Sushi

So it was a weekend that didn't include us attending any cremations or riots but the Tibetans are getting feisty next door and so that's exciting. What were the Chinese thinking wanting to run the Olympic torch through Tibet? How shocked are they really that the Tibetans aren't like docile farm animals considering over a million of them have died since 1959 as a result of the occupation? Whoops! Shut off the cameras...we're starting to look like Burma! But really we don't really see much here that you don't see on the news. Even more shocking, and I mean shocking, is that we ate sushi on Saturday night. What were WE thinking? But there's a restaurant run by a Japanese couple that comes highly recommended and so four of us gave it a whirl. And no deaths yet 24 hours later. It was trippy sitting in a Japanese setting with jazz playing in the background, but a little vacation outside of the Du is nice every now and then. And on Friday night our cook Kumar made an excellent chocolate cake and so I'm secretly considering drinking a little tap water..... Oh yeah, no parasite jokes. I've heard so many stories about getting sick in the summer it's not even funny. Let's see....the Nepali language lessons are going painfully slowly (my tutor is just terrible but really, really needs the money and so of course I can never fire her) but I've pretty much taught myself to read and write. It literally takes two minutes to read a sentence but it's something. Nepali is Sanskrit-based and I start to feel all intellectual and highbrow until I realize that first-grade children read better. It's pretty humbling sounding out words like a small child. We faithfully watch American Idol with our two neighbors and occasionally do that thing where you look around and wonder how it ever came down to watching American Idol on Indian TV in Nepal. Eating popcorn and drinking vodka tonics. For my amusement I'm teaching my coworkers and boss key American phrases: we've covered "CYA" and my boss particularly likes "My fault, your problem." Whenever she complains about London I remind her that sometimes it's just not fair but they're working on the premise of "my fault, your problem" but it's not so clever when I realize that my lack of a work visa is just that. I have three months until I have to leave and have started a full PR campaign. I know they're going to pull it off but with the elections in April it may just happen that there won't be a functioning government when they get around to it. Their fault my problem. The weather is dreamy and we just had some summer clothes made at the tailor. I had forgotten about Easter because everyone here is getting geared up for a festival called Holi that involves a lot of water balloons filled with colored water (and, of course, some gods 'n stuff) but Jenrose sent an Easter egg coloring kit and so we're getting ready to add that to our American Idol party agenda. Not a bad life. xoc