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I keep telling myself that I’ll write more frequently, but who am I kidding? 

It’s been a busy past few weeks. After returning from In-Service Training in Kathmandu, I was back in the school for about two weeks. As I wrote in my previous update, it’s been super pleasant and peaceful here in Gorkha. But, after I had gotten settled back into my teaching routine, it was time to travel again. 

The Fourth of July was coming up, and we Americans love to celebrate our independence. I met up with a bunch of other volunteers in the city of Pokhara for a few days of vacation time. It was great to see live music and go stand-up paddleboarding on Fewa Lake! We also had a pool party, complete with my favorite July 4th playlist. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful peers. 

I’m happy that I’ve made such good friends, and that I feel positive about the social influences in my life. Pre-Service Training, back when we first got to Nepal, was pretty difficult for me. In joining the Peace Corps, my social anxiety and the fear of peer rejection followed me across oceans, unfortunately. For months, this was exacerbated by a brutal training schedule, the formation of friend groups, adjusting to a new culture, and processing the difficult emotions associated with moving away from home for the first time. To be honest, the most difficult part of my initial few months was navigating the new social scene. 

Thankfully, this has changed. The stress and chaos of our first few months has faded, and as we all grow more comfortable in our new roles, connections abound. After months of knowing each other, we are forging strong friendships. If I’m having a bad day, I can call a friend and giggle about ridiculous jokes shared in our cohort group chat. If I’m having trouble with a Nepali grammar concept, I can reach out to an older volunteer and learn from their two years of experience. If I’m feeling lonely, I can bus into the district center and talk with the others in Gorkha over a latte. My fellow volunteers aren’t just other Peace Corps people; they’re my friends. 

That digression aside, I returned to site two weeks ago. I donned my bright pink kurta and went back to teaching. I love my job; the kids are wonderful and for the most part, my fellow teachers are receptive to what I have to contribute. 

That said, it’s quite tiring to be around people for seven hours a day, six days a week. I’m grateful that so many kids and people in my community are interested in being around me, but at the same time, I don’t often get enough alone time. When it comes to balancing the solitude I require and my duties in the community, I’m still figuring it out. I’m working on my vocabulary to set boundaries, such as malaai eklaai chodidinus, or “I want to be alone.” 

 Monsoon season has technically begun, but the heavy torrential rain has yet to arrive. The high humidity, on the other hand, is in full swing. I can deal with the heat and wildfire smoke of Idaho summers, but humidity is a whole new beast. This is exacerbated by the Nepali female clothing standards to cover most of your body, save for face, hands and forearms, and the occasional ankle. This is the first time in my life I’ve regretted that most of my closet consists of black clothes. 

So much has happened this past month. Most notably, I travelled to Kathmandu for two weeks and stayed in the hospital for 6 days. I was sick with a super bad kidney E.coli infection--don’t be too jealous. Naturally, the day that I fell sick was the day that schools across Nepal opened. In addition to being bedridden with a 104*F fever and abdominal pain, I missed the first few weeks of the school year. 

Despite being ill, I’m doing well now. The Peace Corps Medical Office (PCMO) took incredible care of me, and so did the hospital staff in Kathmandu. It was a little scary, being sick and navigating a new travel system alone for the first time in Nepal. Prior to the official diagnosis, I was afraid that I was really sick, and that I would end up being sent home before my volunteer work could truly begin. It was a bit overwhelming, going from the slow-paced rural farm life in Gorkha to the bustling, loud, smoggy hub that is Kathmandu. 

But like I said, the PCMO knew what they were doing. I was promptly administered tests, blood work, and exams. After my fever got quite high, one of the Peace Corps doctors arranged for me to be admitted into the hospital for an overnight evaluation, which turned into 6 days of observation. I’m lucky to say that the most uncomfortable parts of my experience were the many arm insertions of the IV needle, and the frequent fever chills. That, and the slight emotional turmoil resulting in quite a few tears.

In addition to the diagnosis of E.coli and acute right pyelonephritis without pyuria (aka a bacterial kidney infection), the medical testing also revealed that I had developed three abdominal cysts. Yay. After the discovery of the cysts, my panic and fear grew. After further testing and ultrasounds, the hospital and Peace Corps medical team was able to come to a diagnostic conclusion that the cysts were harmless. I’ll spare you most details, but all are small and should go away within a month or two. After this revelation, my tears were brought on by relief. 

I will say, the hospital itself was pretty nice. I had a comfortable bed, air conditioning, hot water, a TV stocked with American movies, and incredible meals. The nurses, doctors, and other staff members were so sweet and skilled at their jobs. The hospital pajamas were also super comfortable, which was great because I only brought one outfit. I used my free time to catch up with friends from back home, check in with my family, and message other volunteers. I’m grateful to have such a strong support system, both within Nepal and back in the States. 

After receiving treatment and starting on antibiotics, I was able to leave the hospital and stay in a  hotel for a few days in Kathmandu. It was nice to have time to rest and sleep without my vitals being measured every hour. I was able to see a few other volunteers, too. It was a comfort to share our experiences at our sites so far, and to see familiar faces. I enjoyed learning about the day to day of the agriculture volunteers (lots of beekeeping!) and hearing about how other volunteers’ communities have been reacting to the new resident Americans.

After nearly two weeks in Kathmandu (and approximately 25 mosquito bites) I returned to my site in Gorkha. It was a long but pleasant drive, about 7 hours long. 

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I’m coming back to this post after a week; and what a week it’s been! I’ve been teaching at my school, and absolutely love it. 

I am consistently teaching 4th and 7th grade English classes, and have occasionally filled in for absent teachers in grades 2, 6, 9, and 10. Thankfully, my largest class has 15 students, and my smallest class has 5 students. During the day, I have a good balance of teaching periods and breaks for lesson planning. It’s pretty mellow.

The school is wonderful! The students and teachers at my school have all been welcoming, and I feel like I am integrating well. I have helped a few other teachers to develop teaching materials, such as flash cards or sentence posters. My fellow teachers are quite kind, and are very receptive to my ideas and methods of teaching. The students are enjoying the games and activities to make learning more engaging. I’ve been helping to start the school vegetable garden, and have played volleyball and soccer with students during breaks. Some of the girls will bring me flowers for my hair, and I’ve been practicing my Nepali with the students and teachers. 

I can’t overstate how happy I am. It is so rewarding and fun to work in the school, and I feel like I am integrating well into my community. I love working with kids, and the opportunity to help them learn has been well worth the bright pink uniform I am required to wear. My village is beautiful. The plants are flourishing with the frequent rains, but there are still days of sunshine as it’s not yet the monsoon season. Crops are growing, namely corn, beans, and pumpkins. Flowers bloom, including soft pink crocuses and bright red hibiscuses. 

I am in school from Saturday to Friday, as the Nepali schedule has only one day off (Saturday). School is from 9:30am until 4pm, with Friday being an early release day. The school provides both teachers and students lunch, called tiffin (a British English term). Usually, the food is a chickpea curry dish, and fried savory bread called roti. It’s delicious. 

In my free time, I’ve been learning guitar! I’ve also been reading, writing, video chatting with my family, studying Nepali, making slow progress on my shelf project, doing laundry, or just wandering around my village. Sometimes on days off I’ll meet up with other volunteers in our district’s biggest city, which is always nice. We’ll typically just catch up, do some shopping, and grab some food. 

In a few days, my entire cohort will be meeting up for our first In-Service Training (IST). This is essentially a two-week long boot camp, in which we are trained on sector-specific topics. For us Education volunteers, this means we’ll have six days of 8am to 5pm trainings about teaching and school things. Agriculture and Environment volunteers will do the same, but with visits to farms and agricultural centers. Now that we’ve all been at our site for a while and have had a taste of the next two years, we’ll be able to bring questions and experience to our respective sessions. It will be great to see everyone again, and to explore the city with friends! To be honest, after being away from my village already this month, I’m not quite ready to leave for another two weeks. Nonetheless, I’m excited!

All in all, I’m doing well and feeling healthy. I’m still in disbelief that this is my life. This is especially true when the clouds break and reveal the Himalayas beyond distant hills, or when I am able to successfully tell a joke to my host amma in Nepali. My heart is full of joy, despite the unrelenting itch of my mosquito bites. 

I’m pretty sure this has been the busiest two weeks of my entire life. In an effort to simplify things, I resort to bullet points. 

Between the last time I wrote and today:

• I said goodbye to my host family in the Kavre District, with a lovely ceremony in which my peers and I danced and sang traditional Nepali songs. It was sad saying goodbye to the family who welcomed me into Nepal, and there were tears all around as I walked away from their house towards the next step of this process. 

• We all travelled into Kathmandu, where we stayed for nearly a week. It was so much fun seeing the city, and it was incredible to spend quality time with new friends. 

• We toured the Peace Corps Office.

• I played ping pong at the Peace Corps Office.

• We swore in at the American Embassy, and met the Ambassador to Nepal.

• I got attacked by a monkey at the “Monkey Stupa,” an aptly nicknamed UNESCO World Heritage site. It jumped at me out of the blue; thankfully no scratches or bites, but I am emotionally scarred. I also was able to talk with a mandala artist, see Buddhist monks in action, witness a fight between monkeys, see an incredible (yet smoggy) view of Kathmandu, and successfully haggle for a taxi. 

• I saw the beautiful Dunbar Square, and avoided paying the tourist fee because I spoke Nepali. 

• I familiarized myself with Thamel, the most touristy area of Kathmandu. It was interesting to see how the presence or lack of tourists altered certain parts of the city. My friends and I had a few great conversations with a wide array of people, including a German architect, an expat from Virginia, and a bartender from Australia. 

• We officially swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers, marking the end of our training and the beginning of our service! 

• I strengthened and built valuable connections with so many of my peers. This made it all the more difficult to say goodbye when we all split ways for our own respective districts. 

• I got carsick on the drive from Kathmandu into the Gorkha District. No surprise there. 

• We drove on mountain roads that made the road to Bogus look like a cakewalk. We’re talking a road of dirt and rock with steep edges barely wide enough for 1.5 vehicles at a time, in a bus with inconsistent AC. We made it safely, though! After the road had calmed, the drive itself was stunning. It was through steep mountains and above whitewater rivers, and we were able to stop in a place without much air pollution. The breeze smelled like bonfires and sagebrush, and it was a lovely comfort. The Gorkha district does remind me of Idaho, specifically in the pine tree-clad mountains in August when there are wildfires. In Nepal, this time of year is quite bad when it comes to smoke and smog, so unfortunately no Himalaya views.

• I arrived in the district’s main city for a few days of training with my three Gorkha peers and a few staff members. The hotel where we stayed had a rooftop pool, which made me feel absolutely spoiled. It was great to swim some laps and spend some nice bonding time with the Gorkha Gang. 

• We met a few current volunteers in the district. One of them came to the hotel to meet us, and another coincidentally scheduled a vacation which overlapped with our arrival. They gave us some helpful advice about what awaited us at our sites, and we all debriefed our experience of pre-service training. 

• I spent time with my teacher counterpart and my new host mother during an introductory Peace Corps training session. We spent a day doing icebreaker activities, reviewing safety protocols, and establishing community expectations, among other things. 

• I also ate three incredible chicken burgers three nights in a row. The hotel kitchen staff needs to be awarded a Michelin star, stat. 

• I then said goodbye to my friends and the Peace Corps staff members, and departed for my site. I knew I would see everyone again shortly, but to acknowledge the true end of training was sad. I was excited as I loaded my things into the Jeep, and hope swelled in my chest as I hopped into the passenger seat. 

• The car ride to my site was under two hours, thankfully, and my host mother was in the backseat. The road began paved, but shortly the asphalt gave way to dirt and rock. As I said earlier, the roads are no joke. It’s a miracle that the bumpy ride on steep cliffs, narrow roads, and crazy inclines didn’t make me get motion sick. 

• The scenery was stunning. With my favorite new Nepali songs playing through my earbuds, I watched the jungle drift by. Tropical deciduous trees with dust-coated leaves mingled with pine trees, and I found myself admiring the branches for their climbing potential. As we drove, steep valleys descended to our left at a nearly 90 degree incline, and rust-colored rock faces dotted with ferns enclosed the road on the right. Mountains rose and fell around us; emerald ocean waves with the road twisting like an eel amid the current. 

• At one point, my host mother asked me “Tapaailaai Dar lagyo?” which means, “Are you scared?” I stopped to think for a moment, and answered that yes, I was scared, but I was also excited. (Malaai Dar aagyo chha, tara malaai utsahit aagyo pani chaa.)

• As the drive continued, I found that the excitement in my chest became overshadowed by the fear. For the first time since joining the Peace Corps, I truly wondered if I had made a mistake. It’s one thing to spend months mentally preparing, doing research, and going through extensive training; it’s another thing entirely to see it tangibly with your own eyes. 

• I thought of how remote I would be, how I would be isolated from my peers, and separated from all that I have ever known. I doubted my abilities, and questioned my competence. I’ve never even lived outside Boise, I found myself thinking, so why the **** did I move halfway around the world?

• The Jeep stopped, and I found myself confused. Where was the house I had seen in the pictures? Turns out, it was on top of the hill we were parked beneath. Under the hot Nepali sun my host mother, some neighborhood kids, and I lugged my things uphill to the house.

• We made a few trips, and my exhaustion grew. I wanted to unpack, talk to my host family, and simultaneously sleep for an entire day. Slowly but surely, I unpacked and began to set up my room. I wanted alone time to pause and process, but naturally, that was not the case. I was the new resident in the village, and many people were curious about me. Neighbors came and went as my host family watched me unpack, some older women even watching me through my window. I felt like a zoo animal, but I smiled and chatted anyway. 

• Eventually, the Nepali community lost interest in my riveting unpacking showcase. I set up my bed, explained to my host mother that I was feeling very tired, then promptly slept for hours. 

• It was pretty difficult those first few days, so I took it easy. I caught up on sleep, organized my new room (which is painted neon pink, by the way), and did my best to chat with my new host family using my elementary Nepali language skills. 

• I had a massive case of metaphorical whiplash. After months of preparation to move to Nepal, and more months of the hectic pre-service training schedule, all of a sudden, the momentum just stopped. I was finally at site, and moved into my new house in the small village. Everything I had been working towards was now my reality, and it was overwhelming. 

• I will admit, I did cry a few times. I missed Boise, I missed my family, I missed my friends, I missed my pets, I missed skiing, and I missed the Greenbelt. I missed pre-service training, I missed my new friends, I missed early morning language classes, I missed the bustle of Kathmandu, I missed the boring lectures about how to design English language writing assignments. And I missed ridiculous little things, like singing aloud in my car, a nice hot hazelnut latte, and my Doc Marten combat boots. 

• Despite the strong sense of overwhelm, I knew that with time, things would get easier. I took a few days to rest and process, and acclimatized to the slower pace of rural life in the Nepali mid-hills. 

This is a pretty long post, so I’ll call it finished here. I’m doing well now and absolutely loving it here now that I've taken time to adjust. Soon I’ll elaborate on my village, my new house and host family, and what happens next.  The good news is, now I have a lot more time to write.

Sending love!

Wow! I’ve already been in Nepal for a month. With how busy I’ve been, time has quickly flown by. I haven’t had time to write, so please forgive my lack of updates. I also hadn't realized that after writing a post, I needed to click the publish button-- oops. That said, I’m doing well and loving it here in the Kavre District. My approximate daily schedule is as follows, as many of you have been curious. 

Around 6:30 am, I wake up beneath a mosquito net. It’s not yet mosquito season, but I prefer to be safe, just in case. Plus, there are some gnarly spiders around. Most mornings I will wake up feeling well-rested, despite the firm mattress. I’ll get ready for the day, then have chiyaa (tea) and a light snack prepared by my host family. My host pariwaar (family) are absolutely wonderful. They are kind, caring people who are spoiling me as their guest. They are just as eager to learn about me, American culture, and the English language, as I am to learn about them and the Nepali culture and bhaasa (language).

At 7:30, I go next door for Nepali language class. There are four of us in the group, with one language and culture facilitator to teach us Nepali and help us understand the culture. All of us in the cohort recently had a Language Proficiency Interview, in which a trained staff member gauges how well we’re doing (so far) after a conversation in Nepali. Good news: I passed with an Intermediate Low. I’ve been studying and practicing Nepali as often as I can. But, I know that time will help me to become more proficient, so malaai pir laageko chaina (I am not worried)!

After language class, around 9:30, I return home and have breakfast with my host sisters. Every meal is dal bhaat ra tarkaari, a lentil and rice dish with vegetables. In the mornings I’ll receive a fried or hard boiled egg for protein, and in the evenings often we’ll have chicken. If you think I’d be bored of dal bhaat after a month of eating it multiple times daily; you’d be wrong! The vegetables are usually aalu (potatoes) and kauli (cauliflower), since they are in season, but there’s a wide variety in the rotation. This includes saag (cooked leafy greens), chyaau (mushrooms), or tomaTar (tomatoes), to name a few. My host sisters and host mother vary the spices and main flavors often. Each meal has a different combination of sauces, chutneys, and spicy aachar (pickled sauce). I’ve enjoyed trying all the new intricacies of a seemingly straightforward meal. 

Next, around 10 to 10:30, I will either head to the school where I am practice teaching, or I will walk into the main town for Peace Corps/Education related class sessions with my peers. It switches every other week; this week, I have been teaching a 6th class (grade) with about 22 students, between 11 to 14 years old. We’ve been learning about past tense verbs, and I have been becoming more confident every day in the classroom! I look forward to being at my permanent site in the Gorkha District, where I’ll be able to make meaningful, long-term connections with the students and the community. 

Then, after I practice teach, I walk from the school into the main town. The walk is about 50 minutes, on a dirt road through fields, houses, and small shops. It’s a nice walk, except for the chaotic buses, motorbikes, or cars rushing within a foot of me as I walk. Definitely something I am still getting used to. The traffic is worse on the main streets in the big town; there isn’t enough room for pedestrians and vehicles on both sides of the small road. Yet, there are seemingly always two big trucks and a throng of people simultaneously crammed between the buildings. You need to be super aware while walking anywhere; for the sake of my family, I won’t share the number of times I’ve almost been hit.

On days when I do not practice teach, I go directly into town around 10:30 am. The walk from my house into town is about 25 minutes, on dirt paths through potato fields. It’s a nice walk, and a good opportunity to either cherish my alone time, or to call my family. 

After my walk, I will arrive at the main site where us Education volunteers meet. The exact time depends on whether I am practice teaching prior (when I arrive around 1pm) or near 11am (when we have a class session). When I get to the collective meeting site, the Education sector volunteers meet together to learn about educational topics, such as lesson planning, integrating learning with fun activities, and teaching English in an engaging way. Often, we also meld with the Agriculture and Environment sectors to have sessions about country and Peace Corps specific topics, including personal safety, cultural adjustment, and volunteer expectations. Overall, we are being prepared well, which I’m really grateful for. Believe it or not, it can be a bit scary to move across the world into an unfamiliar culture. The more training we receive, the better. And, with the group’s constant proximity, we are developing close friendships. 

Around 5pm the class session finishes, leaving us trainees to our long-awaited free time. Some days, I will get food with my peers; my favorites are chicken chow mein and buff mo-mo (Nepali buffalo dumplings). It’s always nice to debrief after a long day, and to chat with the awesome people around me. 

Other days, I’ll take some time to myself at a local tea shop. I’ll study Nepali, plan tomorrow’s lesson, journal, or read. Currently, I’m reading The Odyssey, and a book about Buddhism and Hinduism in Nepal. Both have been super interesting; non-fiction is great to teach me more about the religions here, and despite my love for ancient cultures, I have yet to read Homer’s epic. I’m a pretty introverted person, so alone time is key to regaining energy.

Then, I return home to spend time with my host family. The walk home is quite peaceful, and it’s nice to have dedicated time to simply walk and observe this new world around me. After I get back to our agricultural village, I’ll sit with my family on the rooftop terrace, soaking up the last rays of sun before saajha (sunset) around 5:45. We’ll chat and I’ll work on my Nepali skills, learning new words and attempting coherent conjugations. Often the kids from next door will come over to practice their English skills with me, which is always fun. There are three neighborhood stray birralo (cats) who will visit us and beg for chicken scraps. They’re young gray fluff balls with good manners; thankfully, none of the cats care too much when my host sister’s toddler son tries to grab their tails. 

Around 8 pm, we’ll have dinner. It took a bit of time to get used to eating so late, but now it’s a nice way to end the day. We’ll have dal bhaat, vegetables, and usually delicious chicken or fried bread too. As I said, I’m loving the food here, but I am starting to miss pizza. It’s also been fun to eat with my hands, and helpful in eating mindfully and intentionally. Next time you eat rice, I highly encourage you to eat without utensils; just don’t forget to wash your hands first!

Following dinner, I’ll get ready for bed. I’m pretty tired after such a full day, so my bedtime has been around 8:30. I fall asleep easily, and it’s pleasant when my friends and family from home sometimes greet me in my dreams. 

With that, I’m sure you can understand why it can be challenging to find time to write. For context, to write and quickly edit this post has taken me about 2 hours. The Nepali work week is 6 days long, so the only day off we have is on Saturdays. But, with free time comes hand washing laundry, calling friends and family, studying the language, and reading teaching resources. Or, if I’m up for an adventure, I’ll go with friends into a nearby big town for shopping, or a hike to a hilltop monastery. Pre-Service Training is an incredibly busy time; I can’t believe we’re already 5 weeks in. That’s halfway! I look forward to having more free time at my permanent site in the Gorkha District, but I sure will miss seeing my new friends and my current host family every day. 

Despite the busy schedule, I’m enjoying every moment. I miss you guys, and I’ll write again soon! 

The past few days have been such a whirlwind!

As I write, I sit in a sunny courtyard at our training center and hostel in the Kathmandu District. The air is warm and smells of curry, as the outdoor tables are near the canteen. Beyond the fence and across the alley is a school, and the children shriek and laugh as they play outside and await the end of the school day. Birds chirp and engines hum, and the clang of pots and pans from the kitchen drift by on the soft breeze. I am feeling great and in good health, which is more than half of my cohort can say. 

Unfortunately, a bout of food poisoning has been winding its way through my fellow trainees. We have no idea what is causing the diarrhea, vomiting, chills, and fatigue, but it may have something to do with the lack of filtered water in the sink and shower pipes; that, or a not fully cooked dish that has been prepared for us. According to the Nepal country director, this is an unprecedented bout of food poisoning, the likes of which has not been seen before during pre-service training. Just bad luck for our group, I suppose. When it comes to gastrointestinal issues, the question is when, not if. 

The mass food poisoning aside, it is beautiful here. I am bursting with joy at each moment that unfolds before me. This includes:

• Seeing the Himalayas after a particularly rough plane ride, and being awestruck at the grandeur and beauty of the mountains. Traveling for over a day with minimal sleep was rough on us all, and at the time I had a throbbing headache, but catching a glimpse of the massive, snow-capped mountains made it all worth it. We did it, I thought as tears snuck their way into my weary eyes. We made it to Nepal. I'm really here!

• Being adorned by scarves at the airport, and marigold garlands at the training center by excited and welcoming Peace Corps staff members. They put so much preparation into us joining them in Nepal, and I was so surprised to be met with so much honor! The Peace Corps has a well-respected reputation in Nepal, and it was evident in the care and excitement us volunteers received.

• The shock of a freezing cold shower, and the flood of dopamine afterwards. I’ll definitely need to get used to the brisk water, and it makes me so grateful for the years of steaming hot water in Boise. Shower shoes are a necessity, so thanks to my mom for the Christmas flip-flops!

• Learning more about my fellow trainees. I am in constant awe when I learn something new about one of my peers, and so grateful to be in such good company. I’ve had conversations with an anthropologist about his wildlife photography hobby, discussions with a dual citizen Brit-American about Russian literature, and deep dives about free diving with a volunteer who has extended her time in the PC after serving 27 months in the Philippines! 

• Extensive lessons including Nepal safety customs, beginner phrases to communicate, Peace Corps core expectations, medical protocols, water filtration techniques, and haggling tips. The schedule is packed with various lessons to prepare us for anything and everything we may face while doing our work in Nepal. Because the Peace Corps has been working in Nepal for 63 years, they have the pre-service training, volunteer policies, and support services well-established. 

I’m feeling good, and overall feeling quite positive. I’m feeling more capable as I remind myself of my qualifications, and as I connect more with my fellow trainees. It’s quite comforting to know that many of us are feeling out of our depths with imposter syndrome, have doubted whether or not we can truly do this, or have gotten frustrated because they did not become fluent in Nepali in two days. My cohort is incredible.

A few hours after starting this post, the dozen of us who have not yet been sick are currently trying to deduce what caused the illness. We count down the minutes until dinner, and we will ensure that we wash our hands thoroughly and be mindful of what we eat. We have a half day tomorrow so that everyone can recover; I look forward to spending time journaling, studying my Nepali flashcards, and playing soccer. Earlier today, I successfully haggled and bought a soccer ball from a local shop with my rupee adjustment allowance, which is a big win. A good number of people in the cohort have played soccer in the past, so I look forward to a good scrimmage once we all are feeling healthy. 

 A reminder that if you’d like to message me, I am available on Whatsapp. I’ve transferred to a Nepali number, so my American number may not work well to receive texts. I am so grateful for the kind messages from my family and friends! Your support has been wonderful, and I appreciate the long-distance love.