माय फर्स्ट वीक ऑफ़ सेरविसे

Namaste!

This week has been a big change in my Nepali life. I finished language lessons this past Monday (but still have soooo much to learn!) and started to work/serve full-time at Elim’s Kids Academy this past Tuesday.

I showed up to Elim’s at 9 am on Tuesday morning. They have a staff devotion for 20-30 min in the morning and then start classes after the ringing bell at 9:30 am. I walked into the small kitchen/cafeteria on the 3^rd floor at 8:55 am with no one else there. I waited and waited and finally people showed up (right on time!... Nepali time that is). We usually sing a few songs… “This is the Day” (or should I say “Thees ees tha Day”) is very popular at the school, as is “Lord I Lift Your Name On High”. Then a teacher will share a morning devotion. It’s a nice start to the day. I looked at the devotion list and turns out I was signed up for Thursday! Well alright, I guess a 2 days notice is better than 10 second notice! So yesterday I shared my devotion with the staff. I talked about how I came to Nepal and a lesson that God taught me along the way: true trust in the Lord means not fearing what is to come… because God is already there and will give you the strength for His calling.

I was originally expected to help out with some classes in the morning, but it turned that the principal wanted me to go to a peace presentation instead. So much for being in school on my first day! But it was kind of fun to get out and see another program. She said she wanted to introduce us to the Nepal Peace program biggies because she’s hoping I’ll be working more with them this year. It was great to see so many Nepali schools learning about peace, especially with the state that the government is in right now.

We eventually made it back to the school. We were heading up for lunch when one of the teacher’s grabbed Rita. She told me that one of the classes needed me to teach them after lunch. You see, their teacher is pregnant and was feeling sick so she didn’t come in today. But schools here don’t have substitute teachers… so when a teacher doesn’t come in but the kids still do, you have a class under no one’s control… they just get passed around from one available teacher to another. Alright, so I was going to teach the UKG class, having NO idea what I was even going to be teaching them! After I went down to teach them, I discovered the different meanings behind,

“You are going to teach the class.”

An American might interpret it,

“You will be standing in front of a large group of students while teaching them academic material… Here’s the material to prep.”

A Nepali might interpret it,

“Just go watch the kids and make sure they don’t run wild or hit each other too much. Do whatever you want with them. If they want to play outside, that’s fine. I’m not sure how long you’ll be teaching them. They’re kids, so if you need to leave they can watch themselves.”

After “teaching the class” I got into more administrative work and am now in charge of a fairly large project. Examinations start next week. The students will have one subject per day for 8 days. I am officially in charge of all the examinations for 13 grades… typing some of them, receiving them, organizing them ALL, cutting them smaller (with an exacto knife; no paper cutters here!), making sure there are enough tests for the right classes, and dispursing them everyday during exams. It’s an entirely new proces for me because Nepali schools are run just SO differently than those in the U.S. AND I’ve only been here for a few days so I’m trying to understand this different school structure (or lack there of), and yet I’m in charge of this project? Okey dokey. It actually doesn’t seem too bad once I’ve gotten used to it, it just takes a long time. I still am not exactly sure how exams are run, let alone me running the exams. I have my own office now. It used to be left unlocked but now it’s on high lock-down because all the tests are being stored in it and all the students would LOVE to get a glimpse of their tests! I’ve also been given a ten min notice a few times that I will be teaching a class! Oh boy! I go into that class not knowing what grade it will be, what subject, what they are doing/learning/taking a test/studying/doing nothing, and just have to figure out on the spot what to do with them!

I also will be the worship leader at Elim’s English service this Saturday. This is exciting yet nerve-racking. But ever since my 2^nd week here and reading the book Dad gave me for Christmas last year called, “Fear not tomorrow, God is already there” I’ve had this peace about all my nerves. I feel so unqualified, uncapable, and nervous about so many things… but I’ve learned to just grab on to God’s strength. If God brought me here, then God had hopes for His work being done here through me. So whatever work God is bringing me to, I CAN do through God’s strength.

Nepal has been teaching me to be flexibile. What you think you are going to do, will quite possibly not happen. So Nepal puts a positive name to this quality and calls it “flexibility.” However Westerners look at it and call it “lack of structure.” So it’s been interesting adapting to the “flexibility” here. I actually consider myself a fairly flexibile person, but it’s definitely been tested here. I am trying to let Nepal become “home”, which requires needing to be able to know what I’m going to be doing so I can mentally prepare myself for it. But that ain’t happenin’! Going into my first day at Elim’s, I had NO idea what I’d be doing… Teaching 5 classes? Babysitting little kids? Cutting papers? The mental prep is slightly different from cutting papers to teaching a class!

Basketball has been such a blessing. Would you have expected me to say that 2 months ago?? Haha. But it’s the time of the day to just have fun with friends, laugh a lot, run around, and enjoy ourselves with other young adults. And my young adult Somalian students, I just love them. They are just SUCH a joy to me. The only time they’re not is when they show up late to class… which, is actually everyday. Usually it’s only 15 min though, but sometimes its 30 min or just never. But other than that… they have such wonderful spirits! And it’s just sooo soo interesting talking to them about their refugee life. I will blog about that sometime I’m sure.

Ants are EVERYWHERE. I yet to find a place to hide my toothbrush from those dang ants. Brushing your teeth just isn’t as appetizing knowing that minutes before you were wiping away ants from their happy new home which happens to be what’s now “cleaning” your mouth.

Quite a few people back home have asked me how they can help. There are so many ways! So I will be putting something together to let people know how they can help and how to go about it. There’s quite a few different areas around the school that money, supplies, etc. can go to, but I’m trying to figure out the best way of getting that money. I don’t trust sending checks through the Nepali mail system. So once I figure more out, I’ll be putting something together and ya’ll can pass that on as well.

Well, thanks for tuning in all the way through! It’s been awhile since I blogged because I now have much less internet access. But please still keep in touch! I look forward to sharing more and more of this life with you! Thank you all :)