Charging cows, chaar and chaa, and a conference thrown in for good measure....

Jaymasi!


Life has started to calm down just a bit, but here are a few highlights from the last three weeks....


1.  Conference: we had a wonderful conference in Badanthilkantha (northern KTM) where all of our staff came for a four day conference and retreat.  We were VERY busy fitting everything into schedule, and I'll admit I have never been so tired in my life (which is what happens when you volunteer for all the committees, help out with worship, MC, and help organize the whole thing in general!) but it was fantastic.  I finally was able to meet the majority of my colleagues, who are from all over the world :)  They are amazing people who inspire me and leave me feeling honored to be able to work with them and serve them.  At the end of the conference, I had the same bittersweet feeling you get when you are saying goodbye to relatives after a vacation....many of these people/families I won't get to see again until next year at conference, as they work far away in very remote areas of Nepal.


2.  Language Class!  I have 'officially' started my "for real" language class :)  Two dutch friends and I are being tutored by a Nepali man and his family by use of the Greg Thompson method.  Basically, this method is non-academic and mimics language learning methods used by young children: in short, you learn to recognize sounds and actions through games and interaction...your homework involves going out into the city and interacting with Nepalis (whether at a restaurant, the supermarket, your taxi driver, etc.) and reporting back on your experiences.  I'm very excited about it, and our teacher says that we are doing very well, which is always encouraging!  I did have a bit of trouble with "chaar" and "chaa": the first word means 'four' and second means 'six' - and let me tell you, they sound EXACTLY THE SAME.  It is very humbling to work for a half hour on pronouncing '1-10' correctly!


3. Cows....Yesterday a friend and I rode our bikes down to the General Mailing in KTM in order to pick up a package.  The bike ride is about a half hour both ways.  As we were zipping around the corner of a chowk (roundabout) we (me, my friend, and a rickshaw driver) almost crashed into a pack of charging cows in the middle of the road!  There was lots of shouting, honking, swerving...but we all got out ok, even the rickshaw driver.  That night at dinner, we all laughed about how the biggest hazard on the road is COWS....and potholes the size of craters.  Ah, life in Kathmandu!!!!


I am seriously beginning to fall in love with this place....

ke bhayo?

jamasi!


My my, so many things to write about!  My life here in Nepal is most definitely a constant paradox: there are both moments of extreme hilarity, and extreme sadness as I am thrown against a culture and religion that is so tangibly LOST.  


To start, a few moments of pure hilariousness:
1.  A friend and I biked to a bakery in order to purchase some sort of dessert for a dinner party we were invited to.  I was inspecting desserts in the cooler that resembled something like a very large swiss cake roll.  Looking at the sahuniji (female shopkeeper), I asked "ke bhayo?".... what I meant to ask was "what is this" or "yo ke ho?", but instead I pointed at the cake and asked her "what happened?"  She gave me a very confused, slightly offended look, and my lovely American friend jumped to my rescue, asking her the correct the question.  I shared this story at our staff meeting on Friday, and everyone loved it, assuring me that there will be many awkward moments to come!


2.  While driving in a taxi, a friend of mine asked the other passenger and I "how do you say 'stop' in nepali?"  Simultaneously, both of us replied "roknus!", at which point the taxi driver slammed on his brake (my forehead almost hit the dash) in the middle of the road!  Luckily he was good-natured and got quite a laugh out of our "nepali bhashaa practice" :D


3.  Early in the morning I was walking to language class, and was almost run over by a motorcyclist...ok not usually funny, but this particular gentlemen had his helmet on askew, and was belting out a nepali song at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS...I can't believe I almost died for the sake of a Nepali love ballad.


Sobering moments:
1.   I visited a temple with a friend about two weeks ago...it was the strangest thing: there were so many videshis (foreigners) leisurely strolling around with their cameras, taking pictures of both the temple and the Nepalis, who were frantically scurrying around the temple desperately attempting to spin each and every prayer wheel on the hopes that one of their gods will acknowledge their prayers.  What struck me about this was the looks on these people's faces: FEAR.  Fear that their cries will not be heard or acknowledged, that their cosmic deities really have no interest in their hopes, dreams, and fears.  Laughing videshis taking pictures of a people group desperately trying to appeal to their gods....I couldn't stomach it.  What a privilege to know the ONE TRUE God who knows each and every hair on our heads! Every prayer is heard, and every prayer is answered.  Do we know how blessed we are?  I think most of us take our Lord and His constant care and provision on a daily basis for granted...and this includes me.  But at times maybe we find it easier to take something so amazing for granted rather than be overwhelmed by the enormity of it every day...


My Lord God,
Your attention and guardianship are overwhelming to me!
That nothing in this world or the supernatural realms can touch me without your permission
is completely beyond my frail, human comprehension.
Grant your servant the ability to live each day in this reality; 
to take risks, to seek the lost, and love the un-lovable.
For we are immortal until the moment we complete on Earth the tasks which You created us for.
To You all alone be all glory and honor!

Our place within Your liturgy....

Prayer flags at Swayambu

"After the football game...."


While at the end, the immense crowd flowed laboriously into the narrow streets, I reflected, Lord, that human history, for us a long game, is to you this great liturgy...
A prodigious ceremony initiated at the dawn of time, which will end only when the last celebrant has completed his final rite.


In this world, Lord, we each have our place.
You, the far-sighted coach, have planned it for us.
You want us here, and our brothers need us, as we need them.


It isn't the position I hold that is important, Lord, but the reality and strength of my presence.
What difference whether I am forward or back, as long as I am fully what I should be?


Here, Lord, is my day before me...
Did I sit too much on the sidelines, criticizing the play of others, my hands in my pockets?
Did I cooperate with my team without seeking the limelight?
Did I battle to the end despite set-backs and throw-backs?


I come in now to rest in the pavilion, Lord.
Tomorrow, if you kick off, I'll play a new position.
And so each day...
Grant that this game, played with all my brothers, may be the imposing liturgy that you expect of us,
so that when your last whistle interrupts our lives, we shall be chosen for the championship of Heaven.


-Anonymous


Snapshots.....

Prayer wheels at the Swayambu temple (Buddhism)

Burnt Offerings....

Burning of paper...unsure if the women wrote prayers or sins on these slips of paper before the burning.

deep in thought....

Santhi and Esther, my guides for the Kathmandu Zoo

dogs, motorcycles, and temples oh my....!

Well it has been eventful last couple weeks to say the least!

First, my roommate for the next three months arrived, which means not only a partner in crime for cultural and city orientation, but also the start of language classes!  We started on Monday, and our lovely teacher Chalita is very gracious and kind, and talks v....e...rr...y s....low.....ly for her "bidishi bidhyaartis" (foreign students).  Here is a brief recap of some sentences I can put together:
Mero naam Meghann ho.
Mero desh America ho.
Ma Kathmandumaa, Patanmaa, Dhobighatmaa baschuu.
Ma Nepali baashaa sikchhu, ma bidhyaarti hu.
Mero jholako rang seto, raato, ru kaalo chha.

Translation:
My name is Meghann
I am from America.
I live in Kathmandu, in the suburb Patan, at/near the dhobighat.
I am learning Nepali; I am a student.
My purse is white, red, and black.

CLEARLY I am well on my way to effortless fluency.  You have no idea how much I can with just that little amount of Nepali ;)

Anyways, Jessica, my roommate is wondeful! We have been having a great time.  She will be here for three months teaching some of our mother tongue translators (MTTs) how to improve their English and professional writing skills.

New subject: DOGS.  Apparently the dogs in KTM have determined that white foreigners can usually be dependable for small food handouts and to NOT throw rocks at you.  Therefore, dogs will sometimes attach themselves to foreigners who are out walking on the streets.  This usually isn't too much of an issue, but tonight my friend and I had a small female dog get so attached to us that she followed us for almost a half hour, waiting outside the bank for us, crossing the busy jawalakelchowk (roundabout) with us, etc.  The reason became clear very quickly: every time we passed a male dog, of which there are many, they would snap, growl, chase, and try to EAT HER until we had passed...I was certain that both the dog and my leg were probably gonna get chomped on.  I have never been so relieved to go to a restaurant as I was when we finally ditched the dog for some yummy Chinese food.

Motorcycles...sometimes, they just get a bit too close for comfort.  Maybe its my western "personal space bubble" kicking in, and there a few other reasons, but motorcycles are starting to make me jumpy.  Guess I'll just have to take the plunge and purchase one myself....if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! :)

Yesterday we visited the Patan Durbar square.  It is a beautiful and clean square in the center of Monghol Bazaar which houses both temples boasting stunning Newari wood carvings, and the residence of the former Royal family.  There were many nepali youngsters hanging out listening to music, old folks smoking and chatting, and foreigners enjoying good food at the museum cafe and taking lots of pictures (of course!)  See pictures for examples of some of the temples...there is also a picture of my friend Stephanie and I in our new kurtas (traditional female nepali outfit) and a shot of our street with the Himalayas in view.

Stephanie and me!

One of the temples....

Another temple....

Can you see the mountains?

To finish off, its been a great, yet exhausting couple of weeks.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support - the community I have found and friends are most definitely blessings from God and results from prayers!  Please continue to pray that God will loosen my tongue and sharpen my mind with language learning, and that I will continue to learn and discover all that God wants to reveal to me in this city.  Namaste...

One week in...

Hello everyone :)

In some ways it feels as though I've been here for much longer than just a week, and in other ways it seems like just yesterday I was wrestling with my suitcases and fending off taxi drivers as I left the city airport.  Crazy.

But the reality is that I have officially completed my first week in South Asia! And what a week it has been....God has blown me away with a ready-made community of people also working with SIL who were eager to take me around the city, help me with shopping, introduce me at church, drag me to ultimate frisbee (I am sadly quite sore) and much more :)  If anything, this first week as left me impatient to find permanent housing/roommates, start language classes, and become independent where I can leave the house ALONE without too much fear of getting lost after a mere two minutes!  Ah patience....not one of my virtues at present, but how great it is to trust a God who as every minute detail under control and part of His purpose.

Of course, after a week there a some things about my new home that are proving a bit bothersome.  First off: air pollution.  It is impossible to breathe here - it is the driest/dustiest time of year, which doesn't help, but regardless this city is famous for its foul air.  As one friend put it: "You know you're in trouble when you go to Bangkok (Thailand) to breathe 'fresh' air".  Coupled with that is all the filth.  There is trash and dirt EVERYWHERE.  At first I didn't really notice, after all what can you can expect in an underdeveloped country?  I'd seen poverty and filth before, but four days after I arrived it suddenly hit me that this by far the filthiest place I have ever been (Others have said the same).  It will be a real challenge in the summer when the heat accentuates all the smells! :)

Electricity/Internet access.  Going seven hours straight without any electricity is incredibly normal here.  Yikes.  I had been warned of this before arriving, and people also said that there really is no way to prepare for it, and boy were they right!  Everyone goes running for their apartments when the electricity turns on, and the most popular restaurants are then ones that advertise a back-up generator.  So funny.

THE DARK.  Ok so this city has no light ever, thus once 7pm hits you are plunged into darkness.  And the roads here are not kind to foreign feet!  However, there is a wonderful tool here that I have never seen anywhere else: Cell phone lights (no, not the screen light).  There are flashlights on every cell phone sold here in the city, and so at night the roads are full of black shadows following little blue cell phone lights to and from their homes.  Ah, Nepali ingenuity.

In other news: I have ordered my first kurta!!!!  A friend and I went shopping the other day, and stopped by a tailor to get measured for a kurta.  Kurtas are the traditional Nepali dress for women...a long tunic with pants (think Aladdin) and a matching scarf.  I am SO excited to pick it up on Thursday...next outfit: a sari!

My new favorite food: Dahlbaat (Thakali)....the "veg set".  There is a great restaurant near my house that serves incredible vegetable dahlbaat, and includes free refills!  The meal consists of white rice, a green lentil soup, curried vegetables, some spices, and a really hot salsa.  All of this gets mixed together on a big platter :)  YUM.  I also really love the buffalo momos (think wontons but with buffalo, or "buff" inside of it).

Well folks, that's it for now...more adventures and experiences to come!

**After a security debriefing later this week with the Asst. Director of SIL, I'll know more about what I can/cannot say in a newsletter regarding spiritual matters here in Asia.  After that I will begin my first newsletter since my arrival.  Cheers!

drum roll please....I HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!!

Well guys, I am here.  In Kathmandu.  And there are no emoticons or words or smily faces that can accurately depict how I feel!!!!!  For starters, though the flights here were long, I made it safely with very little hassle (both me AND my luggage - quite the accomplisment) and though it was raining, here is a list of my first impressions.

-The people are so kind. Really.  Between my Nepali friends that I met on the flight from Abu Dhabi to KTM (though they are somehow convinced I am from Bangkok??? oops) and the very kind and hilarious immigration officials (since when are those guys friendly and funny?) I am even more excited to get out of the guest house and try interacting with others (especially when language training starts!)

-It's very colorful.  And also extremely dirty!  Funny how those two things always end up together in third world countries.  At first glance I thought KTM looked very similar to many of the Latin American cities I had visited - when I discussed this with my hosts, they said that everyone says KTM looks/sounds/smells like some other third world city they have visited, but after a week everyone concludes: DEFINITELY NO SIMILARITY.   Hmmmm.....

-The women's clothing is beautiful. I can't wait to have the language skills and the guts to walk into a tailor's shop and get some real Nepali clothing made for me.  It will be a great day.

-They have multiplel Kohler stores here! Bizarre....I'm sure I will encounter more bizarre things of this nature as I get out into the city and explore.

-In the mornings (such as 6am) all the neighborhood children are out running around and screaming before school.  If I had done that during my school years I probably would never have graduated thanks to all the classes I would have slept through.

-The men like to sit on the rooftops and shout nonsensical things to one another throughout the day.  Even fleunt Nepali speakers such as my hosts say they can't understand a word.  :)

-The city is surrounded by mountains, but apparently everyone calls them "the hills" (For a girl from MN, this is EXTREMELY challenging to understand.  We would never refer to the Rockies or the Appalachians as the ''hills'').  The actual Himalayas are at the moment hidden by clouds.

-Today Jonathon, the son of the family I am staying with, came running into the kitchen with  ham and cheese that he had just bought at the market, saying "Mommy, we must have toasties (ham and cheese toasted sandwiches) today because the electricity is on!"  Looks like my life is about to revolve around the availability of electricity.

There will be many more to come....thanks for all your prayers and support!
Namaskar/Subha ratri (depending on your time zone, good night or good day!)

Meg

SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

लामो समयसम्म हराउनु भयो नी!
(lamo samaya samma haraunu bhayo ni!-Long time no see!)


I apologize for the long respite from blogging - things have been CRAZY considering I leave on SATURDAY!!!!!!  Quick travel info update: I leave from MSP at 1:45pm, have a six-hour layover in Chi-town, then fly to Abu Dabi for an overnight (a 14 hour flight. jet lag????) On Monday morning I leave at 10am for a four hour quick flight to Kathmandu.  I arrive in KTM at 4:00pm their time.  


So how am I feeling when I realize next week I will be LIVING in Nepal?  Well, I'm kinda freaked out.  Yes, I am super excited and thrilled that it is finally here; I mean come on, I've been waiting since last March!  However, these last months at home have been wonderful: I have loved being with my family and back in their orbit, MN stayed true to form and gave me a fantastic winter hah, and I got to finish out my time home working at my all time favorite coffee shop from high school, Lulu Beans.  Great people, great coffee, great place.  I'm going to miss it.


All this to say, life has been good but "easy", and I'm hoping "little miss independent" will show up soon and give me some nerves for what I am about to do!  When I arrive in KTM I will be staying at guest housing available through the translation agency, so I am taken care of in a sense, but I will need to start language classes, work on finding a permanent apartment, acclimate to culture, and find friends.  Not too bad, huh? ;)


Friends, please pray that God will grant me safe, hassle-free travel (!) and is already preparing strong friendships and community.  I can do anything if I have the support and encouragement of others, even build a whole new life in a foreign country!  How blessed we are to serve an attentive, compassionate, creative, and generous God - I fully trust in His plan and purpose with this new adventure.  If I didn't, I honestly wouldn't be going.  Seriously.  


If you're in the Willmar area tomorrow night, please stop by my home where we will be having a send-off party...I'd love to see all your beautiful faces befor I leave the lovely United States of America!


AND make sure to look for the next post, which will be a summation of my first impressions of my new home :D


Cheers!