[ The First Day of Work ]

Hello! This will be a short post, as it is late here and the draft that I was half-way done with didn't save correctly. :(

My day began with a little confusion, as I did not know how to take a shower here! With a lesson from Ashok on the faucet and squeegee used to push water to a drain in the corner, I was all set.

Because it is solar heated, there wasn't any warm water in the morning!

Squeaky clean, I headed down for a delicious breakfast of fresh baked rolls and bread. Ashok buys this every morning, I learned, from a secret bakery down the way! All that was left to do was wait for the ICIMOD car, and I talked with Barbara, a sweet and animated 32 y.o. from Austria. She is very fun to be around, and has taught me a few Nepali words (which I have no clue how to type here, I'm sorry!).

With another wonderful ride through the city, ICIMOD finally loomed before me, surrounded by colorful gardens. More pictures of that to come, but this was my walk into the building!

My supervisor, Aditi Mukherji, was in a meeting for the morning, so I busied myself with setting up and began researching! When Aditi made it back, she introduced me to everyone working in the Water and Air Theme (which she leads!). Nepali names are still very difficult for me to remember--especially when given 20 at one time--but they provided me with a directory and I have been slowly ironing out the faces and pronunciations. :)

The official workplace of Abigail Synder!

It feels like home already. :)

After the quick introductions, Aditi took me to lunch in the canteen, or cafeteria, on ICIMOD grounds. The back was even more beautiful than the front! She treated me to mo-mos, a national specialty similar to Japanese gyoza or Chinese steamed dumplings. They were fantastic (and not spicy)!!! It was so great getting to eat with her, and it helped me get a clearer view of what I would be doing in my two months here.

After lunch, I set back to working, reading everything I could find related to the water supply of urban centers in the Himalayas. Throughout the day, I had been in close contact with Sarita, a secretary of sorts, who is always smiling, and Rasmi, who sits a desk away and is doing a literature review of energy sources. Both have been incredibly helpful and kindly answer any of my questions. Rasmi also introduced me to the lemon tea in the office. Within 24 hours, I have had four cups of it! It is a new favorite!

After work, the bus showed me back to the guest house and where the pick-up point would be. I was very tired from all of the social interaction and reading I had done, so I stayed for dinner with some of the other guests. Indian food was delivered that night, and we all discussed our first days at the office over naan and chickpea mixtures.

Everyone here has been so incredibly helpful and accommodating; I am so grateful for their patience and guidance! :)

Peace and love,
Abby

PS. I took a few videos of traffic so that you might get a glimpse of how thrilling it is! These were not the main roads, however, so traffic is a little thinner. Also, it is a bit bumpy (the roads are in poor condition), so for those of you who get motion sick, you may want to pass go. But for the rest, enjoy! :)

Videos will be posted in the morning as my internet is ridiculously slow right now!