The Big Apple

So if you are not on Facebook or for some reason aren't on my email list (let me know and I'll put you on!) we've moved. No longer are we the multi-cultural family in Nepal, now we will be the multi-cultural family in New York City.  Anuraj got a job and we packed our 6 suitcases and headed over the ocean September 7.  After teary and heartfelt goodbyes to family, friends and co-workers in Nepal, we have quickly reaquinted ourselves with Americana.  Anuraj has been settling into his job and renting a room in an apartment a block from Central Park while Anusha and I have been traveling.  First to Goshen to see Anusha's grandparents (i.e. my parents) and one of my sisters (along with wonderful family and friends), then to Colorado to see my sister, brother-in-law and niece.  

Some of the common questions we've been asked:

Q:  What will you (Jill) do? 

A:  Settle in and look for a job.  If I find one, great, if not, hopefully there will be so much to do that I'll be mentally stimulated to the max!
Q: New York? How do you feel about that?

A:  Weirdly enough, Kathmandu to New York does seem like a good transition!  Kathmandu taught me (Jill) how to navigate a city and while some things will be the same (relying on public transportation) other things will be different (snow!).  Plus, who can complain about museums, activity and the energy of NYC! 

Q:  Do you have a place to live?

A:  Apartment hunting in New York City is beyond overwhelming and we're hoping to settle that by November 1!

Q:  How's Anusha handling it?

A:  Well, for a 3 year old, I'd say quite well.  She was very sad to see our house being dismantled.  Our little apartment in Kathmandu was all she knew . . . and she still refers to "home" as the place where Menaka (our nanny/househelp) comes.  She's having a wonderful time seeing her family and also missing her papa while he's back in NY and globetrotting.  But she's sleeping well, eating better and enjoying it all . . . along with almost daily doses of ice cream!

Stay tuned for our adventures in the Big Apple!

*As usual, I have to apologize about pics.  This times it's because all of our "goodbye Nepal, hello NYC" pics are on a hard drive that happen to be with Anuraj.  I only have a few NYC pics, and this was the best of the lot for now!





Anusha in the subway our first week in New York.
Her new thing is to make a funny face for the camera.



June

So it looks like I'm proving monthly updates . . . this one will cover last month.  It's actually been a good, yet crazy one because it was the beginning of interviews and job offers for Anuraj. We're still making decisions, hopefully we'll know in the next week or so.  Other than that, this is the latest into the summer that we've ever spent here. 

Beginning of June:  Jill finished her practicum with Chemonics, International.  A USAID contractor that's overseeing the USAID's Nepal Transition Initiative.  The bulk of my work involved writing case studies of a few of their programs and tagging along on a field visit.

Middle of June:  Anuraj traveled to New York City for work where he met up with my mom who took the train out to meet him for a few days.  No pics of that. We realized after he was at the airport that he forgot the camera!  Oops!

End of June:  Anusha's Dada and Dadi (paternal grandparents) visited Kathmandu. 

Here are some pics from the month of June!

One of Anusha's funny faces . . .

Pics with mom!

Doing what she does best . . . painting and making a mess!

Congratulations to me, on the last day of my practicum!

Anusha with Maneka:

babysitter, cook, housecleaner and daily company, extraordinare!

Anusha with her new favorite backpack (from her Nani). She is very proud to show everyone her new backpack!  And, much to my dismay, she packs lots of random things in there.  Like my cell phone.

Anusha riding an elephant at her cousins house.  Just last year, I had to help her get up on it!

Now she's a solo artist and her toes nearly touch the ground!

Sorry, I was going to post more, but I'll have to continue another day.  For now, enjoy some of the random happenings of June in Kathmandu, Nepal.

May

May means...

Rain,Heat, Friends, Haircuts, Mother's Day . . . and a few of our favorite things:

Anusha "cooking"

Anusha finding creative ways to house her stuffed animals.

Washing dishes

Anusha in her tent, with umbrella, making a bed for monkey to sleep in.

Lovely lilly pads at the Garden of Dreams

Family pic on Mother's Day

Cupcakes! At a Mother's Day party. 

The dog is intently stalking for dropped crumbs.

Cheers! Definitely a favorite thing. 

This time with one of her favorite friends, at our place for dinner.

"Sleeping Bunnies"...forever a favorite.

Belated Birthday Doll (the coos and moves and sucks)

...from her favorite store, Bhat Bhateni.

Anusha's new favorite age: 3!

Repercussions

Hair.  It's something I don't like to cut.  Not because I don't like it short, or I don't like new hairstyles. I do.  I really do.  It's just that half the time I'm not sure what to do with my hair and if I try to do something different, it often turns out not-quite-the-way I expected.  And that's in the U.S.  I have not gotten my hair cut here. When it gets to a certain length the only, and I mean only, thing I do with it is pull it back into a ponytail.

Two weeks ago I had had enough.  Anuraj was coming home late. I was tired of my hair. So I took my hair scissors, gathered it up, and started chopping.  After the first chop, I realized that my little audience was quite taken by this.  So much so that I started imagining the repercussions.  3 year old sees mother spontaneously take scissors and cut own hair.  Hmmmm..... She wanted to do it too.  With her own scissors.  I managed to talk her into a trim by me with my scissors.  And so far, 2 weeks later, she has made no independent attempt on her own.  Let's hope it stays that way!

This is a picture Anusha took of me a few days after my cut.

Anusha is 3!!!

The big event for the month of April was Anusha's 3rd Birthday.  She celebrated by having two of her cousins spend the weekend with us.  (In fact I nearly got a vacation because the three of them were so pre-occupied with playing.)  We went out to Pizza Hut with two of our MCC friends and Anuraj's family, but low and behold the Pizza Hut Doggie did not make his appearance (the sole reason for going. We found out his costume was at the cleaners the day before her birthday).  Despite that, we did have a wonderful time and everyone enjoyed Pizza Hut. 

Face crayon painting with her cousins.

At the Garden of Dreams before dinner with cousin Parth.

Pizza Hut!

Yes, that's static.

It's a fire hazard!

Pleased to be 3!

A tradition in Anuraj's family...feeding the first bite to the birthday girl.

Easter

Easter Day was spent with our dear MCC friends.  Micah took us to a place just south of Kathmandu/Lalitpur where we parked our motorcycles and car and found a spot for picnicing, kite-flying, egg hiding and hunting and yellow raspberry picking!  It was a wonderfully relaxing day and a beautiful way to celebrate Easter.

Yes, this picture is not easter, but the day before. Anusha is testing out her new glitter. Here she is shaking it "like papa" . . . indeed he does shake is salt and pepper out with a tap of the index finger.  What an astute little observer!  We're in trouble!

March with Marla

March blew in Marla, a dear friend of mine from college. Marla and I met the first day of college and have done many trips together -- to beaches and islands and other countries.  It was so wonderful to have her here . . . and a great excuse to finally get to two of the major tourist destinations: Pokhara and Chitwan.  Here are a few pics of our trip outside of the Kathmandu Valley.  Sorry they are not in order, I got too frustrated trying to reorder them.  Hope you enjoy!

Anusha enjoying the enormous trees and picnic en route to Pokhara

Enjoying a canoe ride to the Peace Pagoda

Laligurans for our new-born friend Lali Miller...on the way to Sarankot look out point.

View before the sunrise

Can you tell it was early?

Look out . . . it was incredibly clear!

Marla with view and rhodadendrun/laligurans

Pit-stop on the way down.

The cook.

Anusha's favorite part: holding baby chicks.

Marla at the Peace Pagoda

Jill

Elephant rides in Chitwan

In the cable car up to Manakamana and the temple  They say that anything you wish for here will come true.  Oh, and that newly married people go here to wish for a son.

Anusha chilaxin at the hotel