Birthday in Nepal!

My birthday in Nepal!  

I never ever thought I'd be celebrating such an event here...how lucky am I!   We've finished our orientation program today, which included 5 days of language instruction.  Very tricky, this Nepali language.  Useful to know, and a few examples:

• malaii piro manparchha (I love spicy food!) 
• ma swayam sewak hu (I am a volunteer) 
• tapaaiko keti saathi (do you have a girlfriend!)

That is the extent of my Nepali pick up lines so far.  I do have much help in learning the language here as Nepali men (the ones I've met so far) are quite forward. Perhaps a little too much so!  Like the man dressing me in the sari shop for example, there was a point where he was dressing me in the sari, and had to tuck the yards of fabric around my waistline.  He seemed to really enjoy that part!  Hmmm, we all had a good laugh over that one!  If I were going to chose who would spend some time around my waistline, he may not necessarily have been my first pick!  Oh well...he was tremendously helpful though, and personally escorted us into the market to help us get the proper adornments for our saris.   Nothing would do but to get a perfect match.  It feels very Las Vegas, all the bling that goes along with wearing a sari.  So now I am the proud owner of a sari, green bracelets (they are a whole other story), face jewelery (tikka) and a necklace to match my lime green sari.  

Tonight we'll celebrate the end of our orientation programme and my birthday with a traditional Nepali festivity tonight.   Which is where the sari comes in...the good news is that Didi, our cleaning lady, is around to help fold all the fabric into the correct places.  

Tomorrow we are flying over Mt. Everest in the morning, then heading out to the mountains for an overnight adventure.  There is a fantastic 5 star hotel/spa where we'll overnight, then trek 5 hours down the valley into Bhaktapur, the city where my placement will be.  

Off to find my way on my own to Thamel....hope not to get too lost!