Reflections at Half-way Point

Actually, I am more than half-way through my clinical rotation here in Nepal, and many of you have asked me what I like most about Nepal, what I miss most about home, what challenges I've faced, and what I’m learning. So I thought it was time to take a few minutes to reflect on my experience thus far. I’ll start with the easiest question:

What do I like most about Nepal?
The people, the culture, the food, the natural beauty. Nepali people are extremely friendly, hospitable and gracious. The women dress in the most colorful saris and khurtas, so walking down the street is a feast for the eyes! Then, no matter where I walk, children run after me shouting “Namaste! How are you? What is your name? Where you from?” Nepali culture is rich in little niceties – greeting people on the street with a slight bow and hands clasped together, always asking about friends and family, offering tea to visitors. Nepalis also love to share their food, no matter how humble. In fact, I have been surprised several times when one of the Nepali interns invites me to try a bite of whatever he or she is eating at tea, right off their plate (if my brothers-in-law are reading this, take note!). I know we do these things too, but it seems more significant when you are a stranger in a foreign land to be the recipient of these small blessings.

Nepali food is amazing – a blend of Indian and Chinese really. I already described some of it in a previous entry. At about 10:00 each morning, after morning rounds, the interns and doctors head to the hospital canteen for chiyaa (tea). The chiya is made with milk, spices and sugar, much like what we call chai back home. For Nepalis, this is their breakfast, and they eat any of a number of tasty treats with tea:

• samosas - fried, triangular shaped “hot pockets” filled with spicy potatoes and veggies
• parartha - a cross between a tortilla and a pancake, sometimes filled with spicy potato
• chole - something like a spicy chick pea stew
• aalu achar - potatoes with tangy cucumbers
• pakota - vegetable fritters
• and momos - steamed dumplings filled with meat or veggies

And the scenery – well, Tansen is absolutely beautiful. The hospital complex is up on hill overlooking a valley planted with rice paddies – very green and lush this time of the year. In the morning, the valley is usually filled with mist or clouds. So I look out my window and see the green hills around a carpet of white - wow! Behind the green hills around Tansen, on a clear day, you can sometimes see the majestic, jagged, snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. We are too far west to see Mount Everest, but some of the western peaks are nearly as tall. I’m told that any day now the weather will clear up and we will see the peaks every day. Can’t wait! I have enjoyed exploring the area on short and long walks. There are many trails and paths that lead to incredible vistas, forested hills and beautiful flowers.

What do I miss most from home? Not much really - Diet Coke, friends and family.

What are the biggest challenges?
Apart from the challenges I described in my previous post dealing with patients dying, I guess the biggest challenges are simply physical inconveniences – heat and humidity, travel and critters. Surprisingly, at 4000 feet above sea level, the weather has been much like Houston. The humidity plus strong sun light make for a rather uncomfortable stickiness most of the time. Fortunately, it does cool down at night, and I'm told that the cooler weather will arrive any day now.

Travel is always an adventure, as in any developing country. Buses only take off when they are over-full with people on the roof, in the aisle and hanging out the door. And they stop every two seconds to let someone on or off. The winding mountain roads are narrow with minimal shoulders, so passing other vehicles is frightening whether you are on the side looking straight down the steep cliff, or the side where your bus comes withing millimeters of the bus going hte other direction.

And then there are the bugs - little ones, big ones, biting ones, singing ones (cicadas). . . The ants are a constant, and not just in the kitchen - there is always a column of ants coming and going down my wall near the window. They clean up the dead bugs, crumbs, and other things I don’t even see, so I don't mind much, as long as they keep away from my bed. The spiders are my least favorites – big, long-legged, creepy looking spiders that come in the cracks of the windows or ceiling. I hate squishing them, but I just can’t bring myself to turn off the lights at night knowing there is a spider on the ceiling waiting to parachute down into my bed while I sleep. Oh, and last night, the guest house manager called me outside to see a snake he had killed right outside the guest house door (my room is right by the door). It looked like an innocent green grass snake to me, but I was told it was rather poisonous. Supposedly they don’t like to come inside – small consolation! I will definitely think twice before taking my laundry off the line at night, as the clothes lines are in a grassy area near the guest house.

What am I learning?
That is the most difficult question of all. I am not sure I can truly answer it now – it may take some time after I get back to Houston to discover the ways God has used my time and experiences here. I suppose I am learning about myself mainly. Am I willing and able to live and serve in a place like this? Could I ignore the inconveniences and discomforts for long-term? Would I be able to learn a new language and develop relationships with people from an entirely different culture? Would I be able to sustain my relationship with God? Would I find people to pray with and be accountable to?

The answer to all of these questions so far is YES. From past experience, though, I know that the first weeks in any new place are always fresh and exciting. It usually takes about six months for loneliness and homesickness to set in. So far, I haven’t really felt homesick or lonely, and I doubt I will get to that point before I leave. But even now I can see how God has provided encouragement, friendship, and even little tastes of home (movies, Skype video calls, even chocolate!). And I have “connected” with missionary doctors, Nepali interns, patients, and shopkeepers in the short time I have been here – perhaps not deeply, but enough to feel that I could build deeper relationships here if I had time. I do not know if I will come back to Nepal for short- or long-term work. I hope so. This time has certainly confirmed my desire to serve somewhere, somehow in a poor country like Nepal. I can see how God is using the missionary doctors here to further his kingdom, encourage the Nepali church, and share his love with people who are poor, sick and needy. And I know I want to be a part of something like this.