I think it is safe to say that I have survived the worst of my first winter in Nepal. It's still pretty cold at night and in the early mornings, but the days are becoming quite lovely, and inside usually it's actually bearable, though sometimes I still break down with shivers and need to bundle up. But it is DEFINITELY warmer than it was. Woohoo!!
I have also now survived my first nasty GI bug in Nepal. Unfortunately, these sorts of things are inevitable when you live in a place like this. I managed to make it through the first 2 months unscathed, but about a week-and-a-half ago I got hit with a really bad one. It was pretty awful for a few days, and I still am not quite eating normally, but I am MUCH, MUCH better. Antiobiotics were definitely indicated, and fortunately they are very readily available around here, without a prescription. You just go to any pharmacy (of which there are lots) and tell them what you want. And the price is a tiny fraction of what you'd pay back home (like, for a 5-day course of Cipro, it cost me about $2!). Whether there's the same quality control as there is at home is doubtful, but it seemed to do the job.
Mind you, I did learn one lesson: keep a stash of such essential meds at home, so that when you get hit, you actually have them available. Every time I've gone overseas in the past I've brought some with me, but I didn't here, because I know it was so readily available. But I should have gotten some when I first got here - I sure wasn't in a position to leave my apartment, and I live alone. Even my didi (house helper), who usually is twiddling her thumbs needing something to do, wasn't there - she'd taken a leave to go see her mother 18 hours away. Which was just as well - I didn't really want her around when I was so sick. But I could have at least sent her for some drugs. In the end, I phoned a woman who lives close to me, and she picked some up for me and brought it by, which was much appreciated. And I now have a stash that I'm hanging onto here for the next time.
A couple weeks ago I had been struggling with the "post-honeymoon period" phase of cultural adjustment. For any of you who have lived overseas for any length of time, this will be familiar language to you. If you don't know what I'm talking about, cultural adjustment is something that has been well-studied, and you could google it if you're interested. But basically you are initially in a "honeymoon phase," where you're feeling exhilaration about being in the new place, loving it, and even though you are aware of some of the negative aspects of it, you have the emotional energy to just write it off as "different," and not get too worried about it. And then somewhere around now, your reserve of emotional energy, so to speak, is worn down, and the initial elation is gone, and you get a bit of a crash. It's a well-known phenomenon, and although I was hoping I was "above" going through such experiences, well, I'm not! I did have a rough couple weeks there just trying to sort through that.
But somehow surviving my first winter and my first nasty bug made me feel very proud of myself, and suddenly it doesn't seem so bad after all. I'm sure I'll go through more ups and downs, but I'm thankful that for now things are feeling pretty good. I still struggle with people honking loudly in the streets, especially when they're coming up right behind you. I pretty much always want to yell at them, and I do almost always say under my breath, "Is that really necessary?" Or something to that effect. It drives me crazy...and I think there's a definite risk of hearing loss with it all - it's SO loud sometimes!
I am still LOVING the children's home. The kids are so great, and the more time I spend with them, the more I get to know them and they are getting much more comfortable with me. It's pretty sweet! Here's a photo of a couple of the little boys. Noah, the older one, has such a great smile, and is missing all his top front teeth at the moment, which makes him even cuter!
