Namaste, friends! Here I am in beautiful Nepal. I arrived only four days ago, but it already feel like I've been here for 4 weeks! I forget how slowly time moves over here. Anyway, I was blessed with a very smooth flight where I was able to catch up on all the hours of sleep that I missed in the weeks before (I think I probably got about 15+ hours of sleep between all of my flights and stops in airports). I practically fell asleep every chance I got - and I mean the dreaming, mouth hanging open in public type of sleep. Good stuff! Anyway, you are probably less interested in my sleep update than you are in my life here in Nepal! So, onwards! I arrived in Kathmandu in the evening where I was greeted with tikka and warm hugs from my adopted Nepali family in Kathmandu. Almost everyone was asleep by then, and I was pretty excited to get some shut-eye in my beloved mosquito tent. But the next day, I was awoken by the adorable voices of the orphans and children of the HOPE House. Happily, they all recognized me from last year! Perhaps Mike had prepped them for my arrival, but I was greeted with Namastes and hugs all around. It was so fun to see them again and see how much they have grown. Rajesh and Surya have definitely grown in size and wit - their mischievous spirits were still so evident! And, Sushila, is as cute as ever and now has a full head of hair! And she has progressed from being the only girl in the house last year now to be accompanied with a new girl orphan - Sriracha (pronounced like the sauce), who is adorable as well, and immediately proclaimed me her "buddy" as I walked them to school. And Sabin, who Mike and I definitely have an extra soft spot for, is just absolutely adorable - the only thing is he, unlike the others, hasn't grown much since we last saw him - he's definitely small for a boy of 7 - he looks almost as small as a 5 year old because he apparently hasn't been handling food well over the past year. It was wonderful to see them so well adjusted and thriving in the HOPE House. You can tell that they feel at home there. Mike's high school students are doing so well in Nepal too - they have adjust to Nepali life and culture in an amazingly fast pace - definitely faster than us old adults! My first day in Kathmandu was their last day of their week of teaching at a local Nepali school - they did such a great job and you could tell that they put their hearts and souls in their lesson plans. They even came up with games to teach them about addition and multiplication, and bought prizes for their students. I think they were such blessings to their students, and I know that the students definitely were great blessings to them as well! Mike and I also got to do an interview of an IDP widow that day - she was an amazing inspiration as she was such an empowered and inspiring woman. Her husband was killed by the Maoists in 2004, and since then she has created a support group for widows whose husbands who were killed by both Maoists and Royalists - since they were all in the same boat. It's amazing that she fought the urge to place blame and take sides. She has since completed her SLC - which is her high school education - and hopes to go on for further studies. I look forward to collecting more stories like this to bring back home. It's amazing to be in the presence of such inspiring women! We also had the chance to meet with two American workers who live and serve in Nepal - it was great to hear about other organizations and ministries here. And this was all just day 1! The very next day, we traveled to Pokhara to see more of our adopted Nepali family. We were so lucky, as we traveled on a relatively large mini-van (not as large as in the US, but definitely larger than the one we took last year!) up and down the winding hilly roads. The entire team was definitely refreshed by the change of pace in Pokhara - clean air, less traffic, an even slower pace than Kathmandu. I think everyone was marveling at the beautiful scenery of the surrounding village that we went to - and because this is the agricultural season, there were numerous field workers who were farming and harvesting the rice fields. It's crazy to imagine the hard lives of these workers as they toil in the HOT sun in humid weather. I'm actually hoping that we will have the chance to experience such farming - because we are working in this village, it would be helpful to us outsiders at least to have a taste of their daily lives. Yesterday, we went on our first real "trek" - we walked up into the hills to get to a remote village which is located in a "jungle" area - not jungle like you'd see in the Amazon, but more like a remote forested area. And wow, I am out of shape! We had a great time crossing a river (which was luckily in lower tide), and the students of course got in a huge water fight! I think the villagers were amused by their raucous behavior - they were hilarious! And, the trek up the hills were definitely tiring and unrelenting, but we were rewarded at the top with a Fanta and a view of the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen in my entire life. I tried to capture it on camera, but it's nothing compared to my mind's eye. What an amazing symbol of hope - for this trip, for this organization, and for this country. We went to this village to check out the site of our newest computer center that we will be building. There is already one in the previous village that I mentioned, and it has been such a huge success in exposing villagers to technology and providing them opportunity for further educational opportunities (as computer learning is a requirement for passing their SLC and access is quite difficult to come by). So, we are excited to help build this new center, or at least contribute to its development. Today, Mike's students have gone off to stay in the village in home stays - they are going to have a tremendous experience staying there, and I'm again impressed with their courage to try new things and step out of their comfort zones. We really couldn't have asked for a better team! And us adults are taking it a bit easier in this hot hot heat - but will be taking out our host family for dinner and some good Nepali dancing! It'll be fun, for sure. =) The next few days are packed as well and there is still more to tell - but this entry has gotten way too long! I will write more later, but props to you if you made it to the bottom of this entry! Hope all is well back at home! | 
