Nepal, again...

March 13, 2018

Dear Family & Friends,

[I am posting letters from our last trip last week.  The Blog was not working, along with e-mail problems on the trip, but here they are after we are home.]

We are on another one of our trips, this time back to Nepal.  We’ll be checking on a couple of old projects, 3 new ones, and some possible future projects, but that will begin tomorrow…

We had been in Arizona at our son Mike’s house for three important family activities--a grandson’s wedding, a gymnastics meet and their 8 year old’s baptism.  We drove out there on Wednesday and drove back on Saturday after the baptism.  We arrived late at night and were exhausted, but I managed to do a couple loads of wash before falling into bed.  It had been a very stressful drive home in the rain and then in the dark and the rain, so when we got home I was rather ‘undone’ (I was driving).  I was too exhausted to begin packing and preparing for our trip to the airport the next day and had planned earlier that I’d have time to go to church first…I didn’t finish getting ready till it was time to go, about 3 PM.  What was I thinking?

They had delayed our flight three times so we sat in the airport two more hours than we’d planned on, flying first to San Francisco.  Luckily we had a long layover there so the delayed flight was not a problem.  We were flying first on Delta, and then on an affiliate airline, China Southern, a 14 ½ hour jaunt to China.  There was another long layover for our next flight to Kathmandu, and the chairs were not conducive for sleeping, so again I was not sleeping enough on this trip.  This last flight was on time, but we couldn’t land till they had a spot for us—an added 45 minutes.

This is the first time we’ve flown China Southern.  The long flight in premium economy at first seemed pretty nice, but the space we actually had was not as good as other airlines we’ve flown.  I finally did sleep once for a couple of hours, which isn’t great considering it was such a long flight.  I did, though, catch up on seeing a few movies, which are fairly current.  I especially enjoyed ‘Wonder’ and ‘Breathe’—both heartwarming. I also watched the movie about Churchill, and enjoyed that because I am reading about him at the moment and it was a great movie.  One good thing about this airline is that they served us two huge meals--they had so many extra foods that I had to save some of it for later, packing it away in my backpack. 

We arrived and thankfully saw that our luggage did too.  We were extra worried because when we printed our boarding passes it claimed that we had to pick up our luggage in between certain flights, even though all the airline workers said that our bags were checked through.  I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled we are each time our luggage shows up—like the Alka Seltzer ad—“Oh what a relief it is!”

The Wilkinson’s were at the airport and greeted us as soon as we walked out.  It is always comforting to know your ride is there.  They welcomed us with the typical scarf that they hand out here in Nepal, and even gave us a little gift!  Then they took a picture of us!  She (Terry) is like me in that she takes a ton of pictures.  We normally stay in a hotel, but they graciously offered to put us up at the house that they are renting.  They were even more generous to give us their bed instead of the one in their extra bedroom/office, which is rather piled up with files and such.  They said that this way they could work late and not keep us up too, so we have a lovely, nice bedroom with a very comfortable bed.  It is especially nice staying at their house because we actually won’t be in Kathmandu very much.  A hotel here would be a great waste of money.  We’ll be spending most of our nights in hotels during our travels.  So, it will be my dreaded ‘living out of a suitcase’ week…

We found out one of the reasons the Wilkinson’s have been so busy.  Along with their normal activities, which are varied and time-consuming, the government has decided that one of the couples had to go to school to learn Nepali!!  Kenny has done this and has a good time visiting with the locals in his broken Nepali.  Now Terry has to do the same.  They go almost every day to school for 1½ hours and then the walk to and from adds more than another hour.  If they take a taxi, it takes longer because of the traffic.  I think they even have to take tests to pass!  And, have you ever seen Nepali writing?  What a challenge!!

This is the bedroom they gave us to use—theirs!  The bed is so comfortable!  I normally clean it up for a picture but left it this way to show my confusion and inability to get organized in my jetlag state, which seemed to be worse this time around; unfortunately I think I am getting a sore throat. 

As soon as we arrived and I could get to it, I was in the shower.  We visited and got hooked up to the Internet only to discover that my Outbox wouldn’t go, so who knows if I’ll be able to send letters or not; I hope so.  I can get mail in but not out. 

Kenney and Terry Wilkinson in their dining room; they feed us great food!  Yum!! They have a washing machine but not a dryer.  There is no heat or air conditioning so they bought little room heaters when it gets cold.  This trip it is cold at night here, but warms up as the day goes on.

I’m truly exhausted but hope to stay awake till bedtime so that I’ll learn to sleep in Nepal time. We have to be out of here at 7 AM for a day jaunt.  We are visiting Chilaunepani, which is a project that has gone on for years, but that’s another story.  Till tomorrow…

Love, Jim & Karen, Mom & Dad, E/S Greding

PS:  We are grateful to be safely here.  Jim read that yesterday a plane crash-landed here at this airport…we are truly blessed.

PSS: I awoke at 1:30 AM, after getting about 5 hours of sleep.  I was fretting about my Outlook not sending e-mail so worked on that till I gave up again!  Still nothing fixed!

Their office/bedroom, filled with files—you almost can’t see the bed…