Turkey day up to two months!

My thanks­giv­ing started out with a per­son­al­ity test(that I had never taken!)…where I found my behav­ioral bal­ance between being dra­matic, vig­i­lant, and ideo­syn­cratic. Took a motor cycle ride to the other John’s flat… For a won­der­ful birth­day party/​thanksgiving feast among old,new, and brand new friends. (nerd alert)Afterwards we played set­tlers of catan with 7people on two games and half of a home­made expan­sion. I was able to build one road and buy 16 devel­op­ment cards. Haha. On a com­plete other note.… I am watch­ing my friend ellens house and so have some space to myself. Though I do miss my fam­ily that I was stay­ing with, I can come and go as I please. My cross coun­try jour­ney is com­ing up quick so it’s good to get some rest with­out allergy prob­lems.
this last week I rode to the nagarkot tower/​stupa to see the lang­tang range of the Himalayas. (ever­est being ever so faint in the dis­tance… But present) my day started at 5 am and due to the real world not dis­tin­guish­ing between a yel­low road and a red one like my map does, I found myself on a dirt trail on the side of a moun­tain until nearly 11. When I got to the tower there was a shud­der­ing com­mo­tion as I had scared what seemed to be 50 golden eagles from thier moun­tain top perches. Not to men­tion the 180degree stare of the white­capped lang­tangs. My descent took about an hour and a half. Bone crunch­ing is what we called it on the pct. 25kilomtrs of rocky jostling dirt inhala­tion. My smile was nearly touch­ing my ears though my butt and fore­arms where scream­ing profanities.

Yes­ter­day was my two month mark. I went to the embassy with my friend Robert and on the way back a motor­cy­cle hit my bike at a grind­ing hault at a stop­light. Scuff of the tires kind of thing. Shock meet­ing heart­stop­ping smiles. Need­less to say this is what life feels like in Nepal. There is dan­ger all around and often close and so my senses are height­ened. My awar­ness of myself and my con­txt are con­stantly being sharp­ened. Then there is the deep soak­ing rest that comes after you’ve given your every­thing to the day and sur­vived to tell the story. It’s good. Dif­fi­cult and often heartwrench­ing but good.

My love grows so much in dis­tance. I pray these words find you in good health and spirit as the earths angle makes a shorter day and colder sea­son. Haha. Yours truly, johnraux.