Sport

Not very often that I show an interest in football (soccer) but I heard the news this morning that all the glamour clubs have been knocked out of the FA Cup leaving Portsmouth as the highest ranked survivor. Nice one 'Arry. Although they are my local team, I can't say I support or know anything about them but for all my other friends who have supported them through plenty of bad times, I hope you get to Wembley. For Steve in particular, I hope it soothed the pain of England's thrashing by New Zealand in cricket and the Scots sneaking a win in the rugby.

 

  

Eating well despite.....

…… being on my own for the last 6 days whilst Sheila is in London. Had dinner at the Radisson twice last week (twice more than in the last 2 years) as guest of a group from India that we are working with on a South Asia regional HIV & AIDS proposal. I'm sure they won't mind me saying that they are camp as you can get which, in addition to the food, made for a good couple of evenings. Last night's meal was courtesy of a wedding party at our associated oragnisation's office in Lalitpur. I was slightly worried about going to this as a couple of friends had said they were going to get me dancing. As some of you will know, I don't even shuffle on a UK dance floor (at least when I'm sober) let alone wiggle provocatively to Bollywood hits. So I kept well back from the dance floor and thankfully avoided making a fool of myself.

Bride & groom

Three times round, garland each other and you're married

Dancing's best left to the girls

For those of you currently being blown away in a stormy UK (I discovered a new term in the Shipping Forecast today, "phenomenal" referring to sea state – don't want to experience it), you might like to know that it was a lovely hot, sunny afternoon here today. I've even given up hot water bottles at night.

New volunteers, including my successor at BDS, arrive next week which is a reminder how scarily close we are to leaving. I really must look at the large pack labelled "Leavers Pack" that VSO gave us a month or so ago.

Enough of this, I must check the TV5 website to see if, and at what time, they are showing Wales v France next week.

Cheers

Roshan

P.S. 32 days to the election and things are remarkably quiet. Good thing I didn’t try to give you political updates 2 weeks ago – news on the talks to settle the strikes by political groups changed by the day, settled, not settled and finally an agreement that may or may not be implemented. So the strikes are over and Ktm is getting fuel again although the queues at the petrol stations suggest that people are stocking up in anticipation of future problems. Load shedding still a PITA despite Nepal Electricity Authority kindly reducing the hours of power cuts last week (we get an extra half day without cuts but as this is in the middle of the night for our area, its not much use. We still have 5 days with between 6.5 to 8 hours of cuts)

Very interested in all Commie parties - not!

In case you share the view of a friend who found my news about the number of Communist parties in Nepal less than riveting I thought I should pass on her exciting news from Bognor.

  
Somebody in Barnham was fined £155 for throwing a fag butt [for Americans I should explain that this is a cigarette end] out of a car window.
 
Rabbit baiting by the beach huts at Blakes road. [fantastic, maybe this will stop the little b****rs nesting under the floorboards of our house]
 
Ireland short of priests, and people enrolling as teachers for peace and quiet due to increased truancy. [maybe this item wasn't in the Bognor Observer]

 

Boy it's going to be hard to cope with all this excitement when we return. Anyway, thanks to Heather for keeping us up to date and standing in for me on Mothering Sunday.

Cheers

Roshan