’ve been doing a lot of tea making and dish washing, but the work makes me happy and actually makes me feel even more at home at their place. But that’s enough about the general routine. Read the next post about Dashain. It’s more exciting, I promise!

Love you all so much I can hardly stand it!