Two cuties from my Nepali church.
Going rafting with my roommate and some friends.
Because of the petrol shortage we had to ride on top of the bus. Gotta love new adventures.
Meeting up with my college friends Akshat and Amit while enjoying live Nepali music and sharing stories.
Taking full advantage of the photo booth at the staff Christmas social.
A Nepali teacher at our school's son got married, so a lot of us got dressed up and went to the wedding. There was lots of dancing, food, and great company, so it was a great time or as they say in Nepali "ramaillo bhayo"!
One of the boys from my Nepali church who danced during the Christmas program. I love the mustaches and goatees they gave all the young boys.
Riding on top of buses, rafting down rivers, hundreds of vehicles stalled in line for petrol, dancing around bonfires and seeing God’s love for this people grow, there’s my update. Haha...just kidding. I’ll elaborate a tiny bit more. Wow, so it’s been almost five months since I’ve written and more and more things keep happening. Then I postpone writing, because I’m overwhelmed with everything that’s happened, so I’m finally hunkering down and doing it.
Here's the not so short and pretty sweet. Teaching at KISC has been absolutely amazing and I love the staff there and the students. I am still taking Nepali lessons and working on becoming acclimated with the culture. My favorite Nepali blunder was when I tried repeating what a Nepali said and instead said, “Ma kera sanga biha garnu parcha?”, which translates to “I should get married to a banana?” They were trying to say I should get married to a Nepali guy or a “keta” not a banana. Whew, thank goodness. I don’t really like bananas.
To say a lot has happened to Nepal in the last eight months would be an understatement. An abnormally ridiculous amount of things have happened to Nepal in the last eight months. Starting with two earthquakes and then towards the end of September they finally finalized their constitution. That led to a minority group becoming infuriated with the government and joining forces with India to create a blockade, not allowing any petrol or goods into the country for three months. Industries have shut down. People don’t have gas to cook food with. Petrol is selling on the black market for 350Rs/liter which is the equivalent to $15/gallon. Buses and cars are parked in lines that stretch for miles waiting for petrol. People are waiting eight hours for the hope of getting cooking gas and paying 4-5 times more for it. The country has been in a little bit of a chaotic mess.
As for me, I’ve been more than blessed and God has really been good. I haven't been nearly as affected by all that's going on compared to others. On the brighter side, it's been great getting to meet up with some Stout friends that have come to visit. I got to go on a rafting trip which was really fun with some friends from my school. The volleyball league was such a great opportunity to build relationships with some of the Nepali staff at my school, but we had to end it because the land we were playing on got sold. I attended a LIFE group through church which was really great and got some good fellowship. I started getting involved with the youth group at my English church. I was able to attend a Nepali wedding and dance to my heart's content. I performed a piano piece at a Christmas concert and had an amazing Christmas time here with my Nepali church. Whew. That's practically it.
