Water Balloon War

Last week I saw my first festival in Nepal and got a bit of a “holi” surprise.

Hindus celebate Holi Festival in the spring of every year. The festival’s roots are religious (I’ll let you google it), but today the actual celebration involves any kid or adult who wants to wage war for a week with water, paint, and balloons. Yes, you read that right. Water balloons! If you “play” holi, this means you set up camp on your rooftop, balcony, or street and declare war on your neighbors, friends, or any unsuspecting foreigner who happens to pass by.

So what did this mean for me? Well, last week I was pretty vigilant about taking note of my surroundings! I figured a water balloon couldn’t do too much damage, right? But then I kept hearing about the dyed powder. Some water balloons were packed with color, and the powder wouldn’t be too forgiving. So I walked through the narrower alleys with a bit of a head tick that week, looking over my shoulder for any little missiles headed my way! In the end I had 3 or 4 close calls but no major collisions—until the Holi day (Saturday) hit.

On Holi day most people stay inside unless they want to come out and “play.” I stayed inside most of the day watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy with friends but toward 2 p.m. got an itch to go out and see what this festival was all about. So I and two friends hopped in a taxi and drove around Kathmandu’s tourist district and started taking pictures of all the fun. We saw paint and water everywhere. Some were laughing, some dancing, and some obviously looking for their next battle to wage. Yes, the party had begun.

 

Yes, we got hit!

The three of us were quite content to sit inside the taxi and take in the fun behind glass windows, but my mistake came when I rolled down my window for a shot of some colorfully painted faces and POOF! I got two shots of red powder back in my face. What a surprise! If you get 10 points for hitting a Nepali, I think it’s about 50 points for an unsuspecting foreigner. My friend told me later she thought I was very “brave” to roll down my window all the way. Nice, I thought ... If naivety is similar to bravery then I must be very, very brave. (-:

See the powder ready in their hands?

my name Jessica is.

Friends, I am finally here. After a (beautiful) detour in Africa, I arrived safely in Nepal last week and have spent the last week getting to know the city, the people, the food, and you guessed it—the language. I am on Day 3 of Nepali language learning and have gotten a healthy dose of language overload already. I am ready to ask all my students back home, Is this what your brain feels like every day?

Anyone who has learned a new language will tell you that laughter is pretty much a necessity in language class. I had a good laugh yesterday as we neared the end of Day 2 of language learning. We were working on some new words and I was still trying to comprehend the syntax (word order) while remembering the word meanings when my teacher Chalita asked me a question. I don't remember the question but I'm quite sure it was a simple one. Unfortunately, though, my brain had already shut down. I was at a point where I was visibly confused and my response was a classic blank stare. Try to picture the confusion and dismal composure at this point. I looked at her—and I had nothing.

Now Chalita is a good teacher. She is challenging yet patient and encouraging. She looked at me and quite sweetly asked in Nepali, What is your name? Ah, relief. Now this was one question I could answer! I felt humbled ... a bit like a victim of amnesia with a psychiatrist probing my memory to see if I could answer the simplest of questions. What is your name? I laughed. She laughed. And my confidence grew as I answered. mero naam Jessica ho. Yes. My name Jessica is. This I know.


Stepping into a new land feels a bit like language learning sometimes. It's one step at a time, and it's humbling to be in a position where I don't know the ins and outs of everyday life. I'm learning it's OK to ask questions, OK to be uncertain about tomorrow, and OK to rely on many people to help me every day. I am sure there will be many more laughs to come, especially in language learning. In the meantime, I'll stick with what I know and rely on God's grace to keep teaching me and humbling me with each new day.

Verse of the day: In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Hakuna Matata

Well, it's mid-afternoon and a beautiful 85 degrees in Kenya. I feel like saying hakuna matata. No worries. Love the weather here and have been having a wonderful time catching up with my college friends Heather and Jason. Jason works as a surgeon at Tenwek Hospital here 150 miles outside Nairobi. You can check out their blog at mccropders.blogspot.com.

I have to say ... Kenya is beautiful. My first two days were spent site seeing. We saw a baby elephant orphanage, a giraffe park, and Crescent Island. Crescent Island is a 400-acre piece of land used 25 years ago to film Out of Africa. Animals were brought in for the film and never left, making it a great tourist spot. We took a boat out to the island and then walked around looking for animals. Here are a few highlights from the sites:

Wildebeest below an Acacia tree

"Baby" elephant (about a year old)

The best part about Crescent Island was an unexpected gift. While we were walking across the island our guide Bernard spotted something. He called to us, "Come quickly!" We didn't exactly know what were were running toward but hurried down the hill to see. Bernard had just seen a baby giraffe being born. We arrived about 30 seconds later to see the baby on the ground, fluids still covering him. Bernard told us it was quite unusual to see a giraffe being born because births usually happen at night. Amazing. It wasn't long before the baby started lifting his head and trying to walk. We waited for 30-40 minutes to see him take his first steps, thinking out loud that it takes our babies a year to start walking. It attempted several times to get up but our boat actually arrived before we could see the climax. Below are some photos of the mother and newborn:

And a video of one of the baby's attempts to get up!

Hakuna matata. I am sure he was up in no time.

Pineapple on a Stick?

 Fresh fruit is quite a treat here in Mozambique. Walking through the market, driving through the city, or driving along the highway fresh fruit is always around and ready for the eating! Today is my last day in Mozambique, so Dara, Nede, and I went into the city to get a pineapple treat. Mmmm.... pineapple on a stick! We picked up these little pineapples for a crazy 15 cents a piece. The vendor sliced off the rind and the end result? YUM!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

What I've learned in the last 3 weeks living with a five-year-old:

1) You never know what's going to happen next.

2) Kids have a lot more energy than I do!

Nede is the little girl Dara is taking care of, and she's full of spunk and joy. The other day I got out the grass mat to do some stretching at the end of the day and Nede decided it would be fun for her too. So she found the smaller grass mat and "monkey see, monkey do!" I am pretty sure it was her first time stretching (how much stretching does her body of endless energy need, anyway?). She did great.

I love the multi-tasking in the next photo. She's working on her abdominal stretch, holding a mango, AND getting a tongue stretch in as well! Note the beautiful pink princess dress she's wearing. This dress is one of her favorite play dresses that sometimes doubles as her "presentation" dress when visitors arrive! Pink is a daily theme. (-:

Monkey loves climbing trees too!

Playful and adorable. (-: