aaayeeee namaste

Hi all,

How's everyone doing out there in your respective worlds? I'm hanging out in my village, chipping away at small doable projects to implement in my squeezy lil manpur gaou. I'm working on improved cookstoves (mud stoves that have a chimney so the smoke ain't hanging around inside no mo'), teaching health/ nutrition/ sanitation classes at my local e-school, and spreading word about da TREE OF LIFE aka moringa tree or shitalcheene in nepali. Also doing other peace corps duties by attending ngo/community orgs/districtlevel meetings and programs. The life. :)

I've been reading like a brain maniac. It's been real good. Here's a short booklist I recommend when y'all got freetime (or get yourselves off dem streets and go read a book!)

Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
-a firsthand account of the life of Shirley Chisholm, the first African American hot mama to run for presidency.

Buddha in the Attic
-the voices of hundreds of Japanese women sent to America as picture brides in the early 20th century, leading into the internment of Japanese Americans by the US government during World War II.  Short and good read :)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Beverly Tatum
-a psychologist's perspective of racial identity development in the USA. Iz berry interesting.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
-a biography that follows the work of American Dr. Paul Farmer into the slums of Haiti and other regions of the world. An interesting perspective on social inequality and what maybe should or can be done to be a positive addition to the world.


Shout out to my dope lil brother Antonio Lee!! For becoming the final college graduate of the Lee family. Again, as I was for Reynold, I'm there in spirit screaming your weird name and holding a sign with your big fat face on it. Have a safe "tour" up north with my baby (aka my car) and reyrey.

Congratulations to the UCSD class of 2014 for finishing out your last painful week of finals and moving on towards life after college. Do wonderful things for your communities, the world, and each other. I'm so proud of so many of you all and I absolutely wish I could see some specifics walk across the stage. You know who you are!! (ie. Bun sistaz and friends to name a few).

To the incoming group of new volunteers into Nepal, G201, I'm very excited to meet you all! Enjoy your last few months in the coffee-laden world of the US and make sure to eat all the burgers, mexican, thai, italian, greek cuisine you can stuff down. Go easy on the white rice while you have a chance ;). Shoot me a comment or message to say namaste if you'd like. I'm nice a good amount of the time.

Ta-ta for now mero maya lageko sathiharu ra pariwaar.
-Bora