Highs and Lows

Since NBC’s Olympic coverage decisions are questionable, I know you’ve all been twiddling your thumbs and watching Facebook for my next update. Well, here ya go (that phrase confuses my Nepali teacher...):
 
Life abroad is a series of highs and lows. For example: Last Monday (a week and a half ago) I signed a lease on a wonderful 2-bedroom apartment with a private kitchen and bathroom all my own. The apartment search was a success! I was on cloud nine! But my euphoria was not to last. Later that night, my laptop died. Totally black. No lights. Nothing. Nada. Even when plugged in. Consulted the internet. Combed through the first 15 top hits on Google. Still nothing.
 
Luckily my Asia Foundation friends had a solution: take it to the laptop fix-it guys! After a harrowing ride on the back of a motorcycle with a semi-random Asia Foundation person (see previous post re: riding vehicles with strangers), I dropped my laptop off at possibly the most disheartening repair shop in the entire city. There were pieces of broken laptops everywhere. Sparks flew from the outlet when they plugged my computer in. They had never seen an Asus before. I left with tears in my eyes…
 
But lo and behold, the next day they called and said, all fixed! And it was. Soon I was reunited with my trusty laptop and the newly serviced motherboard. They also magically fixed the speakers! Not even NUIT or Staples could fix those! Good job, scary little repair shop!
 
And good thing I had all my movies back, because that night, disaster struck again. I came down with a classic Kathmandu-monsoon-season-water-borne illness. Fever, aches, cold-sweat, and tummy troubles had me down for the count for 24 hours (thank goodness for Ibuprofen). Then I felt well enough to visit an outdoor market with my Nepali host dad. And then I accepted fruit off the street without thinking about it. And then the tummy troubles continued (and are continuing…).
 
Finally I moved into my new apartment. Yay! So fun! I arranged furniture! I put posters on the wall! I cooked myself dinner! I don’t have to share a bathroom! But this morning, I discovered a strange patch of red, non-itchy bites on my right upper thigh. Right where my leg hits the bed if I lay on my side. I dismissed them as a wayward mosquito. But on further examination, the truth became clear: I have bed bugs.
 
That was 2 hours ago. Now it is 11 pm on Wednesday night. Highs and lows…