Gorkha, Continued

My first sentence is an apology: I am typing this on my tablet, so there will be many typos and no pictures. I am inexcusably behind in my blogging, so forgive me for that too.

A recap: on Friday afternoon, Ellen and I walked to the Bazaar so that we could take a bus to Emily's house.

The evening was relaxing. Lisa showed up with playing cards and biscuits, and we had our best impersonation of an American sleepover - four ETAs, and three of Emily's host sisters. And then (no offense Emily, if you're reading this) I slept on the worst bed I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Nepali beds are different than those in America: instead of a mattress, there is a thin pad over wooden boards. And with this one, the floor would have been more comfortable.

And the pillow? The pillow was thin to the point of inexistence. I dumped my laundry on the bed and slept on that instead.

Day 4 - Emily's House

The next day was Emily's birthday! We woke up early, and tried to watch her didi's (older sister) wedding video (looooooong slide show), but then the power went out. I was so disappointed.

The 4 ETAs took a very pleasant walk to an army pension camp, where we got a spectacular view of the valley. Also, they had shi-tzu curtains - Emily's favorite dog. Back at her house, we made momos with her family. The sauce was so spicy it made one of us cry (not me for once). The only food that made me cry was the goat meat I tried and failed to eat.

There was a bit of a time crunch around cake cutting time, which was accentuated by Emily's sister trying to cut the square cake like it was round. Ellen and I scarfed down our portions and ran to catch a bus to the Bazaar. We waited for so long that Emily and Lisa, who stayed to celebrate some more, caught the same bus we did.

In the Bazaar we parted ways: Ellen to get village, and us three to Emily's co teacher's house, where I was served the first cup of sugarless tea I have had in Nepal. But Emily needed to Skype her parents, and the house had no Wi-Fi! We agreed to an epic quest, and took an arduous journey...across the street. We ended up in the house that ETA Kelly lived in last year, and boy, did that roof have the best view of the sunset.

Day 5 - Emily's House

After Lisa left in the morning (which I don't remember, because I was blissfully asleep in a new bed), I headed to school with Emily. She teaches at a tiny primary school with maybe 60 students, and give teachers. The kids were adorable, but boy, do Emily and her co-teacher have their work cut out for them. Most of the kids had nothing to eat for lunch, so Emily and I gave them ours. The highlight of the day was when I spontaneously tried to reach class 5 when I realized, during a trip to the loo, that they had no teacher.

Luckily, Emily rescued me with her guitar, and we sang Coldplay with them.

And when we got home, we spent 4 and a half hours working on trimming Emily's résumé from two pages to one. She has a lot of admirable achievements, so it wasn't easy.

Day 6 - End of Stay at Emily's

The next day at school, we did not share our lunch, because Emily's aamaa made us the puffed-rice equivalent of kettle corn. It was delicious.

The school day had highs and lows. The worst low was watching a boy get beat up by other students, and hearing one of the teachers justify it by saying he's an orphan. I can't remember the last time someone made me so angry.

The highs included things like dedicating my day to try and make one beautiful blue-eyed child smile, and teaching the honorable game of capture the flag.  Emily let me play. I showed no mercy. Then we all danced to "Gangnam Style," which is still relevant over here.

Stay tuned next time for my story of my stay at Lisa's, which was the longest of all.