"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.