first week in nepal!

Hey everyone...

so you maybe already got this in an email, but for those who didn't, here is an update about this past week! hopefully from now on i can be a little more consistant or at least write a few things there and there about what's going on in my week...

I have officially been in Nepal for one week now! i arrived safely last Saturday in the afternoon, but without my bag. It took several days before we could track it down and I finally got all my stuff on wed and I was very grateful to the Lord as I was getting worried it was lost for good. I am living in a house 12 other girls and our house is split into two flats with 5 girls downstairs and 8 upstairs where I am. We have people from all over! The girls in my flat are from the US, Sweden, Brazil, South Korea, and another country that is currently escaping me. Downstairs there is an American, Korean, German, Swiss, and South African! In addition there was one girl here that just left to return to Czech. It is amazing to be living with these girls that are from all over but have had a heart to come serve the people of Nepal and enjoy learning the language and culture. English is the common language among us so we are still able to communicate.

Kathmandu is a fairly big city. In truth it is quite dirty and polluted, but when there is a clear day, one can see the huge hills surrounding us that lead into the Himalayas. So far there has been one day when I could actually see the Himalayas in the distance, but most of the time it is too hazy to see even the hills around us. it probably won't be until rainy season in may or june that i will be able to see things better. The best way to get around is by bus or tuk-tuk which are little 3-wheeled motor cars, but we can also walk and ride bikes. Bike riding is our primary way of getting around and today was my second day of experiencing trying to not to get killed in the roads by all the motorcycles and buses. They drive on the left side of the road here, so not only do we have to be careful of where we are going and even get used to riding a bike again which I have not done in years, but also when things are coming at us, I have to retrain my thinking of automatically going right, to going left. it is pretty crazy!

it is winter and it is cold, not like in the states, but still 40s and low 50s if out in the sun. nights are the worst though since there is no heating in the houses. I wear 3 long sleeve/long underwear shirts to bed with my cozy pants under this big thick blanket. It is not too bad and I just keep telling myself that in a month it will be nice, and before I know it, it will be so hot I am wishing for cold again. We do have hot water by gas heater (though water is scarce so showers are very quick) but electricity is turned off anywhere from 6-8 hours in a day. We have schedule of when those times are, but often the schedule is not followed so we have to be flexible :)

I guess one day that I was able to experience typical nepali living was a day this past week called “faith day” in which each of us that just arrived were given 50 rupees (about $0.75 which is enough for a bus or two), blind-folded, and taken in a taxi to a random part of the city and dropped off. we knew the name of where we lived and had to depend on the help of nepalis to get us back home in 3 hours! It was pretty crazy, but sort of fun to just walk around on the streets taking everything in and trying to start conversations with random people, a few of whom could speak English. It was a time to teach us that nepali people are very friendly, ready to be hospitable, and often more than willing to help a poor padeshi (foreigner). Plus it showed us that no matter what we are doing or we get ourselves into, we can always find our way back home :) of course it was, and is, common to see people walking around with hindu marks on their foreheads or little stone idols on the street corners or a buddhist temple with monks walking around in their maroon dress. Religion is deeply ingrained in the society of Nepal, often without its people understanding their own rituals or beliefs. Most of life is survival, trying to make it one day to the next while pleasing all of the 3 million gods that Hindus boast of.

Yet the Nepali church is growing. Nepalis have their church on Saturday instead of Sunday because it is the only day off that Nepalis have—schools and businesses are closed only on this day and often open on Sundays. So yesterday was my first experience of nepali church and it was great! It was a small community but they are hungry. There is a great need for discipleship as many of them have come from the mindset that having Jesus is just adding another god to the millions. Yet those who were there were genuine in their faith and even the children were passionate—so much that as they would sing out, some had tears in their eyes. it was beautiful. Often in nepali church there is singing and then mass prayer all together out loud, and then more singing and then more prayer, which seems to be common in many countries I have been to. However it has been really cool to be a part of both in church and with those that I live with. We will often pray together all out loud in our own language and someone will close in their language—what an amazing reminder that we serve a God that is King of the Nations, not just English America!

Tomorrow I will start studying the Nepali language. This will definitely help me make more Nepali friends! please pray that I will learn quickly and I will be able to retain the things that I learn. After 3 weeks of language learning, I will have the opportunity to go trekking! I promise to update you more as that time approaches.

Thank you for your prayers!