Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

First morning in Nepal!

As much as I was anxious about coming here, I feel so happy now. The plane ride was rough, but that's to be expected. I kept worrying about how things had changed in the last 11 years since I've been here, what everyone would expect from me, and how I would adjust.

My biggest concern: Would I really like Nepal?

Upon landing, it was downpouring, as it is monsoon season right now here, but it was the nice type of rain that makes you want to run outside and splash aorund. It was the type of rain that I love.

The first person I saw was my uncle, then my dear grandma. It's been years and years since I've seen her, and I broke down. Unfortunately it had stopped raining by then so I didn't even have an excuse for the streams of water running down my face.

VIRTUALLY EVERYONE AROUND ME IS NEPALI. The weirdest thing, considering back in the US my family and I use Nepali to talk amongst ourselves without being understood--but now everyone could understand us. But I love how diverse Nepal is. Not as much as America, but even within this tiny landlocked country, there are so many influences from the North (China) and the South (India). There is no typical "Nepali" look. It's all quite the mix of genes around here.

Right now we're staying at my other uncle's home, the same one that I had stayed at in my childhood. The traffic all around is actually quite comforting, a pleasant white noise in the background.

It's just a completely different feel. Different, not bad. Familiar in a way. I love it.

This post is just a mess of memories of the past two days of flying and experiences of today-I apologize for that.

Oh yes!! Happy July 4th to my fellow Americans (and a happy belated July 1st for you Canadians)!

See y'all soon. Big hugs