Ukus mukus

Today is day 2.5 in Nepal. I'm staying with Kanchan (sister #4) and her husband. Prem (buwa) is here, along with Sommaya (sister #2) and her new baby. The baby is about a month and a half old.

Load-shedding is still happening. I thought it wouldn't be too bad because it's monsoon season, but the lights still go out every night and morning.

Yesterday, I went with Prem to a couple hospitals, an Aunt's house and Janaki's house.

We went to a couple hospitals to find Smita (sister #3). Smita works at two different hospitals as a nurse. Prem wanted to find her because his stomach and eye hurt. The first hospital we went to, we walked up to the receptionist and he said "Smita please." That's it. He didn't even have an appointment, He just expected people to know who Smita was and that she wouldn't be busy. "Where is Smita? My stomach hurts." Anyways, through many phone calls, we discovered she was at the other hospital. Locating Smita took a couple hours, walking in the sun (it's really hot and humid), and crowded bus rides.

Our bus was stopped in a traffic jam and I saw this guy punch another guy. And then a third guy came in and started punching until someone broke them up. I'm not really sure what happened, but I think the guy who got punched got off the bus without paying. All the other Nepalis were staring, must not be a daily occurrence.
Next we went to Prem's youngest sister's house. They fed me a ton of food. I felt really bad, but I had trouble eating all of it. It was nice to see her and her family. Then we went to Janaki's house. This was the first time being there.  They also tried feeding me. I told them, "ukus mukus" which literally means, "tight," but actually means "really full." They told me to just eat slowly and I could fit all the food in. Nope. The best part of all this food was the mangoes. It's mango season! Fresh mangoes are everywhere and really cheap. Too bad mangoes weren't in season while I was here last fall, I would've bought some every day and eaten them after school.

I met Janaki's husband for the first time. The rest of my family does not seem to like him. They say he just eats and rests at home. Prem said when he was young, he had a brain injury or mental problem (not sure how it translates), so he couldn't go to school. Now, he doesn't work and his younger brother in America sends money. He seemed nice though. I met his sister and her family who live in the same house. There were 3 kids my age. 2 of them are trying to go to the US.

Kanchan and Kemy are also trying to go to the US. They will try to get a visa in about 6 months. Smita is trying to get a visa to the Netherlands. She'll go for about a year, then her husband will join her. She will go 4 more years of schooling as a nurse so she can work there.

Last night, I met another girl who was adopted. Her sister lived in the same Christian home as Kemy (Kanchan's husband). She's been back to Nepal 4 times but can't speak Nepali. She grew up in Kentucky.

My knee is still healing, so not it's very flexible at the moment. Squatting is really hard, which is a bit of a bummer because ya gotta squat to eat, use the bathroom, wash clothes, play with the baby, and sometimes when showering. Everyone here, including the older folks, are super flexible.

It's good to be back! I missed the daal bhaat, momos, and eating with my hands. I'm tired a lot. Not sure if it's because it's so hot, still jet lagged or out of shape. Probably all 3.