Life Happenings

This week was our wedding anniversary--Happy Anniversary to us!  We are thankful to the Lord for ten wonderful years.  We celebrated by taking our day off in the nearby town of Dhulikhil--a place with some pretty spectacular views of the Himalayas and the surrounding countryside.  This post will be a "photo essay" of what we saw--

Views from our hotel:

Views from our walk:

What a cutie!

Hmmm...which way does the sign say to go?

Look, it's going to sprinkle!

Oh well--look what that means!

But that's not ALL we saw!!  Sometimes you just get lucky!
(The clouds don't always part this time of year, so we really were lucky!)

So now, I bring you the "piece-de-resistance!"

(Double click to enlarge for the full effect!)

Pretty nice view, eh??!!

As we thanked the Lord for our marriage, we also thanked Him for the chance to work for Him in this most beautiful of places here on this old Earth!

If there hadn't been a glare, this is what you would have seen through the window:

...and with the zoom!

Have a nice day and enjoy whatever's happening in your life!  

Hospital Happenings

What's been happening at the hospital?  Lots of things!!!  They're super busy in the operating rooms! 

More visiting volunteer teams have come and that has been good news indeed.  Two OB/GYNs from Holland's NGO Vrouwen voor Vrouwen (Women for Women) came (again) to do female surgeries and did a great job.  They kept very busy--so busy in fact that I was only able to talk to them for about five minutes the whole time they were here!  (not kidding)  They said they plan on coming back next year, so I hope I can get in a visit then!  Thanks girls!  Looking forward to next year!

Another large team from Australia came for more female surgeries as well as surgical procedures on burn victims.  They were so busy that I didn't even get to talk to them at all!  Since they're been gone, plastic surgeons have been coming from Kathmandu for the burn victims' follow-up surgeries.  One of Ramon's assistants took this picture for me of the Australian team in action.

Visiting from Germany, was volunteer Dr. Karl Renner, a pediatrician.  We're so happy he was able to come and donate his time and effort to the precious little ones here.

In other hospital news, two family doctors, a married couple, have arrived to join our team!  We're so glad to have them here!  They have a little one and I for one am enjoying having a baby around!  As you can see from this picture, taken at the first vespers right after they arrived, the children enjoy having a baby around too and I couldn't even get a picture of him!

On Sabbath we had a potluck to welcome them.  Pastor called for everyone's attention...

...and as is the custom here, they were presented with leis, (and scarves) including Mom, the babysitter, who I'm happy is here.  Welcome folks!!!

By the way, here we are with our leis at our first potluck back in July.  Also wearing them are the student missionary we had at the time (miss you JM!)  and a volunteer. 

Stay tuned for more Happenings!  (Thanks for your prayers and support!)

City Happenings, Part 2

Last week, City Happenings (Part 1), ended with the Festival of the Torches, when a large percentage of the population of the city of Banepa (this festival is a local one) carried torches to the temple and the river beyond it very early in the morning (4:00 a.m. this year to be exact).  That evening came the second part of the ceremony--carrying the idol to the temple.  Just before sunset, we got the call to go outside!  An amicable crowd had gathered.

(It was sprinkling off and on, so some of the pics have little water dots on them.)

Some boys discovered where to get a good view .

Ramon got called to the hospital, so I hung out with some of the kids from school and Sabbath School.

As you can see, the sun went down, and everyone just visited and waited.

Finally--something!

What is it?  Oh, it's the musicians first.

And now--here it is!  Can you see it?  It's the carriage with the idol and the priest.

Boy, they came up that steep hill FAST--almost running!  A friend (who joined in and is pictured below) told us that if they didn't go quickly, they would never make it.  The carriage was attached to logs and the guys carried it.

 There was also music and dancing. 

Everyone was in a good mood.  Some of the boys posed for pics.

As they carried it on its way to the temple...

...I couldn't help but notice that there were some people watching TV instead!

The next morning everyone was out and about waiting for it to come back from the temple and back into town.  We went to Kathmandu for our day off so we missed that procession, but we saw the people arriving to watch.

I hope this man was able to make some money that day!

Next post, Hospital Happenings!  Have a nice day, and see you then!

City Happenings

What's been happening in and around Banepa, our town here in Nepal?  Well, the Kathmandu Valley has continued to have Bandhs (Strikes--See "Strikes" in the Labels) now and then.  This means that schools, shops and businesses are canceled for these days and the roads are closed.  (Only ambulances are allowed to pass.)  We've heard that there will be more Bandhs this week.  Thanks to those of you praying for this beautiful country. 

When we were recently in Kathmandu, we saw these folks.  Not sure which group they were, but there were lots of them.  They drove by us for some time.  Someone was speaking over the loud speaker you see on the car.

This young lady wasn't concerned at all.

Neither was this cutie.

We never found out if these flags mean anything or if they are just decorations.

(They weren't there last week.)

Meanwhile, in our historical city of Banepa, we had our own festival that is unique to this area.  It's a celebration of the goddess Chandesvari's victory over the demon Chandesur.  The Chandesvari temple is right down the road from the hospital.

We had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to see the procession of the torches which started in town, and then made its way right past the hospital on its way to the temple and the river beyond.  We headed outside, and the crowd was so large that I immediately became separated from Ramon!  Everyone was so happy and cheerful though, that I wasn't scared.  We were at the top of this hill waiting for them.

Joining the crowd were these men, playing music.

Oh look!  There are some lights!  Here they come!  You can't tell in the photos, but there were thousands--and they were walking faster up the hill than I do!

There they go--on to the temple!

Now, where is Ramon?

Oh yes, over there, on the other side of the people!  You can't see him, but he's there beyond the lights!

No, that lady isn't carrying a baby.  She's carrying food.  These ladies are among those following the procession who were carrying food to the temple.

What happened next?  We went back to sleep!  What happened that evening around sunset?  Stay tuned for Part 2!!!  Have a lovely day!