Monsoon Season

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  Biratnagar, Nepal
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Monsoon Season reared its ugly head last night. The rain came and came. In the hostel it sounded like we were standing under Niagara Falls and when I ran to my room it definitely felt that way. For the 10 yards I had to run outside or a better word is splashed my way to my room it felt like I was running (hashing) across a foot deep creek while it was pouring down rain. By the time I got to my room I was soaked and I discovered my room was getting that way too. Every crevice around the windows was taking in water. My room felt like I was in a leaky boat. I had a bucket and began to squeegee water into a towel and then into the bucket. Two plus buckets later I didnt have standing water anymore(photo). Fortunately it was blowing rain just dumping on us. The best way to describe what was happening - and according to the boys this is what a real monsoon rain is like - is to imagine yourself standing in the ocean and a 8+ ft swell rises above you and then crashes water all over you. Its not so much about the force as it is about the quantity of water that hits you

Lake Monsoon play

. Thats what standing in a monsoon feels like. Its absolutely incredible.
After it slowed down several of the boys went out to "play" in the water (photo). They actually were skipping stones in our new lake.

Well this cold has taken hold of me. I have watery eyes, runny nose and head congestion and no Nepalese home remedy yet. I am getting some strange looks since getting a runny nose and the reason for it is because I am using my "towel" to blow my nose. Okay let me explain. In Nepal handkerchiefs and bandana's are used for drying your hands after eating and washing them. The reason they do that is because napkins arent used here. My first experience with this was a hard lesson.
When I first arrived here I was asked by one of the teachers to try using my hands to eat like they do. Well being Lebanese this wasnt going to be too difficult, we use our hands alot when we eat. The difficulty arose when I was finished I looked around for a napkin and there was none. When I asked I was shown as he pulled a bandana out of his pocket and proceeded to wash his hands at the sink and dry with his "towel" (bandana/handkerchief). I hadn't brought one so I washed and air dried but after that I always had a bandana in my pocket.
Now this brings me back to me blowing my runny nose in my "towel" - it is not seen as good hygiene to blow my nose in the thing that I dry my hands and face in, so I have had to secretly do this - I go to my room or I leave a room to do it. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on all this something new pops up.

Thats all for now - please excuse any typos today (more than usaul that is) because my eyes are so watery I am having difficulty reading what I type.

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Lake Monsoon	My room	Snail	Taxi

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