Last Batch

We brewed our last beer in Kathmandu this weekend. I think we'll have to name this one Pheri Bethaula Brew, or "See You Again."  We're not leaving yet, but we're almost under the three month mark. This beer should have been completed a few weeks ago, but there were was a bug infestation in our specialty grains. Such is life as a home brewer in Kathmandu. This one is a pale ale and if it's as hoppy as I hope, I'll be happy.

Elyse and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary a few days ago with a "staycation" in the Hyatt near Boudhanath. Just one night, but their pool, food and ambiance (read "cleanliness") is more than worth it. We had dinner at The Rox, their in-house Italian restaurant.The food was expensive, but good. (It cost as much for a dinner for two as the room rate.) The most memorable part, though, was simply leaving the restaurant. Ryan, like all children in Nepal, especially Western kids, receives a lot of attention. Even though it is just a reflection of Nepali warmth and communal nature of the society, the stares, "clucks", and cheek pinches when simply passing a stranger can get old. But when we were walking out of this restaurant and the entire kitchen staff (4 cooks), two bartenders, two servers, and the manager stopped what they were doing to wave goodbye to her and blow her kisses in return I was struck again by how lovely everyone here is. When was the last time you've seen that happen in the U.S., or anywhere else? All things considered, I'm gonna miss this place.

Four Months in Review

Wait, what happened? It's May?! The last blog post was January? Holy smokes. I'm gonna have to change the blog name to Sereni-zzzzzzz.  But the Rip Van Winkle spell is over. There is much to report. So much that it will come in bullet points.

- The fam and I spent three blissful weeks in New Zealand. That place is awesome. Remind me to serve there one day. I could handle two or three years on an island with more sheep than people, good food, better wine, rock climbing and considerate drivers.

Bouldering in the sheep filled hills overlooking Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown

Ryan camping with Mt. Cook in the background

- Ryan had her first birthday in Milford Sound, New Zealand. Pretty exotic. If we'd been at home she'd have turned one in Kathmandu. Borrrinngggg.
 

Fortunately the only shop in the park had cake

Happy birthday! We got you a ferry ride through Milford Sound

 - Our truck saga (last blog entry) came to a merciful and unexpectedly positive end. We managed to sell it for a small loss. Although we're still trying to recoup our money from the jerk in the UK who sold us a bum part. Sometimes "returns accepted" apparently means something else.

- Ryan learned to walk. It was a progression, but she went from dizzy zombie to drunk chimpanzee to human toddler in just a few weeks. Somewhere in there she learned to stand up on her own. However, if music was playing sometimes she would start dancing half way up, which made her look disturbingly like an exotic dancer. I've posted video of one of her other styles in another post immediately preceding this one.


- We have less than four months left at post. We'll leave Kathmandu in the end of August. It is incredible how fast the time has gone. So I'll try to be relatively consistent with posts from here out to capture our final days in Nepal. 

Flash Dancer

P1010151 a video by ekatz on Flickr.

Dancing to her favorite music by the "gypsy punk" band Gogol Bordello.