Oh hey, we are in Nepal!

Woooo! We made it! We have had two full whirlwinds of days so I'll give a quick top ten synopsis of the events.

10. All bags made it. Accomplishment in itself and after over 30 hours of travel the greatest relief.

9. First things first…find the hotel and go to the monkey temple. The monkey temple is a touristy spot that is a Buddhist and Hindu worship temple combined that has lots of monkeys that just run around-which also happens all throughout Kathmandu. It's 350 steps of almost a direct incline in like 170% humidity and has the most phenomenal view from the top.

8. It rains…like all the time. Ha-I guess they meant it when they said monsoon season. It'll be fine then all of a sudden torrential downpour. Makes for soggy Toms and no reason at all for me to even attempt looking presentable.

7. The sounds/sights/smells of the city were extremely overwhelming at first. There are people everywhere, cars weaving out of every crevice, curry, garbage, chai tea, and narrow streets filled with shops every turn you make. Oh and no road signs so getting lost is pretty expected but people are very helpful in pointing us in the direction of our hotel.

6. The toilet situation is always amusing. Our hotel bathroom has no separation between shower and toilet so we dubbed it the "shoilet". There have also been just holes in the ground and it is advisable when using toilets in public to bring your own toilet paper.

5. The food is AMAZING. We found this awesome breakfast place by our hotel and have already made friends with the staff. We also saw a turtle and monkey just hanging around our table as we eat. No big deal.

4. Chiyaa=Nepali tea=mixture of milk, masala, and chai teas and it is quite possibly the best thing I've ever drank in my life.

3. Our group-so great! I thoroughly enjoy everyone and my roommate/our team leader Sarah and I have really gotten along well. She's hilarious and we both really like to exercise so I have a running/workout buddy which is fantastic.

2. Tiny Hands-in general one of the coolest, most passionate organizations I could imagine. Their dedication to others, to God, to prayer, and to living life to its fullest is truly inspiring, and I cannot wait for more time with the staff and to continue our work.

1. The Children's homes were our first practical experience with Tiny Hands' Work-they have 12 homes combined between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh and have around 15 kids in each home. These are children that have been rescued from the streets and given the opportunity for a better life. Tiny Hands closely monitors their spiritual, emotional, physical, and psychological development and it is truly amazing. Yesterday at the Peace Home, I learned a new game called cannonboard, we played charades, sang songs, danced, and ate a traditional meal (dalbaht=rice and lentils) with the family. The children are SO knowledgeable and so dedicated to learning about their faith. Could learn a lesson or two from them. Today we went to Cyrene and danced for about an hour then, played several games, and I taught the kids "how to dougie"…yeah. Proud moments.

1a. I forgot…we went on a scavenger hunt today, running around Thamel (tourist area) fulfilling all of these ridiculous things. Really fun, really funny, and a great way to further get to know others.

Think that's all I have for now! I'm exhausted and its 9:30pm here sooo…yeah. Time for bed!

All the love always.

-Kels