Today

I promise I'll get around to telling you about my last trip to the village soon, but in the meantime, I just wanted to share a few treasures with you.

1. Drum roll puh-leeeze.... Today I got my research proposal approved by the University! That means that I am only one step away from having a one year visa to stay in Nepal to learn language and do research!  

Praise God, because my tourist visa is going to run out soon...

Still waiting for my friends to get theirs approved though, so prayers appreciated!

2. One of the men who used to pastor at my church is in Nepal right now and came over for dinner. It was just really cool to be able to share our experiences here with someone who knew us before and who knows how hard we worked to get here. Yah, it was cool.

3. This:

Asmita.

Hipster cuties. 

Mahima.

Asmita Pria.

And then about ten minutes later, the wild Asmita took my glasses and disappeared half-naked down the street. Literally disappeared. Does she not know that I am a blind woman without those spectacles?!

I was so not impressed. So I just sat there and practiced Nepali with Sharon til another little kid in a wife-beater came up to me and gave me my glasses back. I am so thankful they came back in one piece. 

See what I mean about the snot mustache?

I've been hanging out up in the hills for the past week. Needless to say, I haven't had internet. I can't wait to share my blunders from the past week. One of these days I ought listen to my own advice.... but then again, blunders are the only way to learn- and some of the best things to write home about.

pria. part 2.

I told you last time that everyone in our neighborhood calls Asmita by the nickname "Cootie."

I didn't know what it meant, so I had been using that name too! Every day! Then, earlier this week, I was talking about how much I love "Cootie" with a friend named Em, my roommates, and a Nepali friend. 

During the conversation I found out what "cootie" actually means. When I found out, my heart sank because I had been contributing to something that I would never ever approve of. 

There is never a situation where it is ok to call a little girl a %!$&*. 

Ever.

Immediately, I asked the Nepali friend how to say "Beloved" in Nepali. 

Pria. 

It was settled then and there. Her new nickname will be Pria. I couldn't wait to get home.

....

Em and her husband have started a clothing business that employs women who have come from backgrounds similar to Asmita's. As Em was telling the ladies at her business the story about Pria, they were so overwhelmed with compassion for this little one that they created a special outfit just for her!

The ladies with their special creation. 

They created it specially, just for her, so that she will know that she truly is "Beloved." That she is loved deeply by the Father of all creation.

She is beloved. 

......

We are going out to a village for a week, so we will give her the outfit when we come home. Stay tuned!

Read Part 1 and Part 3

pria. part 1.

First, let me tell you about Kamina. 

Kamina is a beautiful young nurse that I met earlier this week. When I asked her what her name means, she excitedly told me that it means "deep desire." Her mother had always wanted- no, deeply desired- a little girl, but she got two sons. Finally, her third child was a daughter, who she joyfully named Kamina. After she explained the meaning of her name to me, Kamina told me how much she enjoys explaining the meaning of her name to people.

You see, when you tell someone something over and over again, that person starts to believe it. Each time Kamina's mother called her by name, she reminded her daughter of how loved and wanted she is. Kamina has no doubt that even before her birth, she has been deeply loved and accepted.   

Asmita's story is different. 

She is the smallest. She is not the cutest. She got her head shaved because of the lice and she is always covered in a thick layer of dirt. She has a snot mustache  one hundred percent of the time. You'll know that it is her by her dinosaur sweatshirt. 

But that's not what I see.

Because I can see what is beneath the layer of dirt, snot, and dinosaurs. I can see the Asmita that Jesus formed perfectly. She is smart and brave. Her personality is big enough to fill up a castle. Five seconds with her smile and her voice will melt your heart and erase your sorrows.

I don't know who her parents are, but all the grown-ups and other children in the neighborhood call her "Cootie" which means !*&%. It is one of those words that you would be embarrassed to say in front of your mother. Yet she answers to it. She believes that is her identity.   

We believe what we hear. 

A few months ago Cynthia, Asmita, and I were sitting in the tea shop across the street talking with one of our friends and a man walked in. He asked Asmita what her name is. She looked up at him with her big, brown, three year old eyes and said, 

"Cootie." 

"No, no. What is your name?"

"Cootie. I'm Cootie."

.........

Read Part 2 and Part 3

If we believe what we hear, what are some things that you are hearing about yourself? Are they true?

I'm so sari.

All I did was compliment her on her nail polish. 

and then six women later I looked like this.

 

It was Friday night, so in order to celebrate another week of life Meaghan and I went to our friend's house to milk a cow. When we got there, she had already finished milking the cow, so we went to a different friend's house. You can call us friend hoppers.

We were sitting on her bed, drinking our tea, trying to make small talk, and I complimented Didi on her bright red nail polish. This is how it went down. 100% in Nepali, mind you.

"Didi, I like your red nail color."

"You like my nail color?"

"Yes, I like it."

Before I knew it, Didi had run into another room, grabbed the bottle of bright red nail lacquer, and was smearing the stuff all over my fingernails. But left hand only. The right hand is for eating rice.

(In Nepal, women only paint the nails on their left hands because they do not want the nail polish to chip off while they are eating rice with their fingers.)


Nail polish led to bangles, bangles led to a sari, the sari led to a necklace, which led to bright red lipstick, which would have led to nose piercing, but I beat them to it.

It took six of them to get it right,

and it took longer with Grandma being facetious,





















but we finally got it right. We had soooo much fun!

Holla for girls' night! 

(And please notice Grandma being a party pooper. )

house.

The secret's out.

I'm in love.

I've got it bad, you guys. Real bad. Like, I obsess over these little hooligans. Ask my roommates. These kids are all I want to talk about.

But just looook at them! How could I not be lost in love?

I melt when I am walking home and Asmita runs towards me with arms wide open yelling "Deeeeeeepaaaaaa!"

I love them and they love me. It's a sealed deal.

But today was different. 

Today I went outside to do language practice and these little lovelies didn't even care! Not even a hello slipped from their mouths. Why?

Because they were "playing house."

Arranging the home decor...

I walked over with my camera and instead of the joyful sound of my name (Deepa) being shouted from across the street, I was met with a sigh and then a "Deepuuuh."

Sweeping the "house"...

It was such a proud big-sister moment for me. 

I'm not a novelty anymore. I'm not the foreigner who lives on the street. I'm Deepa, the big sister who wants to take pictures while all they want to do is play.

I'm telling you guys, it's true love. 

Mowing the lawn...?