Living the Life

Because I live in community with six kids who are all vying for every electronic devise I/we own from the minute they come home from school/work, I have found myself flying through books. When I was on my two month tour de world, I think I read only one and a half books… Now that I have been back in Nepal for only a month and a half, I’ve already read through six or so.

I’ve noticed most of my book reviews are usually positive and filled with very little criticism. I am not sure if it is because I am easy to please or because I am usually very picky when in the bookstore. I am pretty hopeful that it is the latter. I find I only read award winning authors, books recommended by trusted friends, or classics. Most of my scrutiny comes during the hours in the bookstore.

Last week, I bought two new books. The author of When I lived in Modern Times, Linda Grant, and the book itself were completely unknown to me, but chance led me to pick it up amongst the other second hand books in Lakeside. The back mentioned Israeli independence and the pricetag was half that of other books. A book about a land that my heart aches for, and such a cheap price - it was worth a try.

i've had a few funny moments in nepal as of late...

i finally went to the dentist. i asked them to fix a small chip on one of my front teeth. the guy said he could only do it if he knocked out that tooth and the teeth on either side of it so they would all "match" in colors... uhm.... no thanks. i did get him to make a retainer for me. i feel my teeth shifting a bit and i am a bit paranoid already about the decline in their quality from lack of fluoride enriched water, so i at least want to keep 'em straight and free from inevitable shifting. i came to my follow up appointment three days late without even calling. he didn't even ask why i hadn't shown up. when he handed me the retainer and i popped it in with an ease recalling my days as a 15 year old, he said, "oh! you know even better than me!" i sure hope not....

i set up my second bank account in nepal. my first bank loves me, they really do. i am the only foreigner and i ask them 'absurd' questions like if i can buy shares in the bank and i have a nepali as my beneficiary. they love that. and i love them. but, it didn't offer all the services i need, so i opted to set another account with a bigger bank. my application form asked for "specimen's signature". the best part was the address. because even cities in nepal have a small town feel, mailing addresses are something like farm addresses that basically just tell the area but not the exact house. i guess the postman just asks around. for the purpose of the bank though, i was given a half of a piece of paper and asked to draw a map to my house. at first i thought they were kidding. they weren't. sewa said my drawing was out of proportion, but i guess it was good enough.

read about the kiddies here.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder- recommended by a good friend of mine. A good read about a doctor who lives with one foot planted in the midst of the poorest of the poor and the other foot amongst the brightest, "most fortunate" of the world.

Waiting by Ha Jin- Jin's collection of short stories, The Bridesgroom was the reason I picked up a second book. Waiting tells the story of an 18 year long romance between a doctor and a nurse waiting for the man to legally be allowed to divorce his wife from an arranged marriage. Jin's writing style is as beautiful as I remembered it from his short stories, although the idea of infidelity is not exactly my favourite subject.

Feast of Love by Charles Baxter -also recommended by a woman who I called my "twin" in my undergrad days (funny since we aren't even the same ethnicity :P). I read the book AND saw the movie. As is often the case, the book was better. The movie was good, but the reason I liked the book is because it mentions the philosopher I refer to as "my dead boyfriend", Soren Kierkegaard multiple times.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer- I've read about 2/3 of this book so far after seeing the beautiful, beautiful movie. The book is interesting in a "different" way than the movie. More facts, incorporates som of Krakauer's own experiences writing and living, but the movie only gives the true story of the main character, Christopher McCandless, a 24 year old set out to find truth. A beautiful journey of the human heart that ends with God.

read a bit of insight on the recent disaster in burma from a friend of mine who loves that land dearly.

As is the case with many Asian youngsters these days, the 15-25 demographic in Nepal is in full obsession with Korean movies. So much so, that the dvd stores are now split three ways in almost equal proportions- Hindi, English and Korean films. So when I found the Irish-American-Korean, Daniel Henney's movie, Seducing Mr. Perfect in Sewa's bedroom, I didn't expect much more than another cheesy chick-flick and I was ready to accept it as such with little expectations for quality. I can normally stomach and even from time to time enjoy a brainless romance, but this Korean film portrayed exactly what is wrong with so much of the world today. Henney's character is a top executive, who demonstrates a variety of narcissistic qualities, but he is still considered "dreamy". 3/4ths of the movie viewers endure his verbal abuse of self-righteous, demeaning comments to his employee, June. He tells her she is foolish, immature and not worth loving. She runs around the office desperately trying to change and in the end, Henney falls in love with her and she falls right back in love with him. Korean viewers called this movie "cute". I thought it was pathetic and the only reason I could make it through the whole movie is because the the only power in our house was my laptop and I had just spent the day dealing with kids on glue... so I too, needed something to numb my mind. Unfortunately, instead of help me unwind, this movie only succeeded in infuriating me.