Dreaming of Nepal

I was discussing with a coworker our trip to Nepal and he asked, ‘If I was dreaming?’ I had no idea what he meant and thought I might but be really losing it as it was my first day back and I was also at the office. I now understand what he was asking.

The last few nights I have been dreaming about Nepal. Dad says this says that I miss it. And to be honest with myself I do miss it. I miss the life and how everyone takes the time for the important things instead of rushing around like crazy people. 

If my dreams really do show/say what I miss about Nepal – I am definitely warped. So far I have dreamt about making soggy French toast, hiking up the Himalayas (this may have something to do with my cracked tailbone and the fact that it hurts), teaching English to the women up at Her Farm (of course in my dreams I can speak perfect Nepali so it’s easier to teach English), and the children (of course!).

Jenessa

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

I love the song form the Sound of Music called ‘My Favorite Things’. It’s a song about when you are feeling sad, scared, missing something, etc. that then you think of the things you love and then you don’t feel so bad anymore.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I miss Nepal. As people ask me about it I miss things. So here is a list of my Favorite things from Nepal, things I miss.

-          The Children (OH THE CHILDREN!! I miss them terribly), especially doing homework in the mornings with them.

-          Samosa’s for Breakfast

-          Soggy French Toast (let me just say that while in Nepal we did not enjoy this one)

-          Negotiating for a Taxi (unbelievably I also miss this one)

-          Mid-morning naps (or study time for me)

-          Work days that start at 10am. The Nepali people are happier and get more done and I believe it’s because they start later and end early.

-          No alarm clocks

Freaking out Tastebuds

If any of you have been on a Pioneer Trek you will totally understand the feeling of starving and then getting to the first night’s camp at about 2:00am and you get that hot broth. It’s the best meal you have ever tasted. IT’S SO GOOD! However, if you make that same meal on a regular day it’s nothing like that night and honestly it’s actually, well sick.

Well this post is nothing like that. Maybe a little but it’s the story that came to mind as I tried to think of how to express the feelings we were having as we ate our first meals back in America.

Our very first meal was at FOSTERS GRILL. It’s one of my favorite burger places on a regular basis but when you haven’t had beef in 6 weeks, it ends up being the best burger ever. The atmosphere is also really great. It’s almost like a 70’s diner and sports place. It has the shell of a race car on the ceiling. It’s really cool. Both Keturah and I agree that it’s a place our Uncle Michael would enjoy. French Fries and a Burger you can’t get much better than that for your first meal in the USA. 

The next thing we wanted was pizza so for our first dinner in the states we ordered in from Dominos. Pepperoni Pizza, oh my goodness it was absolutely divine. Filled with tons of cheese - Yummy.

Both meals didn’t sit too well with us but they were delicious. It’s so weird to have so much verity in food options. We as Americans take for granted how much food we get and have in the US. In Nepal literally it’s curry and rice; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We are so VERY blessed.

Jenessa

An Early Thanksgiving

It’s been said that you don’t fully appreciate your life until you have lived in someone else’s shoes. I can tell you from experience that this is so true. I am so grateful for my time in Nepal and for the knowledge it has given me. It has made me so grateful for things that I had never really noticed before. It’s an early Thanksgiving this year for me as my heart is full with the many blessings I have each day.

Below are a few of the very first things I was grateful for as we arrived back in the United States.

Toilets: 

Yes I really missed my bathroom while I was gone in Nepal. And toilet paper. In Nepal the toilet is a hole in the ground and you use a hose to clean up afterwards. Now we were very blessed to have western toilets available to us as volunteers however there was not always toilet paper available. 

Stop Lights:

We did not see a single stop light while we were in Nepal. We almost died multiple times as we got into a taxi or bus and they rushed off, not obeying any traffic laws at all.

Ice Water:

Clean, pure, cold, ice water! Enough said.

Padded Carpets:

I didn’t miss this – I don’t think. However coming home and being able to stick my toes in the carpet it was amazing. Next time you are home, if you have carpet in your house go stand barefoot on it and enjoy every second of it. Also sitting on the carpet. In Nepal you sit on a mat that is as thin as ever. Or you just sit right on the ground.

Mirrors: 

I still have not decided if I am grateful for this or if it’s a mixed blessing. No one in Nepal owns a mirror. So you just go as you are. It’s great and people are not worried about how they look all day long. So it was a realization of how much of our time we spend trying to look good for others. I was however grateful to have a mirror when I got home.

Washing Machine:

My clothing has been washed in the shower or a bucket for the last 6 weeks. It was so nice to have a washing machine that actually ‘cleaned’ my clothing. Everything smells so good now.

Jenessa

Our Last Act in Nepal

Our whole trip to Nepal started out with a feeling and desire to serve the Lord and his children. I find it very ironic, maybe ironic is the wrong word, I find it amazing and something very special that the last thing we ended up doing in Nepal was attending Church. The branch (a small congregation) was absolutely amazing. We met so many wonderful men and women who though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not officially recognized in Nepal they are faithful members who love the Lord. We were so blessed to be a part of their congregation for a few weeks.

The Lord works in many ways, mostly it’s all small and simple ways. I’m grateful for the many testimonies that were shared with us. They have helped build me up and strengthen my Faith.

Jenessa

Volunteers

We may not always know why the Lord asks us to do things. Sometimes it isn't until after we've finished what we needed to do that we look back and see what we learned. Sometimes we may never know why we felt to take the long way home instead of the usual short and safe route. But the Lord knows!

For us here in Nepal we are still not sure why the Lord wanted us here at this particular time. However we are seeing some wonderful tender mercies that are happening with the volunteers here that would not have been happening had we not been here at the same time they were. 

Verity & Fynn:

This mother and son are from the UK. Verity has visited India before so the culture shock for her was not as high as first timers. This trip she brought her 12 year old son Fynn, who is so cool. Verity was out at Her Farm working with the women and studying women's rights and using the experiences of these women who had come to the Farm after being domestically abused. 

Two things happened with Verity and Fynn which are worth mentioning. The first was the almost dessperet need Verity had to have someone care about her and what was going on with her family. As Americans this type of almost small talk is something so natural that at first we didn't even realize we had asked about it. It wasn't until a bit later that Verity expensed her appreciation for that simple act. 

The second experience we are still unaware if it was even helpful. However both Keturah and I had the same thought and feeling so we acted on it. Fynn had gotten really sick and had been admitted to the hospital. Verity came back to the Kathmandu house and in a rush packed up some needed things and ran back to the hospital. It doesn't matter what we did, we just pray that it helped ease some of her burden as she headed back to the hospital. 

 

 

Sarah:

Sarah has traveled the world. Her passport is completely full and it doesn't expire until 2028. She is well learned and loves life. She also happens to be vegetarian and a cheese maker by trade. 

For Sarah who was craving to attend a religious service and pray. After not being allowed in one of the places of worship because she was a women we ended up being her relief. She asked many religious questions which lead to a very enlightening religious discussion between us all, which we hope filled her 'spiritual bucket'. 

 

Misha:

17 and here on her own we have become like the three musketeers. We all are now working in the community hospital which means we leave together, we eat together, and we come home together. Keturah mentioned Misha probably just needed an older sister figure to be there just in case anything were to go wrong or if she needed help. 

Misha is very sweet and has a brain like no other. She is pre-med and wants to get into Oxford for medical school. We have no doubt that she can make it. 

 

Those are just a few of the volunteers we have had good experiences with. Experiences that though for them, have changed our lives because of them. 

Something I learned from my mission is that you learn the most from those you serve. That statement is as true here in Nepal as it was in Germany 5 years ago. 

Jenessa 

The Bus Boy Who Thought He Knew Better

We may not speak Nepali or technically know where we are at all times. However we have been here for 5 1/2 weeks now so we know are way around and we know when we are being led astray.

We walked up to the bus(van) and as always asked where it was going. The creepiest man, with the creepiest smoker voice, said while puffing smoke into our face "this bus is to Thamel". If you've ever watched the old Alice and Wonderland and Alice is speaking with that wise old caterpillar  and as he does he puffs blue smoke at her. That's was basically what happened to us. I for one thought smoker man was much creepier than the caterpillar, which as you must now is quite an impressive feat. 

Then the little man in charge of calling out everyone and making sure he squeezes as many people as he can on the bus, he looked at us and then at the creepy guy and smiled. This usually means that we are going to get played. And then as we pulled away the smoker man looked right at us and smiled (if you could call it a smile, it had a bit too much evil in it to be called a smile). At this point my imagination is running wild. I was convinced that they were going to drive and not tell us where we were or to get off, until everybody else was gone. And then they'd drive us into some creepy ally, smoker man would be waiting, and they'd kill us. 

Here we are on the bus and we see where we were supposed to stop and instead they continue on. Luckily for us we have been here for 5 1/2 weeks so we quickly got off. As we left the little bus man smiled as if we had caught him in the act. I'm telling you he was totally going to murder us. 

Radip's Pickled Noodle Salad

This is probably my favorite Nepali meal we have eaten. It was soooo good!! I've included the items for the meal below, however the amounts are all dependent on how much you want and how sour you want it to be.

Cabbage (uncooked, cut up into small pieces)

Pickles

Onion (red onion)

Hot peppers (small amount)

Mango (not ripe)

Radish

Oil

Roman noodles (uncooked, crunched up)

Salt (little)

Lemon (the juice)

Chili

Tumarac powder (yellow little)

Parsley (little)

Options: instead of noodles

Green beans

Potatoes

 

 

The Sound of New Life

We were sitting with the Gynecologists when a women came in. A few Nepali words were spoken and this women was moved to the front of the line of patients and seen immediately.

This beautiful women who must have been at least 8 months pregnant was taken into the check up area (a bed and table of supplies curtained off by two sheets) where the doctor started a basic checkup. Or so we thought. 

A few more words of Nepali were exchanged between doctor and nurse, where upon the room became tense and the nurse quickly turned off the humming fan. All was absulutly silent. For at least 10 minutes we all waited to see what would happen next. 

Let me say that at this point we had figured out that the patient was due any day now. We also found out that the baby hadn't been moving for some time and it was now becoming a concern. On top of all that during our 10 tense minutes the doctor was not being able to find a heart beat. 

All of the sudden the doctor came out spitting out instructions in Nepali. All we could do was stand there and not be in the way. A student nurse 'Teeja' quickly rushed out of the room heading down the stairs without a backwards glance. The head nurse 'Susmita' rushed to the phone, were she dialed surgery and scheduled an emergency seesection. 

Teeja was back within minutes holding a small machine. (It was the transportable ultrasound machine but looked more like my old casset player) It was assembled and once again the doctor started the search for life. We all stood there in silence as we listed to the ultrasound machine humming. I started fervently praying. 3 minutes, more praying, then 8 minutes, still nothing but the mothers breathing could be heard over the ultrasound. It's a bit out dated, that old, rusty, outdated ultrasound machine. Then the tiniest of noises was heard. That tiny thump became a regular rythem. It brought back hope and excitement that had left that little room just moments before as we all prepared for the worst.

What a tender mercy and beautiful miracle Keturah and I were part of. How merciful the Lord is to his children all over the world.


Jenessa 

Photos at Her Farm

As we have now left Her Farm and are working at the Helping Hands Hospital, we felt that we should share some of the random photos we took up at Her Farm. Enjoy!!

 

Day one - The view from right outside our room door. 

 

The dirt road heading up to the farm. Yes it is just barely wide enough for the truck. Sometimes the back wheels would slide off the edge. Very scary!

 

Her Farm - well the house at Her Farm. We are on the second floor, the gray room that sticks out. 

 

Baby Girl - she let me take tons of pictures of her but if I got any closer she would cry. 

 

Teeth brushing - very important to keeping those pearly whites clean. 

It actually got slightly chilly one day after a very heavy rain. 

 Sarah and Fynn drawing the solar system to hang up in the school. 

 

Pillow talk at night

 

On the bus heading back to Kathmandu for the weekend so that we can attend church. 

 

The actor from Radni badi di Jodi - Sean will know what we mean. 

 

Rice patties - yes we walked through them for about 5 minutes at the start of our hike up the mountain. 

 

Our favorite resting spot on the hike up the mountain. There are these huge rocks to sit on and a stream. 

 

The stream

 

Drying out the peppers. 

 

The Sisters and the Principle of the school eating lunch in the kitchen. 

 

Getting my hair done. My head was sore after this session of hair styling. 

Bonny carrying the corn stokes to the cows. 

 Keturah the Pringles girl - great photo for a Pringles add.

 

Look at all that corn. 

 

Least painful but most visible battle wound from coming down the mountian the last time. I was hoping it would scare but you can hardly even tell now.  

The Children of Her Farm

Barsha - she always was looking for water bottles of any type.


Barsha making faces at Keturah.


Would you like to look at the phone too.


This little girl is so cute. Her mother holds her most of the day but we have these rare moments when she's alone and will play with you.

 
Rupa


Nirmala



Rupa and Yagyu - they may be brother and sister but we aren't sure about that.


 Bhumi and Nirmala


Mina - we were surprised she could find her name as she doesn't know her alphabet yet.



Kanchan and Yagya doing homework in the morning.


 Rupa - she loves getting her picture taken


Nirmala - coming back to the farm for lunch. Ramen Noodles


Learning the Nepali alphabet


 Sahil - he's the hit shot


Chandra coloring with Keturah


Coloring session with Keturah



 Yagya waiting for a shower to open up



Yagya playing. This was the first day we had seen this.


Chandra


Khagi - This may be the only photo we have of her smiling.


Nirmala - so fascinated with the toy trucks


Homework Time


Noodle Salad eaten in a leaf - or just in your hand.


Barsha helping with the work


Even the youngest ones wanted to help.



Yagya - This is the don't watch me while I dance otherwise I can't dance look.


Diya, Kanchan, Tika, and Mina