A few adventures for the first few weeks

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Hi, so many things to say over a few weeks' time. Things are great, the weather is cool in the morning and evening and it gets a big hot in the afternoon. You can cool down or warm up by sitting in the sun or shade, simple as that. They try to stuff me with food and always make sure I am okay. They are wonderful.

Summary of the situation: I am in Chitwan staying at a Children's Home/church. There are 21 kids here right now. The Pastor and his family are wonderful. There is so much smiling and laughing. The kids have had a lot of holidays, I think they have had more time off than in school. It is insanely relaxing here. I play with kids or sit with them while they study, I spend a lot of time (mainly when the kids are at school) sitting up on the sunny balcony. I am attempting to learn Nepali...slowly...very slowly. Uncle (I will just call him this from now on, he is the Pastor and leader of the Children's home) has taken me out with him to some village areas. Another pastor took me to his church and rehabilitation center and arranged for a couple guys to climb a mountain with me. People here are so good and so generous. I can't even understand.

Things are more realistic now too. I no longer have this crazy delusion that Nepal is perfect and everyone in it. Generally speaking, people smile and greet you, always want to give you tea and sometimes food, people who speak English are usually eager to try to use it. There is always somebody around. The reality of being in a very poor country is undeniable though. Nothing you do or say can convince people you are not a rich partying American and that you can't just bring them to America with you and assist them in living out the American dream. It's a strange situation taking pictures of poorness with my fancy camera. I admire people here as you can see their hard work, and also you can see how they value time spent with people just talking.

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Photos

Women's empowerment
Out in this village area they have a women's empowerment program. Women are taught how to sew among other things to help them.

Raphti River
I probably spelled that wrong. We stopped to gaze at the river...next to some bathing people-poor guys. Rivers have a lot of significance here.

Group shot
Here are some of the kids with the two women who do the cooking, cleaning, and housework here.