Back to the States

Why, God?

I'm sure we have all asked this question at times, and this is where we found ourselves as we booked our plane tickets out of Nepal for October 25th, the last day on our tourist visas. In Nepal, you only get 5 months a year on a tourist visa, and to our great dismay, our work visas did not come through in time.

Wendy immediately realized that we would miss Christmas with the girls at the Peace Loving Home, who have taken us in as family. That was unacceptable, so we decided to celebrate early with them on October 24th. We had a wonderful evening together, ate a lot of food and even had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake as well! As you can see in the pictures, we were able to buy new winter coats for all of the girls, as well as a plush robe to keep Aama warm all winter. 

October 25 came and we were in tears to be leaving Nepal, still not understanding God's plan in this. After 30 hours of travel we made it back to Texas and were picked up by our son, Simon, who we we thrilled to see. It took about a week before we were feeling normal again from the 12 hour time difference - that is as bad as jet lag can get!

It has been great to see our friends and family, and God has seen fit to give us rest and rejuvenate our souls. Our plans for our stay in the states includes two weeks traveling and seeing our family and then getting back to work learning Nepali.

It has been fun watching God's plan come together for our lives, even though we don't always understand it or like it. He has placed his finger on some things we need to change or remove from our lives so we can better serve Him and the people of Nepal. Best of all, my marriage to Wendy has jumped to all new heights as God has us breaking down walls and defenses in our own marriage.

We look forward to spending as much time as possible with our family, friends and partners before we fly back to Nepal at the end of December.

God HELP!!!

Wendy's journal entry Friday, September 27, 2013

God HELP!!! I am struggling today. My to-do list feels overwhelming, and the more I try to do, the more behind I seem to get. I am tired, and I am not ready to leave Nepal for 2 months if our nontourist VISAs don't get approved in time. I know just a few days ago I said I trust you in this, but today, I just want to cry at the thought of possibly having to leave. I need to learn to drive here, but I am scared. I want to spend time with our Nepali family, but I am tired. I want to learn the language, but the more I learn, the more overwhelmed I feel. I want to spend time with Sam, but my to-do list dominates my brain. I need you, Lord.

Our First Nepali Father's Day

September 5 was Father's Day in Nepal, so Sam and I decided to take the family (Ambika, Prem, Anipa, Kamala, Richa, Nabina, Shanti, Sonu, Upasna and Manuka- who just joined the family a few days ago) out to a restaurant as a Father's Day gift. We thought it would be a nice treat for Prem to have someone cook for him since he owns a restaurant and spends 6 long days a week there cooking for other people. Plus, going to a restaurant is something the kids rarely do, so we figured they would have a great time, too.

The girls give Prem his Father's Day gift.

I (Wendy) was running a fever of almost 102 just an hour before we left. It had come on suddenly just a few hours earlier, so I decided I wasn't going to go, but when I mentioned this to Sam and Ambika they started talking about waiting until another day when I could go. This was Father's Day, not Wendy's Day. It was supposed to be about Prem and Sam, not me. Besides, cooking here takes much more work and prepartion, so to change plans and decide to cook this late in the day would have meant a big inconvenience for them, which was NOT the Father's Day gift I wanted to give. So I took some medicine and a shower, got myself together and went with them to the restaurant.

The girls' give Sam one of his 2 Father's Day cards.

I was fairly pale and pouring sweat, but I am SO glad I went. The kids were laughing and taking pictures, the food was delicious, and not only did the girls give Prem a beautiful flower arrangement and two Father's Day cards, but they also surprised Sam with two Father's Day cards (a store-bought one and a homemade one). 

A wonderful surprise - an anniversary card and flower arrangement.

And if that weren't enough (it would have been), they also surprised both of us with a lovely flower arrangement and card for our anniversary which was the following day. I am sure I was quite a vision... pale, pouring sweat and crying tears of joy throughout the evening as I kept looking around and thinking, "I am living in Nepal. This is my life. I am part of this family." 

Attending My First Nepali Christian Wedding

When Ambika invited me (Wendy) to go to a Nepali Christian wedding with her, I was excited, but not sure what to expect. I imagined there would be both similarities and differences from what I am accustomed to in America, and I was right.

My first question was what should I wear? Did I need to buy a sari (the traditional Nepali dress) or would a kurta (the traditional Nepali pants, long shirt and scarf) be okay? Ambika said either would be fine, and offered to let me wear something of hers, which I happily accepted.

The day of the wedding arrived, and as promised Ambika loaned me a beautiful red and black kurta. I was told the wedding would start at 2pm and probably be over by 5:00 or 5:30pm. Since we live about 10 minutes from the church, we didn't need to leave too early, but as 1:50pm came and went, I began to get anxious. I am typically a very punctual person, especially to something like a wedding, so I went to check on Ambika who was still getting ready.

Slightly frusterated, but trying not to worry too much, I went back downstairs to our flat to wait for her. Sam asked what time the wedding started. I told him 2:00, and we both laughed since it was now after 2:00. We reminded each other (only half joking) that this was a Nepali wedding after all, so of course no one would be there are 2:00. The guests would probably show up at 3:00, the groom at 4:00 and maybe the bride would be there by 5:30!

While this may sound obsurd to many of you (and Sam and I were exaggerating about the bride and grrom showing up late) there is actually a lot of truth and reasoning behind what seems rude to most Americans. In America, we tend to be about productivity, punctuality, "time is money" and so forth. In Nepal, they tend to be more event-oriented.

For example, our kitchen needed a faucet before we moved in, so Sam and I went to several different faucet shops. We would explain the kind we were looking for, and even if they didn't have it, they would often offer us a cup of hot tea. Nevermind that we needed to keep shopping, preferably at a shop that had what we needed. It is not about our to-do list or our productivity, it is about taking/ making time for people. It's hard to get used to when you are used to being time oriented. It's even annoying at first, then humbling and if you are lucky, eventually you realize maybe it's not so absurd after all. In fact, isn't that a lot of what Jesus did; take/ make time for people? As we've continued to discover, we have so much to learn here.

Back to the day of the wedding, though. I checked in on Ambika a few more times (it was about 2:20 by this time), and that's when she told me not to worry, because she heard the wedding had not actually started at 2:00. Of course it didn't. This is Nepal, and I love it here!

We finally got to the wedding at about 2:30 or maybe later, although by now I had stopped checking the clock. We took our shoes off, as is the custom in Nepal, and as we went inside the church we were handed a wedding program written in Devanagari script, which Sam and I have just started learning, so I couln't read it at the time, but hopefully I'll be able to very soon! A small fake rose was also pinned to each of us.

There were already quite a few people there, and Ambika let me know that they were introducing the groom's father, his mother and the bride's uncle, because she is an orphan (she grew up in an orphanage), and he was her closest living relative. The men sat mostly in the front (although some who came in later sat near the back), the women sat mostly in back (including the groom's mother) and everyone, except the bride, groom, best man, maid of honor and the pastor, sat on the floor. The pastor stands, and the bride and groom sit on a sofa facing everyone, along with their best man and maid of honor.

I also noticed that the bride kept her head bowed for the entire ceremony, which Ambika told me is the custom here. Also, the bride was very serious throughout the whole ceremony, including a few times when the pastor had obviously made a joke and everyone else laughed, including the groom. Each time Ambika translated for me, and it never seemed like something that the bride would not find humorous, so I finally asked Ambika, and she said that both the bride and groom are supposed to remain very serious for the whole ceremony as a sign that they are taking it seriously, so even though they were probably both very happy and excited, showing that would appear disrespectful.

That brought up a new question in my mind. I know that many Nepali marriages are still arranged, but I wasn't sure about Nepali Christian marriages. Ambika informed me that the bride and groom had known each other a long time and that they chose to get married, but they still had to get permission from their parents (or in this case just his parents since she is an orphan) and the church. If the parents or the church objected, then they could not get married.

Also, typically they would get married at the bride's church, but in this case they had to get married at the groom's church because the bride's church rents their building and there were some issues with the landlord. Even more surprising to me, although I guess it shouldn't have been, was that Christian marriages are not recognized by the government of Nepal. The couple simply receives a certificate from the church. I figured this had been the case back when the country was a Hindu nation, but I just assumed it had changed now that Nepal is a secular nation, een though most of the people are still Hindu. Apparently not.

As for the similarities of the wedding, from what Ambika translated, most of the ceremony is much like a Christian wedding in America with the pastor speaking to the couple about marriage, quoting some Bible verses and the exchange of vows and rings, as well as the couple each taking separate white candles and together lighting a larger red candle. There is no "You may kiss the bride" though, because kissing in public is still taboo in Nepal. Instead, the pastor simply announces when the couple is husband and wife.

There is also wedding cake just like in America, and the bride and groom leave for just a few minutes after the ceremony to go cut the cake, but then immediately come back to the wedding pulpit/ couch area to take pictures and spend time with guests while the everyone else makes their way to the reception area to eat a meal of dhal bhat (lentils and rice), curried vegetables and meat followed by a very small piece of the cake placed on a plate with plain yogurt.

After eating and talking with several of the guests, it was time to leave. Surprisingly it was about 5:30pm as Ambika had told me, which was a pleasant surprise, although I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud as we got to the road and several people were just arriving!

Moving....Again.....

I know for a fact that some of you hate to move, staying in the same home to evade having to start in a new home again from scratch. Sam is one of those people who dislikes moving. That being said we have moved AGAIN! That makes 8 times within just 6 months for those who are trying to keep track. Even for someone who loves to move like me (Wendy), this has been a bit extreme.

Luckily God had great plans for us that took us completely by surprise. We found an amazing place we love and hope to stay at for more than a month or two; and best of all it is a flat directly beneath a ServLife sponsored children's home - the Peace Loving Home.

The Peace Loving Home is the family we wrote about in our last blog entitled Pariwar (Family). While they have been beyond amazing, who would have ever imagined that we would be living in the same house, just one floor down from them?

If you told me a year ago that I would be living in a children’s home with 8 girls running around I would have thought you were nuts… or maybe that I was (am?)! This is not what I EVER would have imagined for myself. I prefer plenty of quiet and alone time, not a bunch of kids running around, singing, dancing and playing.

Then again, moving to Kathmandu with all of the honking car horns, barking dogs, plus streets and rivers littered with trash is not what I would have ever imagined for myself either, yet somehow, I have a love, peace and happiness here and for the Nepali people that makes absolutely no sense for my “neat-freak, orderly, punctual” personality, other than to say that God has done a work in me.

It seems that is the case with our new flat as well. I am truly loving it here, and so is Sam, although with his huge love for kids, that has not been as big of a surprise. This has been a huge blessing and stretching period for us. God's ways really are higher than our own. And it’s not just that I’m glad to be a 20 minute drive away from the monkeys, although I definitely count that as a HUGE blessing! Not only are we directly beneath the Peace Loving Home, we are just minutes away from Servelife’s directors and the 2 other ServLife children's homes here in Kathmandu.  

Ambika gives the girls a blessing before the leave for school

Then there are the moments that surprise me. Like in the mornings as the kids leave for school just as our Nepali language lessons are starting. The old Wendy would have shut the door to focus on language lessons without being disturbed, but now I’m jumping up and telling the teacher, “Ek chin” (one moment), so Sam and I can run to the door and wish them all a good day as they all smile and bow their heads so that Wendy Auntie and Sam Uncle can place our hands on their heads and give them a blessing as they head off to school.

Or like last night when Sam and I were in our living room enjoying some quiet time, when all of a sudden through our open windows we heard Ambika and all of the children singing Nepali praise and worship songs upstairs in their living room. It was so beautiful that I was almost instantly overcome with tears of joy as it washed over me that this is our life, this is our home. Amazing.

  

Our living room is my sanctuary. I LOVE our shelf filled with
books, pictures of friends and family and our son's artwork.

Just as amazing was how we came to live here. Sam and I had been talking with Adam from ServLife about how Nepal is such a community oriented culture, and while living 20 minutes away from our friends is not a big deal in America, it has a different impact in Nepal. So we decided it would be good to start looking for a flat closer to our friends and pariwar (family).

Since we had paid 3 months in advance for the flat we were in near the monkey temple, and we did not have a lease (they are not as commonplace in Nepal), we would be free to move with only a month’s notice without feeling any pressure to move until we found the right place. A great situation to be in, but after our last round of searching for a place, we figured it would take a few months, especially since it would not be our main focus like it was previously.

Imagine our surprise when 2 days after our discussion we heard that the tenants who had been renting the flat below the Peace Loving Home for several years moved out with only 2 days’ notice! Sam and I decided to take a look at the flat, but we agreed that we would not move unless it was a good fit for everyone involved. Living closer is one thing, but one floor away – would that really be such a good idea? I like my quiet time, remember?

Plus, we were living in a nice flat with luxuries like running water, including hot water a good deal of the time, a western toilet with fairly new plumbing which meant we could flush toilet paper instead of putting it in the trash can like we had to do at some of the guesthouses we’ve stayed at, large rooms, a kitchen that was open to the living room (rare in Nepal, but something we love when having people over for a meal, as well as when I read aloud while Sam is cooking), the living room and bedrooms were carpeted (very rare in Nepal), and we had decent Internet (once again, rare in Nepal, yet extremely important since it is our lifeline to our friends and family back in America).

So we went to look at the flat with the agreement that we would not make a decision until after we went home that night and discussed it. As odd as it sounds, Sam was more hesitant then I was about the idea, even though he’s the one who loves kids and doesn’t need as much alone time as I do. Although, when he sees God open a door he typically walks through it. 

Yes, the red refrigerator is still with us.
The white piece of paper on it is our load shedding schedule
which tells us which hours our electric will be off each day.

We discovered the flat has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, just like our previous flat, and we can flush toilet paper, but all of the rooms are smaller than the rooms in our last flat. There was no carpet in any of the rooms - only concrete floors (except in the bathrooms which have tile), the kitchen has a wall separating it from the living room, the water supply is not as plentiful, there seems to be less hot water and the Internet plans available here are not as good as what we had before.

Despite all of that, after seeing the place, I was ready to move. I was sure Sam felt differently, though, so as we sat upstairs having tea with Ambika at the children’s home after seeing the flat, I tried not to get my hopes up. Imagine my surprise when Ambika went to get more tea, and Sam started nodding his head, looking at me with anticipation and raised eyebrows as if to say, “Yes?” I felt my heart leap a little, but decided I must be misunderstanding what he was trying to say. After clarifying that I WAS in fact understanding him correctly, that he was saying he wanted to move, despite the luxuries were would have to give up, I nodded frantically “yes” back to him. Wow, was this really happening?

We gave notice at our old flat, giving us until the end of August to move out, which was good since the new flat needed a little bit of work – touch up paint and some minor plumbing repairs, plus Sam and I decided to get some carpet installed, which will be extremely nice during the winter months since the house is concrete with no insulation or heating. In other words, the whole house will get very COLD, and bare concrete floors would be really awful.

So at the beginning of August, we would drive down to our new flat almost every day as the repairs were taking place, and each evening it became harder and harder for Sam and I to leave to go back to our flat near the monkey temple. By the second week of August, we started moving the smaller, non-furniture items to the new flat, but the bigger items would not be so easy to move, because they would not fit in our Gypsy, and there’s no Uhaul in Nepal. As they like to say here, “ke garne?” – what to do?

Luckily, our dear friends at ServLife Himalaya Development came to our rescue. Dhanyabad (thank you) to our dear brothers Lazarus, Prem, Ramhari and 4 guys from their training class who saved the day. They found and rented 2 pick-up trucks with metal rails that they strapped our furniture to. We then prayed that the items would not fall out or get severely damaged as the trucks made the 20 minute drive on roads that are mostly potholes with very little actual paved road. We also prayed it would not rain since it is still monsoon season here, which means it can change from a beautiful, clear day to a downpour in a matter of minutes. And since there were some gray clouds looming, it seemed likely that our possessions were destined for a shower.

But God was good to us. It didn’t rain, and all of our belongings made it to our new flat with only a few minor scratches, dents, etc. A great move by American standards – a miracle in Nepal!

We have been in our new home for 2 weeks now. There have been adjustments, and we are still waiting for our Internet service to be installed, although Sam found a temporary fix (an Ncell dongle), which will suffice for now, but it is by no means great, as we can only use it on one computer at a time, it is expensive compared to a regular Internet plan and the speed is not ideal. Still, it is allowing us some Internet access and will be a great backup should we ever have problems with our Internet service in the future. Due to our Internet limitations we have not been able to communicate well as our emails, blog and most of our phone calls/Skype are done via the Internet. Once our real Internet service is installed (hopefully within the next few days), we will add some pictures to this post of our new place.

Pariwar

During our first trip to Nepal in June 2012, we met a wonderful couple named Ambika and Prem. They run an amazing childrens' home out of their house called The Peace Loving Home. This home takes in mostly young girls who are being persecuted for their Christianity by their own families. It was such a joy to find that this 'home" isn't run like an orphanage but like a true family which is filled with love and laughter.

Ambika and Prem almost immediately also took us in as family and became our very dear friends. While we were in the States preparing for our eventual move to Nepal, they would often keep in touch with us by phone and Skype. They would encourage us with much love and prayer. Since moving to Kathmandu this relationship has become even stronger and we have truly become pariwar (family.)

Once we got settled into our new place, we had the joy and pleasure of having their entire family over for an evening of food, fun, and great laughter. As a family of 3 we are not used to cooking for a family of 13. I (Sam) made them spagetti from scrath and even baked a mango cobbler (we love you mango season) that we enjoyed with ice cream.

Below are several pictures from our time together, though the pictures are not great the time we had together was! It was truly amazing and humbling to be able to serve this family and give them a much needed break and a fun outing for the chori (girls) as well as Aama (Ambika's 87 year old mom) who rarely leaves the house.

Aama and Wendy

The evening began so calmly

Slowly everyone starts having fun

Thank you, God (Dhanyabad Prabhu) for this food

Sam makes a great couch!

The girls each want a turn of Sam picking them up & tossing them on the bed

And then the girls decide Sam needs to be thrown on the bed

The exercise ball we brought from the States is a BIG hit with everyone

Top row left to right: Reena, Kamala, Wendy, Prem, Ambika, Aama and Shanti
Bottom row left to right: Upasna (head tilted), Sanu, Nabina, Anipa and Richa

No one was
harmed in the taking of this photo!

See for Yourself

There's a lot to adjust to when you move to another country.

We're learning a lot of new things...

There are lots of new and exciting foods, as well as some old favorites, although some of the menu headings are a bit scary...

I ordered a veg burger at this same restaurant, and it came with a maraschino cherry attached to the top bun with a toothpick. We also watched someone order a cigarette that the waiter brought to the man on a small plate along with a match. I guess the man had not read #1 on the list above of 7 Dangerous Acts After a Meal.




And then there are the free-roaming animals. We expected to see cows wandering around since they are sacred to Hindus...



but chickens window shopping for exercise equipment was a bit of a surprise...
 

I wonder if they were trying to bulk up or lose weight?!



Of course, we're providing plenty of laughs for the locals, too. I spent an afternoon walking around our neighborhood the day after we moved in. There are lots of little shops just around the corner, and as I found things we needed, I would hold up the item and ask the shop owner in Nepali, "How much is this?" Each time they looked at me strangely and didn't seem to know how to answer the question. It wasn't until a day later when I was reviewing my Nepali language book that I realized I had actually been asking them "What time is it?"  

Monkey Business

Yesterday was another laundry day, and interestingly enough, as I was bringing in some clothes off the clothesline (there were too many to hang inside the house), I walked back through the door to the roof (that's where the clothesline is) and sitting on the ledge was a monkey!

Of course, my mind immediately flashed to the vision I have of monkeys coming to steal our clothes from the clothesline… and since I had a bunch of our clothes draped over the clothesline, maybe 2 feet away from him, it seemed my vision might be about to come true right in front of my eyes!

Side note: during our 3 week training before coming here, we learned about the dangers of preconceived ideas and how we should suspend judgment for as long as possible since things are not always as we perceive them; however, it never occurred to me that I would need to apply those lessons to interactions with monkeys! On a similar note, I must confess that I am also making the assumption that the monkey was a male, but I don’t actually know for sure.

The actual door, window and ledge where the monkey standoff occurred.

I told him, "Go away monkey!" and shooed at him with my hands- the universal sign for “Go away monkey!” in case he didn’t know English, and because I wasn’t sure how to say that in Nepali… although it is now on my list of phrases to learn in the very near future!

He just looked at me blankly and then showed me his teeth. I am fairly sure he was warning me not to mess with him, although maybe he was simply amused with me and grinning at my silly attempt to scare him off.

Somewhat scared, and completely unsure of what to do, I grabbed a pair of pants and tried to shoo him with those. In hind sight, this was probably not a smart idea, for the fact that he had already shown me his teeth to warn me that I should not shoo him and also because I was actually giving him a chance to grab the pants, almost as if inviting him to live out my vision and creating a self-fulfilling “prophecy”.

Instead, he again starred at me blankly, completely uninterested in the pants, and showed me his teeth. Now that I think back on it, he seemed almost bored with me, and let’s face it, he was probably thinking, “Go away, lady! I don’t want your clothes. They aren’t stylish or even my size. I came up here to rest and to enjoy the cool breeze and the view and you are ruining that for me.” but at the time, I was sure he was issuing a direct threat, and although he was maybe 1/5 of my size (if that), it seemed time for me to take 2 steps back inside, quickly close (and lock) the door and try to figure out what to do next.

My mind was racing. Where was Sam? Didn’t he even notice how long I had been gone? Didn’t it occur to him to come check on me? Monkeys could be carrying me off to the temple at this very moment, and he was probably sitting on the bed reading or something, completely oblivious to the fact that my life, or at the very least, our clothes, were in jeopardy! Okay, so maybe I was getting a little worked up.

I decided to peek out the window to see if the monkey was running off with my clothes or simply sitting there basking in the glory of victory, but he was nowhere in sight… probably waiting on the other side of the door, ready to attack with his new sense of confidence. Slowly I unlocked the door, opening it just enough to peek out, but ready to retreat again at the slightest appearance of the monkey. Still no monkey, so I timidly took a step out and looked around a little more. He seemed to be gone and none of our clothes appeared to be missing.

Not the actual monkey involved, although he looks similar. 

Obviously he was simply petrified earlier, unable to move until I had gone inside, at which time he was finally able to flee “safely”... looks like I have the glory of victory after all! That’s right, monkey, who’s the last one standing on the roof with all of the clothes?! It was a grand moment for me, although in the back of my mind I considered the possibility that he had actually gone to get friends (reinforcements) and could be back at any moment, so I quickly grabbed our clothes, went back inside, locked the door and hurried down to our flat.

As I walked in a bit breathless and fumbled to lock our door (in case the monkey somehow figured out how to get through the locked door to the roof), Sam looked up at me, “Hi babe, need some help?”

Need some help? I just fought off a “vicious gorilla” from stealing our clothes... I’m good! 

A view from our room on a monkey-free day!

Another view from our roof.

View from our roof of Swayambhu (aka The Monkey Temple)

Getting Settled

We have a motorcycle! After spending a great deal of time researching, Sam found and bought a great pre-owned bike with only 8,000 km on it. This is the type of bike used most often to tour the entire country as it does extremely well in all conditions, which makes me feel much safer. This will be our main mode of transportation for day to day driving in Kathmandu and also many of the solo trips Sam takes out to the villages. After being here and riding on these roads, I have learned a VERY important phrase, “Malai hidnu manparchha” Translation: I like to walk! Actually Sam is doing a great job driving on the “roads” but I have to give him a hard time.

We have spent a great deal of time looking at housing options and this has come with some real challenges. In the U.S. we simply go to the apartment office and ask to see a 2 bedroom apartment. In Nepal, you tell your friends what you are looking for, they tell their friends, who tell their friends and often you are shown a house that is totally different than what your requirements looked like to begin with- or at least this has been the case for us.

We have been shown houses ranging from 3 to 6 bedrooms and often double our price range. For a short time we thought we found a house that would work for us. It was near friends and the right price, even though it was bigger than what we wanted; however, the place the current tenants were going to move to fell though and so our options were to wait until they found another place or let them continue to live on one of the floors.  Needless to say, we kept looking.

On our flight from Singapore to Kathmandu, sitting next to us was a wonderful Nepali man who we had great conversation with. We talked about Nepal and about faith, as well as the part of town he was living in and that he was moving from a great flat (apartment) in about 2 weeks. At first we were not interested because it was further north in Kathmandu than we wanted to live, but we kept in contact with him just in case. Well, after looking at over 15 houses and not finding what we wanted, we decided to go and look at his place.

The 2 bedroom flat had most of the things on our list of necessities. It was within our budget, had “Western toilets”, lots of windows (important when there is no electricity) and it is a safe place for me when Sam is out traveling around Nepal. Also it is at a higher elevation, so it has lower air pollution than most of the valley, which was a big health concern for us.

Despite all of the perks of the flat, moving here was really hard on me. I knew it was the right place for us as soon as I saw it, but needed to mourn being further from our friends than I had planned. It’s only about a 15 minute drive from our friends, which doesn't sound far, but in Nepal a 15 minute drive could be an adventure or at times impossible. Luckily Sam was patient with me and allowed me my day of mourning… and since we moved the next day, I didn't have time to stay in a state of mourning for more than a day!

Sam will tell more about our moving adventure in another blog, but I get to tell you about our beautiful new home! In many regards it is my dream home- only 5 rooms total: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a combined open living/ kitchen area.

As we began shopping for furniture, we realized it is more expensive here than it is in the U.S., which we had not anticipated or budgeted for. Thank you, God, for saving us from needing to furnish that 5 bedroom house we looked at!

God has taken great care of us in getting settled, too. The previous tenant (our friend from the plane), offered to sell us a few of his things: 2 very nice wardrobes (they don’t have closets here, so we needed those to store all of our clothes and toiletries), a wooden coffee table that is doubling as our dining table, a shelving unit in the kitchen (there was minimal cabinet space, so this has been very useful) and a few small shelving units that we are using in the living room right now. Not only did he offer us a fair price for the items, but we didn't have to move them! 

Looking from our kitchen into our living room

The flat didn't come with a stove, oven or refrigerator, so we bought a 4-burner gas stove top (no oven) and a red refrigerator with flowers imprinted on it- yes this was the best choice! And for our bedroom, we got a reasonably priced (and pretty comfortable) king size mattress, because as Sam and I like to joke, we do not have queen size love! Since then we have bought dishes, bowls, cookware and a few other small household items, but we are still waiting to get a couch, desk and office items.

Battery backup is a wonderful thing when there in no electric!

From our apartment we have wonderful views of mountains, as well as Swoyambhu, one of the most sacred Buddha Stupas in Nepal. Swoyambhu is also known as “The Monkey Temple” because of all of the monkeys that inhabit the area. The monkeys can be quite entertaining to watch, but also quite troublesome as they are known to break windows and grab stuff from people walking by, as well as laundry hanging on the clothes lines!

So far I have been hanging our clothes inside to dry, as I keep envisioning some monkey running off with our underwear on his head, but I don’t have a good spot to hang things like sheets, so I guess we’ll have to take our chances that the monkeys don’t need bedding!

Speaking of laundry- that is a whole other story in itself. In the U.S. you put your laundry in the washing machine, push a button, wait 45-60 minutes, move the laundry into the dryer, wait another 45-60 minutes and then hang up and/or fold the dried items. Not the most fun task, but oh what I wouldn't give for that option now!

Laundry here is an event. I take a big plastic wash tub and a bar of laundry soap (yes you read that right, it’s a bar of soap) into our master bathroom and using the spout beneath the shower. There is no tub just a spout and the floor, which used to seem silly to me, but now makes perfect sense. I fill the tub half way with water, letting it run over the bar of soap to create some suds. Then I add a few items to wash tub. If there is a stain, I rub the bar of soap on the stain and then scrub with my hands. Next I use my hands and/or feet to wash the clothes- I AM the washing machine!

Once I think the clothes are probably clean (I am new at this, so it’s just an uneducated guess!) I rinse the items one by one in the rinse bucket (a bucket that I put under the same spout I used to fill the wash tub, but fill with clean water to rinse the clothes. As the water in the bucket gets soapy, I pour that out, refill the bucket and continue.

As each item as rinsed, I place it on a hanger and hang it in our other bathroom where I have a small fan directed at the items- our dryer! Drying typically takes many hours, possibly overnight, depending on the item, but my alternative is to put everything up on the clothesline up on the roof and hope the monkeys don’t decide they need something… or that it doesn't rain, as monsoon season seems to be starting early this year!

I did a small load of laundry yesterday and there are parts of my body aching today that I didn't know existed, so at least I’m not only doing laundry, but also getting a workout! Think of me next time you’re doing a load of laundry… or on the treadmill! 

Arrival in Kathmandu

Wendy & Sam at Lazarus' church.

After a year of planning, selling all of our things and saying goodbye to family and friends we finally flew into Kathmandu, Nepal just over a week ago.

The last month in the States was especially hard, having to say goodbye to family, friends, co workers, and Lifebridge Church. As our son, Simon, drove away for the last time the day of our departure this all became so real. There is both grief and excitement as one chapter in our lives closes and another begins.

Looking back over the past year and how God has guided our steps we also realize how blessed we have been to have had the most amazing friends and family giving us help and encouragement every step of the way. Who knew what lay ahead for us as Lifebridge Church introduced us to Nepal January 2012? We didn't even know where Nepal was back then!

For the first few months our main priorities are to begin to learn the language and culture and begin to cultivate relationships, spending time with friends and Servlife leadership on the ground in Kathmandu. We are also spending a great deal of time trying to figure out where we will live and what we will be driving. This sometimes looks very different than it does in the West.

Nepal: This country is so full of beauty of both the country itself and more so of its' people. In Nepal the culture is based much more around relationships rather than individualism and individualistic accomplishment. Time moves much more slowly here which is sometimes difficult for me (Sam) as I like to push forward and get things accomplished. It took a few days for me to slow down and wait on God to lead us, giving me many 'opportunities' to learn patience (I'm still learning)!

We are learning many lessons and making many mistakes but God's grace and great friends are helping us navigate through them all. We plan to blog more soon, so stay tuned!