Praise God for delivering us safely from Tansen to Kathmandu! The Saturday before we left Tansen, brought a new Prime Minister into office and a peaceful agreement by all parties to extend the Constitution deadline for yet another 3 months. It was good news for us as it cancelled all "bandhs" that would have kept us off the roads for three days thus possibly being stranded in various parts of the country as we made our way back to Kathmandu. By God's grace, in spite of all our contingency plans, we were able to leave Tansen as originally planned, and arrived here with no incident!
It's a strange feeling living in a modified "Western World" again. Television, multi-lane roads, western toilets in restaurants, restaurants of any ethnic cuisine, name brand stores with Western prices, and movie theaters all keep our heads spinning as we wander the streets of Thamel and Durbar Marg. We actually escaped to the Garden of Dreams this morning (thanks for the awesome tip, Rachel!) just to get a break from the chaos of the big city. We also enjoyed an afternoon at Bodhnath (one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist Stupas in the country) yesterday. Even though it was quite busy with people, no cars are allowed in the area, and the place seemed to instill a bit of calmness in everyone which was greatly appreciated by our frazzled nerves!
So we have two more days here in Nepal, and are doing our best to keep our eyes focused on things above and appreciate each experience as it comes. We trust in God's will and we know that He is using this time to help us grow and re-adjust to life in the developed world. We pray to bring home humble hearts full of patience and grace as we prepare for the transition home. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy food choices beyond daal bhaat, and look forward to some quality time on the beaches in Thailand! We look forward to seeing our family and friends back in LA in just over ONE WEEK!!!
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| some of our dear friends turned out to "wave us off" the morning we left Tansen left to right: Rachel (hospital director), Joan, Rebecca, Ganesh, and Lisbeth is behind him |
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| our last glimpse of Tansen-Palpa out the back window of the jeep |
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| you know you're in Kathmandu when you see monkeys running around overhead! after trying to cross the streets ourselves (a bit like the game Frogger), these monkeys are smarter than they look in taking the "overpass" option |
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| Wednesday was Teej, the Hindu Women's Festival the streets of Kathmandu were full of women dressed in their best red saris (red is the color Hindu brides wear at their weddings) |
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| a quiet afternoon at Bodhnath (in some comfortable shoes :) |
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