outings are great!

dear you,
yesterday was a great day.
all my pictures are on my camera camera tho.
so those will have to be saved for another post when i can steal lila's flashdrive again.
sudha came and we jumped on her little scooter and headed off to patan's durbar square.
i had to get off on a hill once because her scooter couldn't carry both of us up the hill :P
it's because of all the food they're forcing me to eat, im serious!
anyways, durbar square is the palace of the former king and his kingdom.
apparently there are a bunch of durbar squares around because there were lots of small kingdoms next to each other.
kathmandu, patan, one that starts with a b that i can't remember.
anyways, i had to pay 200 rupees to get in.
cuz i'm white...
on that topic, someone said i looked like a monkey yesterday cuz i have a white face.
wonderful.
anyways, durbar square was beautiful.
i wasn't allowed to go into the temple for krishna, also because i'm white/a foreigner, but the outside was amazing.
it's said to have been carved out of one huge piece of rock, but i have my doubts.
iPod pictures will have to suffice for now.

one of many pagodas outside the palace

where the king lived

temple for krishna

suvash came and met us there and after sitting in the sun we went to the zoo!
there were many many kinds of deer, which was surprising.
there were all the usual.
tigers, monkeys, millions of birds, reptiles, leopards.
and there were the not-usuals.
a huge hippo sleeping right next to the fence.
those things are huge.
rhinos, hyenas, crocodiles with really skinny snouts, owls.
my two favorites were the peacocks, which are my favorite bird by far, and the elephant.
the elephant probably took the cake tho, because it wasn't in the enclosure!
a zookeeper was walking it around the zoo!
i walked right up to it and help onto its ear and felt its rough skin and bristly hair.
the trunk is so cool!
it was easily twice as tall as me, with feet twice the size of my head.
it was crazy big!
the whole time i kept seeing all these amazing creatures, i kept thinking that we have a really awesome, creative God.
the birds especially made me think that, because some of them were so bright and colorful, with amazing patterns.
nothing repeated itself.
it was all new and equally intricate.
God is amazing.
:)
anyways, we came back to home and sudha made me eat a 3rd meal in the last 5 hours.
when she and suvash left, they took lina with them to stay the night, which she was really excited about.
sumit and debaki took me over to the orphanage to watch some movie about a christmas program i think.
the dvd didn't work, after much work, but it was nice to see all the kids crammed into one room.
it's amazing what tvs can do.
instantly, everyone was sitting still, behaving, and being quiet.
instead of the dvd, they tuned the tv to a fuzzy channel that you could barely see
still, everyone was enthralled.
i need to be more grateful for the many clear, beautiful channels i have at home.
i went back to the house and the next thing i know, debaki was waking me up to eat.
again.
4 meals...in one day.
i didn't eat very much, obviously, but i made an effort.
then off to bed to watch more "boys before flower" with debaki.
yay cheesy korean soap opera type shows! :P
it's wonderful, except it makes me miss janu a whole lot more.
especially when the main girl starts falling for the main guy.
oh well.
the only thing i have to say about that is:

i <3 you janu

this morning, i got to skype my mommy and see a bunch of family members in portland!
it was really nice to see everyone, even tho they're gathered for a sad occasion and the picture kept freezing.
my mom is about to head out for kenya to work on a biography, which is really cool.
i'm trying to convince her to fly from nairobi to kathmandu to visit me, but things like that cost money.
so i'm going to amend my previous post about giving lila's organization money and shamelessly say:
GIVE MY MOMMY MONEY SO SHE CAN COME SEE ME! :D
this is all in jest, of course, but SERIOUSLY...
haha just kidding.
today has been uneventful except for the skyping, seeing as i woke up and no one is in the house...
i think they went to a temple to worship or something, because i'm pretty sure today is some sort of holiday.
i hope they enjoy themselves :)
sudha said we might go to the monkey temple together today, but who knows.
well, that's all for now.
love,
me