June 2

We are going to Pokhara tomorrow morning to start our trek on friday. we are doing a 2 day trek of the Annapurna Circuit. The first day of trekking is 2.5 hrs and the second day is about 6 hrs...haha, should be pretty entertaining. Our friends that we are going with are pretty big trekkies (mostly just one) and so he knows his stuff! There will be 6 of us in total. 2 boys, one of their sisters, and then me, bridget, and another girl from our house. We should be back by sunday night, maybeeee monday but they have internet up in Pokhara so if we have time we will try to update.
Today was pretty awesome at the monastery. Yesterday I bought the monks in my class these little handmade and really nicely decorated notebooks for them to write and draw in (they told me they like to draw/write in English/Tibetan). So I gave them these gifts yesterday and they were pretty confused by it aha they thought I was just showing them the notebooks, and when they realized it was a gift they were sooo appreciative and soo happy. THEN today, they show up to class and I didnt even notice but they had this big robe covering something in the classroom, and when we all got in there they said that they got ME a gift! definitely wasnt expecting that...and it was soo cute, it was all wrapped up in wrapping paper with a card that said "best wishes...your best students". Inside was a photo album (cause I always show them pictures of what I have been doing in Nepal so they know I like photos), and they got me a pink bracelet, and this little dangly thing, that is a high-heeled shoe, to attach to your keychain/camera/cell phone. hahaha it was so cute! They also showed me around the monastery today, it is unbelievable, we went into the temple where they pray and it was stunning, I will try and post pictures at some point. THey also invited me to go swimming with them this weekend/next week (have no idea where this pool is they speak of cause we definitely havnt seen one but anyways), so i asked them today what they wear swimming (they call it their "water costume") and they drew a pair of shorts, just like men wear in america, and then for the women they drew this dress-type thing haha (they thought this was funny) and when they asked about what north americans wear i drew a bikini and they said that "it is ok to wear that, miss" (all with giggles of course)...clearly not going to be wearing a bikini in Nepal haha!
Bridget spent the day at the HIV/Aids orphanage today...2 of their teachers quit because they got offered better jobs elsewhere, so they asked bridge to teach the classes there. the kids speak 0 english and she speaks 0 nepali so she says it is pretty hard, and doesnt really know where to start. she said that today went well though, she bought some books and stuff for them because they are very undersupplied and they were really appreciative of that. They also asked her to write a proposal for them...about what sort of funding they could use and for what programs etc...pretty intense stuff, but really cool! So she is meeting with them on tuesday next week i think to talk about it.
Will try and give updates on our trek, not really sure what the internet status is at these guest houses/villages we stay in, but if I find internet somewhere ill try and write something quickly! xoxo
2 weeks left here!