Final observations and musings from Nepal

While living in Nepal, I have acquired a plethora of experiences and memories. It has been one of the most exciting times of my life. The dichotomies of the country really caused me to take notice. I've been to villages whose buildings, customs, dress, and general way of life haven't changed in centuries. Yet in these same villages, you will find the goat herders talking on cell phones. The houses are made of straw and mud, doubling as living quarters for livestock, and they lack furniture. Yet occasionally, you will find a satellite dish strapped to the roof of a hut. Quite a few of the houses look as though they've been assembled from random, abandoned items. Yet the people take the time to add beautiful architectural details to the houses. Doors in houses range from a simple hole, or a curtain-covered hole, or an ornately carved door. Windows are openings, sometimes covered with wooden shutters or curtains, sometimes with glass. Some floors are comprised of packed dirt, but most are cement. Some houses have furniture, quite a few don't. Mattresses are three inch thick foam pads on the floor. A lot of things are made of stone, from cooking utensils to tables and floors. At times, I felt like I was in an episode of the Flintstones.

Nepal is a Hindu country. The Hindus believe in reincarnation. Any one of the cows wandering down the street could be one of their relatives. The cows are allowed to go wherever they want. They take naps in the middle of the street, walk in the middle of roads or they walk down the sidewalks. If you strike and kill a cow, you go to jail. When the cows are walking down the road, they essentially form a moving roundabout causing vehicles to swerve around them. From what I've seen, the cows are intermittently worshipped and assaulted. Occasionally, I'd turn a corner and see a woman kneeling with her hands pressed together in front of her face worshipping the cow. Most of the time however, people chase the cows away with sticks and throw rocks at them to get them to move away. Cows are worshipped on one street and assaulted on the next street; they must be thoroughly confused.

The people of Nepal are great stewards of what they have. They use and reuse everything. Clothes are worn until they cannot be patched any longer. It is not unusual to see boys wearing hand me downs that belonged to their sisters, even if the clothes are colored pink. They people have very little, but seem content. I saw very few toys here, an occasional soccer ball, but no dolls or other toys. They keep themselves and their belongings clean. I regularly see merchants sweeping clean the packed dirt in front of their businesses. On the flip side, the people throw their trash everywhere. There is litter strewn across this breathtakingly beautiful country. The rivers, lakes, and streams are filled with litter. Pollution is a huge problem in Nepal.

The poverty I've seen has left me speechless at times. It's hard to believe that people can live in conditions like I've seen. Clean water is hard to get and even in the big cities, few homes have running water. Little girls carry water to their family's home from a central spigot in town. I've seen old women racing each other to pick up manure off of the street to use as cooking fuel. Beggars and street children are everywhere. I wonder how they survive. I was humbled by the people I met in the slums and I was inspired by their attitudes and their faith. My way of seeing things, and seeing people, has changed forever.

Hot water is a luxury in Nepal. The guest house in which I stayed in during November had hot water showers. I must confess that I did break out singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah when I took my first hot shower in four months.

The stores here are open air stores. Open air means that they are basically a 10x16 room, more of a stall than an actual store. No windows, just goods piled on the "sidewalk". At night a garage door is pulled down over the storefront and locked. Restaurants are also open air. Dogs and flies take advantage of the open air concept, but few people seem to mind. One of the modern stores.....one that looks like a store back home...actually has an escalator. Not surprisingly, many people here do not know how to ride it. Watching them try to get on the escalator reminds me of the escalator scene in Elf with Will Ferrell and it is hysterically funny.

For Thanksgiving, some friends decided to make an American thanksgiving meal for the American missionaries here . There are very few ovens in Nepal, so we were expecting the usual veggie meal.  One of the British men built a SOLAR oven and attempted to roast two chickens (turkeys are hard to find in Nepal).  We didn't have enough of the sun that day, so he chopped it up and cooked it on the gas cooktop.  We also had mashed potatoes and gravy.  They googled green bean casserole and pumpkin pies because they had never made these things before. The stores don't carry cans of green beans, pumpkin, cream of mushroom soup, or crisp fried onions, or cranberry sauce.....so they also had to improvise with these ingredients.  They used fresh greens beans, and sauteed onions to go on top of the casserole.  They also used fresh mushrooms and cream to make the casserole.  The pumpkin pie involved getting a fresh pumpkin, roasting it and then mashing it.  I'm not sure how they baked it.  Long story short, it was a valiant effort on their part to help us celebrate one of our beloved holidays!  It was quite delicious and a pretty good imitation of the real thing. I was quite touched by their desire and determination to do this for us. I have met many people from all over the world and am humbled by their kindness and generosity. I only hope that I have left as good an impression on them as they have left on me.

During my time here, I have had many new experiences. I've lived without electricity, hot water, air conditioning in the summer, heat in the winter, television, phones, internet, furniture, cold drinks, shoes, and showers. I've experienced the thrills and terrors of traffic in Nepal where there are no stoplights, stop signs, or clear traffic lanes. The roads were paved at one time, but monsoon rains regularly have created craters and washed away bits of the roads so that very little pavement is left remaining. I've driven over a washed out bridge with only one lane remaining intact. I've been a passenger in cars, taxis, motorbikes, and busses and I've ridden bicycles, walked, and even hitchhiked (sorry, Mom) to get around. I've been stuck in traffic jams and was even passed by a cow once. One two occasions, a cow and some water buffalo have stared me down and refused to let me pass by on my way. I've explored the side streets and alleys, and even visited a slum several times. I've seen incredibly beautiful mountains and lakes, ridden an elephant, had monkeys throw things at me, and stood within ten feet of a rhinoceros who happened to be eating the foilage in someone's front yard. I have tasted every bit of local food that I could find. Dal bhat and aloo chilly were my favorite foods here. Living without heat was the most challenging aspect of my time here in Nepal. The homes here are simple and basic. Even though the weather stays in the 30's and 40's for months, they do not have heating systems, insulation, or fireplaces. We dressed in many layers and wore our coats and hats inside all day and night. I couldn't get warm and I couldn't get rid of this cold. Because of this, it has been a miserable month. During my time in Nepal, I have had great times (meeting people and learning about them) and bad times (sleeping in a 40° bedroom at night and cold showers). I will forever cherish the friends I have made here and look forward to meeting them again sometime.

.........And beyond

After five months, the time has come for me to leave Nepal. I will fondly remember my time spent here. The Nepali people are friendly, happy, and welcoming. They are exceptional stewards of all that they have. As a whole, they are the happiest people I have ever met. I have been humbled by their kindness and generosity. Along the way, I found myself looking at things differently. This can be expected when you find yourself immersed in another culture. Things that wouldn't work at home work well here. No stoplights or stop signs? No problem. Traffic flows and merges smoothly; it is amazing to watch. No electricity? No problem. Without modern day conveniences, there is no use for it. I've learned so much here, especially when it comes to knowing "needs versus wants". If there is shelter, water, and food are available for you, everything else is just icing on the cake. You can live without electricity, hot water, cold drinks, Western toilets, Starbucks, furniture, televisions, and the internet. I now appreciate the "little" things so much more. I am grateful to my family for giving me their blessings and encouragement to go on this mission and I am also overwhelmed by the prayers and support that I have received from my friends. I miss you all and cannot wait to see you again.

 My next assignment is in Albania. I have no idea what challenges are in store for me there, but as always, I relish adventure and will embrace it happily with my arms wide open! Stay tuned....

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Helen Keller

Goodbye November!

This month has flown by for me. At the beginning of the month, my plans were to do a short trek in the mountains and then to do a three week trek towards the end of the month. After I came down with altitude sickness during the first trek, I decided to give up any plans I had for the longer trek. Instead, I headed to the bed and breakfast managed by two of my friends. They had just taken over the B&B two months prior. When asked how I could help them out, they decided they could use some help painting the hotel. The hotel was painted Pepto-Bismal pink throughout. Nobody has been able to explain to me the affinity and affection that the Nepali people have for this color. Pepto-Bismal pink can be found on houses, businesses, buses, clothing, vehicles.....it's simply everywhere and it was on every wall of their hotel. We dubbed the project Operation Pink Eradication.

Buying paint in Nepal is quite different from buying paint in the States. There are two types of paint, distemper and emulsion. Emulsion paint can be washed and scrubbed, distemper cannot. There are no finishes from which to choose. The medium and dark colors are only available in emulsion paint, which costs four times more than distemper paint. It's very expensive. A 40 liter bucket of paint costs about$100USD. Also, there is an additional fee for adding certain colors of tint-such as yellows and reds-and for mixing. It all seemed quite sketchy to me, but Ke Garne? (In Nepal this means "watcha gonna do?)

It has taken us all month, but we are finally finished painting the entire hotel. Throughout the month, various guests have pitched in to help fix up the hotel. One of the guests bought an outdoor table and chairs for the second floor balcony. Another guest helped build a fire pit on the roof. It is so much fun to spend time up on the roof around a bonfire at night. A group of students helped me paint one day. My friends were also able to add four bicycles for the guests to use. Operation Pink Eradication is officially complete. The hotel now has three levels of tastefully painted rooms, hallways, and common areas. In one month, this place has really changed into a cozy B&B.

My time at the B&B has been quite fascinating. The hotel serves mostly missionaries passing through while traveling to their assignments. During my stay, I've had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. By far, the Canadian team with their Ukrainian friend were the most entertaining! I will always remember their incredible sense of humor. They had me laughing so hard during their final breakfast that I couldn't finish eating. Their parting words will stick with me forever. "This is probably the last time we will see you, so, we will see you in heaven, eh?!" I can't wait!