"smile"

Some photos I took earlier this month. This is what I got when I asked Anusha to smile...

"Show your teeth..."

And this I just thought was beautiful...plus she looks a little swami-ish with her hat.

Xmas Tree Hunting

We found it at the store just down from our house...a Charlie-Brownish fake one that will do the trick for the years to come. And yes, this is how we brought it home!

But I recognized her!

Carrie's boyfriend found this online to confirm that, yes, it was Cher that I saw at Bhat Bhateni in Kathmandu, Nepal last Friday (November 28). Crazy. My sister and her family thought I should have let Anusha wander over near her and said (or I would have sang), "Hey Anusha, 'I've got you babe!'"

----------------------------------
December 2, 2008 --
We hear . . .
THAT Cher has been in Nepal - one of the few places on Earth where she isn't recognized - working with orphans . . . http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022008/gossip/pagesix/we_hear_______141741.htm

It was Cher

I was standing in the check out line yesterday at Bhat Bhateni, one of the supermarket/department stores and was waiting for this group of Americans who had 3 cart loads of toys (for an orphanage or something was my guess). As they were getting ready to leave, I saw this lady in black pants and a black shirt, with long straight black hair and sunglasses. She had obviously had plastic surgery and her hands looked arthritic and I swear (or should I say, I confirm) that it was Cher -- as in Sonny and Cher!

I asked the employee standing next to me if she knew Cher . . . "know Cher?" she said. "The American movie star, Cher." (Yeah, I realized later she's singer, not movie star, oh well.) "I think that is an American movie star!" We chuckled -- I needed to share my potential encounter with someone! I tried googling to see if she is connected with an orphanage in Nepal, but came up with nothing. Anyways, that is what I'm dwelling with this weekend, that I think I saw Cher in Nepal! I didn't want to be a dork and go ask her, but now I think I just should have. Next time . . .

Funky, Hairy, Cool

Anusha went to her first birthday party (besides her own), last weekend.

We all had fun wearing funky costumes and masks. Especially this one!

Flower Girl for Hire

Employment wanted: 19 month old seeking gigs as a flower girl.

Raw, untrained talent, able to gracefully walk down the aisle . . .

Sweetly look at her flowers . . .

And throw!

She promises to patiently endure being cleaned up for the occasion. And she LOVES wearing fancy dresses (particularly ones given to her from her Nani.) Will most probably ditch a hat, but will be happy to dance around in cute little shoes.

Technical difficulty

Dear Friends and Fam,

Last night I spent almost 2 hours posting pics and captions onto the blog. Everything was A-okay until I wrote and posted a 5 paragraph commentary. After that, the pictures were showing up as you see them now -- nada! I have no idea what to do, have checked the blogger website (there is no way to contact a rep directly, if anyone knows how, let me know). There are reports of this exact thing happening to others but I can't find a solution besides blog techy's helping out. So, working on the problem without much desire to spend it doing this. Sorry, and hope the pics appear soon. Sorry for the disappointment

Hide and Seek

Anusha was out playing around this planter/puja one day with Laxmi and Lucky, Anuraj's parents house/farm helpers. Here are some snaps of their fun.

Anusha getting tika to "bless" us with (this is usually done after puja/worship/prayers . . . you take the droppings from the incense or some powder dye and put it on other's forheads. This is her favorite part of puja (I get a tika from her every morning after she and Anuraj do puja). Anyways, so she was all about getting the grime out of here and putting it on people's forheads.

Anusha examining the sugarcane growing near the planter/puja. Lucky looking on trying to figure out what in the world she's looking at!

Anusha's hat enough

One afternoon, it was so blasted hot so I insisted that Anusha wear her hat.

She did for a little bit. But then . . .
She had hat enough (it is getting really late in the night here, can you tell??)

Saag

Anusha wandering in the saag (any greens that are fried and eaten. In this case it was mustard greens). She mastered the slopes -- inclines and declines, while she was in Biratnagar.
Anusha helped Laxmi and her mom pick saag.

Enough with the shoes! When in Nepal...

The fruit of Anusha's labor

Anusha woke up from a nap one day, looked out the window and saw these "balls" on the tree outside. She signed and said ball for about 10 minutes. We finally told Anuraj's dad and he went and asked a neighbor if we could have one from his tree.

Anusha with her "ball."

Anuraj divvying up the fruit . . . Lucky and Laxmi (kids of his parents house/farm help) in the background. The fruit has a really thick spongy peel and tastes like grapefuit -- only bigger and not quite as juicy. We enjoyed it!

Dressing up is fun to do (Oct 08)

Anusha's new fetish is dressing up. She loves taking her shirts, bloomers, pants, you name it.

They usually end up on her head or legs! And occasionally she gets is right!

And this is what happens when papa is left alone to help dress her!

Bangles and Persistence (Oct 08)

Anusha trying to get her arm/wrist bangles on her feet. (Her wealth of bangles are from her "Dadi" . . . aka Grandma Jha)

She worked for more than 5 minutes...

She had the same expression on her face the entire time . . . .

Until she finally was finished!

Series of Faces in Biratnagar

I managed to capture this fabulous expression ... Her face was right in front of the fan. For the life of me I can't remember what prompted it. A flowered mosquito net is behind her -- it kept us semi protected while in hot, mosquito-ey Biratnagar.

Hmm, what should I do next??

Open wide and...

Show my teeth! All 6 of them!

More pics from Biratnagar, Nepal (Oct 08)

Anuraj and Anusha walking home after a visit to a temple. Anuraj is wearing tradition men's "kurta" (shirt) and pants.

Anusha and Jill sporting our henna stamps. I saw a man doing them on the street for a mere 30 rupees (50 cents). It sure beats the typical 1-2 hour long henna process!

A few pics from Desserah/Dushain in Biratnagar, Nepal (Oct 08)

Desserah (aka Dushain) in Biratnagar. From left: Anuraj, Anusha, Jill,

Anuraj's mom, his mom's relative and Rakha (mom's househelp)

Anuraj and Anusha at one of the temporary facades that are put up during this time. It actually reminded me of a Christmas nativity -- it basically illustrates the story of Desserah.

Anusha with stray puppies. We saw these on the side of the road, petted them, received stares and comments from local passerby's and eventually took one home. Only to find massive bugs in it's ears, feet, etc. We fed it, and returned it to it's siblings (with milk and rice for them too). Anusha LOVED them and cried when we left them. How does a 1 year old know how to carry a puppy?

Random pics from September

Anusha and papa witnessing some crazy Nepali's dancing to American remixed music.
It was music to my ears. Anusha had some cool moves on top of his shoulders too.

Anusha and papa on the "scootie." Yes, he drove with her like this to the grocery.
She quite likes it and I'm glad there aren't any laws here banning such things.
In fact, the unspoken law seems to be "the more the merrier!"

Biratnagar

Anusha and I have spent the past 3 weeks in Biratnagar at Anuraj's parents home. Anuraj was here with us the first week, we were on our own the second week, and this week and next week we're all here together. Tomorrow we head to Ilam, famous for it's tea, for a 3 day mini-holiday. We'll return in time to finish cleaning the house for Diwali, which is next Tuesday. Speaking of house cleaning, we've been tearing this place apart. I'm the "cleaning consultant" -- and with the help of my partner, Raj, we've been making sure this entire place is cleaned from top to bottom. (Anuraj and his parents have been building a house...they've been so busy building that they've neglected to clean.) Since this is my forte, I've been enjoying doing it and seeing other people do it too. Anuraj and I worked on the car yesterday and today to get ready for our trip.

Anusha is thoroughly enjoying her time here -- playing with Laxmi and Lucky -- the 4 and 2 year old children of the couple who live here and help out Anuraj's parents. They play out in the yard, pester the cows and goat, and play in buckets of water. Anusha and Laxmi get along great, Lucky on the other hand has become the source of her bullying. I didn't know she had it in her. But we're seeing the best and worst of her social interactions!!

So, pictures to be posted when we return to Kathmandu in a week and a half. Until then, Happy Diwali (or Dipawali as they say here in Nepal).

2nd set of photos

Here is the link to a 2nd set of photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/JillLandisJha/AnushaSept08?authkey=7pTBQA82spQ#

Anusha, Anuraj's dad and I will travel to Biratnagar tomorrow for Dessera (or Dushain). We'll be there for 1 week and are trying to secure tickets to come back for a week before going back there for Diwali for 2 weeks. This will be our first Dessera and Diwali in Nepal, and Anuraj's first time celebrating after 3 years of being in the U.S. He is especially excited.

I lied...

We're not leaving tomorrow, which means I have time to finish some updates! So, what I know my mom has been waiting for . . . pictures. I have two batches. This is the first.

http://picasaweb.google.com/JillLandisJha/AnushaAugSept08Ktm?authkey=kuAJa4u56KA#

Enjoy!!

Leaving for the holidays

Here's a little photo of Anusha looking quite scholarly.

I'm finally back in touch with the virtual world. You'll find a few long posts from earlier (August). I'm working at catching up by posting what I've been writing the past 2 months.

It only took Anuraj 8 hours yesterday and 5 weeks total (working on and off with the telecom company, computer store, etc) to get this thing hooked up. Oh how I miss the convenience of the US. I would gladly pay someone else $60 or $100 to hook up internet within a few days of requesting it!!!

Anusha and I will be traveling to Biratnagar tomorrow (Anuraj's parents home) for Desserah which is next week. We'll be back the middle week of October then will head back there for Diwali. These are 2 of the most major holidays here - comparable to Christmas and Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what the internet connection will be like there but I'll try to post some things and photos as much as possible. It takes about 5 minutes to post one picture - but at least I can post them!!

Anusha is calling "maam" -- little stinker was supposed to sleep longer!!!

Cousin Kirsten Came (August 25 – September 13, 2008)

One of the reasons I hadn’t written for 3 weeks (besides no internet) was that I was actually busy! My cousin Kirsten (my mom and her dad are brother/sister) came to visit. Kirsten grew up in Phoenix and has been living in San Jose, CA the past 6 years. We hardly saw each other growing up (except the pictures her parents sent us) and a few years ago we spent one or two weeks hanging out in Goshen, IN and Grand Marais, MI together. Short version of how she ended up in Nepal: she had 3 weeks of vacation and wanted to go somewhere far. New Zealand didn’t work out so she called me! She arrived just a few weeks after I returned to Nepal and just a few days after we moved into our new house.

Some of the highlights of having cousin Kirsten come:

Gerber’s Freeze Dried Apples
(for Anusha . . . this is what made Kirsten Anusha’s friend. And true to our word, Anusha polished her two bags off just as Kirsten was at the airport ready to go back to CA)

Stories
Kirsten hung out with us most of the time, but took a few day trips. It was fun to hear stories and see video of her taking a bath with an elephant in Chitwan (National Forest and Game Park), watch the “sunrise” and hang out with a holy man in Nagarkot (an hour outside of Katmandu in the peaceful hills with great views of the mountains), and remove leaches from random German and Japanese friends that she met in Pokhara.

Wandering Around Katmandu Together
Kirsten is the reason I can now say that I appreciate this city. Kirsten, Anusha and I spent a considerable amount of time wandering around Katmandu.

Teej: One of the major women’s festival here – all married women (and would be married women) get decked out in red sari’s and have the day off work (their children get the day off school too. And how is that a holiday for the women?? Go figure!) We decided to go to Pashupati Temple – one of the most revered temples in Nepal, not realizing that there would be thousands upon thousands of women standing in line to get into the temple. We spent out time seeing if we could find 2 saris that were exactly alike and sang “Woman in Red.”

Monkey Attacks: We headed to Swayambouh one day – a revered Buddhist temple area. We stopped first at the site of the three golden Bouddha’s where we admired the statues and stupas. While there, we witnessed a monkey “attack” a man – it was a light attack, more like a gentle assault. I actually got it on film (which I didn’t realize until days later). Half and hour later, we were heading through the woods to Swayambouh, eating some some slices of coconut we had just bought, when a monkey jumped out in front of Kirsten. Stunned, we quickly realized it wanted her coconut. “Give him your food!” I hollered. She clipped off a little piece and threw it 10 feet away. A bit perplexed, it pounced off in search of the treat. I hid my coconut in Anusha’s carrier and we kept walking only to have another monkey jump from a tree right in front of Kirsten. She broke another piece off and threw it. “Hide your coconut!” I begged. We booked it, looking back and laughing at our funny fortune and scanning the trees for any other potential coconut stalkers.

Shopping: What more can I say except that we did a lot of it. It’s quite fun to shop with someone who is buying things to take back home and sure beats plain old window shopping. Now I know some good shopping places around the city.

Discoveries: So many little discoveries we made . . .

- “Lazy Gringo – Arizona Style Mexican Food” Restaurant. Anuraj and I went after we dropped off Kirsten at the airport and met an American couple with a girl Anusha’s age.

- The American Embassy is only a 20 minute walk from our house (now if only I could come up with excuses to go sit in their waiting room and use their bathrooms, talk about a trip back to America!) Standard Chartered ATM (Anuraj’s bank) and a little café with a view – across the street from the American Embassy

- Tibetan Refugee “Camp” – where they make the famous and beautiful Tibetan rugs

- Patan Museum & Café -- This is on my list of things to do some week when Anusha and I need to do something. We ate at the café but didn’t have time for the museum but I hear that it is really good.

- Temples : We saw quite a few though we actually went to more Buddhist temples.

- Taking Public Transport : I wouldn’t have had the nerve to try this by myself. But with Kirsten and Anusha, everything became an adventure. Now I feel much more confident finding my way on the buses and vans here.

- Hanging out at the House : When we weren’t wandering around the city, we were hanging out at the house. Kirsten helped me figure out a fabulous arrangement for our furnished pad. She also didn’t mind watching Anusha when I was doing other things or running up to the store with or for me. It was fun to welcome her back from her little jaunts outside of the city and sit on the front porch and here her stories. Anusha was also super excited whenever she would come back and even gave her some great squeals of excitement upon her returns.

Our New Digs (August 21, 2008)

Well, we finally settled on a place to live. It’s a very nice and spacious apartment, freshly painted (windows and security bars included). This means it feels clean! The landlords both speak proficient English, actually lived in Canada for a while and have relatives in the U.S. too. They are an older couple, probably in their 60’s (sorry all you 60 year olds out there!).

As for the place: 2 bedrooms (master bedroom has changing room and attached bath), 2 bathrooms total, living room, dining room, large kitchen with tons of cupboard space and shelves, and some bonus space in the dining room area. It’s furnished, which we were wanting. We might have too many chairs at this place! It comes with a huge (king size?) bed and 2 night stands plus a little changing table and armoire in the master bedroom. The 2nd bedroom has a bed and desk. We have a dining table with 6 chairs, and the living room has 4 whicker chairs (like the ones we got in Nepalgunj), a large whicker table and a whicker chase that we will use as a sofa. The apartment even has curtains and a sewing machine!!! It is so nice to have a place that is move-in ready – in nearly every sense (i.e. furniture, cleanliness, etc.). It has lots of windows and is supposed to get good light. In the front is a garden (little grass yard, about 8x12?), a large paved area, and a little place that we hope to put a sandbox in for Anusha. There is also a small temple, which I haven’t seen anywhere else. There is a back patio area for hanging laundry. We’ll make the move on Saturday, August 23. Oh, the best part is that Anuraj is trying to line up a high speed internet, which means I’ll be able to post updates – and pictures – on a regular basis. Cross your fingers!

For those of you who are curious, the apartment is in Bansbari, outside of Ring Road, the major road that circles Katmandu. It is close to Maharajgunj – a prominent section of Katmandu, which is due north (and a little west) of center city. We are around the corner from Thailand Embassy and are just a 10-15 minute walk from the US Embassy. (Look up Bansbari, Nepal on Google Earth and you'll find us!). It’s a pretty quiet area. And Anuraj claims it is one of the nicer and safer areas in Katmandu. We’ll spend some time exploring the neighborhood this weekend and next week. The only downfall is that it is far from Anuraj’s work: at least a 20-30 minute drive.

Wasting Time in KTM (Aug 21 '08)

Anusha is napping and I realized that now would be a good time for updates! We’ve been here in Katmandu for 3 weeks now and it’s been about 3 weeks too long. Only because we have been without a place of our own. I think once we move into our new apartment (see blog below for update on that), things will look a little brighter. Anusha is adjusting, she is quite adaptable. But I will be ready to get into a schedule and situation more suitable to us (i.e. eating dinner at 6pm rather than 9 or 10pm, having a wider variety of food choices for Anusha, having free reign of an entire apartment). Further, Katmandu is mostly cloudy with a little bit of sunlight. Not the sunny Nepalgunj that made my spirits soar. So will take some getting used to.

My days have been spent at Anuraj’s sisters place wandering around outside, taking morning walks, putting Anusha down for a morning nap, maybe taking a nap with her, lunch, more wandering around, reading books, afternoon nap for Anusha (and sometimes me), wandering around some more until Anuraj relieves us with his familiar face and much needed company. I thought I was more creative than this, but frankly, it’s been boring. So as not to depress myself or you too much, I will share with you …

The highlights of the past two weeks:
Staying at Anuraj’s older sisters house – a quiet and green neighborhood where you hear birds and crickets chirping at night rather than incessant barking

Watching a baby chimpanzee at the Katmandu Zoo – the most hilarious part was when the mom chimp, out of the blue, tears the baby chimp down from the rope that it’s been swinging on. The baby chimp tries to bite its mom, and then gets back on the rope. A few more tries by mom, a few more protests by baby, and baby is eventually swinging around again, next to a disgruntled mom. While I couldn’t understand the logic behind the mom chimp suddenly stopping the baby from its harmless play (except maybe she was annoyed??) I could appreciate that baby chimps and baby humans alike will bite and protest and insist on their own thing if they feel that what they are being asked/told to do is unreasonable. (Anusha, the reptilian part of your brain works just fine!)

Going to Fire and Ice: a restaurant in Thamel, the touristy section of the city. REAL, and I mean REAL Italian pizza! Oh my, I didn’t know it existed in this country. It made me so happy. Anusha was delighted because she got a bowl of REAL ice cream!!! I think we might need to make weekly trips to that place! What made it extra special was the fact that I hadn’t had “American” food in about 2 weeks.

Buying (and eating) cheese and bread from Herman’s German bakery. It caters to the foreigners and is so delicious. You don’t appreciate delicious bread and real cheese until the only thing you have is airy, stale bread and processed cheese. And while we’re on food: I had a really delicious donut – it was a plain cake donut cut in half, slathered with cream and put together like a sandwich. Heavenly. The double bonus was that we bought it off the street and I didn’t get sick. (Anuraj said it was from the oldest bakery in the city.)

Claudia: Anuraj’s former colleague from Nepalgunj. Anusha and I took the taxi to meet Claudia and spent the evening and night with her. Besides the fact that she and her boyfriend have the coolest flat in Katmandu, it was nice to see a familiar face and hear her lovely Italian accent.


And, what we’re looking forward to:
Friday Night (August 22): Dinner at Walton and Ruth McClaslin, MCC (outgoing) country reps for Nepal. The new MCC program coordinators (MCC has a new system so Nepal will have program coordinators instead of country reps) and a SALTer arrived last week and have orientation. Anuraj is going to share about Nepal’s political situation and have general discussion about the “New Nepal”. I’m just pumped to go to someone’s house, meet Walton and Ruth again and meet these new MCCers (potential friends? Let’s hope.).

Saturday (Aug 23): Moving into our new apartment. Finally!!!

Monday (August 25): Kirsten, my cousin from Phoenix, AZ/California, is coming to visit us for 3 weeks! She had vacation time and wanted to go somewhere far. We haven’t seen each other in years, but I am so grateful she invited herself to Nepal to see us. She will give me a good excuse to explore the city and an excuse for us to get out of Katmandu at least one weekend to show her some other parts of Nepal. Yeah, Kirsten!

So that’s it for now. Lord willing we will have internet which will make contact via email and blogs (and even facebook?) easier. I’m hoping it will even be able to handle Skype. Until then, please email me. Anecdotes to make me laugh are most welcome. Ramblings about your life are equally appreciated!

3 Weeks and Counting

This is just a quick update. I already typed up a few posts but don't have them with me to post. I'm with Anuraj at his work right now and have a few minutes to check email and put on a quick post. We got an apartment and I've spent most of the weekend trying to get settled in there. (Next post will tell more about the new place). I'm just relieved to have found a nice, spacious place. Anusha loves being able to roam around and it's easy for her to wander there (and me to lose site of her, yikes). My cousin is coming from California tomorrow to visit us for about 3 weeks. I'm excited -- gives me an excuse to explore Katmandu. We had dinner with the Nepal MCC team on Friday. Anuraj talked about Nepal politics to the newcomers and I got a chance to visit. Anusha, my cousin and I will meet up with a few of them this next week since we'll be just across the street from them (Anuraj has some meetings on that side of the city). Anuraj is working on getting us high speed internet -- cross your fingers!

Anusha got her weekly treat of ice cream (very good stuff, I might add, though nothing compared to Klines, DQ or that other custard place in Goshen). Still, she loved it and I didn't mind catching the drips.

That's it for now. We have a landline that works fairly well for phone calls and if we get internet, we should be able to Skype as well. Let me know if you want our info for those modes of communication.

Missing home (and am confused about where home is!!) . . . missing familiar faces . . . missing great conversation. I relish stories from home, so feel free to email me anytime!

1st Week in Kathmandu

I’m writing from Anuraj’s oldest sister’s house in Kathmandu. We had been staying with his youngest sister and her family since Monday, and are spreading our love and clothes at his other sister’s house now. I arrived in Kathmandu late last Thursday night (July 31) – the trip was mostly uneventful but exhausting.

On Friday, Anuraj took Anusha and me to Nagarkot, a mountain town about an hour outside of Kathmandu. This was a breath of fresh air for us – literally! The drive itself was beautiful and green, winding up the mountain. We stayed in the nicest hotel in the town, perched on top of a grand hill. You could actually see the Himalaya’s from our room. It was clean cool air, foggy and rainy at times, sunny and warm other times. Anusha enjoyed the fish (in tanks and the ceramic pond), the ceramic animals / plant holders, the pool and the music that trickled down from the gift shop in the morning, the music from our Nepali “jazz” musicians during dinner, and the music that blared from the bar on Saturday night. It was hard to leave, knowing we would be returning to Kathmandu, city of traffic and pollution.

And being in Kathmandu just makes me miss Nepalgunj. The (mostly) quietness and simplicity of that city and the people, the familiarity, our little place and our cook. The adjustment is difficult.

Anuraj took this week off from work, which has been good. Anusha is now used to him and even let him put her down for a nap the other day! We are desperately searching for a place to live. Well, mostly Anuraj is doing the searching and I’m being desperate (though I am petitioning the few people I know here). I’m ready to find our own place – an oasis from the city. Let’s hope something comes up sooner rather than later.

Anusha is very much enjoying her cousins – and all the cool toys at their respective houses. She is also being a trouper as we hike around the city and take public transportation.

A highlight in the week since our return from Nagarkot was our outing yesterday – Anuraj met his friend and former supervisor of his UNMIN unit at Garden of Dreams, a beautiful green garden with fountains, benches and lots of grass and trees. Anusha and I wandered around and intermittently visited with Anuraj and Eddie. Then we treated Anusha to some ice cream (which she had been asking for in sign language since the morning) at a coffee shop (“Java” it reminds me of a US city coffee shop). We wandered around a bit and found some delicious donuts stuffed with cream – oh so good, and I didn’t even get sick! We dodged rain for the second day and ended up investing in a big family size umbrella.

So, that’s life in these parts. I am eager to hear from you, my friends and family. Keep me posted by email or “comments” on the blog.

Leaving Nepalgunj for the Big Kahuna

Jill & Anusha on the train to Philadelphia (May 30 '08)

I thought a little update would be in order. I haven't been maximizing my Internet access since I've been here hence the recent post and photos! Hope you enjoy them and I'll try to post some more.

Anusha and I are in Goshen, IN where we've been enjoying time with family. We will leave the US to head back to Nepal on July 30. To say that Anuraj is ready for us to come back is an understatement. I can only imagine -- he's been in Nepalgunj by his lonely self for a month and a half while Anusha and I have been gallivanting around Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia! Actually, I'm ready to go back to. While I have loved every minute of being here, I do miss my new home. So, that's good!

The new news: Anuraj got transferred to Kathmandu. To make a long story short, his job was on the verge of being eliminated (actually, almost everyone else that he works with no longer works with UNMIN) because of UNMIN's mandate. Just the other week he received an official invitation to stay with UNMIN's Child Protection Unit. It will be him and one other person (down from a 15-ish person unit). The other units have also been substantially minimized and everyone is now located in Kathmandu. This is actually a relief for all of us. For obvious reasons -- like not having to worry about finding a new job. Further more, it seems that his work UNMIN will take on a new challenge -- which is fantastic. He (in my humble opinion) had been doing great work, but was definitely ready for a challenge and I think this new position and structure will offer that. He'll continue to be out in the "field," will do more to coordinate with other INGO's, and will be working at the policy level as well, which is a huge thing. Anyways, we're excited about his job and are grateful for the smooth transition.

This means we're leaving Nepalgunj. Actually, Anuraj already packed up all our stuff and had it shipped to Kathmandu. He's in the process of scoping places out for us to live. For all of you buddies who offer prayers up for us this is one . . . new housing, new neighborhood, new friends, the transition for all of us. I absolutely loved Nepalgunj. I absolutely hate the pollution, traffic, and overwhelming-ness of Kathmandu. The benefits, however, are the fact that we will be near to his two sisters, which means trustworthy childcare for Anusha. People are always coming through Katmandu, which means increased social traffic and connections for me (yahoo). I need to do my practicum to complete my masters degree, so I will be looking for opportunities to do that. But my first priority will be language study. As soon as I get back to Kathmandu (locals call is KTM, I like to call it K'town) I'm going to find me a language tutor or class or something to get my chops speaking Nepali. If I'm not careful, Anusha will be fluent before I can utter a full sentence. I'm also hoping to find some sort of fellowship group or at least get to the Catholic, English services occasionally. So, while my body and senses cringe at the thought of KTM, my spirit is hopeful that the peacefulness that I experienced in Nepalgunj -- thanks to the fabulous sun, the trees, the gardens, the animals, the people -- will transcend Katmandu's dirty streets and air. This also means we might have better access (i.e. faster internet, dependable mail, etc.). I'll keep you posted (no pun intended) on that.

So, for all you peeps out there who are still reading this, keep us in your prayers -- as Anusha and I travel back (she is walking now, which she wasn't doing when we came here in May!), as Anuraj and I look for apartments and neighborhoods to move to, as Anusha and I make the transition back to life in Nepal, and now life in the big city. I just hope that God can be as good to me in Katmandu as God was in Nepalgunj!

The Buddha Factor

When I first heard that they had hired a “boy,” to help with the housework, I thought they were confusing “boy” with “girl.” “No,” my husband clarified, “it’s a fourteen year old boy.” “Aren’t there child labor laws here?” I asked, almost irately. Why in the world did they hire a fourteen year old boy and are you sure he’s fourteen? What if he’s younger?” “They found him at one of the mines, he was working there. And the law in Nepal says that a child can begin working at the age of thirteen.” My husband was in somewhat of a predicament, being a “Child Protection” worker for the United Nations Mission in Nepal.

I went to their house, soon after we heard the news. He was indeed a boy, and I wasn’t convinced that he was fourteen. Maybe twelve. But he worked his butt off, and always with a smile. He actually seemed to enjoy his role, taking care of this household. Picking up after everyone, putting things away and keeping the house in order. The woman of the house kept him busy with cleaning and cutting up vegetables. She was going to teach him how to cook and he had already learned how to make roti. He was learning to make good chai. And in the mornings, he would clean off Deepak-ji’s car with a rag, taking off all the dust that had accumulated the previous day and night.

Often, he would complain to her that he didn’t have enough to do, and started finding work for himself like scrubbing down doors. Buddha would come with us out shopping, to carry the bags for us. Shilpi would send him out to the market on his own, to pick up things here and there for her.

The first time I saw him eat, I cried. I was sitting at the table and saw Shilpi give him a plate of rice with lentils. He squatted in the corner of the kitchen and gobbled it down. The second time I saw him eat in the corner of the kitchen, my husband, the child protection advisor, was with me at the table.

“Look behind you,” I told him. “When I first saw him do that, I cried.” And I cried again. “Can’t he at least eat at the table?” “I asked him,” my husband told me. “But he said no.” “Is that because Shilpi told him to eat in the kitchen?” I inquired. “I think he just prefers it there,” my husband defended. “Maybe,” I said, “or maybe he thinks that he deserves to be there, as if he doesn’t deserve to eat at the table?” Maybe I was reading too much into it, or maybe not.” “What’s hard,” I continued, “is the fact that he is treated well here. I would be afraid for them to fire him and send him out, who knows where he would end up or who would be his employer, or what they would do to him. Maybe he’s better off here?”

I stayed for a month at their house, and became more and more convinced that Buddha was at the right place. Shilpi would often send him outside to play cricket with her 7 and 3½ year old boys. Sometimes, when there wasn’t anything to do, Buddha would play Parcheesi (a floor board game) or watch some tv. As far as the life of fourteen year old houseboy is concerned, he was doing well. He worked hard, he did it with a smile, and he got to be a boy and a part of a healthy family.

My predicament is lessening, my conundrum waning. I don’t cry when I see him eating in the corner, I’ve gotten used to it – or maybe I just don’t see it anymore. I try to see that he is included in things. Tonight, they invited him along to go out to eat to celebrate the seven year old’s birthday. And that was enough to make all of us smile.

Coming to Harrisonburg

Just wanted to let folks know that I'll be in Harrisonburg June 24 - July 1. I've already contacted a few people about getting together, but if I haven't and you want to, email me. I'll go to Park View Mennonite Church on Sunday (June 29).

Looking forward to seeing people!

I'm in the US

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm in the United States of America. I arrived Monday, May 26, Memorial Day. Anusha and I had a long but luckily uneventful and comfortable flight(s) to JFK airport where my sister picked us up. We spent the last week of May in Lansdale, PA at my friends home, where we recouped, went for walks and I even got a pedicure! On Thursday of that week, my mom drove out and hung out with Anusha and I as we took in festivities for another friends wedding, just outside of Philadelphia. Monday, June 2, we drove back with my mom to Goshen, where we spent the week trying to be helpful in preparation for a family reunion. This past week, Anusha and I, along with her grandmother Landis, aunt Carrie, Aunt Julie, uncle Marc and cousin Adria, were enjoying the cool, crisp weather of Grand Marais, Michigan. We just arrived back in Goshen where we'll be for the next week. This weekend is the Melvin and Esther Landis family reunion at our house.

I'll be in Harrisonburg the last week of June -- I'm hoping to get there around the 25th and will be there for 6 days.

I will be posting pictures and some more writings soon.

I hope to see folks in Harrisonburg. Be sure to email me and let me know when you'll be around!

And that cost how much?

I had been without internet since I got back to Nepalgunj because my cell phone was acting up. Then we got it fixed and our extension cord/converter was on the brink for a few days and we had to get that fixed. The good thing about this place is that you can pretty much get anything fixed. Example #1) Extension cords (which is also a converter meaning Nepali, European or American plugs can fit) – our iron blew both of them out and in “normal” circumstances, meaning “in the US,” I would have chucked them and bought a new one (albeit grudgingly). But not in Nepal! We took it to the place that we bought it and the guy proceeded to open it up, quickly repair a wire and add another 3 meters so it’s a nice long cord rather than only a foot!

Example #2) Cell phone: this seriously needs to be ditched, in all practical and annoying senses, but it costs a lot to buy a new cell phone. So, despite the fact that the card with all the information keeps on getting loose, the plug hole almost came out, and the phone itself is almost coming apart, 2 different cell phone places and Anuraj have attempted to fix this thing. Super glue to the rescue! Yes, super glue. And it's doing a decent job!

Other examples: my broken band from my wrist watch has been super glued 2 different times (we love superglue); my Birkenstocks are waiting patiently to be taken to one of the many random shoe repair guys (haven’t seen any ladies); the plumber came in and drilled 2 holes in our bathroom wall so we could get a water pipe in and out for our washing machine. Tailors of course can make or fix anything. And all of this costs? Usually less than $2.

Talk about cost; let’s go to the vegetable stand, where I go occasionally, but where our cook most often frequents. She brings back her receipts, meticulously showing me what she bought and how much it cost. The other day she brought back 1 kilo of tomatoes, 1 kilo of sag (i.e. spinach or kale or collard or the days leafy green special), 1 kilo of potatoes, 1 kilo of onions, some green chilies and okra. It was somewhere between 60 and 100 rupees which means $1-$2 for everything! When I converted it and it really regisitered in my mind, I was floored. What would she have done if I had told her all that would have cost $10-$15 in the US, at least? Fruit is a bit more expensive. A kilo of oranges, bananas or watermelon will cost you $1 easily (for each).

So, while cars here cost twice as much as they do in the US and Europe (the government posts a tax on new vehicles equivalent to the cost of the vehicle), vegetables are dirt cheap (pun not intended, but quite clever if I do say so myself)!!

Motorcycle Diaries

(Sunday, May 4, 2008)

A few years ago I thought it would be cool to ride on the back of a motorcycle for a long trip and write a book . . . about “life on the back of a motorbike,” or something to that effect. For those of you who are avid cycle riders (drivers or passengers), you know there is something special about riding motorcycle. The sensation of air on your skin as you can feel the temperature changes as you go from tops to bottoms of hills (at least in Virginia). For me, it just gives me time to observe, enjoy the full view, and think.

Sunday, Anuraj and I had a “date.” His coworker from Italy offered to watch Anusha for us so we could “do something.” “Let’s go on a motorcycle ride,” I chided. And we finally were able to borrow our landlady’s son’s little 250cc (which is what most of the bikes around here are). Anuraj had the helmet – as is the case with Nepali riders (driver with helmet, passenger(s) without). I had a bandana on to keep my hair from flying all over my face, which didn’t end up being a problem since we didn’t go faster than 40 or 45 mph! (Not because of the motorcycle, it’s simply the traffic!)

We left around 5:00 p.m. and stopped at a motorcycle repair place that repaired the loud and high screeching idle within 5 minutes for less than $1. (Refer to the post “that costs how much” . . . this would be another example of what can be repaired here in what time frame for what cost!) Got gas – which by the way, they filled up in a very efficient manner. (Let me paint the picture for you: The gas attendant stood at the pump while 2 or 3 motorcycles hovered right next to him. They opened up their tank, told him how much they needed. He filled it up, ½ liter for cycle #1, 3 liters for cycle #2, and 2 liters for us (all on the same meter reading). He turned it off the gas/meter, everyone paid, they drove off and the next three bikes cozied up for their refill.)

So we got our gas, then we took off. “Where do you want to go? I can take you to a place where there are landless people living? We were just there for work the other day? Do you want to go?” Anuraj asks me. Yes, I’m thinking, I want to go, but I want to ride. “Or do you want to go another time?” “Yes! . . . I want to get out of Nepalgunj.” Besides the times I’ve gone to Katmandu, I have not been out of Nepalgunj. With no Indian visa, I can’t go with Anuraj across the border, which is only 15 minutes away, for shopping. And, Anuraj is weary of the buses here. So, without a car, and unless we rent a car or a really good bus company starts running here, or unless we would do like some of those people were doing and ride bike (who would die first, Anusha or me), therefore, I haven’t left Nepalgunj proper!

We drive, down the straight, paved main road, and in 5 to 10 minutes we’re out of Nepalgunj. You can’t tell, really, like Pennsylvania, one town runs into the other. We drove for about 20 minutes and Anuraj tells me that we could take this motorcycle to one of the parks (i.e. Forests/national parks) and it would only take 2 hours to get there. My butt is already numb and I’m wondering how I would manage a 2 hour ride! Anyways, we finally get to an intersection where we can go east, north or west. We head east and we reach something I haven’t seen since I’ve gotten here: forest! Trees everywhere, with little trails poking out of them. We pull over and stop and I can hardly believe my ears. It is seriously more silent that I have experienced in a really long time. No vehicles, no lights, no houses, no hum of electricity or traffic or anything. And the forest was cool and smelled of fragrant fresh sprouts and shoots. “Anusha would love this,” I told Anuraj. It might take her back to our days of walking around in Park Woods in Harrisonburg, although even there it was not so silent.

After a few minutes, we headed back, exactly the way we came (minus a detour or two) and as I was riding, bareheaded (meaning no helmet – which by the way, I haven’t done for 10 years – the last time was in Florida where there is no helmet law), I was inspired. For the first time in weeks, I had ideas of what to write. So, what follows are some anecdotes, stories, thoughts, experiences. I’ve posted one other tonight and will post more in the next few days. Hopefully they will keep you entertained!

Pictures!

I'm happy to announce that I was able to upload (or download, whichever way it is) photos onto Picasa. You can view them by going to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JillLandisJha/AnushaInNepalFebApr08?authkey=yHBbvWLh8D0

There were a number of pictures that I really wanted to get on there that didn't make it, shucks! I'm not sure when I'll have access to broadband again, but will be sure to upload or download more then. Hope you enjoy!

Leaving Katmandu

written Saturday, April 12, 2008

Just a note to say that we are heading back to Nepalgunj on Monday, after being in Katmandu for a month. Anuraj has been in Biratnagar since Wednesday and will return to Katmandu Sunday evening. He was there to vote and also to monitor the elections (for his job with UNMIN – United Nations Mission in Nepal). The elections themselves went well. Things leading up to the elections were a little rocky, with occasional bomb blasts, some killings and beatings and kidnappings of candidates and party members. The most shocking thing of all is that the Maoists are currently leading with about 80% of the votes. It will be interesting to see the final tally and see what begins to transpire.

Feeling at Home

written Sunday, April 6, 2008

Tonight I feel satisfied. I had a wonderful three days of visiting with Americans and I just had my favorite lentils overtop mashed potatoes (I can’t even tell you how tired I am right now of rice – thanks to Anuraj for suggesting I ask my sister in law to boil some potatoes for me to make some good ol’ mashed potatoes).

So, I got my social quota filled this weekend – and I got out of this little apartment, which was good since we will all be staying in for the most part next week. (Thursday, April 10 are the elections. Things are slowing down for this monumental week and hopefully there won’t be an increase in violence. There were already 4 socket bomb blasts in Katmandu this weekend! So it’s kind of a “go out only if you need to” type of time.)

On Friday I visited with Sandra Lapp. Her husband works for Mennonite Mission Network and their family is here for six months. Their place is beautiful! They had a huge back yard and a nice, large, sunlit house. This was a nice change from the two bedroom apartment and 10x5 plot of grass/garden at my sister in laws. (I had just been thinking that morning or the day before how much I wanted to see grass. And there, at the Lapp’s temporary residence, was a whole half acre of it!) She shared some freshly baked carrot cake, some lemon “squash” (juice) while we talked about life in Katmandu and Nepalgunj – power cuts, dirty water, getting sick and staying well, crowded streets. And how your perspective begins to change the longer you’re here and things that might have been difficult or unpleasant become bearable or even comfortable. I had lunch with her and her daughters and talked about their high schools and traveling along a cliff in a large Nepali bus. It was a most pleasant and refreshing time. (Oh, did I forget to mention Anusha, that’s because she was at home with my mother in law, also a nice treat!) I found a taxi and Anuraj told him over the phone how to take me back home. Thank goodness for a fluent and accessible husband!

On Saturday, the big accomplishment of the day was getting to and from a restaurant where I met a friend for lunch. Anuraj always chooses taxi drivers by looking at them, so I decided to do the same. For the ride there, I saw a man cleaning his taxi with a rag. A good sign, I thought – especially when some taxi drivers are smoking or sitting with a leg hanging out a window while they are waiting for passengers. He graciously took me right where I needed to go. His meter was accurate and he didn’t try to rip me off, so I gave him a decent tip, which he seemed quite grateful for. For lunch, I met up with a woman that I met at the Catholic Church the other week. She is a PhD candidate with John Hopkins University and is doing research here. It was nice to be with an American woman who is my age. We found a Chinese restaurant on the sixth floor of a complex. We hiked the six floors since, like most places I’ve been, the elevator did not work, and found that there were no other customers (I did not get sick, so it was a good choice, and the mini fried spring rolls were delicious). We talked about Nepali customs – like how the women don’t call their husbands by their names (my sister in law is a great example she always says, “Shubums’s father, their father, his father,”). We talked about Philly cheese steaks in Philadelphia (just thinking about it makes my mouth water, and there’s not many meat products that make my vegetarian mouth water anymore). And we talked about the random Mennonites and Mennonite places she knows – like Baltimore’s VS Asylum Seekers, and “Extending the Table” cookbook. On the way back, I choose my taxi based on the direction it was facing. I got in, told him where I needed to go (thanks to Anuraj, who told me just a few minutes before where exactly I was needing to go), and he said, “100 rupees.” “70 rupees” I protested, knowing good and well that the meter would read somewhere between 65 and 69 rupees if it was accurate. “80 rupees,” he said. I started opening the door – I may be foreigner who can’t speak Nepali but at least I know how much to pay for a taxi ride. That scared him enough for him to agree with me. As he started up the car, he said, “Meter?” “Yes,” I said, even though I don’t know why in the world we went through the hassle of bartering if he was going to turn the meter on! Anyways, it was a whole 67 rupees, so I gave him his 70 which we agreed on earlier – yes, a skimpy tip for trying to rip off the foreigner! (fyi, right now the exchange rate is about 65 rupees to US $1)

And today, was my visit with the MCC program directors for Nepal. They are an older couple who have been here since 1978. They had stints of being home in Canada for 3-6 months, and one time they were home for 3½ years; otherwise Nepal has been their home. They will be retiring and returning home in October, after turning everything over to new directors. I met Walton a few blocks away from his house. We walked past some store fronts, a “Ganesh Mandeera” (small temple about 5x5x5 devoted to the god Ganesh), and a school before we turned into a dirt alley. I followed him up to their 2nd floor apartment and greeted his wife Ruth who asked if I wanted “black tea or green tea” (you mean they sell something other than black tea here??). We visited over lunch – Walton told me about MCC’s work in Nepal, we talked about their family and what it will be like when they return home to people who don’t really understand (or care?) much what they’ve been doing the past 30 years. “Different people have different gifts,” Ruth said, recognizing that some people have the “gift” of living in Nepal for most of their lives, and some people have the “gift” of living in Canada. (That has been provocative for me to think about.) Most interesting was hearing about Ruth’s work with two different women artisan groups. The one group is a residence for seven former women “traffickers” (women who have been “trafficked” into other countries for prostitution). They study in the morning and do beadwork and knitting in the afternoons. The other group is for poor and marginalized women who also do beadwork. One of the groups is a supplier for SERV and they both have a variety of clientele, local and international, I think. Ruth, while her background is in nursing, has made a wonderful contribution, mostly in what she calls “quality control” (i.e. determining what size a scarf should be so that they are all consistent, etc.). I would have enjoyed talking to her more or gone with her to work. I am hoping that the next time Anuraj and I are both here, we can go over to visit them (with Anusha, they are missing their grandbaby). They have broadband and graciously allowed me to attempt to download pictures onto the internet. (This was somewhat successful – After an hour and a half of frustration, due to my computer, not the internet, I finally was able to download 45 semi-random pictures. I didn’t have time to organize and make captions for them – I asked my mom and sisters to do that for me, and 15 pictures that I was really excited for you to see, didn’t make it!)

I went home surprisingly refreshed. I was telling Anuraj about this, how comfortable it felt there. How much “at home” I felt. “Maybe it’s because they’re Mennonite,” he suggested. But the Lapp’s were Mennonite. And Walton and Ruth are from Canada, about 30 or 40 years older than me, and we didn’t really have any “connections,” besides MCC and being Mennonite. I was thinking about it later, curious about what it was that made me feel so at home.

- Maybe it was the simple lunch – the homemade bread that we used to make open face egg salad and tuna sandwiches, the carrot sticks, the delicious bran/raisin muffins and that green tea.
- Maybe it was the conversation, flowing and enjoyable.
- Maybe it was the fact that they left me to use their internet and do my own thing.
- Maybe it was the fact that they have lived in Nepal for 30 years and therefore really LIVE there. By that I mean, they had a full spice rack and lots of cookbooks, they had a Bible Commentary from the ‘70’s or ‘80’s and a collection of other books, they had family pictures and bulletin boards with notes and photos and photo cards from home. They had some Bible verses posted around and an MCC calendar hanging up. Basically, it didn’t seem like they had half of their belongings somewhere else – they had them all there, in their modest apartment in Nepal.
- Maybe it was the fact that I felt so at peace there. I looked out the window of their office and there, out the window, was green. It was a batch of trees. It took me a while to realize why that struck me. It’s because nice, green trees that are higher than the 2nd story of a house or apartment are so unusual to see. The trees filled the entire 4 panes of the window. I can’t even explain how wonderful that was to see.

Ultimately, I think it was the fact that I felt like I had just been at the home of one of my favorite couple’s from Harrisonburg – where I could always go for good company. And whose simple lunches were always satisfying. And who always made their home my home, letting me use this or borrow that. Whose house just feels peaceful to me; a place where I have always felt at home.

So, that was my weekend. It was good to get out and visit and make some new acquaintances and friends!

4 New Posts

Dear Friends,
Here you will find four new posts for your pleasure reading. I’ve been in Kathmandu for 2 weeks (you’ll read later why) and was without the laptop the first week. A number of random set backs happened everytime I tried to get on and write. So, here, finally are some updates for you. I tried posting a pic again . . . Now that I’ve turned in a writing assignment that I had been working on, I feel like I have some time to experiment with this picture stuff. I’m going to try Picasa again and see if that might work. At this point, it is wasting too many of my cell phone minutes (it’s dial up through my cell) while I wait to see if one picture will upload.

Read on, and forgive me if there are spelling errors, for those of you who notice. I forgot to do spell check!

Love to all there, from all of us here…

Our Computerized Baby (March 27, 2008)

Anusha’s Aunt refers to Anusha as the “computerized baby.” Apparently, when Anuraj and I were running errands the other day, they were trying to feed her some rice and lentils or cereal and she wasn’t taking it. Finally, Anusha’s grandfather noticed that they weren’t using “her” spoon. They ditched the metal spoon they had been using and got one of her plastic or rubber coated baby spoons and she gobbled that stuff up. This evening, Anusha and I accompanied the whole family (sister in law, brother in law, 2 nephews and mother in law) to the homeopathic doctor. We were still sitting in the office at about 7:00 p.m. and Anusha was getting fussy. She usually gets ready for bed around 7:00 and is out by 7:30 p.m., so I knew she was tired. I did my best to try to get her to sleep, but to no avail. Finally, we were all back in the car by 8:00 p.m. and my sweet little girl fell asleep on my shoulder as we were bumping down the road to home. After I put her to bed, her aunt says to me, “that’s why I wasn’t sure you should come with us. She’s a computerized baby and likes to go to bed after 7:00 p.m.” Computerized or not, she’s mine and that baby girl is feisty, but sweet!

About Anusha

(written March 26, 2008)

Yesterday Anusha turned 11 months old. It’s hard to believe she’s only one month away from being a year old. Just today I was thinking about a year ago, and how I was going to baby showers for her!

So what has Anusha been up to? A few weeks ago she was into her “ladle” kick . . . she would say “ladle, ladle, ladle” with her tongue sticking out (try it!). She did that for a good four days. Around that time, she learned how to brush her hair and do “namaste” (putting her hands together at her chest). Those two things she learned within one day of each other, after only showing her a few times. I was shocked. Now, if only she could apply that intelligence to listening to us when we tell her not to scratch or pinch (two of her favorite things to do to her papa in the morning when she tries to wake him up).

I am also happy to report that Anusha can now walk around with the assistance of only one adult hand. So, this has provided great relief to my back. My stamina is much greater now for her marathon walks (often in circles) around the driveway or house.

--------------------------

Since we arrived in Katmandu (Sunday, March 16), she has been enjoying her time with her two little cousins, Shubum (pronounced Sue-bum) who is 3 ½ and Parth who is almost 7. Shubumb warned their grandmother that she better protect her eyes because Anusha likes to poke eyes. Anusha scratched Shubumb a number of times on the face and enjoys grabbing at him, which he doesn’t enjoy so much!

Anusha met her Nepali grandparents for the first time on Thursday (March 20). She wasn’t sure what to think of her grandfather, but went to her grandmother fairly easily. Since her grandmother has come, I haven’t seen much of Anusha. She usually takes Anusha in the morning and gives her back when she’s ready to take naps. Their mission (her grandparents and Anuraj’s sister) is to fatten her up. Apparently they were worried that Anusha wasn’t fat enough. So they’ve been feeding her kitcheri, a smooth mix of rice and moong lentils (a special, easy to digest lentil that is given to babies), soup and her Cerelac (Nestle’s version of Gerber baby cereal. Let me quickly insert that Nestle should be banned from making baby food. This Cerelac has wheat as its main ingredient, followed by milk solids and a variety of preservatives. Not something I really want to be giving my baby!)

On Sunday, Anuraj and I left Anusha for the first time since we’ve gotten here. She did fine. Apparently, when I’m gone and she’s with her grandmother and aunt and cousins, she enjoys herself and only complains when she’s hungry or needs to walk around. It’s when I come back or come into the room that she “goes to her mama like a magnet,” as her grandmother says.

One of the most exciting things is that Anusha took a few steps on her own today! We were outside on the driveway, walking around, and I let go and she took about four steps before she nearly toppled over (it might have been the momentum that she was riding on, but still!). She did that a few times and even stood by herself for a few seconds. Parth is predicting that Anusha will walk in two or three days, and Anusha’s grandmother says that she will walk while she’s in Katmandu. Let’s see!!!

Holi and Holy Week (Sunday, March 16-23, 2008)

(written March 26, 2008)

Well, first my apologies for you faithful few who check this magnificent blog on a daily or weekly basis. I have been in Katmandu since Sunday, March 16, and was without my laptop until Friday. I came thinking I would take care of my Nepali immigration business, only to find out that I needed Anuraj to be with me to apply for my non-tourist visa. So, I basically hung out here for a week, played with Anusha and her little 3 ½ year old cousin during the days and helped Anuraj’s sister get ready for Anuraj and his parents to arrive.

Anuraj’s parents came on Thursday, for Holi – a Hindu holiday – and Anuraj came on Friday. When Anuraj came, the nephews and I had conspired to throw water balloons at him upon his arrival. They hid around the corner with a bucket of plastic bags that we had filled with water, and I had a small bucket with water ballons hidden. When he came, I said hi and yelled, “Happy Holi,” the code word for “ATTACK!” The boys darted out throwing water balloons and I threw my own. Anusha was terrified! She was sitting on my lap and had just seen her father walk through the gate after not seeing him for a week, and here he was hollering and jumping and getting hit with water!

After that settled down, we went to go inside and Anuraj’s mom came at us with colored powder and wiped it on our faces. Besides throwing water balloons, or squirting water or dumping buckets of water on people, Holi is also for “painting” each other’s faces with colored powder. After five minutes, everyone’s faces were coated with fuscia, yellow, red and green. Poor Anusha was terrified again. This time she buried her face in my chest and neck, crying, wondering what happened to her mama and papa and everyone else who all of a sudden looked like they belonged to some native dance troup. It took her a little bit to calm down!

My thoughts on Holi: it gives adolescent boys an excuse to put on “war paint” and attack each other. The children love this holiday, and I can see why – who wouldn’t love being given permission to dump water or throw colored water balloons at your neighbor. I can’t tell you what the holiday is about – Anuraj couldn’t remember and the explanation given in the paper went on some weird tangent that I didn’t understand. So, if you want to know, check out wikipedia.

One of the cool things about last week was the intersection between Holi week and Christian Holy Week. It was actually kind of cool for me, since I wasn’t really celebrating Easter with anyone, to at least have some celebration happening that was the same word! Speaking of Easter, On Sunday morning, I went to a Catholic church. I had read an article in the paper earlier in the week about a special ceremony that had happened there and thought, “that would be a cool place to go for Easter.” Since I’ve been to a number of Catholic churches and services, I thought it would at least be somewhat familiar. I thought the English service was at 5:30 pm on Sunday, but found out at 8:30 am on Sunday that there was a combined English/Nepali service at 9:00 am. Anuraj, Anusha and I rushed to get there. It took a half hour to get to the approximate vicinity of the place, then another 10 or 15 minutes and stopping at least 3 or 4 times to ask people where it was. When we got there, we walked into a gate, past a number of “stalls” that were selling Catholic-ish art, nail polish, lotion, and prayer beads (I assumed it was for Easter, but now I’m not sure). We walked up to the entry of the sanctuary, looked in and looked at each other. Anuraj captured the moment, “it’s a Hindu/Catholic church!” Outside were about 200+ pairs of shoes stuck in shelves and lined up on the cement. Inside, everyone was sitting on rows of pillows. It seriously reminded me of a Hindu temple, except that a crucifix of Jesus was at the front. As I was preparing to walk in, the alter boys and priests came walking down the aisle towards me. Yes, folks, I missed the Easter service. I could have cried. I was so much looking forward to this service – partly because I would be celebrating Easter in Nepal for the first time, and also because I would get to experience a Nepali Easter! At least I know where that church is now (or should I say Anuraj knows where it is). Probably the neatest thing was meeting a PhD candidate from John Hopkins University who has some Mennonite friends. It is a small world after all!

Furniture – At Last! (March 11-16, 2008)

(written March 26)

First of all, thanks to all who wished us “Happy Anniversary.” We celebrated by going out and buying two wicker chairs. That brings our furniture count up to 4 – if you count the mattress (that smells like fish, which Anuraj got for free from a co-worker) and the armoire (that the people before us left)! In April, we hope to purchase a wicker table or end table. Thanks too for the prayers of one my friends – she was praying for the hot water / shower situation and furniture. I am happy to say we got both on the same day (the same day I read her email, in fact). I am thoroughly enjoying our new chairs and will someday show you a picture of these fabulous pieces of furniture. It has provided great relief to my back already!

Weather and Yoga

I just emailed a friend and thought a few of the things would be interesting to post.

Some of you might be wondering, does Jill have friends? Good question! Luckily, there is a great international community here, most of whom I met through Anuraj and his UN work. I’m doing yoga with a few of the women on Sunday’s at 3pm outside in the garden of the “teachers” compound. It’s lovely and refreshing and gives me a break from Anusha. After our 1 and a half hour session (this british teacher is hard core!) we have green tea and chat. So, that is one of the highlights of my week. (That and when Anusha takes one to two hour naps and I have time to write.) So, Anuraj is my friend, Anusha is my friend. These ladies are people I say hi to and we meet up with for weekend brunch or lunch on occasion.

The weather is gorgeous. Virginia springtime or a Florida winter at it’s best. Warm during the day, cooler in the morning and evening. Within a month it’s going to start getting hot, and people here say it gets hot (I’m thiking Florida in the summer without AC) – Our purchase next month, besides some more furniture, is a window AC.

Finally, for those of you who are wondering how I'm really doing, the short answer is, good, until yesterday. Where I was on the verge of crying in the middle of the market. I cannot communicate and this is frustrating. Yesterday, the vegetable seller sold me 1 kilo of bananas instead of 3 bananas! It is also frustrating at home, where I have people working for me and I can't explain that I want the rugs shaken out every day (yes, I tried today, even with some Nepali cue words). If I can learn this language, I’ll be fine. If not ... let's just assume I will! :)

Anusha is good, for all those wondering. She is now officially a chatterbug. She has discovered all sorts of new sounds -- as of last week -- and she is doing here, "th" "fuh" "gujubuga" types of sounds all the time -- when looking at books, when she's frustrated or tired and trying to tell me something! It's really cute and I wonder what in the world is going on inside that little head of hers sometimes!

If anyone can post and tell me how to reduce the size of photos so I can try to post some, please comment!

Indulgences

(written March 5, 2008)

Today I am partaking in my one indulgence: Coke. Our water “geezer” still doesn’t work and the electrician still hasn’t come by, so that means no morning hot water indulgence. So, this nice cold glass of coke will do. Amazing how one can savor Coke, making one plastic 20 oz. bottle last for three or four days.

Multi-Tasking

(written February 28 ’08)

This is the first time that I have utilized items is such multi-functional ways. Our towels double, make that triple, as bedroom curtains and Anuraj’s pillow. The small feather blanket served as Anusha’s covers during her naps and my pillow at night, until our bed sheet/bedroom curtain got washed, so it’s currently serving as a curtain. One small, carry-on sized Docker rolling suitcase is serving as Anusha’s dresser and occasionally as my backrest when I need something other than the wall to lean up against. And the list goes on: Anusha’s baby blankets double as pillows and backrests, the steel cups I got have not been used once for drinking but are our silverware holder and drainer. And Anuraj’s Swiss Army pocket knife, gifted to him by my father this Christmas, has served more purposes in three weeks than we could have used at home (U.S.) in a few months! We are definitely getting more use out of all these things, and it kills me to think about buying pillows, I mean what will we do with that blanket and towel?

If you want to be in Solidarity . . .

I wrote this the week of February 25, just before the situations in Katmandu and Nepalgunj improved.

If you want to be in solidarity with the people of Katmandu, turn off your electricity, every other day, from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m., at least one, sometimes two mornings a week from 6:00 – 9:00 a.m. and once a week in the middle of the night. This “fasting” from electricity promotes quiet living as you abstain from television, early bedtime where it’s warm under the covers (since the space heaters aren’t on and it’s dark anyways, after the generator turns off). There is a certain level of annoyance about it, but it is also somewhat refreshing. In one newspaper, people were surveyed and said that the electricity cuts were actually promoting more quality family time. The next time I’m in the states for Lent, I might try giving up electricity for at least one day a week.

If you want to be in solidarity with the people of Nepalgunj, imagine that all the shops in your town, except for the grocery stores and ATM’s, are closed for two weeks. You can get the necessities, but not much else.

And in both places, there is a fuel shortage. People are standing in line for gasoline in Katmandu for up to a day. In Nepalgunj, all the shops had run out of propane, the small tanks are necessary for heating the dual burner cook stoves – like we have.

If you want to be in solidarity with me, turn off the hot water heater. Learn to appreciate how refreshed and awake you feel after a cold shower. Be thankful for the large pot that heats up water for cleaning and the baby’s bath. Walk for at least one hour every day hunched over – to give a little kid who can’t walk by themselves, the pleasure of moving around “freely.” Remove all your furniture, except for a few area rugs and your mattress, but enjoy the commodities of a gas stove, microwave and fridge. Keep your windows open to hear the sound of the birds, goats, kids playing and tractors honking (unless you have thin windows in which case you can hear this anyways). While you’re at it, hire someone to come in and clean your floors and do some laundry every day. They can also wash dishes, clean your bathroom or even clean your windows. And find someone else to come in four days a week at noon to make a delicious meal (which turns into two meals with leftovers). (See, it’s not all that bad! :)

Idyllic Landings OR A Long and Detailed Description of this Place we Call Home

(written last week of February, 2008)

It’s idyllic what I’m experiencing right now. That’s the only word for it. I’m sitting in a room that over looks the flower garden to the north and vegetable garden to the west. The carpet is green, which just adds to the outdoor feel of this room. Laxmi is cooking some paneer (cheese-like substance) and aloo (potatoes), saag (spinach) and dhal (lentils) in the kitchen – which my husband and I will gratefully enjoy for lunch this afternoon and dinner later this evening. Nisha is walking with Anusha in the dining room, giving my back a break. This is what I needed when I was 6 months pregnant until my daughter was at least 6 months old. But, I’ll take it now.

This place is called Nepalgunj, which literally means, Nepal “place.” Candy, the American lady who owns the Travellers Village – a local hotel – reported that her brother said if Nepal were to get an enema, Nepalgunj would be the place that it would be inserted. I haven’t found it to be that bad, not yet at least. But what do I know? I’ve only been here for one and half weeks and haven’t ventured much past my own luscious gardens.

When I do leave my compound, what I find is something out of National Geographic. Trash along the dirt road, cows contentedly grazing on grass or hay, dogs lazily napping, people staring as I walk down the road with my ten month old daughter in my American baby carrier, happily staring back.

What also makes this idyllic is the type of lifestyle we are living right now. I call it Gandhian. I really believe he would be proud. Our living quarters are relatively large for a three person family. When you enter our home from the front door (porch/patio), you find a living room to the left, complete with windows on three of the four walls. There are built in shelves with sliding glass doors. These look bare with only a dozen or two books on half of the shelves. There is a ceiling fan in the middle of the ceiling – this is the quietest and least frightening of all the ceiling fans.

In the hallway, you proceed into our dining room, a baby blue dungeon of a room. You are greeted by a “Putumayo” calendar, with colorful graphics and marking of holidays from all over the world. There are no windows and no natural light except for whatever manages to pour in from the front and back doors and the rooms that surround it. On our dining room wall is a calendar from United, the pressure cooker company Anuraj bought our lovely pressure cooker from. You’ll find another built in shelf with more sliding glass doors. Here you will find odds and ends, a guitar pick – for which no guitar can be found, an empty Nepali picture frame, a picture of my mother’s family (nine children and her parents) from nearly 50 years ago, a UN report, and a pad lock. In the corner is our washing machine which is still in its box. In the middle of the room is a square carpet, red, blue and yellow, which my husband bought at a Gandhi cotton store in India, 15 minutes from our house.

Move to the left and you’ll enter our kitchen. This is one of the most substantial rooms, and the one place that proves there is life in this otherwise empty house. The fancy stainless steel microwave/oven/grill combo sits on the corner of one of the counter tops, two feet away from the double burner gas stove top. A rice cooker (that also doubles as a vegetable steamer, which we have yet to use) sits between these. The small shelf above the microwave sports Anusha’s baby cereal and bowls, a sippy cup and bottle, bibs and a washcloth. One tin cup holds our six piece silverware set and our new wire basket holds the rest of our ladles, wooden spoons, our one cutting knife, peeler and three FBCU tablespoon/teaspoon plastic measuring spoons. Three spotless glass containers showcase loose leaf black tea, iodized salt and raw sugar. Underneath the counter is a cardboard box filled with a few odds and ends that are waiting for a home. Plastic containers hold rice, lentils, cashews, almonds, spices and cookies. Our new small red waste basket sits in the corner where we hope a refrigerator will soon be.

On the opposite wall, our steel sink sits in the corner with a Styrofoam plug that my husband made from our rice cooker packaging. Hand wash, dish soap, plastic dish cleaners, glass cleaner, Lysol (spelled “lisol” here) and Fantastic – my favorite cleaning agent which I was lucky enough to find in Katmandu – sit in the corner of the sink and counter. When clean or dirty dishes aren’t occupying the precious stone slab counter space on the wall opposite the sink, it’s empty. Another small shelf above holds juice, some fruit, cookies and my Purle Pura drinking water. Underneath the counter is a shelf where I’ve placed our Teflon cookware – the nicest cookware I’ve ever owned – some warming pots, yellow microwave safe containers in various sizes and a set of white plastic bowls with blue lids and flower accents. Another Gandhian rug also graces this floor, and currently serves as our “dining rug” until we get a table and chairs.

Straight across from the kitchen (through the dininr room) our bedroom has the only two pieces of furniture in the house, a mattress and an armoire. If it wasn’t for the people before us who left this two closet, three shelves, three drawer armoire, we’d have no place to hang our clothes. Our mattress has a sheet and my feather comforter, which by now is detestably dirty. A built in shelving unit – perfect for an entertainment center – is keeping our towels, lotions, contacts, glasses, and a random assortment of things. There is one calendar on the wall. It’s from the Harrisonburg Children’s Museum and the pictures remind my of my former Shenandoah Valley hometown. It’s February, so a picture of Bridgewater College covered in snow is what we’ve been looking at. There is a ceiling fan in this room too, but this ceiling fan scares me. We started turning it on at night, but it makes so much noise, it sounds like it’s going to come unhinged and kill us all with its twirling blades. Two mismatched bed sheets cover the windows – the only “curtains” in the house. This is where Anusha naps, where I usually feed her, where we go to get dressed.

The second bedroom, just next to the first, serves as Anusha’s play room. It has bright green carpet that looks like artificial turf and the walls are a dusty pink/peach, just like the other bedroom and living room. This is the room that overlooks the lawn/flower garden to the north and the vegetable garden to the west. This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. The shade of the palm trees and guava trees cast a nice shadow in the morning and afternoon. This room is bright and alive and makes me feel like I’m in one of the glass enclosed rooms in a botanical garden. Here you find our family calendar – pictures of Anusha and her cousin Adria grace the entire calendar, along with other family members. In one corner of the room sits Anusha’s potty, a gift from her Aunt Shilpi, which she has used at least once a day for the past week. Her walker, which I call her “bumper car,” also is in this room, ready for use whenever I need a break from hunching over and walking with her! Anusha’s toys are in a basket which I had never seen in the states. It’s made out of the wood used for making those cheap little wooden drying racks and has two orange baskets with a Japanese looking dog that’s saying “Hi.” Anusha also has a built in shelf (the same entertainment center looking kind of shelf as is in our room). Her books and blankets are just within her reach, to give her something to pull off the shelves. Bags of 12 and 18 month clothing are in space saver bags at the bottom of this built in, and lotions, diaper stuff, baby carriers, The Baby Book (aka my Baby Bible) and one of those little “Baby’s First Year” books are on the other shelves, along with Anuraj’s puja (worship) things and my Irish Celtic cross. Anusha’s clothes are in a suitcase, until we can get some shelves bought or made. Our electronics sit in a corner of the room, underneath a funky corner shelf that has a picture of Anusha.

There is one more little room, just beside Anusha’s playroom, which we are using for storage. It has our landline telephone, LG vacuum cleaner, suitcases, empty plastic bags and Space Saver bags, and all the boxes, Styrofoam and plastic that our appliances came in. This room also has a little space above the door that looks like the kind of hiding place someone would have used during the Nazi regime.

In the very back of the house, right before you go outside, is a small hallway which connects to the bathroom. The bathroom is a pretty typical Nepali bathroom: a shower and faucet (with no shower curtain, no bathtub, and no type of enclosure for that shower water – it goes all over the floor). The water “geezer” (i.e. heater) is attached above head on the wall. But right before I came, it stopped working. This is the reason for my cold showers in the morning. A very nice pedestal sink is next to the shower and a chincy mirror is hanging above this. An old toilet, with cement poured around the base (to fix the leak, which is still leaking) is in the corner, next to another faucet which is for “washing” (i.e. bidet) – this faucet, we hope, will be the water source for that washing machine which is sitting in the dining room. You might be surprised to find Marnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner sitting on the sink (I was surprised, and quite pleased). There’s also a mini bottle of Pantene (which my sister in law thought might be a duplicate – i.e. fake – but I know my Pantene and is definitely not fake!). My electric toothbrush, some toothpaste and the cheapest toilet paper you can imagine finding is on a shelf next to the toilet on the wall.

Out back, there’s a pump, a clothes line, the “guards” outhouse, a separate house (which is the size of our living room) and an outdoor covered cooking area. Above us are our landlords, whose space is laid out pretty much the same as ours except they have stairs that lead to the roof on top.

So that’s it . . . the place I call home. The surroundings are mostly idyllic and our living space is Gandhian, (with a few electronic exceptions). And it is all home in this little place in Nepal.