Riding with the Goats

Left: At Family Camp with some of the girls.

Right: A ping, a gigantic 15" tall swing made out of bamboo and rope.

Colorful lights put out for the Tihar festivities.

Saraswati and I at the lake teeming with Koi and cheesy puffs.

At the Korean Bakery, enjoying my cup of tea, shortly after realizing that they painted it on the wall.

Reminiscing over the good old days of the MN State Fair where you can find everything on a stick. 

Enjoying some traditional Nepali food with my new friend Tara.

Dashain Tip #1: If you see a goat tied to a pole outside a home in October, it's NOT their pet goat. Dashain Tip #2: If you don't see the goat the next day tied to the pole, they did NOT set it free. That is what I learned during Dashain, one of the main Hindu holidays. Dashain is their celebration of good over evil. Unfortunately it's not a good holiday for goats. After Dashain comes Tihar, their festival of lights, which is 2-3 weeks later. It's not so much the festival of lights though, when they have their electricity blackouts from the 1.5 trillion lights that are hung up. When the electricity is on though, almost every house is decked out with lights and it looks very beautiful, or as you would say in Nepalese it's all jilly milly (my new favorite phrase).

During Dashain we had Family Camp at our church, so our church and four others got together for three days and had some amazing fellowship and worship. One of the most precious moments for me involved a twelve year old boy, Isaac. During the last night, two of the kids snuck out of the service and got into a fight, which ended up with one of them on the ground unconscious and shaking. The pastor, who is a doctor, felt his jaw and told us it was dislocated, so he took the child to the hospital. All the kids then gathered in the room and prayed for the boy. After some time the children left and ate dinner, but this one boy Isaac stayed and continued to pray. He came up to me and asked me to keep praying with him, so we prayed. As he continued to pray for the next two hours I watched as tears ran down his face as he was praying for his friend to be healed. The joyful part comes next. When the pastor reached the hospital the boy's jaw was miraculously back in place and he was fully conscious! Triple gazillion points God. I know it may sound like crazy talk to some of you, but when you think of a God who created our entire bodies in the first place, it's not that hard to believe that God has the power to heal, so that was one of the most precious moments for me.

As for other updates, I guess I didn't miss out on the MN State Fair corn dogs, they sold the leftovers to Nepal! Well not really, but I ate a surprisingly similar replica of a MN State Fair corn dog with Saraswati (the daughter of the family I'm staying with) at a food stall. It was love at first bite, because not only was it like a corn dog, but it was spicy! That was the cherry on top of our fabulous day together. It started with driving up the hillside to a lake that had more Koi than water and feeding them essentially cheesy puffs and tofu. Then I got to practice driving a scooter in a field of goats. After I passed my driving lesson, by successfully not knocking down any goats, we scootied on over to a Korean bakery (no, I did not drive), where we enjoyed a white chocolate donut and banana cupcake. Yum, yum.

Also I did purchase my airplane ticket for coming home, so I'll be home for Christmas. I'll fly in on Sunday December 15th and stay in the Twin Cities/Menomonie area for exactly a month then fly on back over the ocean. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting to see a bunch of you when I get back. I'm also looking forward to French Silk pie, bacon and hot showers.

If you think of it in your quiet times, I would love your prayers. There are a couple things in specific I would love prayer for:

1. My visa status. I don't think I'll be able to stay at the Montessori and get a work visa, so I'm thinking about pursuing a masters in English online with an emphasis in Teaching English as a Second Language. I am considering coming back on a student visa and enrolling in classes at a University to continue my language studies in Nepalese. A lot of things to finalize and figure out.

2. My Nepali family. They are so great and I care for them so much. Pray that God will bless them and that they will truly and fully come to know him.

3. The elections. Let's just say Nepal's political situation isn't the greatest. Between the communist president, the prime minister and being a federal republic, there's a bit of chaos. Elections are coming up in the next couple of weeks, so there will most likely be a lot of strikes and bandhs (where everything is closed).

Anything I  can be praying for you about I would love to, so just send me an email.

Lastly, I have seen a lot of things while staying here in Nepal, so I made a list for you called: 

10 Things you can see on the streets of Nepal that you can't see in the U.S.

1. A family of six on a motorcycle.

2. A man biking with two love seats and a coffee table fastened to the the back of his bike.

3. A goat strapped on to the top of a public bus.

4. Taxis driving in reverse at 20mph against traffic on a main road.

5. A passenger on a motorcycle holding on to a 15 foot ladder.

6. Taxi drivers driving into the river to get a free car wash.
7. A man with silk roses attached to the rear view mirrors of his motorcycle.
8. Kids biking with propane tanks strapped to both sides of their bikes.
9. A passenger on a motorcycle holding 10-15 plastic chairs above his head.
10. A goat riding on a motorcycle.

"No, I Do Not Eat Elephant"

This is Elim Montessori where I am volunteering currently.

One of the three colorful classrooms.

This is our house cleaner's daughter, Anusha. I found her on the front stairs playing contently for two hours with two rocks and a stick. So instead we went to my room and took silly photos and ate mango candies. 

Some people walk their dogs, while others walk their cattle. This was on my walk to the Montessori.

Left: The Cable Car we took up the steep hill to get to Gorkha.

Right: One of the statues outside the Gorkha Temple. 

Left: I found this tiny little idol just chillin' in the crack of this massive tree.

Right: Walking around Gorkha and admiring the beautiful view.

The Sadhu, the men who put the tika (the red dot) on your forehead, catching some rays.

Left: Priya, my colleauge at the Montessori enjoying a banana lassi.

Right: One of the breathtaking views on my bus ride back from Gorkha.

How to fit a whirlwind in a nutshell? I don't know but I'll try to do my best. I got my first Nepali job! I am the new karaoke performer at the Japanese hibachi grill down the block. Well not really, I got a job as the coordinator of Elim Montessori. Let's just say I'm learning a lot about Nepal in a short amount of time and with only a few mishaps along the way, such as gluing my fingers together with truly the superest Super Glue ever. Right now we don't have any children because they finished construction on the building in July and usually enrollment starts in April. So I have been working on marketing, as well as prepping the classrooms and lesson plans. We are having an Open House next Saturday, September 28th, to lure in some families. We hired a Mickey & Minnie to attend the Open House and on Friday I'll be standing outside the international grocery store with Mickey passing out fliers. I should practice up on my M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E and brush up on my Mousercise routines.

Also I started taking Nepali lessons with my friend's mother so we don't have any more confusing moments like my friend Tashi pointing at the pot of meat and saying "baddi" which means "bones" and I hear "batti" which means "elephant" and I look at them with a confused blank stare and think, "We're eating elephant? Isn't that illegal?" I think I could start a whole blog and call it, "Nepali words that Rachel mistakes that always ends with a good laugh".

On Friday I went with Priya, the Nepali teacher at the Montessori, to Gorkha. It is one of the most important historical places in Nepal. It is where King Prithivi Narayan Shah, the King of Gorkha, started his ambitious campaign to unify Nepal as one country instead of many independent districts. He became the first king of Nepal and made Kathmandu the capital in 1769. He also combined the Nepali armies, who stopped the British armies from colonizing Nepal. So there is your brief history lesson on the unification of Nepal, there will be a quiz next week, extra points for spelling the king's name right. Other than the fascinating history, Gorkha is absolutely breathtaking. There is also a river that runs from Gorkha to Kathmandu which you drive alongside. I saw some groups rafting down it and it sparked my interest. Also on my drive back to Kathmandu I was able to watch the sun set in the mountains, which again was absolutely beautiful. I thought "Oh, I should take some photos so others can see this", but my phone died and then I got this feeling like God saying, "this one's for you," and my heart got light and cheery. Good moments.

On another note, I did get a PO Box here in Nepal. So if any of you can figure out how to package and send French Silk Pie that would be great :) Just kidding. If you want to drop a line though I'd love it, but please don't send anything valuable because their mail system isn't the most dependable one. Here is the address:

Rachel Schroeder

GPO Box 8336

Kathmandu, Nepal

That's my address, straight and to the point. If you send anything though, please let me know when you send it because it takes  about 10 days to get here and then I have to make a little jaunt to get to the Post Office, across the Himalayas then riding an elephant through the jungle while beating down the tigers and hissing baboons OR I can hitch a ride on a scooter and get there in 30-40 minutes. I prefer the second option.

On a serious note, I want to give thanks to God. He has given me a family here who is so wonderful and has truly taken me in as part of their family, the other morning the mom made me pancakes which brought a smile to my heart. He has given me a job at a Christian Montessori, where I get to work with kids AND do graphic design. He has given me a Christian friend here, Ruthie, who (bonus points) loves playing Settlers of Catan. He has given me beautiful mountain bus rides and he has given me YOU, you faithful readers who have actually read this whole long blog. Thank you.

And Now From the Other Side of the Ocean

Saraswati and I climbed to the top of Sundhara (203 steps)!

Just outside the house where I am staying. I'm staying with my friend Dechen's family. They are such a sweet and kind family.

The 170 million steep steps up to the Monkey Temple. See the platform that looks like the bottom? Very deceiving, that's only the half way point. Now I know why the Nepalese are so fit.

My friend Dilip and I went to go to Central Zoo.

After 35 hours of airports/airplanes, burning brownies and being jumped by a monkey, I think I finally survived part one of Nepal with the help of the Big Guy. I slept for what seemed like a month and finally came out of hibernation. I had these overwhelming feelings of doubt and inadequacy. I asked God, "Okay, I'm here, it's a long way back home, so give me the strength to get through the day. We'll tackle tomorrow later." The days definitely got better as time went on. I also realized that simple tasks like getting a PO Box, setting up a bank account and activating my phone all seemed easy, but are a whole different ball game in a foreign country. I am definitely more dependent on others for help, which is a lesson in itself for me. Thankfully I had a lot of help from the family I'm staying with. They are such an amazingly sweet, humorous and hospitable family, who I am trying to teach Ticket to Ride.

I live in a part of Kathmandu called Swayambhu, where it is mostly buddhists. There is a huge Buddhist temple nearby called the Monkey Temple and no kidding I think it's where all the monkeys in the whole country congregate. The kicker is you walk up about 170 million stairs and then at the top they charge foreigners to enter, but it's definitely worth it since you can see the entire Kathmandu valley, which is actually very large. On my way back down I got jumped by a monkey who desperately wanted my Sprite. Monkeys make me appreciate squirrels more.

Saturday I went and visited a Nepalese church. I was trying to pick out words I recognized, which were few and far between. One word I kept hearing over and over was "Prem.....prem....prem". I was so curious what Prem meant. Later I found out prem means love, so for my first Nepalese church gathering I understood "love, love and love". I hope as time goes on I can understand more.

Things so far that I love about Nepal:
1. Musical horns on buses
2. Pani Puri from street vendors
3. Hospitable people
4. Doding cows on motorcyle rides through the city
5. Laughing about words I mispronounce

Well that's all I have for now from this side of the ocean...

Up, Up and Away

So the time has come when I will board the plane to Nepal with most everything I own in two suitcases, a duffle bag and a backpack. Just to break it down, here is my flight itinerary for those of you who are curious:

Depart: Thursday, August 1st, 11:00pm from Los Angeles, CA
Arrive: Saturday, August 3rd, 5:20am at Guangzhou, China (15:20 hour flight+15 hour time diff)

Layover: 14:20hrs in Guangzhou, China

Depart: Saturday, August 3rd,  7:40pm from Guangzhou, China
Arrive: Saturday, August 3rd, 10:15pm at Kathmandu, Nepal (4:50 hour flight-2.25 hour time diff)

So it will be a looooong time of traveling, but I'll make sure to raid the newspaper bins before I leave in search for more crossword puzzles. Well, I really wish I could tell you I feel super excited and completely at peace, but my nose would shoot out two feet. I know very well that God is faithful and He walks ahead of us, since He has shown that to me over and over again throughout my life. Even though I know that, this is still one of the hardest things I've had to face, to say goodbye to people I love and care for so much, and to head to a place where I have no clue what lays ahead. I have been given such an amazing and supportive family along with such wonderful and loving friends, it makes it extra hard to go. I wish I could bottle you up and take you with me, but I think I might exceed my 50lb limit and I am not sure if you all like curry.

I also want to thank all of you that have been praying for me during this time, it's an amazing thing to have. I would love to return the favor, so if any of you have anything specific you want prayer for, please email me back and I'll be praying for you as I travel and in Nepal. Man, you are all such amazing people. I love you all, A LOT!

Butterflies, Blogging and Boarding Passes

Okay, so crazy to think, but the day is actually approaching when I leave for Nepal. Last week I bought a one way airplane ticket to Kathmandu. I take off at the crack of dawn on Monday, July 29th and head to Los Angeles, CA to spend a couple days with my Aunt Mary and then from there I head to Guangzhou, China and then finally arrive in Kathmandu, Nepal on August 3rd! Then I will proceed to sleep for the next two weeks recovering from all the traveling. It's the strangest feeling, since I have talked about and envisioned this for so long and then to finally see the day approaching. I think the entire monarch population isn't actually declining, they just ended up in my stomach.

Well, this is the point when most normal people would proceed to tell you of all the things they have planned, exactly what they will be doing in Nepal, what organization they have partnered with and their five year plan. I, on the other hand, have nothing to share on those matters. This is a complete stepping out into the unknown for me. I don't have work when I get there, I don't have an organization that I am planning on serving with and I have no clue what the next five years will be like. The only thing I know for certain is that Christ goes ahead of us and He is good, He will never leave us nor forsake us.

When I get there I will be staying with some Nepalese families until, hopefully, I find work teaching English as a second language, or until they get sick of playing Ticket to Ride with me (whichever comes first). I have been so amazed as how God has provided so many contacts and connections for me in Kathmandu. I have had over five Nepalese families contact me, offering me a place to stay, so no cardboard box homes for me. I'm really hoping that when I arrive in Nepal I can spend some time at first learning the language, understanding the culture and seeing how God is already at work and what He is doing there.

So let's just say the last week has been a whirlwind of emotions. Other than feeling at times completely inadequate, terrified and knowing it's going to hurt so much to leave the ones I love and care for so deeply, God still calms my emotions with an overwhelming sense of peace. I think of all my fear and weaknesses and then I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take [the thorn] away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." I tell you about my fears and weaknesses, so that none of you would think I am doing something courageous or bold, but instead that you would know the power of Christ.

Okay, I know I'm getting long-winded (or long-typed?), but there is one last and very important thing for me to share with you. If you are reading this it's probably because you have been a significant part of my life. I give credit first to God for how has renewed me, but also realize how He has placed each of you in my life for His own purpose. That He has used you all to challenge me, to spur me on and most likely to play board games with. You will never know how much you mean to me and how your lives have impacted mine. I am forever grateful to God for bringing each of you into my life. I love each of you dearly.