Finally There!

After a long car ride through the mountains, we finally arrived in Rupakot, the village in which we were staying in the Lamjung Valley, and were met by Nabaraj’s beautiful wife Shailee, who reminds me of my cousin Sterling.  She put bright red “tikas” on our foreheads, as Nabaraj, in his typical laughing voice, says “I have another surprise for you!”—A two month old baby girl, Jasmine.  Shailee, (say-lee), had gone to Pokhara three months earlier to deliver her baby, but had only returned home to the village one week before we arrived, with her cousin Bimala to help her with all of the added work.  Shailee is lucky that she was able to go to Pokhara to deliver her baby.  Most women who suffer from complications during pregnancy or delivery don’t have the money or the means to go to a “real” hospital.

As most of the village knew “The Am-ricans” were arriving, several villagers came to meet us before dinner.  The Nepali people are some of the kindest and most welcoming people I have ever met.  Each one bowed their heads, placing their hands in prayer-like fashion against their foreheads, saying “Namaste” in cheerful voices.

As the neighbors cleared out and the sun set, we sat down for dinner.  There is really only one dish that most Nepalis eat—daal bhat, or rice and lentils, which is served at 11am and 7pm.  So its daal bhatt twice a day, every day, for your meal. Thankfully, Shailee and Bimala are great cooks.  Planning is often done around daal bhat: “What time will we meet?” “We meet after daal bhat.”  I began referring to the meals as “daal bhat 1” and “daal bhat 2.”  The meal consists of rice, lentils,  and a few vegetables both pickled and curried. Meat is a luxury, and beef, in a predominantly Hindu culture, is unheard of.  After a long journey, we were tired and settled in to our room for the evening.

We discovered that following a storm, the power had been out for three days, and it didn’t look as if it would be coming back any time soon.  Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, and here in the valley, you see first hand what true poverty looks like.  Many people struggle to feed their families yet every person has a cell phone.