Wednesday

6:00 Get up and go running around soccer field in Dharan (both of us).
8:00 Breakfast with Bruce and Sherri (coworkers we had spent the night before with)--biscuits and gravy (she finally gave in to Jesse's not-so-subtle hints).
9:00 Chiya with friends Umesh and Jamuna and their adorable little boys. Sat on their roof and chatted. They made the chiya (tea) over a fire on their roof. This is common.
10:00 Left Dharan for B-town on the bike (50 min. ride), singing along to my pink Nano. Jesse dances to my singing from time to time (I'm really good).
11:00 Arrive at our home, have no electricity, scramble around to get ready b/c taxi is to arrive at noon to take us to Janakpur (city 5 hours away) for a program.
12:00 Taxi arrives and begins honking at us.
1:00 We're packed and leave.
2:00 Come upon a long line of buses back up. The road has been closed by protestors. They laid a tree trunk across the road, b/c someone got beaten and killed in a nearby village. The protestors refuse to open the road until they get justice for this person's death (this happens often here, partly due to lack of a viable justice system). Buses are piled up; we decide to wait and see if it opens. People gather around to gawk at the 2 whities.
3:30 We give up on the road opening and decide to turn around and go home. The buses behind us refuse to let us pass, saying, "You have to understand the situation in our country!" Jesse says (very calmly--I was impressed), "We understand. Having understood, please let us go." About 5 minutes later, we make it through. At this moment not feeling a great deal of love for those around us (frustrating!)
4:30 Arrive home, unpack, call our partner in Janakpur and tell him we couldn't come. Do some stuff online.
7:00 Electricity goes out, and we know it will be out until 10 pm (it's on a schedule b/c there isn't enough electricity), so we go out to eat Indian food (at the hotel where we swim). Eat delicious tandoori chicken, naan, and palak paneer. On the way home stop and buy eggs (for 6 rupees each, placed in a little bag. Ya know how to say "dozen" in Nepali? "Darjen."), then at another shop to buy bread and club soda (we add sugar and lime to it to make sweet lime sodas-delicious!).
9:00 Arrive home and sit on the porch for about 10 minutes chatting with Prem and Kobitta, our landlord and his wife. Mosquitoes start biting so go inside.
9:30 Electricity is back on (half-an-hour early!)! We get to catch the last little bit of American Idol!
10:30 Bedtime.