Nepali's Very Own Epcot

After thirty-eight hours of plane rides and layovers, I finally landed in this beautiful country, which I will be calling home for the next two+ years. I arrived on Sunday, July 20th and started my orientation Monday, July 21st (not recommended) with the help of numerous cups of coffee and tea. I am working at KISC, Kathmandu International Study Centre, which is an international Christian school. I am teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to Grades 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9. Also I started a volleyball league at the school with the staff, which I am SUPER jazzed about. I have only been teaching for two weeks, but it has been really good so far. The students and staff come from so many different countries it makes it feel like a real life version of Disney's Epcot. Just in the couple of weeks I've been here, some crazy God things have happened that I wanted to share with you:

Crazy Story #1: My parents had a friend from their church, who is a professor at the U of M, ask if they would be willing to invite one of his students who is from Nepal for dinner. My parents gladly agreed and had him over for dinner. After talking with him, my parents realized he is a Christian and that his two children attend KISC and one of them is even in my class!

Crazy Story #2: I was talking to one of the other Nepali staff workers from KISC and he was asking me where I was from. I told him I was from Minnesota and asked him if he knew where that was and he said he had been there before. I was surprised. He said that he travelled from Michigan to Wisconsin and then to Minnesota. I asked him if he visited Milwaukee, but he replied, "No, it was just a small town, Stout." I about fell out of my chair! I asked him what he was doing at Stout and he mentioned he was visiting his friends, Dpac and Hemnish, then I told him that they were friends of mine as well! Crazy, absolutely crazy.

I often doubt myself and often question, "Is this really where God wants me to be?" but through these stories and other events I really feel like God has been saying, "YES!"

I am slowly but surely getting settled in to my new place. Last night, we welcomed Sarah to our place, who will be staying with us for a couple months on and off. She is working with the same organization as my other roommate Ruthie. We have other guests that come in and out too, but they are a little bit smaller and only come crawling in at night time, and definitely don't receive the same welcome. Well I thought you might like a mini tour of my house, so I included some pictures of my place:

This is my bedroom (note the bed that my wonderful roommate Ruthie surprised me with). Also I am still in the process of looking for a dresser so my clothes don't have to stay folded laying on my floor. 

This is our living room. It's usually a pretty happening place. I'm also thinking of trying to look for something for people to sit on rather than an old mattress. 

This is our kitchen. Again, we're contemplating getting a mini fridge, but we've been fine without one so far, so maybe later.

The hallway in to our apartment. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom. 

Our bathroom where those unwelcome visitors like to show up late at night.