Thunderstorms And Snow

Last night the Kathmandu valley was hit with some strong storms and tremendous rain. Just outside of the city a bus was swept off the road and into a river (all 30 people are presumed dead) and four were killed in the city when their Jeep was also swept into a river. Since many squatters live along the rivers no one knows the full extent of the deaths. The thunderstorms left behind a layer of cool air at the surface this morning which made the pollution the worst we have seen since being here. At some intersections the air was almost black. Once the inversion mixed and the pollution and clouds dissipated we got our first glimpse of some of the taller snow covered peaks in the Himalayan range. The clouds are back so no more views for now.

The trip to the orphanage was terrific. Much of the outdoor play area was flooded so we spent all of the time inside. We think we have figured out the ratio of snacks to happy child as things have been calm the last couple of visits. He is learning to share with his friend and for the most part they play nice together. We recognize that this is probably very difficult on his friend as 90% of our attention is directed toward our child. Today his friend jumped in Karyn's lap and our child made it clear that it was unacceptable. It was nice and sad at the same time. It is approx. 5:30pm Tuesday as we type this - no news from the embassy today. We hope that they are very close to concluding, but again, we just don't know.