10/30/2013

Northfield

This cute little turtle lives at his namesake, the restaurant Northfield.
Leya gave him some banana and when he was full he slowly tried to escape.

10/29/2013

Escape

Yesterday we had to escape from our house.
Our closest neighbors were singing around the clock and it was like torture for us.
They will keep on singing until Friday, so we packed our bags and moved to a hotel in Thamel, the tourist area.
What a relief!
Here you can see the decorations on the neighbor's house and all shoes outside.

10/28/2013

Boudhanath

Today we went to see the buddhist stupa Boudhanath.

10/26/2013

Nagarkot and film shoot

Yesterday afternoon we took a taxi up to the small village Nagarkot, 28 km or 2 hours, from Kathmandu.
Today we had planned to record the Prana nail mat promotion video for Asianet and we had hoped for clear weather so we could film the snowy mountains.
Read about Prana nail mat here.
My mom took this beautiful photo during the two second sun rise at 6 am.
But ... the clouds were thick and heavy today. Otherwise the weather was fine, so we are happy about the film shoot anyway.
I'm explaining about the Prana nail mat and Nicholas is demonstrating how it works.
My mother-in-law, Leya and my mom were also a part of the video.

10/25/2013

Washing clothes

My mom did laundry today. Swedish/Nepali style.

10/24/2013

Our dear moms

They finally came! My mom and my mother-in-law.
A few tears of happiness fell down our cheeks.
It's been more than a year since we saw them in Sweden the last time. See a film from the airport here.

Soon!

In just four hours our mothers will land on Kathmandu airport.
So exciting! We haven't seen them since we were in Sweden more than a year ago.

10/22/2013

Basketball

Leya plays basketball every Friday at school and she wanted to practice on her free time too, so we bought her her own basketball.
I went with her to the school yard and played and WOW! It was so much fun!
I played basketball when I was young and I still had some moves I thought was long gone.
A perfect way to exercise, but I think I have to buy my own ball. I really don't have the patience to sit and wait for my turn.

10/21/2013

Dashain swing

All over Nepal you can see these bamboo swings during the Dashain festival.
I've borrowed information from the site "We All Nepali":
"Swings made up of bamboo and coconut rope is swinging all across the nation. There is a tradition to swing at least once in this festival. People say if you leave the ground swinging in Dashain, the swing will take away ill feelings and replace it with new and rejuvenation inside oneself. Kit flying is another attraction for youth."
Yesterday Leya tried a swing in our neighborhood and she laughed so much. Watch it here.

10/20/2013

Investment

Today we made a few investments to the kitchen.
Two moms incoming on Thursday so we just had to buy an oven, a coffee maker and a toaster.
Can't wait to make a potatoe gratain with lots of garlic. Yummy!

10/19/2013

Meat

Going to the butcher buying this fresh piece of pork feels great.
Then having a husband making the dinner is even better.

10/18/2013

She is back!

Waiting

Waiting for sweet little Leya to come home!
They said they would come at 5 pm and now it's 9.30 pm and they haven't reached Kathmandu yet. She must be really tired after this long bus trip.
Our friend and taxi owner Prem, living close to where they arrive with the bus, will drive her home.
Can't wait to hug my little girl!
This crazy photo was taken last summer when we were in Sweden visiting family and friends.

10/16/2013

Puppies

Warning! Cute puppies in the house!
I had no idea dalmatian were born without the spots. Apparently they will appear in few weeks.
I'll keep you updated.

10/15/2013

Toothpaste

Today I got a message from my sweet mom asking if there is fluoride in the toothpaste here in Nepal.
My mom is so cute!
I couldn't help myself. I just had to take a photo of the toothpaste aisle in the supermarket.
So yes, mom! There is fluoride in the toothpaste here too.

10/14/2013

Tikka day

Today, the 10:th day, is the most important day during Dashain festival.
Our landlords invited us to get the religious symbol tikka, a red paste with rice, put in the forehead.
Watch when Nicholas gets his tikka here.
The grass behind his ear is very important in Nepalese culture.
Here are we together with our landlords. Tikka, very spicy food and homemade rice wine was on the menu.
This is a typical Nepalese festival meal, served on a banana leaf plate.
They've even put things in the street to celebrate.

10/13/2013

Gonzalo

Gonzalo in Argentina finally received the prayer malas he ordered from us.
The only way to send something to Argentina is via post and the post system is not very reliable nowadays.
It was only thanks to a detective postman Gonzalo was able to get his parcel.
The post system is so overwhelmed with parcels that they tamper with the addresses in hope to keep the goods if no one claims it within a month.
Gonzalo was lucky to have a honest, hard working postman in his area.
He loves his new skull mala.

10/12/2013

Breakfast

No kids in the house, so I had icecream, fruit cocktail and chocolate sauce for breakfast. Yummy!
Leya called and said she is having lots of fun. Apparently they are sleeping in a small house in the yard where they climb up to a loft on a ladder.
Exciting for her!

10/11/2013

Village

Like thousands and thousands of other Nepalese people Leya went to a village today. It's Eva's dad's home village.
I have no clue what the village is called, but I've spoken to her and they have arrived safely.
Our little pincess will be gone for a whole week. We will miss her so much, but we let her go since she loves spending time with Eva, her little sister.
See the video from when they left our house here.
Our cute little girls!

10/10/2013

Whistling garbage men

The garbage men in Nepal blows a whistle when they come down the street. It's very annoying and I will forever think about garbage when I hear a whistle.
After the whistler a truck is coming to pick up the garbage we have put out in the street.
There is no schedule. Sometimes they come twice a week, somtimes they come every other week, but before this holiday they came EVERY day. Why, you might wonder.
Maybe it's because they are going to their villages and not come back in a few weeks, so they sort of picked up the future garbage in advance.
Or maybe they are obliged to run the garbage round a special number of times each year and to keep the contract they run it extra many times before they go.
Well, either way it doesn't help us.

10/09/2013

Happy Dashain

We are in the middle of the 15 days festival Dashain and on Friday Nepal closes down for about a week.
You could say this festival is like our Christmas. People go back home to their villages to meet with family and friends.
For many people it takes one whole day to go to the village and one day to come back, so no wonder they need at least a week to celebrate.
On Saturday we will stay indoors because during that day they will kill a lot of animals for the blood thirsty Goddess Kali.
I wish they'd stop these insane animal ritual killings on the town squares.
Read more about Dashain here.

10/08/2013

Autumn greeting

My mom sent this beautiful photo of my dad's horse Royal.
Sweden is so beautiful right now.

10/05/2013

Photographer

Maybe Leya will be a photographer when she grows up.
I love this photo. She really managed to capture the yellow, vibrant colors of the flowers against the brick wall.
Obs! Photoshop hasn't been near this photo. Naturellement!

10/04/2013

Dogs

I really, really love dogs!
Every day I boil meat to our darlings and every third day I go and buy left over meat at the local butcher.
Next to the butcher lives one dad dog, one mom dog and three grown up puppies.
The dad and one of the puppies, with one ear split in the middle so it looks like she has two flapping ears on one side, love when I give them some special attention while I'm waiting for the butcher to chop whatever she has in her freezer.

10/03/2013

Homework

Nepal's most important holiday, Dashain, is coming up and the kids are free from school for two weeks.
But they are not free from homework and that is insane, according to my opinion.
The kids need to be free from all type of pressure since they go to school six days a week and always have a ton of homework.

10/02/2013

Himalayan Heroes

Himalayan Heroes is our new Nepalese brand. We want to dedicate this brand to all the women and men up in the Himalayas who are struggling every day to survive.
They carry everything they need up, up, up the mountains. Food for themselves and their animals, trekking tourists's heavy backpacks and food.
They live far away from civilization, with limited material comforts. A tough life few of us would survive.
I'm making my own designed "Human with a heart" earrings to our new customers Leslie and Alain in France.

10/01/2013

Orphanage

Our neighbour house is an orphanage and we knew when we moved here that it's a Christian home.
Every day the poor kids have to get up at five and sing songs. The boys sometimes wear a t-shirt and shorts, but the girls always have a grey, full home dress.
The other day the owners of the orphanage came and it felt like we suddenly were in US and in an Amish area.
The married men have beards and the unmarried men are shaved. They are dressed exactly the same.
The women have full covering dresses and knot hair style. Not a single hair is loose.
I think I'm a rather open person, but when it comes to religious extremes I just don't understand. Regardless religion I must add.
I'm wondering how these kids will manage to live in the Nepalese society when they grow up, since they don't have any Hindu or Buddhist traditions at all.
Why do some Christians have the urge to convert people to their faith? This is one of the reasons I have problems with Christianity.
I believe in God, but I believe in my way.
I think Jesus would have been very sad if he knew how some people are misusing his name.