Day 1 (3/26)

Once we made it out of the airport, we met up with Ellen and her friend Laxmi, and then we climbed into a "large" van (which barely fit 7 of us and all our luggage - we're women, so you can only imagine the sizes of our bags!!!). We drove to the guess house, just trying to take it all in . . . let me say that one of the very first things a person notices is the traffic . . . let me just say that the lines on the road are not even suggestions, they are simply ignored!! It took a while to get used to the driving, but now that I am, I can honestly say that American drivers no longer look crazy or out-of-control . . . WHEW!!!

The guest house was confortable . . . of course the first thing we all noticed (again, we're women) was that it had . . . WAIT FOR IT . . . Sitty-potties - WOO-HOO!!!! :) Yes, we were all VERY pleased with that fact!! :) We put our stuff down, tried to take a shower (more like a drizzle), and got changed into our khurtas for our first afternoon on the town.

It was SO GOOD to meet Ellen, and just begin to build that friendship with her. . . it's amazing that in 8 short days I could become such good friends with someone, but I really felt that happened. I really miss her. I miss the fact that neither of us has a "filter" - we just say what comes to mind - so we can just laugh about it, and move on! :)

So, Ellen took us shopping, and let me just say that we got the hang of this whole shopping thing REALLY quickly . . . if only shopping was a ministry! We each got fabric for a khurta, and then came the hunt for some tailors that could make them for us. Which wasn't too terribly difficult.

We got to look around, and try to take it in . . . though, I have to say that the details of everything didn't really begin to "sink in" until about day 3. I do remember being the center of attention, and so began the feeling of always having to be "on." Because we stuck out, we automatically drew attention. Then add to the fact that we were wearing Nepali clothes, people really stared and wondered. :) I felt like I constantly had to be careful of what I did, where I stepped, even what I said . . .

We had Dal Bhaat (sp??) for dinner, and let me just say that it burned every single nerve from the tip of my tongue to my stomach . . . I just don't like spicy food. They brought me some curn (basically yogurt that is lemon flavored to which they add some sugar), and that seemed to help. But my throat still hurt . . . I'm a wimp, I know. However, the newness of it all made it bareable, and everyone got a great laugh over the fact that I was such a baby about it!! :)

Then, it was off to the guest house for some much needed devotion time and sleep!!

Ahhhh . . . . .