Somewhere to start...

Bideshi, seto keti, khairi, buddi - words i'd never given much thought before but now i'm starting to identify with them. When i am walking in the street, or at the market, or at work, or my budda is on the phone, I know if i hear these words I am probably the topic of conversation.

Recently things have changed a lot for me. I moved to Nepal, a new country, to a new city, Kathmandu, got a new apartment, a new budda, new furniture and a new job. Everything is different, exciting, busy, crazy, distracting and strange. 

It isn't just the cultural divide between me and, well basically everyone i meet, Every thing is different. I went from 20min hot showers in Australia to bathing from a bucket with cold murky water in Kathmandu ; And this has been one of the easier adjustments. Trying to organise a traditional Hindu wedding in Nepal when you don't speak Nepali, have a less than basic understanding of Hindu culture and haven't even been to a Hindu wedding, has been a bit of a challenge!- I should clarify, we aren't actually married yet. We are one of those MODERN COUPLES that shame their Nepali mothers by sharing a house before they get married. He calls me wife to avoid awkward conversations with our landlord or the guy who delivers the paani, and the date is set for April so don't judge us too harshly.

I thought I would start a new blog so I had a place to make sense of all this confusion. I like to write and i want a record of this time because things are moving to quickly for me to commit it all to memory. So Huncha badar will be where i share  my story as a new bideshi buddi in Kathmandu. It won't be all personal, I'll share plenty of photos and news about the events i attend as a travel writer. I will try to mix it up for you so it doesn't get too boring.

So why huncha badar? There isn't really a great reason. I had two options for a blog name. Maya and milk tea or huncha badar. Maya and Milk tea are the reasons i stay in Nepal... but i thought that might be a bit too romantic and love struck so I went with Huncha badar.

For a long time huncha was the only word i knew how to say in Nepali. I said it all the time, even when things weren't ok (then i would say huncha chaina). When you can't communicate with anyone you being to cling to the only words you know. Eventually my budda taught me the word for monkey, something he will probably regret because i then started calling him huncha badar.