Another holiday

Believe it or not, I am going on the third consecutive vacation of this season to Bangladesh. Initially, I was supposed to go to Darjeeling in India, the second attempt since last year. However, due to the unstable political situation and planned nation wide strike, we concluded that traveling by road was risky. Besides, my fried that I am traveling with is going back to Japan for good next week, and we cannot be stranded.
So, we considered some options that we could take given the 4 day holiday, and came to a decision that going to Dhaka may be the best. I have never been there, so quite excited.
I just moved to a new place, so things are still crazy at home, but why not? I took Friday and Monday off, but the work is extremely busy at a moment. I just realized that my next 2 weeks are completely booked up. I am on a recruitment duty of evaluating exams for new staff and on three different interview panels. I also have my own project to manage, which requires me to coordinate hiring 4 positions and doing RFP (request for proposals) on a research/ survey activity among many other things. I am behind in many assignments, and I feel burnt out. Anyhow, I will try not to think about this and have fun this weekend.
Thinking about my future has been also occupying my mind a bit as well. I have now less than 8 months of the contract left with the current position. Need to think about the next steps, apply for jobs, asking myself what do you want in life? Where do you want to be? Do you like working for the UN? How long can I continue this exciting but tiring process of going to new places? Would I ever find a husband in this life style—becoming serious issue (!)? Many big question marks in my head!!! I am seriously considering consulting a fortuneteller. That’s how much I am confused!....

back from the mission

出張から戻りました。疲れたけど楽しかった。

2泊の内1日は、村の中にあるパートナー団体の敷地内に泊めてもらった。NGOの人達とたくさん仕事について話すことができたし、チョコレートとキャンディをお土産に持って行って、研修を受けている人達にとても喜ばれた。敷地内で栽培している野菜を使った食事も美味しく、街の喧騒を離れて自然の中での1泊2日はとても有意義でした。久しぶりの蚊帳も何だか嬉しかった（朝に蚊帳の中に蚊を発見！！）

また写真でも載せます。

Busy week

I am off to a short mission and on the weekend I am moving to a new apartment. Have not started packing or anything!! I am just moving almost down the street to a place half the rent of my current one!! It is smaller but cute and cozy. i will upload some photos. I will have intranet there, so I will be more regular with e-mails etc. Sorry for neglecting writing to friends...
If my leave is approved, I may go on a short trip to India with my girlfriend. Yes, you must be wondering when am I ever working!? ;)

I had to

post this photo, since my parents have such a great smile!! (hope you you don't mind!!) This is at the dinner table of the hotel in the jungle. My father's shirt suits the theme really well, and my mom is wearing a kurta that I have given her.

Memories from my parents visit

Everest- top of the world! A view from the mountain flight- the co-pilot took this photo when I went into the cockpit
象サファリの乗り場にて。３人とも怖い顔してますが楽しかったよ。
サイはいっぱい見られた。Rhinos are plenty. 他には鹿、サル、孔雀が飛んでいる所を見られたのは感動的だった。飛ぶなんてちっとも知らなくて。We also saw peacocks fly! Didn't know they can fly like that! :)
Very nice hotel where we stayed inside the forest.

My Parents visit

うちの両親が１週間お休みを取って遊びにきてくれました。母は途上国は初めてで、父も健康面が少し心配でしたが無事に色々観光して帰国しました。

My parents came to visit me for one week. It was a very short visit, but I was extremely happy to host them.

During the short period of time, we managed to:

• Do a mountain flight to see the Himalayan range and the Everest！
• Went to a national park and stayed 2 nights in a fancy lodge and completely “safari-ed” out (see the picture of the elephant safari and rhinos!)
• Spent nearly 7 hours at the airport waiting for flights (there was an on-going raider antenna maintenance… such thing is un-heard of…)
• Visited a temple, old palace, museum,
• Ate traditional food, Tibetan hotpot, soba-noodle made with local buckwheat, cooked at home with my mother
• Lots of talking about everything and nothing
• stayed up late to solve “su-doku”with my mom

They were able to see the glimpse of my real life here, including load-shedding, smell and dust on a street, crazy traffic, long wait for everything, meeting my good friend among many things.

二人は私の生活が垣間見れたと、喜んでくれていました。短い間だったけど国立公園のジャングルの中のホテルに泊まりサファリをしたり、エベレストの遊覧飛行をしたり、私も今までしたことのなかった観光をできて楽しかった。でも何より両親と話したり、一緒にご飯を作ったり、スーパーに買い物に行ったり、私のこの国での日常を味わってもらうことができて嬉しかった。海外旅行に招待することなんかは親孝行の内にも入らないのは百も承知だけど、色々な景色を見たり、変った物や美味しい物を食べたり、両親が楽しんでくれて本当に良かった。遠いところを来てくれてありがとう。

I was quite impressed with how they handled everything pretty well. I hope they stay healthy and will be able to go on many more trips.

I was so sad after they left. It is much harder than coming home after I visit them in Japan.　

Great company, good laugh, friends!

Me and Helen at the last hotel on the trek. Relieved that no more walking was required!! We had surprisingly great meals on this trek considering how remote we were. Helen and I particularly enjoyed Mexican food!!

At the gateway to the Upper Mustang area. Very international group we were!!

Back in KTM on the last night. Chilling out with a glass of beer on a rooftop. Thank you so much for coming to visit me! I had so much fun with you and seeing you and all the catching up were one of the best part of the visit!!

Juste pour rire

Take a close look at this menu, which also lists room charges. A burger is more expensive than a room charge! (this is how a teahouse/ guesthouse operates)
ただ今宇宙と交信中。Taken on a rooftop of a gompa (tibetan temple) It was so windy and I have an antenna! (receiving a signal from a space...)
Un-identifiable person. This is to protect from wind and dust (and sun too). It is me!
I can be in Japan or in NY with these signs..... Take a close look at the M sign. It is pretty funny. Love their sense of humor.

What I saw during my trip

I will add descriptions to the photos later. Please enjoy them.

私の見た景色

In front of the runway that is so short!.. 山の中に突如として現れる小さな飛行場の滑走路。ランデングがすごく怖かった。思わずヘレンの腕にしがみついてしまいました。
グランドキャニオンを思わせるような（行ったことないけど）乾いた山を歩いていくと小さな村々が顔をのぞかせる。This is one of villages where we stayed, and this picture was taken on a way back. Hope this shows the height that we went up (with struggle and heavy breathing).
The mountain areas is mostly resided by Tibetan people so we find the prayer flags everywhere. 風にはためく旗の音しか聞こえない程静かで平和な山の上でした。

Absolutely amazing vacation

I am back from my trekking trip. I am tired but completely rejuvenated at a same time. I had an absolutely amazing time during my one week holiday. I don't know how to describe it, but I enjoyed magnificent views, beautiful temples, villages, delicious food and wonderful company!! (and some muscular pain, needless to say)

Three girls, my friend from Canada, German girlfriend and myself embarked on a 5 day trekking trip in the Annapurna region. We flew from KTM to a famous lakeside city, which is a gateway to this area's trekking routes.

Stayed one night in a trekking company owned guest house and took a small (and scary) plane to where we started off. We used sort of a social venture trekking company that promotes women's empowerment through sports, and the guide and the porter persons we got were great.

Our estimate is that we covered about 40 kilometers distance during the 5 days. The highest point we have reached was over 3800 kilometers, which is probably the highest that I have ever been. This trek is not about going up so high, and for the most part terrain was either more or less flat or gradual elevation. We did go up on a steep hill, which was struggle at a higher altitude.

Since it was a high altitude, the scenery was dry and not much vegetation and a desert like condition with magnificent views of snow capped mountains. It was dry, sunny, cool and windy.

Here is the overview of the itinerary

Day 1 Fly to Jomsom, Trek -> Marpha and Tuckche and stay overnight in Marpha

Day 2 Marpha -> Jomsom -> Eklebati -> Kagbani

Day 3 Kagbeni -> Kinga -> Jarkhot

Day 4 Jarkhot -> Muktinath -> Jarkhot

Day 5 Jarkhot -> Jomsom

疲れたけどすごくリフレッシュして帰ってきました。雪山の景色がすごく綺麗に見える中でのトレッキングはすごく楽しかったです。