I have been living in Kathmandu for almost 3 weeks now so here is a short update for you all.

When I started the Disaster Relief project they had just moved to a new site which means I hope to see and be a part of the construction process from start to finish. This new site has gorgeous views of paddy fields, mountains can even be seen on clear days (which is rare in Kathmandu). We are currently building new classrooms for a secondary school which was damaged in the earthquake, so we started by digging trenches for the foundations, laying bricks and mixing cement. It has been tough work but very rewarding. The school children always smile when they find out they’re having more classrooms built and it gives me a sense of achievement after each day of work.

All the kids are extremely friendly and even try to help out with the work we are doing. They also seem to find my name hilarious! I’ve had about 10-15 kids laughing at me when I tell them my name is Harry.

Within my first 2 weeks in Kathmandu I have been sick 2 times. One time was due to excessive alcohol consumption and the other was due to excessive mo-mo consumption. A mo-mo is similar to a dumpling, where a thin layer of dough covers a filling of vegetables, chicken or buff. I was quite a fan of chicken mo-mos so my Swiss volunteer friend bet that I couldn’t eat 50 of them. If you know me well enough then you’ll know two things about me. 1) I eat a lot. 2) I hate losing. This combination saw me finish all 50 chicken mo-mos and they were in my stomach for a solid 5 hours, until I decided to vomit all 50 back up again. This has resulted in me not wanting to eat mo-mos or chicken for a rather long time.

Christmas is soon approaching and I am yet to see an advent calendar. That hasn’t stopped me from buying chocolate though. All the Christmas spirit is emulating from the German volunteers who play German Christmas songs each morning at breakfast. I am yet to learn any of the lyrics though. Good news is that my Nepali is improving! However this comes with a cost as I never understand the reply and always end up asking them to reply in English instead.

Stay tuned,

KP