Where has the time gone?

It is Thursday, March 30 by our calendar and Cait 17 (pronounced "chite") by the Nepali calendar. On Cait 31, it will be the end of the Nepali year of 2062. It can be challenging when discussing dates. I have now got into the habit of saying, my last day is "on the 18th, by your calendar". What this means is that tomorrow will be my official last day at DRC, but I will still have another week to work with Hope and Home on other projects. I am so sad about leaving DRC. During the five weeks that I have spent with the children, I have come to adore them immensely. Right now, they are on vacation, but some are eagerly preparing for the upcoming school year and awaiting results of their final exams which will determine whether they advance to the next grade or "class" as they say here. So, despite the fact that they are on vacation, a few have been eager to get more grammar lessons. Fortunately, I found a great grammar book written for class 5,6,7 levels - which explains grammar in both Nepali and English. So when we are discussing, say, prepositions, I just point to the page, have them read it, and voila, they can yell out prepositions! Who says you need to be an English teacher to teach English? Just kidding! English is a tough language to learn - so many rules and so many exceptions!!! What's that about? (Yeah, I know, I am dangling my preposition, but hey, it is cool to do that now!)

You might be wondering - has Jackie turned into a Grammar freak?! No, not really. We have had some "fun" time, too. There has been a couple of birthday parties, one that lasted all day! We also had an Art project day, where the kids drew pictures, painted, colored, etc... They had a blast and it was a good way for them to relax after the brutal exams. I have been the lucky recipient of some of their work! We've also played games - they love Memory Games, Simon Says, etc... etc... (they like to use "etc..." alot, so when in Rome...). There has been a lot of singing and dancing, too. Again, your donations have come in handy (bought some of their favorite music for them to listen to, games to play with, books to read) and they love all the art stuff!!!

Doug is soon arriving. Hopefully, it will be uneventful. The day he arrives marks the 10th anniversary of the Maoist insurgency and there might be a general strike which means businesses and the roadways may be closed country-wide. There might be some demonstrations, we hope peaceful. If the roadways are closed, I and some friends will have to pick up Doug from the airport on foot and rent some folks with bikes to help shuttle his stuff back to our hotel. Fortunately, my host family lives very close to the airport and if necessary, we can go to their house instead. Overall, things have been pretty low-key here in Kathmandu. Most of the problems occur outside of the valley - which makes life tough for the villagers. I feel safe and there is no need to worry.

I hope all is well there and peace to everyone,
Namaste,
Jackie