Namche, July 13

Just a short message, cause the internet is slow and expensive. I am in Namche again to stock up in the shops here. I have been teaching here at the primary school for a week. I met a British volunteer who was doing the same and he simply told me to show up at the school. We had an amazing time together, teaching English, and other subjects too since some teachers were absent. We also witnessed the Dumji festival here, and the celebrations on the birthday of the Dalai Lama. They involved performances of dancing and opera groups, dressed up in astonishing costumes. At the last day of Dumji, the whole village stood in line to receive the blessing of the old rinpoche of Tenboche village, the chief lama in this region.

After working in Namche for a week I went to the village of Khumjung, where there is a High School. I found I enjoy teaching older kids more, and their English is better too. I also assist the school's head master during evening courses for adults in the English language. We have a lot of fun with the participants, mainly villagers from Khumjung.

I have been teaching in Khumjung for a week now, instead of trekking to Everest Base Camp. It's been an enjoyable experience. When the weather is clear I can take a morning stroll to a small hill just above the village, from where the panorama over the peaks of Thamserku, Khumbila, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and of course Sagarmatha (the white mother: Mount Everest) is truly astonishing. I am now well adapted to the altitude (Khumjung is at 3800 m) and hope the weather will permit me to do some trekking yet.