Breakfast of champions

28 June 2010                      6:31pm                 Old Baneshwor

So, the last couple of days have been pretty fun!  By the time we got to the second wedding on Saturday, the bride and groom had already left.  We didn’t stay long (I feel guilty, it was because of me), and after Kaka and Kaki dropped me off in Thamel to meet the group.  Unfortunately for me, it was at a Korean restaurant, so there wasn’t much on the menu that I would eat.  I ended up getting chicken, which was really good, and potato chips (aka French fries), which came after about 30 minutes and 5 requests for them.  That was not cool; I was super hungry.

Quite a few people left after dinner as they had curfews and didn’t want to stay in a hotel for the night (I think at that point Ashe and I were the only takers for that plan).  Those who were staying went to a building on the restaurant’s grounds where they had karaoke.  I knew that we were doing karaoke that night, but imagined it at a karaoke club, not a room with just us.  I’m kind of glad it was just us, though, because we could choose whatever songs we wanted, no matter how ridiculous (like ‘Barbie Girl’ and ‘Under the Sea’).  We ended up closing the place.  Katie, Aya, Ashe, and I then went to the Blue Horizon where Ashe had already booked a room.  He tried switching to another room, and we found out later (after we were all settled in the bigger room) that they wouldn’t let him switch rooms and charged us for both.  We were glad for that, as there was only one double and one single bed in the room.  Except, we never used the second room as Ashe snuggled right in with Katie and Aya!  We had way too much fun talking and laughing that night.

I ended up oversleeping in the morning and didn’t make it to the women’s conference with Ashmina.  I took advantage of the free morning (free until noon at least, when we had to check out) to sleep some more.  Unfortunately, I still didn’t get a warm shower.  Oh well.

Since our program didn’t start until 2pm, we hung out at Himalayan Java for awhile, to get some coffee, food, and internet.  I was a little sad that they stopped serving breakfast, so instead I got a huge chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream on top.  Oh, and a chocolate milkshake to drink.  Everyone was highly amused, and yet couldn’t believe I was actually eating that.  I just say it was delicious!  Breakfast of champions!

The five of us (Martin met us there) caught a cab to our program, packing in like sardines in the back seat.  Hooray for no traffic laws, as that definitely wouldn’t fly in most places (even China wouldn’t do it).  I was glad for it, as I had no idea where we were supposed to go.  During the ‘meeting’ most people ordered lunch, which was good as I was still hungry.  Even after the ice cream brownie.  We didn’t actually discuss much there, which was the opposite impression I got of the purpose of these things.

After lunch we walked to our final federalism lecture, which was really interesting.  One of the speakers talked about affirmative action in Nepal, which I had only had a brief introduction to previously.  I felt a little guilty I can’t remember the exact topic of the other speaker, but I swear I was paying attention!

After the lecture and subsequent Q and A, they had refreshments, where we lingered and finally discussed home stays as we were supposed to decide by then if we were moving out or not.  I think almost everyone is moving out; there were a couple of people still unsure, waiting to hear what everyone else was doing.  We asked about the possibility of apartments, which apparently will be looked into for us.

I was planning on going home after the lecture because I had told Kaka I would be home for dinner, but after Keesler said she was planning on going out for a little bit to watch the football game, I decided to stay too (as we can share a cab home).  Whoops, we all ended up staying out for the whole game to watch England get creamed by Germany, 4-1.  We went to Aqua Java Zing, which is where I got the amazing Kit Kat shake before.  I was tempted to get it again, but Kashish (who came out with us) told us to save ourselves for their dessert instead.  I’m glad I did.  Dee and I split this chocolate and vanilla ice cream confectionary mouth-orgasm.  I think we were both a little sad that we had decided to split the dessert; it was so good we both wanted more.

Kashish took Keesler and I back home in Ashok’s car, which made it nice not to have to worry about cabs for once.  On the way home Kaka called, so I assured him that I was on the way.  It was after 10pm, so I wasn’t surprised.

Today was the start of another work week, actually my first full work week since I got here.  I hit the papers hard today, and decided to skip some days in order to get through the whole time period in enough time to finish my report.  I still have to figure out interview questions as well as finish my Terms of Reference.  I’ve got a lot to do, and hopefully I’ll be able to get it all done at home (as I have no time at work).

When I got home I got to play with our dogs for the first time- Abu, Jimmy, and Happy.  They’re all pretty cute, but Abu is the cutest because he does ‘namaste’, where he sits on his hind legs and holds his front ones up (almost like ‘begging’, but he stays still).  It’s adorable.