Tuesday Photos

I've been having a really rough week, and today as I was praying, I asked God (in my selfishness) if He would show me his goodness so that when I told people that He is good, I could really believe it. Today I realized that my neighbor snuck into my courtyard, stole my bike, fixed the tire, and returned it. Then, when I came home this evening, the Asmitas were standing outside!

God is good.

Even when it really does not feel like it, He is. 

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Now, onto the Tuesday photos. This week is dedicated to regular life moments.

This is our favorite way to buy fruit. We call it the "drive through." 

A bunch of guys always line up along the side of the road with their bicycles full of fruit and we drive up to the first guy in line. I don't typically like to bargain for prices, but I love to banter with these guys. After the first guy gives me an outrageous price (thanks to my white skin) I move on to the next guy- just to let them know that I am serious about not getting ripped off.  We banter for a few minutes about how it was cheaper last week and he tells me that he sells fruit for a living so I should just pay up. Once a decent price is arranged, I have to watch the guy carefully, like a hawk, or else he will tip his scale... or fill my bag full of the worst fruit... or not give me all of my change. 

But still, this is my favorite way to buy fruit. 

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Next we have my neighbor's son, Yusef (Nepali for Joseph). 

Yusef is the ham of all hams. This picture is the most still I have ever seen him in my life (except for the time he fell down the stairs and hit his head- he was pretty still after that tumble.). He loves to wear his pants up to his armpits and bounce and play with goats.

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Always always always get petrol (gasoline) before the last minute. Because if you don't, you will be walking your scooter past the three pumping stations that have run out of gas and finally waiting in a really long line at the one station that is open. 

I'm just saying.

It didn't happen. 

But it could have. 

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Finally, we have an example of one of the best parts of living in Kathmandu in winter. 

Exhibit A:

January is one of the best months for produce! Fruit here is 100% seasonal. We don't really have any tree-hugging initiatives here pushing us to eat seasonally. If we want grapes or strawberries, we can only get them in late winter. (It makes produce shopping so much fun! Like, it is so exciting when the fruit at the "drive through" changes).

Mwah!! I love to come home and soak and clean my delicious bounty. 

(Sorry for the poor quality of photos lately... no excuses, just an apology.) 

Thailand 2.2

Food. 

It is crazy to me how diverse food is from country to country and from culture to culture! If you want to learn about people's worldview, take a minute and try to understand why people eat what they eat. For instance, in this first photo, you can see that my beautiful housemate, Meaghan, is posing in front of a street cart. 

What does this tell you about her worldview?

We can correctly assume that only crazy, adventurous people would eat duck from a cart on the side of a road in Bangkok. We might also note that street food is, by most standards, inexpensive. 

With the information that we have gathered, we can accurately conclude that Meaghan is a crazy, relatively poor adventurer. 

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In the following photo, we observe that the fruit in Thailand is tiny. The banana is a little larger than the average thumb, and the oranges are the size of a fat person's knuckle. 

This one is easy. Thailand people are tiny because Thailand fruit is tiny. You are what you eat. 

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I saw these popsicles (icy-poles if you are Australian) in a tourist bazar. 

The yellow ones at the top left are corn flavored! Do you guys remember that "Tuesday Photos" when my can of corn told me that I should put my corn on ice-cream? 

I have no idea what this tells us about Thai culture. 

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Finally, we have Daniel eating a jelly fish.

You've had enough practice by now, so I'll let you form your own conclusions. 

Thailand 2.1

Is January 19th too late to make a New Year's resolution?

I think not.

I resolve to blog more! Starting right now.

I was in Thailand last week for a conference (woe is me, right?) and let me tell you, it was nice to be warm. Real nice. We went two days early so that we could play before the serious stuff got started. 

How would any sensible women spend their free time in Thailand? Caving, of course! Here's proof.