Rhinos, Crocs, Nuns...oh my!

We left the Nepal that we had expected, and arrived in a Nepal that we didn't know existed. It all happened last weekend, in a place known as Chitwan National Park. This National Park is located in the region known as the "Terai"...basically - the lowlands of Nepal. Yes. Low-lands. So there we were...in Nepal, with no mountains in sight, and all sorts of animals that you might expect to see in "the Jungle Book"...in fact that's exactly the sort of place we were. We even thought we saw Mogli and Baloo at one point. Well, not really. I really wish the picture uploader was working right now, because I've decided that telling you all about being a few feet away from wild rhino's, crocadiles, deer, peacocks etc., and riding on the back of an elephant through the jungle, is less cool than showing you the pictures. But I suppose you'll have to wait. I don't think I need to say that we had a really incredible weekend in the Nepalese jungle, and that seeing Remy get elephant snot all over his shirt was hilarious...but I'll say it anyway.

Along with bumping into some interesting animals, I've decided to take some time to tell you of some interesting people. Sister Barbera, Sister Andre, Sister Evangela and Sister Miriam, are 4 of the coolest Nuns you will ever meet. Now I know there are some cool Nuns out there (Momma T, Dorothy Day etc.), but these ones are worth meeting. Earlier this week, the volunteers that are in Bandipur at the moment (Joli, Remy, Tim, and a new volunteer named Zanna) got to have lunch with 3 of the Nuns that started "Notre Dame School" in Bandipur (Sister Miriam couldn't make it). It was the highlight of my week.
Sister Evangela came to Nepal over 20 years ago (from her home country of Japan) to a no-name, ghost village known as Bandipur. At that time Bandipur was filled with only the poorest of the poor, had no phones, no electricity, and barely enough food being farmed to live on. Sister Evangela decided to come and start a school, because the people here had nothing. And she stuck it out. I wish everyone reading this had been able to be at that lunch with the Nuns. I wish you could all hear all their incredible stories of joy in hardship, see the twinkle in each of their eyes, and feel the love that seems to ooze from their pores. They are incredible people. Over the 23 years the school has now been running, various Nuns from Japan have helped in its growth, however it has been the faithfulness of these 4 Sisters that have sustained it, and have allowed for all castes to be in school together (drinking from the same fountains, and eating from the same cafeteria!), and for hundreds of impoverished people to have graduated with education, hope, and opportunity they could only dream of before. Miriam and Evangela are two Japanese Sisters, and Andre and Barbera are two American Sisters (known as "sisters squared" because they are also biological sisters)that worked in Japan for many years, before joining Evangela in her work in Nepal. They have stories of being malnourished, living in huts with bed bugs and rats, and having days when they didn't have the strength to stand and walk to school simply because they hadn't been able to get enough food to eat. And when Joli asked "so how much longer do you plan on staying in Nepal?", they just laughed and then Sister Andre simply said: "Well...I guess until we can't teach anymore." They have taught me a lot about faithfulness, joy and simply about being young at heart.

As for my news, I'm planning on starting a sweet band known as "Class 3, feat. Dipak". I've started bringing the guitar to class and singing more songs with them, and they are actually great singers! They've been really fun, and I'm really gonna miss them. It's crazy because this coming week might be our last one in Bandipur!

I hope everyone is well back home, and a big high five to anyone still reading these updates. My apologies once again for the lack of pictures. Also, Kelsey - happy 20th birthday in a few days!
Peace.