My New Roommate

Dear all,
Today, I’m writing with a guilty heart. Not because I’ve done anything terribly wrong of course, only because once again, I’ve gone so long between posts. Fortunately, this time I have a more legitimate excuse; I’ve been busily preparing for a presentation I’m giving this coming Monday to overview the work I’ve done as a Fulbright scholar. Surprisingly, I’m enormously excited to talk about my work, and I’m even fairly proud of the work I’ll be sharing. I think it’s going to be a decent presentation, and I’m sorry I can’t share it with more of you. I will try, (though this does not constitute a promise) to write up a summary blog post after the presentation for those of you who may be interested. Anyway, if you’ve a moment to spare on Monday, being the good Irish girl I am, I’d appreciate any luck you send my way.



In other news, I now have a new roommate. His name is Babu (which is a term of endearment for little boys in Nepali), and he is a big, white, south Asian house cat. I “inherited” him from a friend who needed a place to put him up for a year. And fortunately, he suits me quite well. He, like me, is a bit of a traveler. He was born in Bangladesh, and traveled with a previous owner first to Cambodia, and then here to Nepal. He’ll be staying with me for this year and then he’ll be headed to Canada to be reunited with his very first owner. He’s a very particular and vocal cat, and (also like me) he gets a little cranky when things don’t go exactly his way. Fortunately, he’s also a lover, and I think he’d spend the entire day on my lap or in my arms if I’d let him. In fact, he’s at his grumpiest when I wake up from our cat nap earlier than he’d like me to. I like having him around, and I love that he slows my days down a bit and coaxes me into sitting and doing nothing on occasion rather than rushing around as I’ve been prone to do as of late.

In fact, life has been very hectic, and looks as if it is only going to get more so. Soon I’ll be starting Nepali classes at a local college here, and then I’ll also be teaching English (potentially as many as five classes a day). And of course, I’ll still need to find time to write and research, be a friend to my cat and my buffalo, an Auntie to my baby, and a younger sister to the rest of the family. It’s a little daunting but also exciting. It’s also helped to distract me from some serious hurdles I’m facing at work as of late. I’m really trying to find a better way to do my research and to structure my “research days”, but it’s a bit of an uphill battle and at times, I’ve found myself feeling decidedly dejected. Fortunately there are a slew of people who believe I have “talent” and their faith in me keeps me going. Still, I’m trying to sneak in a day or two break between the presentation and the big EVERYTHING. Ideally, I’d like to spend a day or two meditating at a nearby Buddhist monastery, but that’s still to be determined.

I’ll keep you posted. And of course, I’m sending all my love back home to you all!
me