Sam's House, at last!

Hannah, Chris, and I arrived in Pokhara yesterday morning, after a 20 minute flight from Kathmandu overlooking the Himalayas. We were all a little tired of the chaos and pollution of the big city and were looking forward to the more serene town of Pokhara--and, of course, anxious to see the kids. Sam's House, or Kopila Children's Home as it's called in Nepal, welcomed us with open arms. We first met Dinesh, the orphanage director, and then the giggly didis (house mothers). Sandeep, the only child that is too young to attend school, waddled out and handed us little flower bouquets. Adorable. After settling in, touring the house, and eating a huge plate of daal bhaat tarkari (rice, lentils, and curried vegetables), we finally got to walk to the bus stop to meet the kids after school. They bolted off the bus when they saw Chris, and gave him excited hugs, but I expected them to be shyer around Hannah and me. Not true. They ran up to us, too, hugging us and saying, "Namaste! What's your name?" and starting to tell us all about their day. We spent the rest of the night playing some handclapping games, talking (the older kids know quite a bit of English), handing out presents from the States, and trying to learn their names. It's just so great to finally be here, after hearing so much about the kids from Jennifer and Chris. I can't wait to get to know them better!

This morning Hannah and I had our first Nepali language lesson from Rekha, Dinesh's wife. I'm thankful she is so patient, to say the least. We'll have 3 more hours tomorrow, and then 2 on Thursday and 2 on Friday, and then we have to fend for ourselves. We have little homework assignments to do tonight—conversations we are instructed to have with the kids and the didis.

I'm in the process of uploading a few pictures to my flickr page, but it is taking foreeeeeeever. I'll let you know when they are available. I'll never take high speed internet for granted again.