Nepal Week 3

This week has been hard:  physically hard, mentally hard, and emotionally hard. I did not realize how much I took comfort in having some good American friends so close. I also did not realize how much I have grown to love the shop owner; I missed her greatly this week. Many times, especially when I ate dinner by myself, I just felt lonely. Granted, I’ve also been out of the country for a month and a half at this point in my journey and this is the first time I haven’t had a close friend nearby. I’m not homesick necessarily, but I am definitely people sick. I miss my friends and my family.

I’ve also felt discouraged this week. As I’ve sat behind a desk and recorded all of the salon’s receipts they have collected since November, I have not felt as though I’m doing ministry. Other than the occasional cleaning I’ve helped with, I’ve been in the office all week. It’s also been strange to have so much responsibility at the shop. They gave me my own set of keys so I could open the shop in the owner’s absence, asked me to record the daily finances, and asked me to supervise the cleaning. It’s an honor to know that they trust me so deeply so quickly and I do not want to do anything to jeopardize that trust; I just find it strange that they have done so this quickly. In all of this, I feel as though I’ve been learning how to run a business, not necessarily doing the ministry I thought I was doing this summer. I know all of these things are very important and still a vital part of ministry, but it’s hard to remember that when you sit behind a desk and crunch numbers for hours on end.

I’ve also been discouraged by the increase of Westernization I’ve seen in Kathmandu. There are so many businesses geared towards foreigners, owned by foreigners, that just… take away from Kathmandu. All of the workers in these businesses are Nepali. While it is good that these businesses provide much-needed jobs, I think that they also promote an unhealthy mindset. None of the customers they serve are local; they are all white foreigners. When is it good business and when is it reinforcing the awful idea of white supremacy? Granted, I’ve been to one such coffee shop on multiple occasions to enjoy some coffee, use the wifi and speak with the staff,so I can’t pretend that I haven’t used those businesses, but I still feel uneasy about the whole concept. I can’t help but feel that I’m feeding a kind of ethnic hierarchy that I want no part of.

In light of this week’s struggles, I spent the best three dollars I think I’ve ever spent and I called my best friend. It was so encouraging to hear her voice and to laugh about silly things. She also asked me questions about India and Nepal that reminded me why I decided to go on this trip and how I really do feel God’s calling here. She spoke so many encouraging words to me that I will never be able to thank her enough for. She also helped me to start processing what I’m feeling about the Westernization I see; I’m nowhere close to any kind of resolution, but she helped me get started. Part of what I’m going to do is go to these places less often. Besides, it’s kind of fun to go into the small Nepali cafés and try to have conversations with people; if nothing else, it gives them a good laugh =) My friend really helped me to remember why I’m here. She also reminded me that all of these businessie things I’m doing are still ministry and still help the girls. I thank God for her, her wisdom, and her precious, precious friendship to me. At this point in the summer, she is exactly what I needed. Sometimes you just need your best friend.

There have been several good things this week, I promise! I got to help the girls at the shop prepare lunch almost every day. I impressed them with the one Nepali food I know how to make that they didn’t know how to make (quite a surprise for all of us, haha!). It’s like flat corn bread that you make in a skillet. I have no idea what the name of it is; I just watched the shop owner make it my first week here and copied what she did. Other times, we just laughed at how I tried to cut tiny little onions with gigantic knives because that’s all we have in the kitchen. Needless to say, those times were really wonderful bonding moments for me and the girls. Those were probably my favorite parts of each day.

I also got to spend a lot of time with the overseer. We finished one of the biggest projects they wanted to finish while I’m here this summer:  organize and record all of the receipts. Neither of us are particularly fond of math, so it was a long week for both of us. We are so glad to have that done and that’s one less thing the owner has to worry about when she gets back from the village. We still have a few kinks to work out with the budget, but that will get easier as we keep better track of how they spend their finances.

Saturday was a breath of fresh air. I decided to go to the church I went to last week. I wasn’t exactly sure how to get there, but that made it kind of exciting. I took a taxi to the intersection. This taxi driver is wonderful. I’ve used his taxi several times because he is genuinely kind. Many taxi drivers try to charge you high prices just to see how much they can get. This man always gives a fair price and does everything in his power to make sure I arrive there safely. He also takes the fastest route instead of driving around just to drive up the price. Even when I don’t need a taxi ride, he smiles at me whenever he sees me and asks me how my day is. As I’m learning more Nepali, I’m excited to learn more about him.

After I got out at the intersection, I couldn’t quite remember the path I took last week to get to the church. I turned down one street that looked familiar and started walking. At this point, I do know enough Nepali to ask for directions if I need them. I didn’t need too; it turns out I picked the right street =) As I got closer to the church, I heard something that I haven’t heard in ages:  the sound of someone calling my name, my American name, from a distance. I love my Nepali name, but there’s just something wonderful and homelike about someone calling your name. I looked up to see friends my McAfee friend introduced me to last week running up to greet me. Then, they each gave me a hug. One of my primary love languages is physical touch, especially through hugs. I did not realize how much I’ve missed hugs this week. That few seconds of calling my name and giving me a hug did wonders for my heart. They said they were happily surprised to see me. We spent some time catching up and then went into the service.

After the service, they invited me to stay for the youth group (youth is relative; there were several people my age and a little older as well as teenagers). They asked me to share a message from scripture (which is pretty common over here). I gave an impromptu lesson on the fruit of the Spirit; it’s something that’s been heavy on my heart and the team-building focus I’m using with the girls at the salon this summer. After that, we did something I’ve never done before. We walked through Kathmandu and gave people tracks. I’m sure we looked like quite a sight:  a group of local people and one foreigner who knows next to no Nepali. It was really fun. I got to know several of the people better and got to talk with some of the people I gave tracks too. After about an hour or so, we went back to the church and had lunch, which consisted of biscuits (cookies) and sprite. We laughed at some of the funny antics of one of the guys and we asked each other questions about family, work, and the like. It was so much fun; they really welcomed me in like one of their own. I made plans for Monday to see an organization that one of them runs to increase literacy and provide books to impoverished parts of Nepal, and I’m supposed to have dinner with her family sometime soon. It was just so nice to have community when I’ve felt so isolated the past couple of days. I am excited to get to know them better.

Sunday, I went to a foreigner church. In many ways, it reminded me of BCM at Carson-Newman and my church back in Tennessee. We were in the gym of a school with lawn chairs set up. They also had an electric keyboard, a drum set, an acoustic guitar, and a bass guitar. There was every kind of foreigner imaginable:  American, Russian, Chinese, African, British, Scottish, and even some local Nepali people. The service was in English. It was nice to be in a church that I did not have to struggle to understand the message or the lyrics of the song. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Nepali church I’ve been going to; I just don’t know enough Nepali yet to understand most of what’s going on.

Monday was absolutely wonderful. I met up with one of my friends from church to see an organization that she and some of her classmates started. It was originally just a project for their social work program at the university, but, moved by the great need in their country, they decided to make it an official organization. It’s called Quality Education Nepal (QEN) and their goal is to improve education in some of the most rural parts of Nepal. One of their biggest projects is collecting educational books to improve libraries in schools and in communities. Right now, they are working with an extremely poor school that meets in a one-room community center. The need in this particular community is very great; my friend explained to me that the teenagers cannot read English or Nepali and most of them cannot identify colors by name. We spent several hours making educational posters to help the students learn to identify shapes, colors, days of the week, and such. If you are interested in learning more or about how you can help, please contact me via Facebook or by email (krfreels73@gmail.com).

After we made several posters, the volunteers and trainees went home and my friend and one of her coworkers invited me to go to Bhatipur with them. I’ve been in Nepal for three weeks now, and they were surprised at how little I’ve seen outside of my neighborhood and the surrounding streets. Bhatipur is one of the old kingdoms in Kathmandu Valley. We met up with some of their friends and started to explore. Bhatipur has worked hard to maintain its cultural identity. The old buildings are still there and still in use. They took me to see one of the old palaces of a former king, a nearby temple, and some of their favorite cites in Bhatipur. They also had me try curd (yogurt) because Bhatipur is known all over the world for its curd; it was mito cha (delicious)! We then went to one of their favorite places:  a pond to feed fish. It was so nice to just sit and laugh with some people and enjoy the company. It was also nice to be somewhere quiet. At the pond, we did not hear the constant sound of car horns and busses driving by. We just heard the splash of water and the cries of birds. It was such a nice afternoon. They want to show me more of their lovely country, so we are making plans to go to the foothills after church on Saturday. I am so excited to see more of Nepal and to see more of what this church community looks like.

So, this week started out hard, but got better. I am glad to be making friends and to have a church community I enjoy. I am also thankful for the hard things of this week; office work is not the first thing I think of when I think of ministry, but I am learning that it is important and necessary.