I have been so fortunate in life to be surrounded by some really neat people that have had a profound affect on my life and Nepal has been no deviation from history. My Ama is very wise and always has something to say worth noting. Yesterday, we were eating daal bhat and discussing money, traveling, helping people, Sita wanting to study abroad and not having enough money, school children asking us for 5 rupees, (randomly) etc. Sita had just returned from bringing vegetables to her neighbor. I asked her why (knowing its not like they have a lot of extra vegetables to be giving) and she responded "because we like to help people- it makes us feel GOOD". (with emphasis) Then the topic of conversation turned to money and in particular the fact that none of us had any. I told Sita I couldn't wait to see financial success and security and that I was determined to do so asap. This topic rolled around a few times and then my big sister mentioned, almost out of the blue "Do not ever give us money. It is no good to us. All we need is your love, sister". I think she wanted to make a valid point that my money was no good to them because I was their family. Ama belted out a few minutes of Nepalese "Mother Talk". When she speaks, everyone listens. She is like the most feared and loved person in the house. I could understand the jist of what she was saying and the quote that will stick with me most is when she said "Money is a small thing, but love is a big thing". It was just a simple phrase that is one of the million reasons why I am the luckiest daughter in the world, both in Nepal and USA.
So, I may have mentioned this before... We have a beautiful 5 month old baby boy in the house. The first couple days I was here I asked my family what his name was, and they replied 'Babu". Um, excuse me. What? He doesn't have a name? Its been FIVE months! So, of course I half-jokingly told them he should be named an American name. Actually, the most loving name I could think of was JACK. My family looooved it. For the last 5 or 6 weeks Babu has been changed to Jack. That has been his name. Dibya even tells her neighbors that her baby brother's name is Jack. And when they ask why, she says that Jessi Didi loves my baby brother and she named him. (how cute?!) I didn't really think that the name would stick like that, but it did. Yesterday, Sita told me his name became officially Jack. I haven't seen the birth certificate or anything, but she said that they wanted him to remember his big sister, Jessi, always. She also said that when people ask "Who gave this boy an American name?" And now they can all respond "Jessi Didi" gave him the name. I am still in a little bit of shock and kept waiting for Sita to say "Jiskeko!" (just kidding!) But her face was as serious as it could be. Now the cutest baby in the world has the name of a man I call my hero, my father.
The children have been extra lovey-dovey this week. I couldn't be more happy about that! I think my affection has worn off on them, that Kamal even gave Don Dai (the first male volunteer) a kiss on the cheek! We sort of gently told them I was leaving yesterday. But I don't think it registered. The Dai wanted to tell them very gently (almost misleading-ly, against my request) because he was afraid of how they would react and not be able to concentrate on their exam coming up. So, I went with it. I leave tomorrow. I am sure there will be a couple of blogs regarding my last days. I will tell you next time about bringing all of the children, wheelchairs and all, up to the Swayambhu Temple. About 3000 calories burned later, the children were as happy as they could be. What a great activity to end my visit here. I will definitely write more details that are surely worth reading.
Time to play for my last evening- a mixture of emotions swirls through my heart.
Love,
J
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