Thailand - The Land Of Smiles

I recently returned from a week in Thailand which was fantastic. I went there for a 2 day (Monday-Tuesday) teacher training conference, but because of the cost of my flights (my school wanted to send us on the cheapest possible flights), I ended up arriving the Friday before the conference and left the Friday after, which meant more time for eating, shopping and hanging out at the beach - AWESOME!

When we arrived, we were in awe of the tall skyscrapers, efficient public transport and how clean the streets were. Everywhere you turned, there was something to buy - food, clothes, souvenirs. It was fun to be in a place so different to Kathmandu, but at the same time, I realised how much more I wanted to buy because it was there, not because I needed it. In the short week I was in Bangkok, I became aware of how easy it is to consume for the sake of consuming.

Although I've returned to a country with no electricity for 14 hours a day, a limited water supply and dirty streets, there's something comforting about the simplicity of life here. I'm sure that KISC is nowhere near as fancy as the schools the other conference participants teach at, but I'm glad to be teaching in a place where earning money isn't why the teachers are there (90% of the staff are missionaries of volunteers) - we're there to love the kids with the love of Christ by providing them with a quality education.

Looking forward to many adventures ahead! :-)

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Has it really been 2 months?

I can't believe time has gone by so fast and I've been so slack in not posting for so long!

So much has happened in the past 2 months that I'd love to tell you about:

CHRISTMAS:

Christmas was spent eating lots of food and enjoying carol services. Being in a Hindu country meant that not that many people celebrated Christmas...it was mainly the Christians and other expats, so the focus was really on the birth of Jesus which was awesome.

CHITWAN

As we had school holidays over Christmas and New Years, some friends and I headed to the terai (the lower plains of Nepal) and spent some time in Chitwan National Park. It was lots of fun - riding elephants, doing a jungle walk and taking a nice canoe ride down a river. We saw lots of cool animals such as rhinos, deer and crocodiles, but unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see a tiger (boo). The highlight for me was when we got to bathe with the elephants. It was fun sitting on the elephant bear back and have it spray water up at us from its trunk.

TEACHING AT KISC

School started a month ago and I've been busy trying to find my feet as I take small groups of students for ESL classes, sit into classes as a teacher's aid, as well as take care of the Grade 9s as their homeroom teacher. I've also been leading the Christian group that meets on Thursdays at lunchtime. I've been enjoying getting to know the students, although handing out detentions and having to discipline them is all pretty new to me. KISC is a really great environment to work and I thank God for the opportunities I've already had to share Jesus with some of these kids.

NEPALI CLASSES

After arriving in Nepal, I did a 3 month Language and Orientation Program run by KISC. After I finished the program and started teaching at KISC, I decided to continue with my language lessons twice a week at a different language school. I only started there 2 weeks ago, and last week was REALLY cool! My language teacher, who's not a Christian, started asking me ALL these questions about the Bible and Jesus. He's been to church a few times before and is VERY open to knowing more about why Jesus came. Please pray that we'll continue to have conversations about Jesus and that God will give me wisdom and the words to say. Pray also that what's communicated will be clear, as his English isn't that great, and my Nepali is definitely not at a very high standard.

This year has started out really well and I'm SUPER excited about all that God's gonna do in and through me during the year.

Looking forward to many adventures ahead! xoxo

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A week with a Nepali family

After 8 weeks of learning Nepali, I thought it was time to put my language skills to the test and so, I spent a week living with a Nepali family.

I arrived after my language class on Monday evening and after some introductions by my language teacher, I was left to fend for myself. I sat with the mum (Manju) as she made Dahl Baht for dinner and asked her about her family and the food she was making. After dinner, we sat around in the living room and talked a bit, getting to know each other.

The family of 4 was made up of Manju, her husband Mahendra and her 2 sons - 1 son was studying in the States, and 1 son was living at home. I sure was glad to have Sanjil (the younger, 17 year old son) around because he could speak some English which was very helpful with translation, as well as some English conversation when Nepali got a bit much.

I remember waking up on the Tuesday morning. I grabbed my towel and headed for the bathroom, only to be met by Manju who started asking me some questions. Having to think in Nepali straight after waking up was a bit hard going but as the week went on, I got more used to it.

I headed to the bathroom and got ready for a shower, only to find that they didn't have any hot water (oh...AND they had a squat toilet...boo). From then on, each morning, Manju would boil a bucket of hot water for me to bathe with (washing my hair with a bucket of water was not an easy task!).

I headed to school for my language class around 10am each day and would return around 5:30pm in the evening. Waiting for me when I got home was a cup of chiya and some biscuits. We would then eat dinner around 8pm at night, sit around and chat after dinner (or watch TV), and then go to bed around 10ish (they kindly put down a mattress in their toasty warm living room for me to sleep on).

On Friday, Manju took me to Pashpati - a cremation site along a river. It was quite interesting watching people being brought in and the different rituals they performed to get them ready to be cremated. After washing their feet and putting water in the mouths, the dead person would be covered with the correct coloured cloth, then brought to the woodpile to be cremated.

When the dead person arrived at Pashpati, they were covered with a blanket. The thing that surprised me the most was that a bunch of homeless kids would hang around, and after the blankets were taken off the person, the kids would run off with them, happy to have something to keep them warm at night (the idea of using a dead person's blanket kinda freaks me out but I guess you use what you can get).

It was an interesting experience and gave me some new insights into Hindu beliefs and the rituals they perform so that their loved ones will be reincarnated as something better.

It was also a good reminder that I don't need to fear death, and that I have assurance that when I die, I will go to be with my awesome God in heaven, not because of anything I've done to deserve it, but all because of God's grace in sending Jesus to die and rise again.

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. Because of his grace, he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. - Titus 3:4 & 7

Looking forward to more adventures ahead!

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Home away from home

I write this from my new apartment which I moved into just a few weeks ago. I feel like it's been a long time coming and I'm so stoked to finally be settling into this new pad.

After a few weeks of looking around at not so great apartments, a little over a month ago this apartment came across my path as a family from school were moving house and were looking for someone to move in. I checked it out and really liked it, but needed some expert advice on whether this really was a good apartment or not. You see, in Nepal, it's not just about whether you like the look of a place. You've gotta take into consideration what the water supply's like (by February, Nepal will be short on water so working out if you'll need to truck in water and who pays for it if/when it happens is a big deal), how safe and secure the area is and how noisy it gets.

After getting the OK from a missionary friend who's been here for 10 years, I set upon writing up a lease agreement. Unfortunately, the landlord's husband was away for work and wouldn't be returning for several weeks so the lease wasn't signed for awhile.

After he returned and an agreement was made, he got the place painted and I started to move in.

In the weeks leading up to my move, I'd started to scout out who was leaving Nepal and who I could buy 2nd hand stuff from as buying things new is very expensive (if only they had IKEA here). I'd managed to track down 5 people and bought most of what I needed from them, including all my furniture (having a couch is the BEST), kitchen stuff, linens and lots of other bits and pieces.

I also had to get gas bottles filled, a water filter installed, the internet connected and work out who to hire as house help (the thought of having someone come to clean your house a few times a week may seem ridiculous, but it gives local women employment, and with washing machines being a rarity, it's definitely handy having somebody come to wash your clothes).

Then, there was the inverter - a backup power source for when the electricity goes out. Before coming to Nepal, I'd never even heard of an inverter, but with electricity cuts for up to 18 hours a day, having a source of power is a must. After trying to work out exactly what an inverter is and asking around for where I could get one installed for a good price, I decided on the help of a missionary guy who installs inverters as a 'Business As Mission' venture.

So, as I sit here on my comfy couch with christmas lights flashing around me, I'm so excited to be in an apartment that I love and that I can now call 'home'.

Looking forward to many more adventures (hopefully not to do with house disasters!) ahead!

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