I made it through 2 months here before I got hit with a little homesickness and just like in Australia - it was more due to the fact that I miss not having to explain my craziness. There have been a few days like that, but Scripture and some books have reminded me that God created me and I need to embrace that rather than wishing anything else. I now know why there are not typically many posts on blogs during PST - there is barely an internet connection as well as time!
A group invited me to join them in making an Improved Cookstove for the practicum in Nepali. I definitely appreciated it because I was NOT looking forward to attempting a nutrition training by myself - although a current PCV had given me materials that I could have eventually figured out what to do. Our training went as well as it could have with our group having the initial introduction worked out and then deciding to wing how we were going to tell them to make it. Afterwards, I remembered more Nepali that could have been used to do that, but ke garne? :)
(That means What to do?)
Our last day in our village, most of our cluster went around to all our houses and said goodbye to the families that hosted us. When I came back to my house to get the rest of my things - that is when I began crying. My Ama was crying too. I got lots of pictures that I will attempt to post soon! I just about had my composure back after leaving my PST home when I came to the Newari kawja stand where our cluster often came. (kawja means snacks) The lady who runs it and her ama gave me hugs and flowers! I lost it again and they had to hug me for 5 minutes before I was able to get myself a little more composed.
We came to the capital and had a couple afternoons to ourselves in preparation for our site and the final LPI before our counterparts and supervisors would come for our 3 day conference. I got an Intermediate Mid on my LPI, which is what I needed! My counterpart is absolutely amazing and I'm so excited to work with him! We laid out a tentative plan for the next 6 months. There is an EPI clinic, Outreach clinic, and a few other things that are going on in my new community within a few days of my arrival so I will be hitting the ground running.
A couple days ago, we got our travel itinerary. Just before that session started, it hit me that we were all going away by ourselves. Let's just say I missed the whole travel itinerary session because I needed the time to cry and attempt to collect myself! :) One member in our cluster is going farther away than the rest of us so for about a month now - they've been separating themselves from us. I understood it, but that day it really made me mad so when they came out to either check on me or get some water - I let them know I was not ok with it! They do have a point that we'll see each other in 3 months for IST, but I'm still going to miss them.
Yesterday, we had an hour to ourselves so I took that time to cry. This isn't the first time I've gone off by myself or the first time I've been in a group that is leaving each other, but I came to the conclusion that I'm so emotional about everything because of 1 Peter 4:8. (Thank you, Robin Jones Gunn!) While I am certainly not close with everyone in the group - one of God's designs for me is to love people and He has enabled me to do that for this group, hence my emotions running wild!
The swearing in ceremony was incredible! We had a lot of important people there (as well as all the staff of PST) just to welcome us as volunteers in Nepal. I remember standing and taking the oath to be a volunteer - I felt so much more proud of myself than when I graduated college. No idea why except that maybe I put in a little more effort into learning Nepali than studying in college, but I'm not entirely sure that is the case because I really could have put a lot more into learning Nepali than I did and am certainly going to at site. Who knows, thoughts to possibly dwell on later!
Tomorrow is going to be rough because we are all leaving for site. I'm probably going to be crying a bunch, but that's ok. There will be 3 groups of 2 districts traveling together until a certain point where each district will split up and then each member in the district will depart for their sites. I'm glad it's in stages, but if I think about it too much it certainly gets daunting! Everything will be just fine - I'm just going to be a bundle of emotions during our travels.
Please continue to keep me and N201 in your prayers as we travel and adjust to our new surroundings where we will be for the next 2 years. I'm excited to see what God has for me!