Oh hot damn
This is my jam
We’re gonna party
Until the a.m.
Greetings from Nepal. The United Nations delegation took an overnight bus from Rishikesh to the border town, Banbasa, last night. Right now there’s myself, Cesar, Jim from Sweden and Jeff from the U.S. So America has two votes out of the four which is just how we would want it. Jeff and I had been talking about trekking in Nepal since the first day we met at Tushita. And Jim and Cesar decided last second to join in the trip and were probably regretting it at 2 a.m. last night during the bus ride. It was impossible to position yourself comfortably to sleep and on top of that we were sitting in the back of the bus so every bump we hit, even when the bus driver slowed down to drive over it, launched us close to the overhead baggage rack. I was laughing the whole time but I think I was alone in that. It’s just the way things work in India. And it’s hard to complain when you’re paying $3.50 for the bus ride.
We filled out our exit paperwork (bye bye India!), got our entry Visa into Nepal and now we’re waiting around this one horse town for our afternoon bus to Pokhara, another grueling 15 hour bus ride. Everyone in this transit town here rides bikes and it’s rare to see a car. It’s a welcome peaceful change from the noise and clammer of India. Nepal is quite a bit poorer than India and so cars seem to be a luxury. And I am now living in the 12th century. The Maoist rebel group overthrew the Nepalese government this year and one of the things they did was to ‘correct’ the calendar by setting it back to 1129. The ironic thing is that before the change the calendar year was 2065. How confusing to live here! Imagine a campaign being run with the promise to send us back in time, like to 1776. If it was 1976 then I’d definitely have to vote for them because that was the year God gave the world it’s greatest gift.
One great thing about this border town, at least for Jeff, is that he can finally buy whiskey. Rishikesh is a holy city and so there was no alcohol, meat or eggs. But in Nepal, it’s not only widely available, it’s super cheap. A pint of local whiskey costs 50 Cent (go Shorty). So we’ve now got a few bottles stocked up for the bus ride. And a deck of cards and a new Swedish card game Jim taught us called Shit Head. It’s a great game but the name bears no resemblance to the game.
So we’ve almost killed all 5 hours of wait time and it’s time to head back to the bus station. We spent our time at a restaurant eating lunch, playing cards and telling ‘yo mama’ jokes. This is what happens when you have a 19 year old in your group. Jeff is taking a gap year before starting college at George Washington next fall. I think it’s such a great idea for people to do this and I hear it’s becoming more popular. I never even the heard the term ‘gap year’ until this year. And yes Jeff is the one who was craving the alcohol. It’s a legal age here.
And about the song lyric at the start, it’s a song still in my head from the bus ride.
Y’all don’t understand
Make me throw my hands in the ayer, aye, ayer, ayer, aye ayer
a meal with basil 
dude keep posting. I really like reading what you’re up to.