happy thanksgiving!

long story...but in nepal the schools build in 'bandh' days much like schools in michigan build in 'snow' days. since there were no strikes (bandhs) for the first few months of school they gave us the day after thanksgiving off. we already had turkey day as a holiday, but they turned it into a 4 day weekend. ...scene 2. last week we had 2 bandh days due to some members of the ycl (youth communist league) attacking a couple guys, killing them and burying them by the river here in kathmandu. since there's no justice system in place, people have no recourse but to take matters into their own hands and create some havoc within the city. then people take notice. so, they stopped traffic, threw rocks at people who tried to scoot through, and burned tires in the streets to get some reaction from the government. this happens quite frequently in the 'du, but it's never targeted at foreigners or their intention isn't to harm people. the first time i saw one it freaked me out a bit, but now it's like 'uh...another bandh...' serious matters, but no big deal in terms of our safety or lifestyle. we just avoid that part of town. so because we had those 2 bandh days last week, school has rescinded the day off tomorrow. i'm still taking the day off, though because christy and i have rented a car and driver to take us down to chitwan game reserve. i took the above images off the internet but they're all from the park. i'll post my own when i return. we're going to do really cool things like ride elephants so we can get up close to the animals, bathe the elephants and look for tigers really early in the morning! i am so excited!! i love this kind of thing and was happiest in africa when on safari. i checked into the treatment of the elephants who are privately owned and their treatment is very fair and humane. if i find out any differently once there i won't participate. but how cool is it gonna be to bathe an elephant in the river!! and there's a breeding center with many teenie tiny babies. oooo i love this stuff! we will return on sunday and then immediately monday morning i leave for 'the last resort' which is an outward boundsy kind of place. i'll be up there for a week with our 10th grade class doing other cool things like rafting, canyoning down waterfalls, trekking, etc. it should be a lot of fun and help build camaraderie amongst the class...25 kids. so, that's what's happening with me...along with teaching the russian revolution...  all's well and i sincerely wish you all a happy thanksgiving. i have so much to be thankful for, and, if you're reading this...you're one of them! thank you! enjoy your weekend! lots of love, j