Namaste, Nepal!

No amount of words or collage of photos could do justice to the things Nepal has allowed us to experience over the last 2 weeks. As with our other destinations, we went in without expectations (or so we thought). Nonetheless, our (lack of) expectations were blasted to pieces.

It all started when we found out that the school in which we were going to teach had closed, and not yet reopened. Surprise #1. The new school will be opening in a district far from Kathmandu, but for now, no students. No teachers. Surprise #2.

A day after our arrival in Nepal, the 4 of us (we happily acquired Tristan on our way from India to Kathmandu) hopped into an expedition vehicle, completely oblivious to the adventure ahead. Our 6-hour journey turned into a 15-hour haul, after we spent 3 hours stuck in the mud, another 3 awaiting a vehicle fit for the treacherous roads ahead, and many more hours winding up said roads at less than 10 km/hr (a crawl, for those of you who aren't familiar with kilometers). When we finally arrived, the sun was long gone. We knew we had gained elevation and had left civilization far behind, but the rest would remain a mystery until the sun shed more light on our situation the next morning. We were warmly welcomed with flower necklaces to the bamboo structure we would call home for the next 2 weeks. We got ready for bed with headlamps on, since electricity was non-existent (Surprise #3).

As it turns out, we are in a village called Nalpang, which is tucked in the terraced mountainsides just in front of the snow-covered Annapurna range. Instead of serving as relief teachers, we are the school's first teachers with a class that has more than tripled in number since Day 1. The fact that our classroom is the great outdoors, and that we have students aged toddler to pre-teen, makes classroom management trying at times (to say the least). They are hungry to learn, though, and are more beautiful than words can describe, so that makes up for a lot.

When we're not teaching, we are tasting Nepali dishes made by our lovely hostess, the headmaster's wife; she has seemingly signed on to the mission to fatten the Americans. We have also explored some of the surrounding villages, which has allowed us to experience the incredibly generous and hospitable culture of Nepal. Since arriving, the house did get light, so we spend our evenings playing cards, reading, or listening to the drumming and singing of our jubilant housemates. We have learned the Nepali way of washing clothes, doing dishes, and scrubbing feet, thanks to our new, resourceful friends. And we have enjoyed the thunderstorms--more so when they're not leaking through our straw roof onto our beds, but that's another story.

It's crazy that we will soon be on to Country #5. We think it's safe to say our experiences here will be unmatched in the next 4 months of our adventure. And so we say farewell to Kit (and Nepal) and hello to Africa! "Boom," says Tristan.

Once upon a time we saw a beautiful Nepali boy with a basket on his back, carried by a strap on his forehead. A moment later he was kneeling before us revealing its contents: this little guy. Can you believe that?!

Our dear students, sitting in their half constructed bamboo classroom, singing about the joy in their hearts.

The incredible view we had the pleasure of waking up to for two weeks.

Three of the cutest and coolest siblings we got to spend our time with.

Bonus!



The view of Burari neighborhood from our roof at dusk.

 Thanks to our tech-saavy compadre, Kit, here are a few snapshots of our weeks in Delhi :)

Tea time with our 12 favorite kiddos.



Enjoying a relaxing afternoon at a local man's vacation property with the beauties that reside at the girls home.




A friendly match of cricket at the boys home.



The kids armed and ready for Holi, a spring festival celebrated with paint and water.



Behold, one of the seven wonders of the world: Taj Mahal, Agra.



Delhi Ho!

Turns out, time continues to fly. It seems like we were just blogging from Mumbai, but our 3 weeks and Delhi are nearing their end. Next stop: Nepal. Our days here have been filled with adorable children, especially the 12 we are staying with. We pass our time by teaching English, singing songs, drawing and coloring and helping our new friend Rupali with her kitchen duties. We have become a part of the family, and it will be strange to not be woken by little voices whispering "sister, brother" through the crack in the door each day. We have been guests at different homes for different occasions, and let me tell you, the hospitality of the Indian people is second to none--we have enjoyed more than our fair share of chai, roti and other cuisines native to this place.

In addition, we have been shown some of the iconic landmarks of India, including the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Rajghat (Gandhi's burial place), and India Gate (google at will for a virtual tour :)). We also shopped among the masses in the sprawling markets that Central Delhi is comprised of. We have donned the cultural dress and jewelry of Indian women with the help of 15 young girls and sweet Rupali (Kit has pictures if you would like to see when he gets back), and we have played match after never-ending match of cricket with 15 young boys. The last few days have been stiflingly hot, but we enjoy spending the mornings and evenings reading, playing games, skipping rope and people-watching from the rooftop terraces that are common to each building in this neighborhood of Delhi. We plan to cherish our last 48 hours here before saying goodbye to the dear friends and playmates we have made.

As we speak, Corie's brother is heading our way from California. We will meet at the airport in Delhi and fly to Nepal together for a few weeks of teaching  English at a primary school in Gorkha.

But wait! Before we sign out from Delhi, here are some morsels about our time here from the third muskateer, Kit: once upon a time there was a small man in a large country, but it was ok, because all of the people were small, too. My time here in Delhi has been great! It has been amazing spending time with the kids and seeing the joy in their lives.  The New Life Mercy home is doing great things with these kids and it has been a blessing to serve and get to know all of the people that we have met.  Due to the aformentioned exceedingly great hospitatlity our stomachs have been seemingly growing larger by the day. They just shovel food down and steal your plate to pile it up with more. I think that it's a game to see how much they can make us eat.  Taylor thinks they took a before picture of us and are now going to take an after picture to see if they succeeded. I hope not, although the food has been delicious and sometimes it burns my mouth off when I eat it. Well, that's about all for me from this leg. As they don't say here in India, "G'day mate!"

A Glimpse of Mumbai...



One of the places the bus stopped to teach and feed kidlets.



Some little cuties we found as we rounded up kids from the village for lunch.

The lovely people that comprise the Vision Rescue team. visionrescue.org.in

Despite my best efforts, these are the only pictures I could get to load presently.

Perhaps more will cooperate at a later time :)

Mum-bye! :)

Well, folks, we're in India. Plus, we adopted a new travel buddy: Kit!  We have been met with the most hospitable and kind people one could imagine. Our past week in Mumbai has been spent riding in Vision Rescue buses, which visit slum areas to bring education and food to hundreds of children. The kids here are gorgeous and brimming with joy. It's not hard to get a smile or giggle out of them, and their little selves have made our days so fulfilling here. The organization's staff is comprised of beautiful souls, who teach and love these kids on a daily basis, and they have made us feel right at home from the very start.

In between all the fun with the kids and staff, we have had some unique opportunities. Look for us in Race 2 (an upcoming Bollywood film); thanks to our white skin, we were asked to be extras! But don't get too excited--after 12 hours of filming, we are unsure as to whether we even made it into 1 second of the film. Also, our new friend and tour guide, Michelle, secured our spots on a tour of Dharavi (the biggest slum in India, second largest in Asia). While the tour revealed many harsh realities about living in such a place, it also focused on the community's productivity and resourcefulness. They literally recycle everything imaginable, making an income off of what the rest of the city considers garbage. So much to see and learn in this city, so little time.

We are off to New Delhi on Wednesday after a couple more days with Vision Rescue. Stay tuned for more on our Indian adventure...

See ya, Sydney. Hello, Mumbai!!

We are en route to India, but wanted to tell you about our delightful time in Sydney this past week.  Since the Singapore airport allots 12 minutes of internet, we will get right to the point.  Our Aussie experience was very well rounded, from the hilarious and hospitable family we stayed with (the Wangs), to the kangaroos and koalas we befriended. The world renowned beaches did not disappoint, so we soaked in our fair share of the golden sun and roaring ocean surf.  The cushion that we started our travels with is deflating quickly, and tomorrow morning we will find ourselves encountering the most culture shock yet.  As we speak, Kit is also on his way to meet us in Mumbai, where we will spend our days teaching and playing with some beautiful little souls from the streets of the city of 21 million and counting.  We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for health and relief from the 90 degrees plus humidty.  And as we've warned, from here on out our updates will likely be fewer and further between.  Hoping that this update finds you happy wherever you are; thanks for tagging along.

A Town Fit for Queens

the remarkables rising out of lake wakatipu

For those of you wondering whether or not we ever made it off of the buses, we did! And we are now readying to fly out of this BEAUTIFUL country tomorrow. 

Lucky for you, Taylor here is chomping at the bit to tell you all about our bus ride to Queenstown.  So here we go, directly from my fine friend's mouth straight to your screen: "It was nice.  The four-day journey through this country offered an abundance of beautious sites."  The important point that she is holding from you is that there really are more sheep here than you could ever dream.  It was stunning, though, in all seriousness, and we are now finishing our week at our final New Zealand destination: Queenstown. 

a genuine NZ sheep

corie, matt, patricia, denise, keith and taylor by the beach on the southern-most point of NZ

the view from the first row of our speedy jet boat

Our lovely hosts here have been better tour guides than we ever could have hoped for at an information station.  It has been a treat to sit in the backseat of their car, and be informed of the landmarks here, as nonstop beauty passes by our windows.  They have taken us from places of untouched wilderness to the southernmost tip of New Zealand (neighbors with Antarctica!), where the beaches offer lovely gemstones and flopping flounders (Taylor stepped on one, so this part is definitely true).  We went jet boating, walking, running, and swimming.  Plus we made friends with perhaps the friendliest Swiss couple you will ever meet (currently staying with our hosts as well).  All in all, this has caused time to fly at warp speed, and we cannot believe we're wrapping up our last day in our first fabulous destination!  We're off to Australia tomorrow morning, and will be spending the next week in Sydney.  Thank you, New Zealand, for surpassing all of our expectations (high as they were).  Goodbye from us here for the last time!