Going Home to Nepal

Today our hosts Ram Mohan and Puspa drove us to my first home in our Tharu village here, Devoli. To most of the world, a blip of ramshackle houses you'd miss in a blink. We arrived at Niru's house, where she grabbed me and pulled me inside where we sat inside awhile drinking chai. She brought out the old Gospel of Mark my dad worked on and another book that may have been a contextualized version of Pilgrim's Progress. A lot of talk about our time there and how the old ladies of the village were excited to see me as they used to carry me around like any old Tharu baby. It was a bit emotional thinking of that. We didn't get inside the house but this picture with Niru shows the backside of it.  We had been planning a jungle safari and the time was getting on, so they all ended up coming along. The safari jeep picked us all up and went back for the guide It was truly amazing and one of those experiences I store up to be in a jeep traveling through a ...

Today was the Big Ceremony, the reason we came to Nepal. The day started at 5, getting up for the trip to Chitwan. (Well, I was up and down so I was already awake). Manaj drive once again and Gopal came along with a Korean man doing the videography. We left at 6 and the road out of Kathmandu was non-stop potholes combined with zooming in and out of traffic for a couple of hours. Even so, there was something quite soothing about it. Being on the road in another country is one of my content places. The air, the smells, the noise, the color of the morning sky. After a few hours we stopped for breakfast at a nice outdoor place (yay, coffee! And fried potatoes and parotha). We rolled up to Baratpur exactly when we were supposed to be there, which was technically late.  It wasn't long before the ceremony started. This was the dedication of the Chitwani Tharu New Testament. The work my parents started some 50 years ago when I was born here. The fancy banquet hall w...

We woke up at 3am. I stayed up a while messing around in my phone then read and dozed some more off and on. Jonathan didnt get back to sleep, saying he is always up that early anyway. As I write he is fast asleep at 6:30pm. It was a fun and very touristy day. We had the complimentary breakfast at our guesthouse in it's cute cafe  Gopal and Jeewan came around 11am and then Ganaj came with his car to drive us around. Gopal went back home and the four of us went to Monkey Temple. We got off at the top and walked all around taking in the temples and sites and of course the monkeys. I sat down to pose with one and the baby came down and put it's hand on my arm. I'm We walked down the mountain to leave, which wasn't quite as steep or long as I anticipated. Vendors lined the sides with jewelry and beads and metal bhuddas and other objects. From there we headed for the Royal Palace. This was quite educational and inter...

We woke from a pretty decent sleep (for me anyway, Jonathan has a headache) after 11am. Gopal was messaging about getting us for lunch. We threw some clothes on and found him downstairs having a coffee and waiting. He drove us to his home where Sheila and her sister and a young man Jiwon had prepared an amazing meal of chicken curry, lamb curry, cucumber salad and beans and carrots.  We really enjoyed the time visiting with them. I had met Gopal and Sheila a few times when they'd been in Columbus but Jonathan never had. They had been introduced to our parents when they had been doing work with the Tharus. They are a lovely couple who spend all their time and personal resources previously on freeing slaves and currently on trafficking. A number of people like Gopal and Jiwon (who traveled 8 hours to be available to help us) are contributing so much to this trip. As are others on the next leg of the adventure. After we chatted some time, he drove us to the spot where I wa...

Our flight to Chicago was uneventful, except Jonathan got a little freaked out by having to take a bus across the tarmac to the international terminal. We got some tortas and got to our gate at just the right time to board for Doha. We ended up sitting next to a young Indian man going home to get married. Turns out though her family doesn't approve so they don't know about it. Drama!  The 12 hour flight went pretty well. We were fed meals twice and drink service several times. I watched a silly French movie called Three Days or something and later some episodes of Reacher. I dozed for a while a couple of times but no position was comfortable enough to really sleep. Jonathan seemed to sleep pretty well a couple of long stretches. Well, then arriving in Doha, the excitement began. We had one hour to make the connection to Kathmandu and we're in the back of a huge plane. Then we were walking literally miles following signs for "transfers" that didn't seem to get ...

We are sitting at John Glenn International Airport waiting to set off on a long journey. A homegoing of sorts. Back to the land of my birth, of my brother's first years. Where much of my parents' hearts remains. Nepal First though, there are a few hours of travel. To Chicago, then just 14 or so hours to Doha and on to Kathmandu. We were a few hours early, and we've each just brought a carry on sized bag. Fancy vending sandwiches and a shared can of beer later, we continue to wait.