Today we walked one and a half hours up a mountain to have fellowship with a small group of believers. Although it was overcast, it was one of the most humid days I remember this month.
The good news is we only took 2 “shortcuts” today, which in Nepal means a steeper, more narrow path up the mountain. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to develop a disdain for that word. If you are Nepali the shortcut truly is faster and isn’t a problem for you even in your flip flops. If you are Shelley, however, as Samuel our translator would say, “I think it makes small problem for you.” But we survive the shortcuts with no mishaps. Praise the Lord.
We arrive at our destination and pass the family's water buffalo. We then see them standing not to far ahead welcoming us with the Nepali version of Praise the Lord (Jemashi). We go inside and sit on the usual straw mats so that we don’t have to sit directly on the dirt floor. I notice their “cooking area” (which consists of a something like a fire pit made out of mounded clay) and a bed all in the same room we are now congregated in. This is pretty typical for any Nepali house that we visit.
For fellowship we sing several Nepali songs. “Danyabad Yesu” is one they have taught us the words to so we can sing along with them. Then we have a time of prayer, then preaching and one last prayer before we dismiss. As Courtney gave a sermon on the story of Esther, it began to poor down rain. I could feel the now cool air blowing in. I secretly dreaded the one and half hours walk back down in the rain, but I left it as a fleeting thought and continued on in fellowship with these people.
As the rain slowed down, we walked outside and much to our surprise noticed that we were now completely engulfed in a cloud. I won’t lie, it was sort of cool. We begin our descent down the mountain walking in the clouds! We stopped a quarter of the way down for snack, which consisted of “glucose biscuits”, one of our favorite cookies. I think to myself… "If God had told me a couple years ago that on this day I would be walking through the clouds after going to a Nepali fellowship in the middle of the Himalayas", I think I would have had a hard time believing it. But here I am- and there is no place I had rather be.
To top off the day, tonight during team time Samuel sent a note through his cousin Muna for me. It read: “Shelley, mom is going to make pickel. If you want to see then come fast, otherwise no problem. I think you understand.”
Well, I didn’t make it in time. I have been asking Samuel if I could watch his mom make pickle (aka really good salsa made with tomatoes, chiles, cilantro and I don’t know what else) for a couple days. Hopefully I will get another chance tomorrow. I did get to hang out in the kitchen with Samuel, pastor-brother, mom, grandpa, grandma, auntie, Dewaki, Muna and Babu as they finished preparing dinner. I enjoyed it so much. I have missed being in the kitchen cooking! While watching them cook, Muna taught me several Nepali words. So far I have learned tomato (goalvera), onion (paj), garlic (lassoon), cucumber (cackra), rice (bat), curry sauce (dahl), chip (paperd) and a few more that I can’t remember. I can’t believe we only have 3 more days here! I am finally feeling so at home, and now it’s almost time to move on. But I am excited about what awaits in Thailand nonetheless.
Ps… since typing this blog I did get to watch mom make pickle! So now I have the secret to bring back to America with me!
