Welcome to the ‘Du!

We’ve made it to Kathmandu and are starting to settle in at the Satya Mahal, our home away from home for the next few weeks. 

One of the main reasons we decided to travel to Nepal was to visit Gideon’s cousin, Amy, her husband, Mike, and their six-year-old son, Ethan, who moved to Kathmandu in June of 2009.  Mike is in the U.S. military and is serving as the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Nepal.  Amy also works at the embassy as the American Citizens Services Assistant.  Ethan is an active kindergartner (primary 1) at the International School in Kathmandu. 

We are staying with the Rembolds at their home, Satya Mahal, a beautiful house with a large yard full of flowering trees.  The yard is perfect for Ethan to run off excess energy, along with Gertie, the family dog who was adopted by the family a few years back when they were stationed in India.  Ethan’s pet chickens, Chicklet and Chicky, enjoy getting some fresh air in the yard as well.  The house is also shared with the four family cats, Taboo, Fangy, Henry, and Sebastian.

 Satya Mahal

Ethan, Chicky and Chicklet

Gertie

Wrangling the wild things

Gideon seeking out the highest point of the house... some things never change.

The view from the roof gives a better feel for the neighborhood...

Today we met the staff of Satya Mahal.  Neesha is the house cleaner and Ethan’s sitter.  She is a beautiful, smiling woman who immediately made us feel welcomed.  A real treat was meeting her six-month-old daughter, Sophie, who comes along with her to the house.  It was love at first sight when I met the little darling this morning.

Sunita prepares the meals for the family.  She is the embodiment of hospitality and warmth.  Sunita treated Gideon and me to our first Nepali meal for lunch today consisting of daal bhaat, a lentil and bean soup served over rice, as well as a delicious mushroom curry.  I have to admit, I feel a great sense of relief knowing that we will be eating well here in Nepal.  (We had a hard time with the food when we were in China five years ago.  We ended up eating MacDonald’s and KFC most days.  I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case in Nepal.)

We met Shree, the driver, last night at the airport but spent more time with him today as we drove around town.  This man has skills, as does anyone who drives in Kathmandu.  I expected the traffic situation to be a bit wild in Nepal, but, oh baby, I really was not prepared for the utter lack of traffic laws in this city.  I will expand on this in a future post; but for now let me just say, I am oh-so-grateful for Shree.  He knows how to navigate through the mad streets of Kathmandu and I am quite comfortable being his passenger.

(More photos of Mike and Amy and our new friends to come.)