Giardia
Well - this evil thing is becoming the bain of our existence. Mark got it, took the medication and was delayed in going on the mid west trip but was feeling really good and the world was put to rights.
The medication he took before we went west kills the live bacteria but not the eggs so it is very common for the symptoms to return 10 days later as the eggs hatch. It did this last week. He took a double dose of the medication which has some nasty side effects as well. The world was not good!!! I took him to a dr who said that "the stool test is fine (which they did and had the results ready in 20 mins!) so it isn't giardia so what do you want me to do?" We thought that is what we are paying him for!!!

We eventually got hold of an expat dr who says that the medication dosages that he took were right but you can become allergic to diary products except yoghurt for about 2 weeks as the small intestine is damaged. The tiredness comes from the inability to absorb the nutrients from the food. We have knocked back all of these (hard in Nepal as chiyaa is made of milk and expected to be drunk although the lovely man at the office now makes a special tea for Mark) and the world was back to rights again... until today when the diarrhoea returned - and so did a very frustrated boy!!!! The stool test is again negative (not uncommon even if it is giardia). For those of you who are worried, he is eating lots so is not losing much weight!

The road
Well, the digger has gone and now there is a gang of mostly children with pick axes pulling all the individual rocks out of the road!!! This could take a while and is being slowed down the by small fact that we are now having daily thunderstorms with hail and really heavy rain!!
The government hasn't agreed to pay their share which has now dropped to 40%. Some locals have refused to pay! The amount they pay is based on the number of hand lengths their property has with the street frontage! A hand is measured from the elbow to the finger tip!

Weather
We have had thunderstorms most afternoons. Yesterday was a very dramatic one. It got so dark at 2pm it was almost nighttime. The rain poured down and the street was an inch deep in water in two minutes. The hail stones were the size of small golf balls and the thunder had a crack to it that I have never heard in NZ. I have bruises from the hail as I went to get our trekking permits!!
More water means the possibility of more power so there are some upsides to it.
The other upside is that the temperature has dropped 10 deg - it is now 22 deg (thanks to your thermometer Helen) - it felt so cold yesterday that I put thermals on and then didn't believe the temperature when I looked at it!!

Easter
It is Easter this weekend. Hard to know here as there are no hot cross buns or Easter eggs in the shops!
We are going trekking for four days which we are really excited about.
I pray that you all have a great Easter and that you remember that Jesus has died so that we can have forgiveness of sins and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the saviour of our sins.
HAPPY EASTER