So another week slips by. Believe it or not, it sometimes feels like we're not doing very much at the moment - with endless days of school and Nepali culture. Then, when we stop and think about it (as we are at the moment), we realise we live in interesting times and have actually got quite a lot on our plates at the minute.

Firstly there is the country itself to consider. Most of the results from the election are in now and it's pretty clear that the Maoists have won a huge majority (certainly in the 1st past the post voting, the proportional representation part is still being counted). The general sense that you get talking to people is that the scale of the Maoist win was a bit of a surprise (I suspect it may of come as a bit of a shock to them too !). I've got a hunch they'd stocked up on tyres and plan A involved burning barricades and a bit of revolution and armed revolt in Kathmandu...plan A now, is taking over the running of country, with lots of problems, not least a chronic shortage of electricity - still there aren't that many light bulbs either so every cloud has a silver lining and all that. M had a giggle this week reading the Kathmandu Post. Thursday's headline read "Maosits for Capitalism, Economic Miracle" A Maoist spokesman is quoted "...our next fight is to wipe out feudalism and promote a capitalist economy - this is the true concept of Marxism". It's certainly going to be interesting to see how things work out and hopefully I'll have a ringside seat in one of the Government Ministries !

More importantly our domestic life seems to be on the up. Last Sunday we went out and about with a letting agent and we found a nice flat to rent in Patan. Before we found the right one for us we had to endure being shown a few stinkers but I think that's just part of the game with the agent. They know all the landlords, so have to be seen to be taking people round, even if they know that there's no chance of you taking the places they're showing. Still the last one we saw (and we're told it's always the last one !) was perfect. It's got two bedrooms, lounge, dining area, kitchen, nice bathroom and a roof terrace. It's just been renovated so is in good shape too, with paint on the walls and plugs that aren't falling apart so that's got to be good sign. It's got a nice garden too and the landlady was really friendly and speaks a bit of English, which will be a help. M's face lit up when she saw the place which is also a good sign, so albeit at the risk of counting chickens before they hatch I think we might be happy there. So next up is furniture buying, gas bottle procurement etc but that's next week's adventure.

In addition to flat hunting, the other activity that has dominated the week has been shopping. The female volunteers in the group have been taking the lead here. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a cotton shortage in Nepal over the coming weeks, based on the metreage of material that's been purchased for the production of various Kurtah's and Sawals... so expect to see pictures soon ! I must admit to be taken surprise by how big a deal it is to have the "right clothes" and how much time can be spent discussing colours, patterns, lengths !!! I know of at least occasion last week, when there were four male volunteers standing outside a tailors shop in Lazimpat...waiting patiently for fittings to be completed and bills to be produced for payment.

Our language skills continue to develop. This week the classes got re-jigged and the good news for Miranda is that she's now been moved up the top group - so congratulations to her ! I've been in this group for the last month, so will be making sure that she settles in and is keeping up. Gieskeko- matre (just joking).

Anyway, enough for now. The sun is shining, it's Saturday and we want to try and hash today, so I'll sign off and more later.

Namaste