THE SWING OF THINGS

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

At the House, at 7:00 PM

This week I have been trying hard to catch up on school work I missed while on Everest. I found a cafe with WiFi about 15 minutes walking distance from here and that will definitely help with getting school work sent.

I miss the old house with its cleaner bathrooms, better views, bigger rooms and more privacy. This new house is definitely better in it's proximity to everything though. The main office, the Women's Center, the grocery store, and the cafe are all closer now, as is every other necessary business. The Balku House (the Prayer House) is still about a half hour by bus but luckily I have the cafe now (although I will have to buy something every time I'm there, and the internet isn't 100 percent reliable even there!).

I have also been spending a few hours each day this week helping to teach English to some of the students at the Women's Center. This is where the women at risk come to learn and acquire new skills that will help them get better jobs. I have been using Roshan as an aid and translator help, and as usual he is very helpful. I have enjoyed these days teaching English. My two students have been older women, one who is Sherpa. I was surprised that some of the students here would be older than 35. One is 46 and the other is 50. Apparently they are now taking advantage of educational opportunities now that they weren't allowed to when they were younger. I applaud them for this. They are good students and are eager to learn. My teaching days back home have helped me adjust quickly here. Over the next few days I will begin to talk to them a little about my work in putting together forms for Agape. Brian wants a basic rough draft by early next week.

Last night I went to Roshan's pastor's house for dinner. This house (which is a meager lower level apartment with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a meeting room that serves as the sanctuary) is the same place I preached at a few weeks back. The pastor's wife prepared some daal bhat that was extra tasty and there was some good chicken meat too, which I think is hard to come by. One of his teenage daughters (Roshan's “sister”) played guitar and sang a worship song. I played a little too, while the talented pastor played along on his Nepali flute. The whole evening was charming and I quickly found that family to be filled with exceptionally friendly and genuine people. The whole place seemed to be drenched in God's love, and I'm not trying to be sappy here. There was clearly something unique about that family.

Of course not every experience is as pleasing as last night's dinner. Something I have struggled with here is the lack of organization. I've found that sometimes (or...most of the time?) this is how things are run in the developing world. Usually I would see myself as thriving in moments like these, but the lack of structure and organization has me grasping for straws. At home all I would do is attach myself to a particular way of structuring things that was already set up. Here I find myself having to organize organization! For as discombobulated as things can be back in the States, an American voice is whispering in my ear that it is grateful for the organization we have back in the US. I suppose this is a big part of development – just getting things put together on the ground.

I definitely wish things were more put together for me, and that my purpose was more solidified. It's like I am having to find new reasons every day to bring purpose. Sometimes it doesn't seem like much at all. Sometimes it has more to do with community than it does with any particular assignment I have to complete. Today, for instance, I spent the better part of an hour talking with the pregnant mother and helped to watch her 6 year old child and another little 2 ½ year old. The 2 ½ year old is living here with her mother. Her father left just after she was born. This particular baby – I'll call her Sanisha – has an innate sense that draws her to the males in the community. Today, she wouldn't let any of the female adults feed her spoonfuls of rice. She called out “Jake Uncle!” and I was the only one who she would allow to feed her. She of course is adorable, and I am finding myself in a questionable spot. I don't want to get too close to her because I will be leaving in a little over a month, another male figure come and gone from her life. I don't mind the kids though, or the community here, except when I realize that I am falling behind in my dreaded school work and that I'd better go do something more important, like finish an assignment.

Truth is I'd rather not write one more paper. I'd rather spend the next month allowing myself to be absorbed into the community as much as possible without having to worry about another reading assignment or test. I'd rather spend my time just teaching adults English, and hanging with Roshan and the guys, listening to their stories, and playing with the children and helping to feed Sanisha. That's not how things work though. I need to stay stuck in my room on my computer instead. Please forgive my venting, but it's a little hard to balance living in community, while completing a degree, while doing a development project, while missing home all at once.