A love-hate relationship

Mosquitoes and I have a love-hate relationship; they love me and I hate them. As my friend Debi will tell you (and show photographic proof) when I get bitten I don't just get a little lumpy, I get a lot lumpy. So at the moment I have 11 lumps and so Jill and I have been conducting a series of experiments to see what remedies, pharmaceutical or otherwise, relieve the itching and the swelling. I have tried a Nepali pharmacy remedy called Tendrilone (I think), Anthisan, Tea Tree Oil, Clove Oil, Tiger Balm, one of those things that zap the bite with an electric charge, deodorant (suggested by a web page), and toothpaste. So far the jury is out as to whether the toothpaste, Tiger Balm or Anthisan help the most. I think it's probably too close to call, but at least I'm not itching any more and I look a little less like a close contender for the role of elephant man.

I would like to be able to say we have done all sorts of things since I last wrote, but as it's festival time (Dasain), which readers of previous blogs may remember us writing about before, there isn't much open. Also there have been two days of sacrificing and Jill, being vegetarian, hasn't been keen on going anywhere where there might be goats being beheaded. So we've pottered around quite a lot, which has been fine. It's actually nice for a change to not have to be somewhere or see someone for a few days - in previous years when not teaching we've often been rushed around here there and everywhere to do things or see people, or have been left sitting around for hours waiting for things to happen. And this being Nepali time, when they do happen it's invariably later than you expect, or even on a different day altogether.

Having looked at our calendar for the next three months this morning, we find that there are givens - people arriving / departing etc etc - but that for the rest of the time we need to get organised to see people and do things. So we're starting to let people know we're here and hopefully should meet up with some of them over the next couple of weeks. After that I will probably be going to Chitwan to the hotel site for a while, whilst Jill will be going up to Nagarkot as one of her volunteers from Oxfam is going there to either the school or the health post to help out. So nothing much, as yet, is in the calendar but we have loads of time to fill it!

I think that's all I have to say for the moment - sorry it's so boring. I will put some photos on here soon, but the computer I'm using today doesn't have a USB port (well it does but it's covered by parcel tape which I guess means that they don't want people to use it!.

Have fun and take care!
Lots of love,

Vivienne