Random Observations from Chitwan

           

We have been a little behind on our blogs. Please forgive us! When we get back every night all we want to do is shower and get in the bed. As I write this we are in Chitwan. Since our last blog we officially moved the Awana Nepal Office to the Hope Center, conducted two kids camps between Pokhara and Kathmandu, rode an elephant, and took an elephant bath.

There’s so much to catch up on, so I will just try to keep it short. Here are a few observations I have made:

Number One: It is hot. Extremely hot. In fact, our room in Chitwan didn’t have working air, and it was possibly 100 degrees last night not long before we went to bed. Our kids camps were hot, and we were gulping water to try to keep cool. Parker and myself had heat rash, but were relieved when the bottom fell out and a cool, monsoon-like rain shower blessed us on our elephant safari. Our cameras got wet, and we were soaked, but I thank God for sending us something to cool our bodies down and leave us stinky but feeling refreshed.

Number Two: When you drink a lot of water, you have to pee. When you have to pee at kids camp, you have to use a squatty potty. I went around back at our first camp, and there were so many kids in line I decided to wait. I came back not long after and the lines were almost completely gone! I had no idea how it got small so fast! Then I saw 5 or 6 boys pile out of one bathroom at one time, and 7 or 8 girls pile out of the other. I guess people like to go to the bathroom in pairs in every country.

Number Three: Nepal has “toilets” not “restrooms”.  Gajendra actually explained this to me. In fact, when it was finally my turn in line, a little boy looked at me and said, “Miss, you have to use toilet?” I said, “Yes, I do!” He said, “Ohhhh, Miss it very stinky.” Hmmm, that can’t possibly be a good sign when the local kids talk about how stinky it is.  I asked if I should hold my nose. He grabbed his nose and said, “Yes, hold nose tight!” Indeed, I did not rest in there. I worked hard for that potty break.

Number Four: No picture could grasp the beauty of Nepal. Whether it be the natural beauty, or the beauty of the people. As we looked at the Himalayas from Pokhara, we all wanted to a picture so we could show everyone back home and gloat over the fact that we saw the mountains. However, we could not get a picture to truly capture what we were seeing. The same is true with our camps, and the other cultural aspects of Nepal. We cannot possibly take a picture and let that tell a story. However, we must soak it all in and write it on our hearts.

Number Five: When it’s hot in the car, you roll the windows down. When you roll the windows down, you get black boogers, filthy clothes/faces, and dirty contacts. Enough said.

While we have been in Nepal I have been keeping track of a “thankful” list. I pull out my phone and type things in as I think of them. The first thing that comes to mind as I write this blog is air conditioning. The power just went out while I am typing (in a “resort” that claims to have all AC rooms and 24 hour electricity), and the room immediately became a sauna. As we rode up to our camp yesterday, two of the missionaries that we have been working with met us there and were staying two more days to conduct an Awana training. We had just been thinking about how our room in Pokhara didn’t have warm water, and how there were ants in the bathroom, etc. Then we asked Babu how they their night was and he said, “It was terrible.” He said their room had no air. I asked if rooms in the area had air, and he said,” Yes, but too expensive.” I suddenly felt thankful for the room I had, and wanted to buy them a room with air for the rest of their lives.

So here we are in Chitwan with power running on a generator that finally kicked in, but no AC.  We are about to eat lunch, and head back to Kathmandu. The ride is long (about 5 hours), and the roads are rough. But we are thankful for the time we had with the kids up this way, and thankful for what God has shown us through the people, nature, and by just thinking about how blessed we truly are.