What I did on my summer vacation

Good things about my vacation:

• I ate really good Japanese food in Nepal.
  
• I rode an elephant.
• I read/finished reading the following books:  The White Tiger (worth a read), The Satanic Verses (very well written), The History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters (some parts were better than others) and The Children of Men (the movie was better)
• I learned a few more Hindi/Nepalese words
• I got to knock another country off my list
• I had a baby elephant's trunk feeling my hand for food and I squealed with delight (imagine this scene)
• I saw a lot of cool pagodas
• I saw a "living goddess"- a 4-year old girl who has that title until she loses an adult tooth or menstruates.  Yup.
• I got to see one of my students in his home town.
• I saw some traditional Nepali dances
• I saw a procession of coolies in training.  Maybe the most fun memory.
• I got my kitchen fully set up and baked, roasted, broiled and cooked to my heart's content.
• I made hashed browns for the first time.
• I lied about having symptoms of swine flu to the Indian health people (what- I had a fever for a day in Nepal.  I don't have swine flu, dangit!)
• I am rested and relaxed and ready for the school year to start next week!