Life is heating up!

Over this past week or so the weather has really started to heat up. Because of the increase in temperature, people have been running their air conditioners more and putting more stress on the electrical system, therefore we have had very poor electric coverage in our house...if that makes any sense! Also, our local neighborhood generator has broken down so in the midst of 110 degree heat (of which around 100 remains inside) we have been sweating it out with only about 14 hours of electricity a day. However, we are grateful that we have any at all! Not too many years ago people here only had a couple hours a day. So, we continue to praise God in the big and small things.

Other areas of life are also starting to pick up. Just this week Scott and I both started teaching English classes in partnership with a new university that is just getting up and running. This is another way for us to invest in the people and community that we have grown to love so much. It is a somewhat intensive course running 12 hours a week of class time plus our preparation. This is in addition to continuing to build the relationships around us, our family time and just getting anything done as part of our normal routine. So, we see some very busy times ahead of us and are enjoying getting into the thick of things post language study.

We also had a very crazy experience just last night. A trip to the emergency room! We have a woman from Nepal who helps us with child care and cleaning and she came down with a very nasty bacterial infection. I will spare you all of the gory details, but suffice it to say it was absolutely necessary for her to be checked into the hospital. After consulting with a doctor friend of ours we decided that last night the time had arrived to bring her in. So, both Scott and I, plus this woman and her friend loaded into our car about 9:00 at night. After meandering our way through the dark streets we arrived at the front of the hospital, which was full of people standing around. Now we have experienced this hospital a couple of times in different circumstances, but somehow at night it took on a whole different feel. As we approached the entrance there were two security men that were screening those who were allowed in. I did not make the cut! We had to move quickly with all of the people and commotion so I was left by myself to wait while Scott took the two Nepali women in to get settled. While Scott met with nurses in air conditioned offices, I tried my best to hang by groups of other women and be inconspicuous. Not an easy task for a tall, blond-haired, fair skinned person like myself among all of the people here! As I suspected I might, I was not successful in staying out of the lime light. An older woman noticed me and took me in, but she appeared to be from a village, which made her language that much more difficult for me to understand. However, her and her daughter were very patient as I fumbled through communication with them and they even found a nice place for us all to sit and wait. I'm not sure why, but after a little while security guards came and shooed us away from this spot and made us sit across the street from the hospital entrance. This really made my goal of being unnoticed more impossible. I am not sure exactly what was going on, but the buzz of the crowd began to rise and apparently it was over me! After some confusing questioning from the security guards about what I was doing there, a man suddenly showed up, speaking English, and escorting me through the crowds, into the hospital and right to where Scott was sitting! I'm still not sure all what was going on, but I can say that was definitely a time that I have felt the most nervous in my entire life! Scott felt terrible afterward because we had had to make such a hasty decision to leave me by myself. However, I am still here and now have another interesting story in my repertoire!

We continue to try and learn more about this place and culture and to understand how we fit into it all. As a woman this can be exceptionally difficult! I have come to a place where I can accept (for the most part) that I have limitations on my freedom here and have learned to work within these new guidelines. We also take refuge in knowing that God is here with us and in control at all times, even when things seem crazy! So be thinking of us over these coming weeks as we continue on this journey!