And at the End of the Day...

We volunteers have really taken to treating ourselves lately. I guess I should begin with Saturday. It was another trip to Bulbule to wash, only this time WE TOOK THE CAR!!!! I think it took three or four trips to get everybody there, but it cut down on time amazingly. And boy, if I thought it was exciting the day the car arrived, I don't even have a word for what it was like being in the car for the first time with a whole load of kids. They were all smiling and laughing and as soon as the Nepali music came through the speakers everyone was singing their little hearts out. I was overjoyed. The street here is only big enough for one car at a time to go by and fit completely on the road without have to go onto the dirt so every time another car or tractor or anything would be coming toward us we go "Scorpio versus Tractor!!!" and we all cheer for Scorpio. We were very lucky to have Scorpio that day because it started pouring as we were getting ready to return home so instead of walking 40 minutes in the rain we made a few car trips. So fortunate :)

When we got home Hannah and Lisa treated us to some delicious sandwiches with actual sliced bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cheese in a can! We also indulged in some Pringles and soda. So tasty. We finished our wonderful day with a crazy awesome dance party. The girls performed their dance to Jai Ho and they were SOOOOO cute!! They all wore their little Nepali suites and got all nervous. They did great...I felt like a proud mom hahaha

It was a good thing we danced so much on Saturday night because we totally out did ourselves the next day, 4th of July! Cristina, Lisa, and I went to the market after school to get supplies for banana pancakes. Because that is the American thing to do. Duh. On our way there we ran into a little boy from school who broke his arm so long ago and whose grandmother had made him a cast out of mud and sticks. When Frank first arrived here he examined the boy and found that his arm was healing improperly and he had nerve damage causing him to lose feeling in some of his fingers. Had the cast stayed on much longer his arm would have turned gangrene and it could have been really tragic. He was supposed to have surgery weeks ago, but the doctor had a death in the family and had to leave for two weeks. In the mean time, the poor kid has been walking around with his arm in a sling made from one of Cristina's bandanas, and he has very poor range of motion although luckily the feeling has returned to his fingers. Hopefully he will get the surgery to set his arm properly soon. So anyway, we ran into him walking home from school and he was all alone carrying his back pack that probably weighed half of what he does. Whenever the school kids see us in the market they get really excited and always come over to say hi. So when he did, it broke our hearts to see him trying to carry his bag with his broken arm, and Lisa walked him home. He walks so far to and from school every day by himself. Cristina and I stayed to get all our pancake ingredients. We went all around the market and still made it home before Lisa did. Please say a prayer that this little boy is able to get his surgery soon.

So we all knew that Lisa was wonderful and smart, but her banana pancake idea was just brilliant! We joked that if you had asked us last year what we would be doing for 4th of July this year, making banana pancakes with a mango reduction sauce outside in Nepal during monsoon would probably be the very last thing we would ever think of. But that's exactly what we were doing. They are almost finished building the new kitchen and dining area next to the house, so they've moved some burners in to start using them. Oh, there is also no light in this building yet. So there we were on this beautiful 4th of July in Nepal, Cristina stirring our freshly cut mangoes in some pineapple juice to make a yummy syrup. I was smushing up the bananas and adding them to the batter, and Hannah was the designated pancake fryer. Frank, as usual, was surrounded by a circle of little girls playing some game with him in the middle. Things were going well, and then......MONSOON!!!! It started totally down pouring and there was thunder and lightening directly overhead, and the five of us are outside in the not-quite-finished kitchen flipping our pancakes. It was marvelous. Oh and did I mention DELICIOUS?!?!?! So good. Take that hamburgers! We don't need you here! It was so hard to wait until all the pancakes were finished to start eating them. Finally, we made a run for it to the living room, protecting our precious pancakes with plates. Then we tasted the most glorious sweetness as we stuffed ourselves full. So what if the kids will forever think that 4th of July is an American celebration of pancakes! For us, it was. And it was great.

In other happy news, reading tuition after school is going so well! This is the extra help program for the kids who speak no English and have had little experience in school. Lisa started from the very basics with the sounds of each letter, and for a little while it was very frustrating watching the kids not understand. But it seems that a light bulb has gone off above each of their heads and they are really starting to get it! They get excited about learning new sounds and pronouncing and writing letters correctly. Lisa is using the Spalding Method which is really fantastic method of teaching English as a second language. I love going every day now. She’s in charge of the class, but I go to help make sure everyone is understanding and forming their letters correctly and paying attention. There are quite a few kids in the class, and a few of them really need extra attention. It makes me feel so good to see them catching on. Like really, really good. I’m so proud of them all. I have about 4 weeks left here, so I can’t wait to see where they will be at by then!

Three more days until our big show!!! This includes a puppet show, a runway show of drawings, Nepali songs, English songs, and a big dance number. It’s coming together nicely, so I hope it turns out as wonderful as I think it will. Cristina and Hannah have been working so hard!

That’s about all for now. It’s almost time for satsung. Oh, and I highly recommend that everyone has a breakfast for dinner night this week J

Peace, Love, and Pancakes