Rain, rain, rain

A couple of days ago Nicholas said the monsun was over. Haha! Boy, was he wrong!
The night after it rained so heavy, and someone forgot to close the terrass door two stairs up from our flat, that it was a flood in our hallway.
No worries, the marble floors are great that way.
We just sweeped it donwstairs to our neighbors and then out the door.
Since then it has been raining a lot, but I'm sure they've learnt to close the door upstairs.
Apparently the monsun season is delayed two weeks, so it's possible it will be yet another rainy Dashain festival.

I'm back!

After a long time I'm back!
We had a great month in Sweden and I will, soon I hope, publish the many photos we took.
The, so called, holiday was really busy with a lot of meetings with family, friends and customers all across the country.
So when we finally returned back to Nepal I was pretty exhausted and then we had a lot of work waiting for us.
Well, now I'm back in, both physical and emotional, blog mode.
Today I'd like to share a miracle that arrived the same night we returned back to Nepal.
Suresh, my Nepalese little brother went with us to Sweden, as you all know, and his wife was very pregnant and the delivery date was set to the 10:th of September.
It was a bit risky for him to go, but this was the best chance for him to travel to Europe since it's very difficult for a Nepalese citizen to get the visa.
The same day we returned to Nepal they had a doctors appointment and everything looked fine, but a few hours later the water broke and they had to do an emergency c section and out came this beautiful little boy. Thank God, Suresh came home in time!
Welcome to the world, my little nephew!

Kathrine and Manish

The last few months I've got a new dear friend in Kathrine, a Swedish woman married to Manish, an Indian.
We are emailing each other every other day, writing about our lives and dreams. Just like the old times penpals.
I'm really looking forward to meet them both in Stockholm, where they currently live.
Here you can see the beautiful video Kathrine made to Manish to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
They are so beautiful!

Sweden here we come!

Today Suresh finally got his visa, so now we have booked the ticket for our holiday in Sweden.
I quick explanation about Suresh. He is one of our best friends here in Nepal and my little brother.
His big dream is to go to Europe and when we said we planned to go to Sweden he asked if he could come.
Of course he could, but the embassy made it difficult with all the documents, personal interview and suprise visit at his work place. But today it was worth all the hassle and he is so happy to come with us.
We are leaving for some heavy shopping in Delhi next Friday and the Monday after we are flying to Sweden via Moscow.
We will be back in Nepal the 27:th of August full of energy from the soothing Swedish nature and our moms' cooking.

Wasstuna Yoga

You are most welcome to visit one of our customers in Rimbo, Stockholm and her newly opened yoga studio.
You find more info and photos here.
She has bought these beautiful door handles from us.

Give blood

Today I ran in to the Red Cross' temporary tent on Asan square and I didn't hesitate for a second to give blood.
I use to give blood in Sweden, but when I started to travel to India I wasn't allowed to give anymore.
In this tent it was easy and quick and I sure will do it again in three months.
They are there every Wednesday and Thursday, if you are in town, willing to help.

Leya and Mansi

We've lived here for one year now and finally Leya has found a friend in the neighborhood.
Here are the new best friends Leya and Mansi.

Ayurveda

I've had headaches for 20 years and I've eaten more medicine than anyone should do.
Three weeks ago the pharmacy declared that it was shortage of my migrain medicine and I panicked. When I get the migrain attachs there is nothing that helps except this medicine.
For days at a time I stayed in bed and if you have headaches you know you're on the verge of insanity when there is nothing you can do to stop it.
By chance, or fate according to me, I happened to wander a street I've never been on before and there was this ayurveda shop.
Just a small, small shop with lots and lots of buckets and plastic bags of mysterious roots and herbs.
In the middle sat a young man and I followed my senses and sat down with him.
It turned out he was an ayurvedic "medicine man" (my words) and the knowledge has transfered down from father to son for generations.
This is Madhu. A 27 year old man with a wish for travelling, but he is stuck in his shop since he has to support his whole family.

Uptil now I've only come across shops selling readymade ayurveda medicine, but Madhu is the real deal.
I told him about the problems with my health and he said he could help me.
At that point I had nothing to loose so I told him to work his magic.
He put together about 20 different herbs and roots with strange names, most of them picked in remote places in the Himalayas.

Then his worker crushed and mixed it all in a big mortar and it was hard work for him.

This is the final powder that I mix with honey, about one teaspoon, morning and evening.

He also gave me a paste that comes from a black stone that is exposed by water, maybe from a waterfall, I can't find any information about it, and I eat a pinch of it every morning.
It's horrible, sticky and tastes like tar.

I hoped this would help, but I had no idea it would help so fast and permanent.
After five days of the daily intake I woke up and felt everything was different. No headache or heavy head since then!
It's a true miracle and I really want to share this with you.
Read more about ayurveda here.
This is ancient medicine based only on natural ingredients and Madhu makes the medicine to each individual's needs.
If you are interested in trying this, please let me know.
Maybe you are like me. You have tried the pharmaceutical options available, but it only ease your symphtoms for a while. Maybe you don't have anything to loose either.
You can eat ayurvedic medicine even if you don't have a medical condition. Just to keep your immune system intact and keep your body and mind in shape.
I can definately recommend Madhu's magic!

Rato Machhendranath festival in Patan

Last year we went to see the Rato Machhendranath chariots when it was standing on the square in Patan, but since a relative of Alina had died, and the tradition says the whole family is not allowed to celebrate anything for one year, we never saw them pull the chariots down the street.
This year we got the chance and since Alina's house is located next to the street where they pulled the chariots we had the perfect view for this intense, crowded event.
Read more about the festival here.

See more photos here.
Here you can see videos:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi is the famous democracy fighter in Myanmar, (former Burma,) who has been in house arrest for 15 years and has won the Swedish Nobel Peace prize.
Read more about this remarkable woman here.
She is in Nepal right now, for a program arranged by B P Thought Academy, named after the Nepalese political legend B P Koirala.

Yesterday we decided to go to Hyatt today and have brunch and I couldn't believe my eyes when we practically ran in to this heroine.
I was completely star struck, but I managed to click one photo.
I sure will remember this special day!
Aung San Suu Kyi is the women in the white and pink dress.

Gary

Our customer and friend Gary has come to check out Nepalese clothes for his shop.
His homebase is New York, but he lives in Cambodia, the new Thailand for expats, for tourists who wants to live the luxury life next to the beach and for backpackers who wants to live and eat cheap.
Today he went to Nagarkot, a small village in the mountains not too far from Kathmandu.

Here you can read more about Cambodia. I must confess I didn't know much about it before I met Gavin.
The beach in Cambodia looks heavenly!

Kevin

We are working with the American Kevin, who has a project where Nepalese women are making t-shirts to earn their own money.
Read more about his fine work here.

New road

Finally they are putting asphalt on the road outside our house. It's been so dusty in dry weather.

Puja in our house

We've had a puja, a religious ceremony in our house.
The landlord honored his dead father with a 24/7 loud puja, when they sang the same melody over and over again day and night.
They borrowed one of our rooms for the Brahmin priests and of course they used our toilet too.
After 32 hours we were almost insane from hearing the music and since the priests didn't know how to flush the toilet we decided to escape to a hotel.
They had transformed the drive way to a temple.

In this hole, they made for this occasion, there was a fire burning the whole week.

Here you can see and hear 2 minutes. We could take 1920 minutes before we moved.
And this is our toilet after it's been used by priests for a week. Not very nice.

New glasses

Leya needed new glasses and I must say it's not very expensive here.
Only 20 USD/150 kr to make this pretty face even prettier.

Kitty company

When I had lunch in town this little cute cat joined me for some chicken.

Before I knew it she had jumped up next to me to be closer to the food.

She took a power nap and when she realized the food was finished she trotted of to the next animal lover.

Bank account

When you open a bank account in Sweden you only have to show your id card. The banks are practically begging you to open an account in their bank.
Here it's a different story.
All the forms were in Nepali, I had to write down my father's and mother's name and passport numbers, I had write down all Nicholas indormation and even my dead grand father's name, lucky I didn't need his passport numer too, I had to write down all the contact information to our landlord, draw a map to our house and sign four times in the same page so they can compare my signs when I'm withdrawing money.
Of course this is very strange to me, but I had two heroes with me. Suresh did all the paper work and talked to the bank staff and Suresh' friend came along to recommend me as a current account holder in the bank.
Since I know all the hassle with the visa applications I didn't think I would get the account without some additional fuss, but the day after Suresh could go to the bank and pick up my check book.
In about 45 days I will get an ATM card, but before then I have to use the checks.
I remember when my parents used checks when I grew up. It feels like ages ago and getting the check book in my hand was a major flashback.
I'm so happy to have my own bank account in Nepal!
I could never have done it without these guys!

Super arm

This is an instant post directly from the bed. It's 12.31 am and everyone is sleeping.
This is my favorite time of the day when I can listen to 80's music in my head phones and surf around the web for inspiration.
The reason why I'm writing today of all days, right now, is because Nicholas just said something hilarious in his sleep.
He speaks at this time almost every night, but he usually mumbles so I can't understand a single word of what he is saying.
Tonight was a different story. He said it in Swedish, but I will translate it for you:

8 hours super arm.
You get it ever day.
8 hours super arm.
You get it from this god.
Don't you get it?
It's time to charge the arm.

The reason why I heard him through the nostalgic tunes was because he was shaking his arm frenetically while talking.
I love my husband so much! 13 years together and he can still make me laugh. Especially when he's asleep.

Happy Buddha Purnima!

Yesterday we enjoyed the kids at Leya's school's first parents day.
Leya said a few lines, she sang, played keyboard and danced.
She loved being on stage, so hopefully it wasn't the last time.
Click here to see more photos.
They were so cute!

Leya's new dress

Tomorrow it's parents day at school so Leya got a new dress and shoes.
She wanted an orange dress, but marron is also one of Buddha's "colors".
The kids are going to preform a tribute to Buddha's birthday.
We are very excited to see her first school show.
She has some lines she will say to us parents and the children will sing and dance.

Guess the plant ...

The summer has arrived in full speed. Better late than never, as some may say.
For me it's just too hot. 30 degrees more or less, but I shouldn't complain.
In Sweden I know people are longing for the summer with only 12-15 degrees today.
Can you guess what plant this is?
We've had it for a few months and when I bought it it had big red, beautiful flowers.
For awhile I almost gave up since it looked so bare and boring, but now it's starting to come alive again.

Yes, it's a Poinsettia, also known as Christmas star.
So, now you know you don't have to throw them out after Christmas.

Happy birthday Buddha!

Today it's Buddha's birthday and it's celebrated with a national holiday here in Nepal.
In Tibetan Buddhism Buddha is sometimes painted in a dark blue color, the same blue as the stone lapis lazuli.
Since the Tibetan Buddhism is a big part of Nepal you can find a lot of the blue Buddha, also known as Medicine Buddha since the lapis has a history of healing, here.

NepalSisters

Last weekend it was the last Sunday in the Nepalese month of Baishakh, so Leya and Eva were free from school both Saturday and Sunday.
We picked up Eva in Thamel and then we went to pick up Leya at school. Leya was so happy to see Eva again.
They are truly sisters and best friends.

Sunday we went to Fun Park for a fun day.

New friends who wanted to take a photo with NepalSisters.

A rat in the kitchen

Since we are trying to get my mother-in-law to move to Nepal, Nicholas didn't want me to post this picture, but I can't help myself since the ratsie was so cute.
If you are able to ignore the wormy tail, that is.
It's only the second rat we've had in this house and the first one Angel took care of like the expert rat killer she is.
We caught the rat on the kitchen counter after we've seen her run there like the speed of lightning a few times.
She apparently liked honey dipped bread and she was so cute that Leya wanted to keep her.
Well, she wasn't that cute to Nicholas and I, so I let her go on an empty field not too far from our house.
So, now she is someone elses problem.

The Guru mystery

I promised to get back to you when I had investegated about the mysterious disapperance of the Guru who was supposed to perform the 24/7 puja in our house.
It wasn't that mysterious after all.
He died of age, 82 years, the day before it all was supposed to begin.
I must admit we hoped for something to happen to prevent this event from taking place, but we never wished for this old man to die.
But, nature has it's cause and this puja too apparently.
They are just waiting for another date and another Guru and we have to move out for a week so we don't get insane.
I don't think those Pashupatinath sadhus, holy men, will attend this puja, but they are crazy cool.

Lizzie in Thamel

Nowadays I bring Lizzie evertime I'm going to Thamel for work.
She just falls asleep where ever I stop and is just happy to be with me.
Today I bought 10 kg saris for a customer and of course I just happened to buy some for myself.
Lizzie enjoyed the good energies flowing from all the vintage saris.

Order from Asianet

Finally things are moving with Asianet and the teleshop video with our Prana nail mat.
We are told the video will be dubbed in Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada and be shown in the states Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, covering approx 200 miljon people.
This is breathtaking and we can only dream of what this will do for our future.
The first order is only 25 mats, but this is just the beginning.
Soon you can find Prana nail mat here. Yiippee!

No petrol, no power, no water

It's a shortage of a lot of essential things right now.
No petrol, which means very long queues to the petrol stations, leaving people stuck for hours just waiting.
It also prevents companies to work properly since many factories are run by generators during the power cuts.
The next shortage is power and that is something we all suffer from.
Normally this time of year the power breaks would be down to 4-6 hours a day, but it's still about 12 hours.
People say it's because it hasn't rained, but that is not the case.
This time of year it almost never rains, but the summer is delayed at least a month and that means the snow and ice on the mountains are not melting to fill up the rivers.
This means there is a water shortage which you can see from this photo taken a few days ago at the river at Pashupatinath where they cremate the dead and shovel the ashes into the water.
The cows are lying on the riverbed and I have no clue what they are doing with the remains of the dead bodies.
It's warm now during the days, but the nights are not as warm as usual and I wonder what will happen in the long run.

The other day I shared a taxi with strangers going the same way and that is a good solution in times of crisis.

We've had water shortage at home too, but that apparently had to do with the redoing of the road outside of the house.
They seem to have taken water from our pipe and therefor cut the supply to us.
The Nepalese people don't seem too upset, so we just have to go with the flow. As usual!

Julia and Lisa

We have visiters from Sweden again!
Sweet Julia and Lisa are here to manufacture their own collection of clothes and doing some cultural exploration.
Yesterday we visited both Pashupatinath and Boudhanath.
On Friday they are going for a few days to Pokhara for some well deserved vacation.
Here they are swimming in a room full of vintage saris.

The guru is gone!

We have dreaded this Monday for a month now.
Six months ago our neighbors had the 24/7, very load puja, religious ceremony, and we had to leave the house before we got insane of all the singing and talking in the speakers.
This time it was our landlords who were to host this event and we knew we had to flee yet again.
For the last week they had been redoing the driveway for all priests and guests and we were prepared for the worst.
But, we woke up this morning and there were no load sounds out of the ordinary. Strange!
We soon got the answer. The puja was cancelled because the guru was gone.
I wonder what happened. I think we have to investigate this further. Not because we are sad, more of curiousity.
In fact we are more grateful than ever to our God Brahma, who we think had something to do with this guru's mysterious disappearance.
They even built this one meter deep hole for the puja. Someone told Leya it was ment for a man to sit there and collect money, but someone told me that they would keep a fire there.
Only God knows what traditions pop up in this exciting society.
I hope they will fill the hole soon since it's on the spot where we use to have our outdoor furniture.

Lizzie

We have come to terms with that Nani is not coming back home, so we have adopted a little girl from a street from the same block as we are living.
When we take our short dog walks around the neighborhood, we use to stay for a while where Lizzie use to live with her mom, dad and two sisters.
Lizzie is the smallest of them all and love to sit in my lap. I just felt that she could be the kind of dog I've been longing for.
Angel is so big and always alert, guarding us and I have been wanting a dog who will sleep next to me in the bed all night and would stay relaxed in my lap for a longer time than 30 sec.
Everything has worked better than expected. When we are working in town she is going back to her old street and when we get home we simply go there and pick her up.
She hears my ancle bells and come running.
She is tiny, but has long legs and is so cute. But. She is not cute to anyone else than us, so she is hardly going to be kidnapped.
When she was a puppy someone faught with her so her right ear is perfectly split into two ears.
So we have a dog with three ears and she will be my baby for the rest of her life.

Photos from Pokhara

Please see photos from our vacation in Pokhara here.

Swimming

We went to the local pool with the girls.
Always a hit!

Hospital in Pokhara

I promised the doctor in Kathmandu that I would go to a hospital in Pokhara for my last two doses of antibiotics.
As soon as we arrived, after an eight hour long, bumpy bus ride, I took a taxi to the nearest hospital.

Day 1:

As always I took the emergency entrance, that is the easiest way to approach any new hospital here in Nepal, and I thought it would be a walk in the park.
One prick, waiting for ten minutes for the IV to run through and back in a taxi to the family who was sitting at the hotel restaurant.
But, no no. Nothing is simple when you expect it to be.
The desk person informed me that I needed one person to sign in and monitor that I didn't get an allergy during the IV.
I was tired in to my bones and got a bit angry. I'd had the same medicin for the last five days and there was no sign of allergy.
It didn't matter. Hospital rules!
I called Nicholas and they had just ordered food so they couldn't come right away and I really, really wanted to get it over with.
I went outside, to the line of taxis waiting and tried to explain that I needed someone to come with me, but no one understood what I meant.
I sat down on a bench and felt more tired than ever. Next to me sat a an older woman and I took a shot.
I don't think she understood, but she saw my tired face and came with me the reception. When they wanted her to sign for my health she hesitated and there was a bit of an argument between her and the doctor.
She looked at them and me, back and forth and to my relif she finally signed. Piuh!
Then I had to go to the pharmacy and buy everything from medicine, to syringe and tube.
The lady come running with a ticket that I had to pay at another counter. I paid and thought I finally was ready, but when I came back to the emergency they noticed that the pharmacy had given me the wrong medicin. Back to the pharmacy and the non-exicting queue.
Back to the emergency and I must say they are effective in Nepal. No waiting at all. In Sweden you can waiting at the emergency, in the waiting room, for six-seven-eight hours before you even see a doctor.
First he gave me a very painful shot in the left arm. It was an allergy test and we had to wait another 15 minutes to see that I didn't react, but Hey! Come on! I had the same antibiotics for the last five days!
Hospital rules! Stupid hospital rules.
Finally the doctor started searching for a vein. He looked and looked, squezed and made me flex my hand over and over again.
I had to remove my complicated wrap bracelet, that is put on not to be removed until it's ready to be cut of for the dust bin. Mamma Mia!
He finally got the needle in place and I prepared myself for a bit of rest while the fluids slowly slowly trickled down the tube.
Suddenly a man appeared on the bed next to me. He was either very sick or very drunk because he started vimiting towards me. It felt like as if I was stuck in a horror movie before the staff run up to him and closed the curtain between us.
That didn't keep me hearing he puke for the next 20 minutes. So much for a well deserved rest.
The woman, who had helped me out with her sign, disappeared in the middle of everthing without saying good bye, but I figured I'd run into her again. Which I of course did the next day.

Day 2:

The doctor from the day before told me to come between 1 and 7 pm. Then he'd be working and since he knew I wasn't allergic to the antibiotics he could give it to me without a person signing for me.
First I got the ticket and what to buy for the IV at the emergency. The non-exicting queue at the pharmacy was pretty much the same as before and the same went for the ticket counter. But this time I knew how to tackle it and made my way, just like the others.
The doctor had left the needle in my hand so he could use it again and it had been really painful walking around and sleeping with it.
When he tried to push the antibiotics through it was blocked and it burned like hell in my hand. I screamed from the pain, but it didn't stop him from trying for at least another 10 minutes.
Then he said to me, like I was a 2-year old: "Have you moved your arm?"
Of course I had moved my arm during the 24 hour I was out of hospital. What did he think?
In the middle of everything my phone rang and it was Suresh, my little brother and our freight guy, who was helping me to buy tusk pendants for our customer Sarah in France. He was in the shop and needed answers about different designs.
The doctor removed the needle from my right hand, the needle I had to put up with totally in vain.
He moved to the other side and I tried to keep my focus on Suresh talking about black with dots and blue mosaic.
Since I had silk wrap bracelet on my left arm too, about 2 meters long tangled with some bead bracelets, I let the doctor be busy removing that while I was sorting out the order in the other end of the phone.
My question was: Where the hell were the nurses? On strike? Doctors are not very good at removing braclets or putting needles in ones arms.
Next accusation: "You have such a tiny veins!"
Well, I left my big veins at home just to make your life difficult! Finally he found the vein and I could relax with my sound book, a new experience to me, the true book worm and finally I could relax to the thought of not returning to this hospital for, hopefully, a long time, if ever.
When I took a taxi back to the hotel I saw the woman for yesterday standing next to the road waiting so I stopped the taxi and gave her a ride hom.
"I help you. You help me", she said.
"Yes, you help me. I help you."

The end!

Infection

For the last week I've had a nasty infection in my face.
It started with a pimple in my nose and spread to the lip and left cheek.
It was so painful! I couldn't sleep at night and had no apetite.
First I went to the local pharmacy for antibiotics, but it didn't help so I went to a local hospital, but the aggressive antibiotics I got there didn't help either.
Finally I went to a hospital we know is good and knows how to handle international insurances and there I got three different anitbiotics intravenously, at the same time, for two days.
Then the infection finally gave up.
I came home yesterday and are still eating medicine.
Today I'm going on a check up and we hope everything is fine because we are going on vacation to Pokhara tomorrow.
After this painful experience I just have to warn you about squezing pimples in the nose area.