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.