2/21/12
Hello friends and family!
I have been here in Dadeldhura since
Thursday afternoon and loving every cold minute of it!
Our trip was not exactly
uneventful... Julia and I left Kathmandu on the "deluxe" bus about
3:30 PM on Wednesday at the same time my parents were climbing aboard the
Korean jet headed for Seoul and then Dallas.
All went really well because K…. (The
maid of honor from the last wedding) was with us and as we arrived at the bus
depot, 2 of the leaders of our DDL church and a third man from our local
village met us and announced they were on our same bus! They helped us lug our
luggage across the depot to our designated vehicle and boost it up to the kailashi
(little conductor guy) up on top where it was duly arranged and covered with a
tarp. Then it turned out their seats were exactly opposite ours and one of them
switched with the passenger next to K… so she could sit next to someone she
knew and felt comfortable with.
This was the best bus ride I have
ever endured in Nepal! The seat actually reclined! I had good company, we felt
secure with the men we knew watching out for us, I had a huge warm shawl, and
we had the seats right behind the door so no one in front of us and could
stretch our legs over the metal partition between the door and our seats once
it turned dark! So it really was as comfortable as is possible. All went great
till about 2 AM when we were cruising along in the dark and suddenly everything
went totally pitch black and we screeched to a halt. Julia and I produced our
headlamps and book lights accordingly so the "powers that be" (again
little conductor guy aided by the driver who looked no more than 14!) could
diagnose the emergency... it seemed to be an electrical short that was remedied
with who knows what kind of tape with-in an hour! And away we went again! PTL!
We arrived at our destination in
Attarya about 9 AM with no further incidents and the 3 men (our posse) prodded
the bus driver to go slightly out of his way and deliver us to the parking area
for our next van that would take us up the hill. This was a huge boon as it
meant we didn't have to schlep all that heavy luggage several blocks!
The trip up the hill was ok for
me... I actually dozed a lot in the front seat squeezed in with the diver and 2
other men... but poor J…. in the bench seat behind me had a tiny old lady
refuse to sit on her seat and instead sat right on her feet the entire 4 hours
up the hill. This might, in and of its self, have been tolerable but she proceeded
to vomit CONTINUOUSLY! The whole 4 hours!!!! She insisted on lying on the
floor/Julia's feet, facing backwards and hardly tried to contain the bodily
fluids in her "poultain" (plastic bag). Actually she went through 20
poultains but one cannot ascertain if she really hit her target with any of
them! Not to get gross on you... but it went everywhere! Including in and all
over the poultain we had just housed our purchase of the biggest cauliflower we
could find in Attarya... a 4# doozie... but now ruined and irretrievable. Alas...No
hostess gift for S…..!
Poor Julia... the woman would NOT
listen to anything she said, and on top of that some man opposite Julia kept
smashing her knees ... like pushing them into her body. She has long legs anyway...
and even though R... (Our friend) tried to get him to stop; it fell on deaf
ears as well! So poor Julia had little recourse and has dubbed this the worst
Kia ride of her life! What a shame! (I let her go first in the shower... big of
me huh!)
We have both marveled at how good it
feels to be "home" in DDl though and like child birth are forgetting
the pains of travel and are eager to dive into ministry and all God has to
offer us here.
We have a few prayer requests:
We both really desire God to use us
here in big and small ways to impact this community for His glory!
Julia has had a potential job offer
present its self yesterday with some people she met at the bakery. Pray for
God's direction for her and that HE will open the right doors in His time! She
is seeking His direction for her future and would love for it to be in Nepal if
He should allow that!
The engineer I need to meet with to
begin the new paraplegic facility is in K-du and we learned today he will not
be returning here till next week! Delays Delays! Pray he will indeed show up
soon as so much hinges on him and his drawing up the plans and arranging for
the supplies/equipment and contractors.
Good news: Terry from Team is here
and we can discuss some of the details of the construction! He has been laying
new carpet in the new addition of the Church and just finished today, so now
the new section is ready for a dedication on Saturday followed by the wedding
of our music minister! He and his fiancé are both Nepali and with YWAM. He has
some interesting ideas that blend western concepts with Nepali culture! This
should be unique and fun!
Wedding plans are coming along and
today we got a lot of decorating details ironed out. Over 45 meters of purple
fabric are being purchased! Tomorrow afternoon a group of people are due to
come over and make 300 tiny boutonnieres out of white gauzy cloth! My house
will become a craft center!
It is exciting to see the bakery
going so well. She (S…. ) has had a couple very slow, cold months but now a lot
of Bideshis (foreigners) are in town again and her bakery is full every day at
lunch for her "soup of the day" specials and her evenings are busy
making pizza. Today J…. asked her if she was ok as they both looked over the
full house and she got tears in her eyes and answered " this is always how
I imagined it would be!"
Tomorrow I have plans to go visit
the 2 paraplegic girls... they have hope now and are reportedly very encouraged
to think they might soon have a new house to call their own!
Well I have just filled our hot
water bottles so I’m going to turn in... they are the only thing that makes
these cold nights tolerable! The days are sunny and gorgeous with spectacular
views of mount Api and the snow packed ranges of the Himalayas! I have sat out
in the sun a few hours each day knitting a sweater I started 3 years ago! I am
also teaching a young man (12) how to crochet. He has had 3 days off school!
But back tomorrow!
Pray I really will get internet connection
to my apartment today and get this sent!
You will be the first to know!
Tootles!
Dawn Didi
PS. Paid the internet bill... got
the rep to come hook it up so I now have Ethernet cable capabilities but will
have to wait for D… to return from parts unknown in a few weeks to re-establish
the wifi part! At least I can communicate with you again! PTL! Blessings!
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