Here is a song I wrote one night when my host family had gone off to a wedding on their motorcycles and I had some alone time:
There’s a soft sun setting on Kathmandu
Sittin on the roof top thinking bout you
Smog is clearing but it’s not through
It’s just me I’m singing to
Evening walkin on empty streets
Livin and breathin on tired feet
Not too long ago
I had a friend to show
And Share the way,
But today, I play alone.
Distant lighting in Kathmandu
On hazy hills of grayish hue
Dusk has turned to noisy night
Eyes grow damp from sad insight
I sing both the parts
No harmony
Just me
Tonight
That song seems a little sad, but things have been going great here! After dinner each night I sit and talk in Nepali with my host family, often while watching the news in Nepali, which often gets my family asking questions about American involvement in world politics. I have learned to count to five in the Newari language, and made Yomaris with my family. I have also started learning to play the Tabla for my ISP, which is a lot of mental exercise. With my brain tired out from all the Nepali, Tabla, and the busy city, I tend to go to bed with my family at 9:30 or so, but I don’t wake up with them at 4:30. Also, Mom, my new Nepali teacher is Prava Khadka!