My first week is done! Well what can i say? Culture shock. That's what I can say: culture shock and homesickness and tears. Alot of tears. The 12 hour flight accross the ocean was kinda cool. They gave us blankets, pillows, eye mask, toothbrush, tooth paste, ear plugs, head phones, and movies that are in theaters. They took good care of us. We arrived in Qatar and had to book it to the next flight. But, it was so nice in Qatar! Then when we went to the next flight we got shuttled accross the runway to the next plane. It turns out that we got bumped to buisiness class= first class! The seats reclined people! And full size pillows! This flight was about 4 hours long.

Broken Peices and All

So I have found that if I do not post pictures it will let me post a blog. I have been fighting this thing for weeks so sorry for the hissy fit i threw and didnt post!

I am finally having good days here in Nepal. They told me homesickness only lasts for a week. Well for me it lasted 2 weeks and 15 hours. Well i am still homesick if i think about it too much so lets not do that.

I am just going to jump right in to what happened today!

These kids are amazing! They warm my heart when i am sad and want to crawl into my bed and not come out. They are all so small because of the asian background they have! Tiny tiny tiny! But each one has a unique personality and way of seeing the world. Man i wish i was a kid sometimes.

We walk the kids to school and then go get them. We walk ing total about 6 miles a day! Yeah i have lost some inches and my knees hate me!

 So back to my story! We were walking them home and i noticed some of the back packs were coming apart. You know how kids are! They are so rough on stuff sometimes hahaha! So i made a mental note about the backpacks. When we arrived at ECDC i asked if i could mend packpacks and they said yes of course! I expected the kids to say that i could do it but i didnt expect the reactions a recieved when i was done.

The smiles, people. The smiles that i got from them made my day. My cup runeth over in this moment. They and myself loved the fact that there was individual attention given. That i was helping them fix their special item, that is what made me finally feel like i was doing something real.

One little boy in particular i would like to talk about. He was standing at the end of a table with some other children and he was reading rhymes in english and was not paying attention to me (i was sitting on the other end of the table by where the kids had piled all their backpacks). I found his bag and was examining it and found a couple holes where the thread had come lose on the front pocket. I began to mend it. He was still reading and didnt see me doing amything. I finished and went up to him and showed him what i did.

Oh the joy that filled this little boys face was so incredibly special. He pointed to his bag and said "fixed auntie fixed" ! He was so excited. It didnt matter that it wasnt a perfect stitch and that it was hand done. It didnt matter that the thread wasnt a match to the original.

I found that children and people in general need to feel appappreciated and loved. They need to feel that someone cares about them and that they are enough just the way they are. Broken peices and all. This little boy gave me hope that i am here for a reason and that these kids will have a better life because of the ECDC program and house in which they live.

Masculinity in an Airport

So I am in the Philly airport waiting. Yup for the last twelve hours.  I see my plane through the window. I want to jump on and go to sleep. Yeah i am at the exhausted no sleep phase of the trip. Brace yourselves. But, man the first plane ride was exciting. I got a window seat :)

it was so fun going up! I also get to people watch while was sitting in the plane, the airport, the food places. I have not see so many different types of people in my life. I like the change. There are white people, tons of asians, indians, people from Pakistan,  African Americans. All sorts. I see patterns everywhere people! First, the Asians,  by this i mean Chinese, Japanese,  and Vietnam etc. The men seem to take charge. They are the ones that hold the bags, take care of tickets and things like that. Now i say this not in a bad or judgemental way. I am just reporting what i see. I also see these same men that take on the masculine roles take the hands of thier partners and show tenderness. I am reading a couple books about masculinity and this seems so interesting to me! Society seems to push that men need to be providers and take care of the bills. When in reality things are starting to shift despite the pressure put on men. The ones that seem to succeed are the ones that show compassion and can care. This goes for women too. Women don't need to be exactly like men to be able to do everything they want to. Vice versa.  Women and men are different. But, where is the balance? What makes equality equality?