August 7 - Rumors of My Demise are Greatly Exaggerated...

Home Sweet London Guest House. It's great being back in Kathmandu, with (more) consistent electricity, fewer insects, and chinese takeout.

That being said, if you've been following the news, there's been massive flooding in South Asia. Hundreds are dead across Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, and millions face suffering from waterborne diseases, displacement, and property destruction. In Nepal, the death toll is around 80, the last time I checked. Several tens of thousand are also in refugee camps because their homes are under several feet of water.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) I was in the hilly regions (Achham) when the monsoon floods came, then made it back to Kathmandu, where the altitude is too high to flood (all the rain here went down into the valleys). Dangadhi was somewhat flooded on the way back, but it wasn't on the scale of a humanitarian crisis there. Nevertheless, it's been on the news and all over the newspapers recently, and my heart goes out to all the displaced people.

Sadly, this event has had some political ripples as well. Refugees in rural areas have been picketing at many locations due to the parliament's poor handling of the situation. In one town, the government imprisoned a political leader because they believed he was using the flood to disseminate anti-government propaganda. The consensus, though, is that he had always been critical of the current establishment, and the citizens have been protesting his arrest vigorously (despite the fact that they don't even have homes now).

We've concluded the political questions from earlier, and have decided to stick with the clinic in Sanfe Bagar. We will, however, put ourselves on the fast track to moving to Bodelgata, and hope this will work out soon.

Also, thanks to Brad, Erin, and all of you for being concerned about me in the floods. I'm dry as a bone, though I would have liked to provide some relief for the victims. It's good to know that I have awesome friends who care about my safety abroad.