Adventure & Service the adventures of a dentist and an engineer
making a difference in the world

We had a good time in Chitwan National Park.  We rode elephants through the jungle and took a canoe down a crocodile infested river.  It was interesting that we never actually went into the park itself but spent our time in the "buffer zones" and the community forests that are around the park itself.  Next time we'll do it differently but thank you to the Cardonas and Anna for great company.


We took a miserable non-air-conditioned bus for 6 hours to get to Pokhara.  Once we got here though it has been amazing.  We were planning to only stay a couple days but we are going to stay around here for the rest of our "vacation".  We already booked an air conditioned ride for our return trip to Kathmandu.  We'll post pictures when we can make the time.

The Dashain festival is starting here in Nepal and there won't be very many patients at the hospital for the next two weeks.  We're taking advantage of the time by starting our tourist activities.  We are leaving at 6:30AM to travel to the Royal Chitwan National Park where we are hoping to ride elephants and see tigers.  We hope to have internet access while we are there but if not we'll leave you with a couple pictures.



Hope to update again soon.


~ Kevin

We have taken photos of the most beautiful or interesting bugs. You can imagine yourself what the mosquitoes and other flying black things look like. I might as well apologize right now to all the Entomologists out there that even though I was a biology major my bug classifications are probably all wrong and you are free to correct me in the comments as to what I should be calling the creatures in this post.

So far in our stay we have gotten up close and personal with many creepy crawly creatures. Much of these creatures are of the normal varieties but in large quantities swarming around the lights outside our apartment and if we are not consistent with turning on our glade plug-in like insecticide then they are inside our apartment as well. The small jumping spiders are very camera shy but we're determined to do our best to photograph one.

It is good that many of the annoying moths don't realize that there are gaps under our front door and around the windows that cockroaches and tiny lizards take advantage of as their personal entrance. Really though bugs in the house haven't been a problem as long as we keep the garbage empty and floors clean. And as far as the house lizards go I rather like having them around. It reminds me a little of my pet iguanas I had in Jr. High.

Mischievous Kevin even invited one smelly rhino looking beetle to stay overnight in our apartment in a Tupperware container in hopes of scaring every visiting female. Being the daughter of a biologist I put up with it for about 24 hours before he was hastened on his way out the door and over the balcony. Locals say that they fly, although this one didn't during his 4 story fall.

One evening there was a clatter against our living room window. I paused at the noise and considered opening the curtains to see but then thought otherwise and continued updating my Facebook. Shortly after, Kevin exited the apartment and encountered another interesting beetle. This time he didn't try to bring it home but sweetly beckoned me to come and see something.

The most disturbing bug that I've encountered was surprisingly one of the smallest, yet it's location in my cupboard had me feeling violated. How dare they set up a home in my lentils! After a quick call to our friends who had been living here for 6 years since moving from America, I found out the difference between a novice missionary and a veteran. The missionaries who have been here less than a year throw the whole sack of lentils, rice, or beans away. The ones who have been here for 2 years pick out the worms, their casting, and then wash the dry goods thoroughly. And lastly the brave soles who have been residence for over 3 years just throw everything in the pot and count it as protein. Then our American friend said, "so the choice is yours it won't hurt you but actually I still throw the whole thing away. What did we do? You'll have to ask us in person. . .

We are just over half way done with our stay here in Nepal.  The dental office has been moved across the hall to a bigger room and now has two dental chairs.  Below are some before and after pictures of the transformation.






The work days are going by much faster.  But honestly I get frustrated much more than I'd like to admit.  My position here is a poor personality fit.  My gentleness and dedication to quality that was appreciated by many patients during dental school, here is perceived as incompetence.  The language barrier is a huge contributor to the problem as well.  I'm practicing being more assertive and at the same time praying for a humble heart when the dentist and assistant correct the way I do things or the instruments I choose to use.













All in all I'm glad I'm here. It is an experience of a life time and a realistic introduction to working in the mission field. I do plan to go on more short term mission trips but I'll do things a little differently next time.

I never expected to be a Physical Education teacher while I was here but that changed after trying to play "basketball" with the kids at the school.  It was very clear to me that they had no idea what the rules were.  They played a mix of rugby or football with basketball.  Kids would run from one basket to the other without bothering to dribble the ball at all. To top it off everyone played so you had 12 or more players on each team.  It was madness.  The kids started hounding me to teach them how to play and we finally agreed on a time last Saturday night.



I decided that they could handle playing with 5 players on a team and remembering 3 "new" rules:  
    (1) If you stop dribbling you can only pass or shoot the ball
    (2) You can only move if you are dribbling the ball
    (3) No hitting people to try to get the ball




I used our whistle from our first aid survival kit and started calling fouls. I've never refereed anything and it was really hard because they didn't really know all the rules. I kept finding myself laughing when they would dribble all the way back to the other team's basket to avoid the defense.  "Over and back" will be the next rule to teach them.  Plus it was clear that they were trying to do their best and would always get sheepish grins on their faces each time I corrected them.


With only 5 players on each team the kids really had a chance to play.  We could see who the naturals were but we didn't have anybody that dominated the game.  They desperately need a basketball that is still round and some practice shooting would help the game flow better.  With more people on the sidelines they started having their own fun in parallel.

You walk everywhere here in Nepal.  The only time we've used a car is to go see sights such as the temple and Kathmandu which are at least an hour away.  Most locals will use the local buses and get packed in with the chickens and way too many people.  Last weekend we went on our first hike to visit a local village.  There was a large group of young people going to give a bible study and Jessica was asked to do some dental education.  We didn't have a clear idea where we were hiking since they only told us it would take about an hour to get there on foot.  It was directly up the hill from the hospital.


The hospital is at around 4,800ft and the village was at 5600 ft.  It definitely takes more breathing to keep going up here and there were a couple times where I stopped to take a couple deep breaths.  The locals don't seem to notice the elevation at all.  In fact we had people carrying big loads that didn't have any trouble keeping up with us.


There were always great views to see along the way.  We were walking on the road most of the time but occasionally took foot paths that followed a creek.  We usually had to climb fairly steep sections when we left the road to take "shortcuts".





Once we reached the village we attracted a crowd.  The church regularly visits this village so there was a fair number of regulars that came.  They sang some songs and then it was Jessica's turn to conduct some dental education.  It is always tough to stay attentive when everyone has to wait for translators.  




We had a great opportunity to take pictures of people while they were watching the presenters. It is amazing to see the people here.  Helmets are optional on motorcycles.  Kids ride on the roof of buses.  You rarely see guardrails and there is no such thing as pedestrian right of way.  To think that there are people here that only travel around their local village.  TV is a new rare luxury and most have no idea what the internet is.  All the luxuries of home aren't necessary to be happy though.  There were plenty of smiles to capture on film.




I took some panoramas but I haven't had a chance to stitch them together.  Look for updates soon.

Dr. Cardona had been planning to take the group of new volunteers to Nama Buddha Temple, outside of Dhulikhel, which is about an hour away.  Each time we'd plan to go it would start raining and we would have to postpone it again.  On Tuesday we decided that we would go even though it was sprinkling at the hospital when we were getting ready to leave.  We had a full car with Anna coming straight from teaching, Fernando, Sonia, and Madeline Cardona, the new surgeon Dr. Carlyle and Laura Welch and Jessica and I.


Just like all of our other car trips we experienced the excitement of watching big dump trucks full of supplies and overfilled busses weaving all over the road avoiding potholes and pedestrians.  The country side is beautiful and we stopped to enjoy some new views.  It was still raining but we could see sunshine on the mountain that was our destination.


We left the paved road and started to climb through forests with people hiking in the mud around us.  The usual houses with shops on the ground floor opened up right onto the road.  The chickens, dogs, and goats loped out of our path as we approached.  A car full of Americans is evidently a curiosity because everyone seemed to stare at us as we went by.  After about 45 minutes we caught a glimpse of the temple through the clouds.


The temple was impressive.  Unfortunately they wouldn't allow pictures in the most impressive section; inside where the monks study and worship.  There were about 10-15 painters working on hand painting the walls.  They had been working for about 6 months and it was very clear that the walls are going to be highly detailed and colorful.  My estimate based on their progress so far is that it will take 2-3 years total to finish all of the walls.  They should be amazing when they are done.




Back outside we continued walking around the complex.  They have a "retreat center" where monks spend an entire year never leaving a small building and balcony.  It amazes me that people can have the discipline to live with other people in such a small area.  Even more amazing when we were told that none of them take baths while they are staying there.  I could never do that.



Two sides of the temple were lines with prayer wheels.  To quote wikipedia every time you spin one of the wheels "it helps wisdom, compassion and [enlightenment] arise [you]".  They are really fascinating and it was interesting to see both young and old monks spinning them as they walked by.



Of course we couldn't hope to escape the rain for too long.  The monks started to urge us to hurry saying "big rain" and they weren't joking.  Thankfully we had brought umbrellas or in my case, a rain jacket.  We were still rushing through the rain to the car as the clouds rolled in and engulfed the entire temple.


To top off the trip we were rewarded with our FIRST view of the Himalayas since we've been here.  After descending from the temple the clouds parted and the mountains soared over the hills that we have been admiring since we arrived.  Truly a breathtaking view and one that we are hoping to see more often as the monsoon season passes.