1/15/2015

My super brave mother-in-law

Tomorrow my mother-in-law is starting a new exciting adventure.
For five months she will stay with us here in Nepal and we are so happy for all of us and especially for Leya who now gets to have a granma in the house.
For a person like me it's not a big thing to make a decision like this, but for my dear mother-in-law it's a huge matter to take such a life changing step and I think she is so brave!
Britt-Marie you are very welcome to Nepal! See you on Saturday morning!
Here is Britt-Marie with Leya in 2010, when Leya was 3 years old and a little cutie pie.

1/13/2015

Gary's shop in Cambodia

Our friend Gary has finally opened his shop next to the beach in Cambodia.
If the rent is too high for a proper shop this is a great solution!
We really hope his Nepalese things sell well.

1/11/2015

Suresh and Jan & Teo

Suresh is so happy!
He got a visa to USA to participate at a gift fair in Los Angeles.
He applied twice and the second time he was lucky with his thick bunch of documents that shows he is most likely to return back to Nepal.
Apparently lots of Nepalese people apply for a visa and then stay illegally in USA.
About 200 people apply for a visa to USA every day and about 40 get it.
You can apply over and over again. You just have to pay about 160 USD/1300 kr every time.
I guess they earn a lot of money at the US embassy.


I've got to know the cute couple Jan and Teo who spend their time flying between Nepal, Turkey and USA.
Jan is originally from US Virgin Island and it was very interesting to hear about her upbringing there.
The three islands were originally a Danish territory, so her grand grandparents were Danish jews and she studied in Denmark, but USA bought the islands so nowadays they are US citizens.
Teo is from Turkey. He is a retired member of the parliament and is now assisting his fashion interested wife.

1/09/2015

Eva

There are people working miracles every day and Swedish Eva is one of them.
She and her staff are running two orphanages, she has collected money to educate eight underprivileged women to become nurses with midwife competense and they are working with a small Christian perish that hands out food to 70 street children twice a week.
It takes a lot of heart and hard work to keep this running and Eva is a determent woman who works full time in Sweden, going back and forth to Nepal to keep an eye on things.
Eva's immediate goal is to find a Christian perish that is willing to adopt the small perish here in Nepal for long term support.
If you are a part of a perish or know of a perish that would be interested, please let me know.
You are also welcome to donate money to the organisation that is a Swedish association very well looked after. You can be certain that every cent will be spent in the right place.
The girls, they have focused on girls since they are most likely to be victims of trafficking, were so sweet and polite.
They really loved Lizzie!

1/06/2015

Puppy

The day before Christmas we gave our home to a gorgeous, yellow colored puppy who lived in our street.
She was not a part of a group and had nowhere to go when it was cold. It simply broke my heart!
Mom Sweetie came by one day and she said she could take her.
Yesterday we went to the vet for her injections.
Then we took a taxi to our old house.
Fingers crossed this adoption works out!

1/01/2015

Happy Holidays!

The last week I've been extra grateful for the love we have for each other. When times are tough it takes a strong family not to break down.
No worries! There have been neither an earthquake, well there was a tiny one a few days ago, or a flood rushing through our house.
Let me list the issues and tell the long story short.
It all began on Christmas Eve, the day that is our main day for celebrations, according to Swedish traditions:

1. The gas for the stove finished at lunch time. Luckily Nicholas had made all the food the day before, so we didn't feel panic until the gas store put us on a waiting list since it was gas shortage for about 10 days.
Who did I call, like I always do when everything feels hopeless?
Right. I called my little brother Suresh who saves us at any time of the day.
He actually had an extra tank at home and Christmas Day he came over, but of course it didn't work, so he went for a gas guy that noticed that there was gas that had become runny in the pipe.
He fixed it and left, but when we tried it didn't work.
We called the landlord and half the family came strolling down the stairs with a screwdriver and started to attack the tank, so Nicholas had to stop them, since he feared for his life.
We tried to get the gas guy to come to our house for another four days and it was always: "I will come in half an hour." It was a looong half an hour and it hasn't finished yet.
Monday I heard a man walking around fixing stoves. They walk around the streets making metallic noises with their tools, so it's easy to hear them.
As usual he, we have hired this Indian guy before, cheated us pretty good by changing things that I don't think he had to change. And he brought the parts from our stove with him, so I guess he will brush them, spray them with gold paint and sell them to someone else.
But, when you are desperate you are willing to pay the price.
Five days without the possibility to even boil some water makes a high maintenance Swede crazy.

2. We had super long power breaks during Christmas. 10 hours straight, so even the battery gave up.
It's rather tiresome during the winter with the long power breaks. It's dark, cold and boring!

3. Finally my computer crashed Christmas Eve. I didn't worry that much since I thought a computer guy could save all my important work information and photos and we have my old computer, so I could at least check my email.
Apparently I should have worried because after two days at the computer doctor's intensive care unit everything was gone.
The guy, who I will never let my computer near again, formated the hard drive without asking us. "You didn't pick up the phone", was his reply when I went in to shock after realizing how much this guy's careless actions would affect my life.
When you get a death sentence you want to double check with another doctor. The same goes for a computer.

So I've lost all photos from 2014, but I managed to save some that was published on Facebook and here at the blog.
As usual I have made a diary video for 2014 with Leya and her friends that you can watch here.
At least we are healthy, except sinus infection and flu symptoms, and we have each other! Thank God!
We wish you all a great 2015!

12/18/2014

Cute shock!

In Sweden tabloids love to use the term cute shock and here is a perfect example of a street dog and her two puppies.

12/14/2014

Swedish ginger cookies

Yesterday it was the Swedish festival Lucia and Nicholas' 42:nd birthday.
Leya and Nicholas made Swedish ginger coookies, a cookie we eat the whole December and only then.
You can watch Leya in action here.
Before the oven...
Yummy!
They also made this cute gingerbread house.
I think it looks like the police station shed in Meiphi, where we lived before.
Lizzie stole the whole house and brought it to our bed and miraculously it didn't break. Maybe because they built it with real super glue. I promise no one will eat it.

12/08/2014

Christmas market

There are a few Christmas markets in Kathmandu during December and I can really recommend the one at Hyatt.
It was big, outdoors in the garden and there were many new things we haven't seen before.
We bought these decorations in mixed colors and sizes for our Christmas tree. They are made by burn victims and a part of the money supports a hospital for burn victims.
They had made really cute gingerbread houses.
We took a break, had something to eat and just enjoyed the atmosphere.
When we came home we decorated our Christmas tree, something Leya has been longing for.

12/06/2014

Repair

In Sweden you throw away broken electronics, unless you have a handyman in your family, and I think it's a shame. But it's what makes the world go around these days. Shopping, I mean.
Here it's easy to leave the things at a repair shop and so we did with our halogen heater and the stereo.
To buy a new heater we'd have to pay 15 USD (110 kr) and a new stereo is about 30 USD (220 kr). The repair charge was 7 USD (50 kr), so we saved some money. A sum we wouldn't even reflect on in Sweden, but here it's different.
Apparently a rat had crawled inside the stereo and shewed of some cables.

12/01/2014

Garden of Dreams

Finally we got around to visit the tourist spot Garden of Dreams. It's a peaceful place in the middle of the town.
People go there to relax and a lot of young couples seem to go there to get to know each other, before marriage or in secret, if the love is not accepted by their families.
Read more about the garden here.
Leya loves to swing!

11/28/2014

Buddha boy

For some reason I've completely missed the Buddha boy, but since our friend Lee has gone to the Bara (also the number 12 in Nepali) district to try to find him, I've searched for information about him.
I found this documentary, click here, and I must say that Ram Bahadur Bomjon is a fascinating boy, or man nowadays.
The documantary was filmed a few years back when there still was a civil war going on here in Nepal and it ends with a cliffhanger.
If you want to see a more recent film, click here.
You can clearly see that this man is not profeting from his unusual personality, like other gurus that have their own TV channels and fancy cars, and he is suffering a lot from the attention that he's trying to avoid by disappearing from time to time.
At first I felt he was sort of numb, but watch him when he try to talk about the animals. I couldn't help but shed a tear.
It's rare to see such a pure soul these days.
When it all started.
A more recent photo.

11/26/2014

SACC meeting in Kathmandu

This week we have some prominent guests visiting Nepal.
It's a SACC meeting with politicians from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who are here to discuss peace and prosperity.
How are we effected by this meeting?
1. They have painted walls and put concrete on the roads in two days, when it normally takes up to a year. At least the visable walls and roads are repaired.
2. The kids are free from school. We got the information only the day before, something we would never accept in Sweden, but luckily we can plan our work around Leya's needs.
3. The traffic is a hilarious part in this drama. Every other day vehicles with even numbers are allowed to drive and every other day the ones with odd numbers on the license plate can drive. How the police can stop them is another story.
4. Yesterday I went to the shopping mall to do grocery shopping and that wasn't a smart move since there were no taxis. So I had to use my Nordic muscles and carry it all the way home.
5. There are no power breaks for 5 days which should keep our guests and the 500 journalists happy. Even though the guests are staying at Hyatt and I guess the 5 star hotel never have any power breaks.
To see the road this empty is a bit scary, but in a few minutes they came driving. You can see it in motion here.

11/24/2014

Book club

My mom and I love to read books, so now we have started a book club.
When we've finished reading a book we discuss it over Skype.
The November book is Canada by Richard Ford.

11/20/2014

THE birthday party

I think we all remember how exciting it was waiting for the birthday when we were kids.
Actually I still do. One of my grandmoms died young, two months before I was born and my mother use to say that we should be grateful for every year we live and the birthday is an excellent day for celebrations.
Leya was super excited about her 8:th birthday and this year we had the party at a kid's center so they could play and have fun.
The favorite kids' food here in Nepal is momo, so that was a must.
This is momo, if you haven't heard about it before.
Nepalese style birthday parties start with the cake, but we did it Swedish style with the cake after the food.
This party light was a hit.
We had also made some gifts for Leya's friends.
It was a great day and Leya was very happy, but tired at the end of the day.
We finished her birthday cuddled up in bed talking about the day she was born. Sweet memories!

11/15/2014

Pre-birthday party

Eight years ago, this evening, we went to hospital to give birth to our lovely Leya and today we had a pre-party at Hyatt with Eva, her best friend and sister.

11/12/2014

Lee and Zaya

Yesterday we met the sweet couple Lee, from Singapore and Zaya, from Mongolia.
We got in contact via a mutual Indian friend and a few days ago they arrived in Kathmandu.
They are on a Buddhist pilgrime journey and today they left for Lumbini, where Buddha was born.
We took them to Boudhanath, one of the world heritage Buddhist sites.
Shopping in Thamel is a must when you come to Nepal.

11/09/2014

Farmer's market

Yesterday was Leya's free day, so we decided to go to a farmer's market we've heard about, but first we stopped by this bunch of puppies.
One of the female dogs in our neighborhood had 8 puppies. 8 puppies!
I wonder what will happen to them. Right now they are staying inside a local restaurant.
This farmer's market is specialized on expats living in Nepal and we've wanted to go here for some time.
Since it's located close to Thamel, where we do most of our work, we don't feel like going there on Saturdays, but I'm glad we finally did.
Brunch: a sandwich, Belgian waffles and lemonade.
We ran in to this happy Swedish couple, who are teaching here for a few months.
They were selling Swedish candy and chocolate balls to support sport and music projects, so of course we wanted to help.
Strange, but fun, to see Swedish signs.
We bought a mug and some fridge magnets to support a dog shelter, run by a couple of sweet British ladies and multigrain bread, fresh and creamy goat cheese and a Brie cheese made by an actual French guy. Yummy!

11/07/2014

A working day in Kathmandu

I guess it's difficult to understand how we work, so I've made a photo diary of a typical working day.
You can see the album here.
This day started with a walking breakfast ...

11/03/2014

Hammarby football

Nicholas is truly passionate about one thing in life and that is his Swedish football team Hammarby and thanks to internet he can watch the games here in Nepal.
Yesterday they played the most important game this season and they won with 5-0 and moved up to the top series Allsvenskan.
You can see some amazing photos here from the celebrations in Stockholm last night.
I know Nicholas wanted to be there with his brother and friends, but I guess he will be alright flying around on his pink cloud of happiness here in Nepal.