It has been almost one month that we’ve been in Nepal. I’m writing after the kids are in bed, and the street is mostly quiet, apart from the perpetual, but usually distant barking of street-dogs as they figure out their territory.

Language study continues somewhat relentlessly, and usually enjoyably, for both Becky and I. Our teacher’s name is Madhu – he is an experienced language teacher having taught many expats over the past 38-or-so years. He laughs at our Canadian pronunciation of English words (never quite American or British), and occasionally allows us to “teach” him something, mostly just to relieve us of perpetually being placed at the equivalent of a preschooler…Becky taught him about juggling last week. In return we have learned a bit about his family, his children, and some of their experiences during time of the earthquake.

Madhu arrives at our place promptly at 9am, and Becky and I alternate as his pupils over the next 4 hours, learning how to recognize letters, learning how to pronounce words properly: (aahspital…. not hospital for instance…), and slowly putting together a few words or the occasional sentence together. Nepali has significant elegance at least as far as I can tell from my few months of learning (I learned a bit in Canada prior to departure). Every verb is conjugated according to the pronoun which means that pronouns can become quite redundant eventually.
Another example of efficiency is that most verbs come in pairs: for instance the verb “to show”, or “to see” are linked. “To show” is actually “to cause to be seen”. Another example: “Siknu” is to learn, but the verb Sikaunu is “to-cause-to-be-learned” (i.e. to teach.)

I won’t bore anyone further…

This one was a puzzler: how do you say “guest-house” in Nepali? ‘gayst haoos’

We leave for Tansen in 4 weeks, and I have been grateful for the warm welcome we’ve received from UMN folks, which has allowed our kids to make a few connections with some other children. Although they won’t see them again in Kathmandu very often, there is an expat conference in May for UMNers, in which the families will be able to meet up again, and so I don’t feel so bad having my kids forge some of these connections even if they are about to be stretched. We are also longing for more green-space as is apparently available in rural-Tansen, and the ability for our kids to be shoved out of the house to play. Green-space in Kathmandu is quite limited, and pollution seems to be causing some mild coughing amongst the kids. Many Nepalis in the city will only venture outside wearing some sort of face-shield due to the pollution, and we thus look forward to our more rural surroundings.

I shall close with a request. We are grateful for prayers, and well-wishes, as we awkwardly twist our tongues around new Nepali words in our interactions with hair-dressers, taxi-drivers, and vegetable-sellers, and as our kids adjust to their surroundings with a mixture of resilience, wonder and sometimes tears. Our hope is that we may be able to meaningfully communicate in some small way with those we meet in Tansen, both in the hospital and in the community. Now I shall go to bed, prior to my morning wakeup from Kathmandu’s urban rooster population, who are willing to make noise whether there is electricity or not.