I can't believe I have been in Nepal for almost two months. Time has gone by quickly some days and other days have felt extra long. I thought I would just give you all an update on things that I have got to do the last month or so.
I have started taking Nepali lessons from one of the ladies that works at the office with the father of the children I am teaching. A lot of our life revolves around the office. The organization he works for is called Rural Village Water Management Resources Project. I live in the guesthouse set up for employees that are coming off the field and need a place to stay. The company is working in remote villages to help with sanitation, clean water, gender equality, ect... Anyway...back to the Nepali lessons. They are going well though I wish my brain would catch on quicker. This blog entry is entitled "Ke Ga Ni?" because it is one of the first Nepali phrases I learned while here. It means, "What to do?" and you hear it ALL the time.
As some of you might have seen on one of my facebook status updates, we do have a sauna here at the guesthouse. When I first got here I thought that was strange since Dhangadi gets pretty hot but now I am liking it. We use it a couple times a week and the Nepalis like to use it too. The company I mentioned before was started by the Finnish and if you didn't know...Finns love the Sauna. So...they had a sauna built here. There is also a sauna inside the Finnish embassy here in Nepal. Also, I guess I have been pronouncing "sauna" wrong my whole life. It is pronounced like s-ow-na...if that makes any since. In addition, I do use the sauna as the Fins do...butt naked:) That has taken some getting use to especially when other ladies are using it.
We work 6 days a week here and we get Saturday off so that is the day I go to church. One day I met a Christian here in the marketplace and we have become friends. He has invited me to several churches to share my testimony and last week I shared a short message. None of the churches speak English but I have still been very blessed and encouraged just to be near other believers. Instead of greeting each other with the Nepali "Namaste" greeting with hands in a prayer position...we say "Jemasi" to other believers. This means "Praise the Lord." This last Saturday my friend and I rode our bicycles to the Nepali/India border and went to church. I met a lady who works with International Justice Mission and works with girls who are rescued trafficked victims. I was so excited to meet her as it has been my passion to work with women who have gone through such horrific circumstances. I don't think it a coincidence that God brought me to this city where there is a lot of anti-trafficking efforts.
I will give you more details later...I just like to give little snippets here and there. I will say that I love having a bicycle to get around. I just took Joonas (my 7 year old student) on the back of my bike to the market where I bought dude(milk) and choco pies, and cooking oil. The milk is buffalo milk and we have to boil it before we drink it.
Tonight I am going to a new friends home for dinner. She lives in a mud and clay house and her family grows all their own food and they have animals that provide food for them as well. I can't wait!
Sun setting on the Nepal/India border
Garbage is a big problem here. 
My new friend Bandana on the right. Tonight I will have dinner in her home.
I have started taking Nepali lessons from one of the ladies that works at the office with the father of the children I am teaching. A lot of our life revolves around the office. The organization he works for is called Rural Village Water Management Resources Project. I live in the guesthouse set up for employees that are coming off the field and need a place to stay. The company is working in remote villages to help with sanitation, clean water, gender equality, ect... Anyway...back to the Nepali lessons. They are going well though I wish my brain would catch on quicker. This blog entry is entitled "Ke Ga Ni?" because it is one of the first Nepali phrases I learned while here. It means, "What to do?" and you hear it ALL the time.
As some of you might have seen on one of my facebook status updates, we do have a sauna here at the guesthouse. When I first got here I thought that was strange since Dhangadi gets pretty hot but now I am liking it. We use it a couple times a week and the Nepalis like to use it too. The company I mentioned before was started by the Finnish and if you didn't know...Finns love the Sauna. So...they had a sauna built here. There is also a sauna inside the Finnish embassy here in Nepal. Also, I guess I have been pronouncing "sauna" wrong my whole life. It is pronounced like s-ow-na...if that makes any since. In addition, I do use the sauna as the Fins do...butt naked:) That has taken some getting use to especially when other ladies are using it.
We work 6 days a week here and we get Saturday off so that is the day I go to church. One day I met a Christian here in the marketplace and we have become friends. He has invited me to several churches to share my testimony and last week I shared a short message. None of the churches speak English but I have still been very blessed and encouraged just to be near other believers. Instead of greeting each other with the Nepali "Namaste" greeting with hands in a prayer position...we say "Jemasi" to other believers. This means "Praise the Lord." This last Saturday my friend and I rode our bicycles to the Nepali/India border and went to church. I met a lady who works with International Justice Mission and works with girls who are rescued trafficked victims. I was so excited to meet her as it has been my passion to work with women who have gone through such horrific circumstances. I don't think it a coincidence that God brought me to this city where there is a lot of anti-trafficking efforts.
I will give you more details later...I just like to give little snippets here and there. I will say that I love having a bicycle to get around. I just took Joonas (my 7 year old student) on the back of my bike to the market where I bought dude(milk) and choco pies, and cooking oil. The milk is buffalo milk and we have to boil it before we drink it.
Tonight I am going to a new friends home for dinner. She lives in a mud and clay house and her family grows all their own food and they have animals that provide food for them as well. I can't wait!
Sweet baby chicks and goat in the village.
These are the "dee dees" that I have come to know and love. They cook and clean in the guesthouse and thefamily's home. From left to right: Laxmi, Kumari, Kripa, Maite, Laxmi.
My new friend Bandana on the right. Tonight I will have dinner in her home.
Kumari, Alisha, Maite(my favorite lady here) and her husband. She had us over for dinner.
Beautiful Nepal
