New Year

Happy New Year People. 2006. Wow.

I started this morning by going to 8am meditation, which was a surprise even to me. I had not planned to, but bang at 7.30 my eyes popped open and I thought, I'm awake...why not. why not start the year with a bit of comtemplation, why not gather my thoughts and breathe a little. The second half of 2005 was such a whirlwind of new jobs, new people, new places, new smiles (and that was before I left London!) and now I am in Nepal surrounded by people I've only just met, and 2006 is a complete mystery to me. So after sitting watching my breath for an hour and trying not to let my thoughts wander, I took a deep meditation-ary breath and thought about all you people and thought about me and thought... 2006, yay, I'm ready for it. (and for the first time I sat in meditation for a whole hour and my leg didn't go to sleep! not quite enlightenment, but a start!).

So raise your glasses peeps, here's to 2006, here's hoping it brings lots of smiles and lots of quality friend-time, and happy family-time. Here's to a year that we all can take hold of and make our own in whatever way we choose to cos (and this came to me as I thought about you lot) you people are all amazing and you all deserve a year that makes you grin and say "yay me, I rock!" (cos you do)

Talking of rocking, I had such a fun and random new year's eve - nepali style, here are some highlights...

- not exactly a highlight but a random-light was seeing a banner that said something along the lines of "here's to 2006 and peace in our land" and then under this banner, a maahusive army truck was parked (blocking the narrow street) and inside the truck was filled to the gills with Nepali soldiers brandishing great big sticks and guns. They were there (i think) as NYE crowd control, but as they were blocking the road they were more like crowd agitators. I hope that 2006 brings peace to Nepal, but if this was a sign, I think there is still a way to go.

- Having roast beef, under the stars, by an open fire, in a nearby restaurant place with 4 lovely people

- Sharing thoughts about 2005 and dreams of 2006 with these lovely people, most of whom I will probably not see again.

- Finishing off the meal with amazing carrot cake

- drinking Margherita's under the stars by the open fire

- dancing to salsa music under the stars by the open fire and not caring that the DJ had about 5 salsa-ish songs on loop (one of which was THe Macarena)

- The midnight count up (the NEpalis count up rather than counting down to midnight but non of us westerners knew what number he would end on...and at one point he lost count and started skipping numbers, then going backwards and finally he just yelled 12! and all these balloons fell out of the sky and the nepali's went crazy and the westerners realised that 2006 had arrived!)

- Moving on to another club and dancing in a crcle of Nepali's trying to learn how to dance NEpali style and hoping that your turn to 'freestyle' in the middle of the circle wouldn't come!

- Seeing how the Nepalis celebrate 'Western calender' new year - they mill and wander around the streets and sit on pavements and dance in the street and eat a lot (pretty similiar to most evenings in Thamel actually!)

So yay to NYE and thanks to Simone, Nara, Christie, Harold and Kathmandu for making it a good un!