2 May 2012

I got up and we had power – hooray!  I – decided to make some Apple Bran muffins (turned out good) and then made some granola (it also turned out great – I cut back on the sugar in both recipes. I don’t know if the brown sugar just has a stronger flavor or if my taste buds are changing, but either way, they were great.) We don’t have many mornings when we have power, so I thought I’d better take advantage of it.

Then it was 8:30 AM. The power was supposed to be on till 9:00, so I hurried up and washed my hair. Just as I was finishing Gene came up and told me I was too late, the power had just gone off. Drat’s! I had hoped to use the hair dryer. The power has really been inconsistent. We hardly had power all day yesterday and hardly any today. It seems we have it during the night – but that doesn’t do us much good. I guess it does, it charges our battery so we can use the computers. And thank goodness for summertime and longer daylight hours. That helps!
 

This morning Laxmi went with us – we were going to catch a taxi and head down to SWC. We had just gotten outside the gate a bit and here comes a Holy Man. He is all dressed in his bright yellow/orange garb and is looking for money. I really wanted a picture as he had a big dark brown snake wrapped around his neck and the snakes head  was on his chest. It made me just a little uneasy. I wish I would have paid him to take his picture. It was a National Geographic moment.

We did get down to SWC to confirm the date of our PAC Meeting. That place was a zoo! There must have been something going on with the disabled because there were many of them there. We did go up to the Member Secretary’s Office and it was also very busy. Nepali culture is that you don’t really wait your turn (that’s one reason we take Laxmi) and she went right in and told them why we were there. They told for us to wait a few minutes. We did. We were about at the point where Gene feels we’ve waited long enough, when a gentleman comes out and say just a couple more minutes.

And it wasn’t too long and he came back and got us and took us into the Director’s Office. We were surprised at that. We didn’t dream we would actually get to met him (he’s a new guy on the block at SWC) We were impressed with him. He seems very nice. We did talk about the date for our PAC Meeting. They actually had us down for two different dates. It will be held on May 21^st. We will be so happy to get that over with.

After finishing there, we walked to Bimala’s and Laxmi and I both had haircuts. That might be my last one. We will see how it looks when it’s time to go home. We got a taxi and came home. The driver wanted to bring us right to our door. We usually get out at the little chowk not far from our house. The driver told Laxmi maybe we had trouble walking. She told him, ‘no, they climb mountains.’ He laughed – we laughed too, when she told us.

 

A man came around the neighborhood on his bicycle selling watermelon. I had told Laxmi to listen and I want to buy one. She came running in and we bought one. Oh, it tastes good and the price was pretty good. They were 30 rupees per kg. Notice his scales. . .

We ate dinner about 6:15 PM – Hooray the power came on.It was supposed to come on at 1:00. Not so. We were glad and wondered how long it would last. We just found out. It went off again at 7:10 PM. I won’t miss this part of being in Nepal.

1 May 2012

The power still hadn’t come on by the time we went to bed last night. I hadn’t really gotten to sleep and realized it was on, so Gene came down and plugged the computers back in. We were a little concerned about a power surge. I was glad that the fridge would be cold. I didn’t want to have to worry about that.

 

We walked over to the ATM and withdrew some money. The exchange rate is about at an all time high right now. That’s good for us. It’s been a nice day and good to get out, stretch our legs and get a little fresh air.

A popular site all over this big city - moving back walls.

Rakesh stopped by this afternoon to talk about the PAC Meeting. It’s good to have him on our ‘team’. We would be at a lost as exactly how to go about getting this all put together. There’s a lot of preparatory work. Latter Day Saint Charities is responsible for the meeting. We will hold it at the Ambassador Hotel where a meal will be served as part of the meeting. Our partners, meaning CHOICE Humanitarian, the Trust, and NRSD each play a big part as they have to report on what they have accomplished as far as the projects in the Project Agreement go. We do a Power Point Presentation (Gene is learning a LOT). Rakesh is a big help and we really appreciate it.  We will be glad when it’s done.

We haven’t had much power at all again today. And the internet has been hit and miss. It seems one minute we have it and then we don’t. I’m not sure what’s going on. . .

30 April 2012

It’s been a memorable day for us (and for Elder and Sister Deppong) When we checked the email first thing, there was a message from Pres. Jackson saying the Elder and Sister Deppong’s replacements had been called. Their names are Kent and Janet Mendenhall and they will enter the MTC on August 13^th.

I called Debbie, she hadn’t seen the email yet, but was excited and wanted me to read it to her. For some reason, when you hear your replacements are coming, you do feel that your mission is drawing to a close. We chuckled when Pres. Jackson told Mendenhall’s that Nepal was like being on sensory overload. Boy, is that the truth!

Mendenhall’s said there was limited  information in their packet and would appreciate any information he could give them. He told them to “contact the couples who are there right now.  They are both expert on living and surviving (and thriving) in Nepal.  They will be far superior to a pamphlet or instruction manual.” We are excited and anxious to talk to them.

It sounds like Mendenhall’s are excited (I remember that feeling) and can’t wait to start their ‘adventure’. And that’s a great way to describe serving here.

We taught English and had a good time again. In the second class we had two more new ladies. One is an older woman, probably about 50; it’s a little hard to tell. At the end of the class Gene said he thought she might struggle a little bit. We did some role playing today and it’s hard to get them to lighten up. They are always so serious. But we did laugh together and there a good feeling among us all.

Tut Tuk's are a popular mode of transportation - climb in the back.

At the end of the class period, one of the women was talking to Laxmi. I guess some of them are having a picnic and want to invite us. It is going to be on Saturday. Laxmi told her we would talk about it and get back to her on Thursday. Laxmi said we would have to go to church first. I’m glad she is the one that said that. I do think if its possible it would be another adventure. We will see what happens.

We had barely gotten in the door and Debbie called and asked if we would like to ‘celebrate’. We said sure. She asked if Caroline’s sounded good and we said ‘yes, we were ready to go’. Caroline’s is a French Restaurant and a nice place. They picked us up and we went to lunch. It was delightful – talking about their replacements coming, how to prepare for the new couples, and memories we would take home with us. It’s just been such a great experience. We have truly loved being here – even the hard times have been good for us.

Laxmi told me she would like to make pizza for dinner. I told her that would be great! About 515 she came in with a recipe for pizza crust and we looked it over and decided to mix it up as it needed to rise several times. We were without power till 7:00 so thought that would be about right. Then the plan was to watch a movie.

Seven o’clock came and still no power. Laxmi said she heard a tree had fallen on a power line and so we didn’t know when power would be restored. Laxmi always has a solution to everything. She divided the dough in four, rolled each one out, put one in a frying pan, cooked it just a bit, flipped it over and then put the toppings on, put the lid on and ‘baked’ the pizza. I have to say, it was the best pizza we’ve had. We invited Laxmi and Jessica and watched the movie, ‘Wild Hearts’ We did have a good night.