Nepal Trip

A few years ago, I went to Nepal with a Nepali friend and two other Americans. It was very different from anything I had experienced. I tell people, “It was not a vacation, but it was quite a trip.”

We saw the incredible countryside and the beautiful women in their colorful saris. We tried out new foods and had our share of chai tea.

Because it was during a holy season, we also saw Hinduism in full force. We saw temples and holy men, festivals and sacrifices.

We were there to sightsee with our friend and visit some churches, even speaking at one. Going into church everyone took off their shoes. The women went to one side and sat on the floor. The men went to the other side. They produced chairs for us, the Americans who weren’t used to the floor.

At the first church there were refreshments after the service. They handed us an orange punch from a mix. The chai we’d been drinking in Nepal was made with boiling water. This was straight from the tap.

I looked at my Nepali friend. She said, “You could pray and then drink it.” “I have another idea,” I said. “We could pray and then not drink it.”

At the other church we were in a more rural area. The night before speaking, I felt horrible. I had a headache that was so bad it made me sick. My sister-in-law said I probably had a migraine. I do not get migraines. She gave me some pills and told me to sleep. I was supposed to speak the next afternoon.

Miraculously, I did feel better by the next afternoon. People who get bad migraines will know that I was fortunate. I hopped on the back of a scooter with a Nepali man whom I had never met. He deposited me in front of the church. I zoomed into the church and sat in a chair up front.

Then I looked down. Dang. I still had my shoes on. I was getting ready to stand in front of the whole church with my shoes on. Was this terribly rude? Was I going to offend them all?

There was a window behind us…

I got my friends to stretch and lean over so that I could slip off my shoes and drop them out the window. When it was my turn to talk, I was in the proper barefooted condition.

Nepal was incredible. We safely arrived home after many adventures.

Good thing we weren’t climbing Everest!