Kathmandu, I'll soon be seeing you...

I submitted a proposal this weekend for summer language funding that should allow me to travel to Nepal this summer. I'm so excited!! I've been obsessing about this country for about 10 years, and now I finally get to go and get started on language learning, research, and other nerdy cool stuff! I hope it's as awesome as I think it's going to be.

A few things on my pre-Nepal to-do list:

• Read the 4 Nepali literature books that I bought myself on Amazon a couple weeks ago in an ecstasy of pre-trip excitement. Eee! Reading poetry, novels, and short stories as part of my research! Don't mind if I do...
• Read up on current ethnography/politics of the region. I'm not as up-to-date on this stuff as I was a few years ago, but I should be.
• Research and possibly buy a digital SLR. I love taking pictures and I would love to be able to take some really good ones during my time in Nepal. However, I'm not quite sure I want to spend a lot of money on a digital SLR that might get lost/stolen/destroyed in my summer wanderings. I do have a handy point-and-shoot which may have to do.
• Get in better physical shape. Nepal is known for its fabulous mountain trekking, and I want to take advantage of that at least a little bit. I'm not planning to climb Everest, but I do want to be able to hit the trail for a few days. Given that my exercise regimen these days mostly consists of walking to the library, it's time to step it up.
• Decide whether to tack any other trips onto the Nepal trip. For instance, one of my classmates will be staying with her family in Lebanon for the summer, and I'm sorely tempted to tack on a week-long "layover." Will probably depend on costs and how much of the budget that I proposed actually gets funded. 
• Buy a 'fake' wedding ring. This has been recommended to me by several female friends who have traveled in Nepal. This should be fun- I've never been able to justify buying myself a piece of jewelry as a research expense.
• Finish/survive my coursework for this semester... hmmm... I'm taking 4 classes, TAing, and doggy-paddling to keep my head above water. Hopefully, looking forward to a summer in Nepal will motivate me to keep paddling.

I'm really happy that I picked a degree program that involves extensive travel- anthropology rules! (In a non-colonial, non-imperialistic, culturally relativist sort of way, of course.)

Edit: I remembered a few more:

• I need to get up-to-date on various immunizations. When I traveled to Thailand a few years ago, I was blithely unconcerned with CDC warnings. I didn't get any immunizations and did just as I pleased (eating all sorts of mysterious street food, drinking tap water, swimming in mountain streams, etc). I had a blast and didn't pick up a single weird disease. So why bother this time around? Maybe I'm a little 'wiser' with age, but it seems silly to tempt fate a second time. Also, I promised my mom that I'd get my shots for the sake of her mental health.
• I need to cut my hair. It's almost down to my waist. Since I'll probably have limited access to running water/shower facilities, I want it to be more manageable to wash in a basin or sink. I've never cut my hair before, though (just worn it long and kept it trimmed), so I have to figure out how much of a cut I want to go for. Down to my shoulderblades? shoulders? chin?