This last week we took a field trip, so to speak. We've been encouraged as missionaries to get out and take in the country where we serve, to learn about and appreciate where we serve, in doing so we make our presence known as we visit and have fun with those we serve.
Raj Kumar Shah from the Leprosy Clinic had planned a fishing trip with his family, Carol and Greg Rempp and Kent and I. Now fishing is a little different here in Nepal, no fishing poles, no raging waters and the best part NO WORMS!
We hire 2 taxis to carry the 8 of us, Carol, Greg, Raj and Abushek in one and Nermiah, Mary, and Kent and I in the other and off we go. Raj tells us it's about a 45 minute drive, well, about 2 hours later over those treacherous roads we arrive at the Ningale Fish Form, I think the correct word might have been Fish Farm, but this place is a fishing hole with planted fish and cement lined fishing ponds. Notice the sign Japanese Rembo Trout, I think Rembo is supposed to mean Rainbow. We passed another fishing place on the way up and Rainbow was RaiMbow. More Nepali English
These are the fishing ponds, cement lined pools filled with RENBO Trout
Elder Rempp has been looking forward to this trip for some weeks now and he was dressed and prepared to fish!
He actually has his swimming trunks on underneath and eventually he got in these fishing ponds and used the nets to help catch our lunch.
Abushek was so excited to go fishing. He's been talking to his dad about it for weeks. He ended up catching the most fish, but his sister Mary wanted to make sure she had her chance at fishing.
Raj wanted to make sure he also got a chance to fish. It was a little harder for him but you can see by the look on his face that he was also having a good time and he also caught fish for lunch. Raj has a prosthetic leg, so he had a little hard time getting down and reaching into that pond.
These are a few of the ponds, our taxi cab driver, Raj, Carol Rempp and Nermiah. These ponds are looking over a beautiful valley. It was nice getting out of dusty Kathmandu and just enjoying the clean air and the beauty of the mountains.
Abushek stripped down to his underwear and in he went. It was fun watching him having such a good time fishing.
Now that we've caught enough fish to feed us all we're going to have lunch, but we're going to eat more than fish. Raj instructs one of the taxi drivers to go over to the chicken coops and pick out a chicken. He catches 3 chickens and brings them to Raj to inspect and decide which one we should eat.
Run Chickens Run!!!!!
Too Late!
Get Ready for Lunch
This is the kitchen where our lunch was prepared.
And here it is!
This has got chick peas, onions, peanuts, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes and something else that is sooo hot that after I take a small bite the taxi cab drivers laugh at me when I grab for my water.
This is dahl which Nepali people eat 2 x a day with at least 4 cups of rice on their plate. I'm actually getting to like it - some dahl is better than others, this wasn't too bad.
This is our poor chicken, skin, beaks, feet, bones and all. I tried it, it was so tough you could hardly chew it. The Nepalis liked it however
This is the fish that was caught. They first brought out a plate with the fish fried. Head and tail still on, it actually was pretty tasty it was just hard to eat it with the fish looking up at you. They took the rest of the fish and cooked it in a gravy, again all the bones, and head and tail are left on. It is cooked in a pressure cooker so everyone said you can eat all the parts without any trouble. I liked the gravy on the rice, but I wanted to be able to see what part of the fish I was actually eating so I passed on this dish.
Overall, it was a fun experience and the food wasn't too bad. I was just grateful that I could pick what I wanted to eat. Many times they just dish it on your plate and you're supposed to eat everything and all of it.
While we were eating lunch we watched this man and his children or grandchildren working on what we think is another pond for more fish.
These three young boys hauled all this rock on their heads and backs in baskets. Because it is holdiay they are not in school and we're helping to make some money. We figured that the youngest is probably about 9 and the oldest probably around 14.
This is the oldest, when he was dumping his heavy load he fell into one of the ponds, Kent got a video but it's too large to fit on the blog. He showed them after and they all laughed. They love to see their pictures after you take them. I wish I could give them all a copy.
Lunch is over and we head back, but Raj wants us to stop at a Kakani Memorial Park. This is a memorial for those who were killed in the Thai airline crash on July 31, 1992. There were 113 killed.
These are memorial stones with all the names of those who were killed.
A Buddhist statue in the park.
I loved this garbage can and had to take a picture because this would be one of my first solutions for Nepal. To help them take a little more pride in this city. Garbage is all over as you've seen in past blogs. But again I have to remember that my solution is not always the right solution to their problems. But I was happy to see this garbage can in this park.
I snapped a few pictures of signs posted in the park.
It's not okay to litter but ........
it's okay to lay out your laundry over the combined grave.
No kidding, these clothes were out drying on the combined grave. It must be a good sunny spot.
As I was writing this blog today I was listening to Elder Holland's and Elder Hales' talks about serving and becoming fishers of men and showing by our service how much we love the Lord. Jesus asked Peter, "do you love me more than thou lovest all this." Three times Peters was asked "lovest thou me?" Three times Peter told Jesus, "thou knowest I love thee Lord." My hope is that the work we do here both with the few members and those who are not believers in Christ may reflect my love for my Savior. That He may know that I truly love Him and desire to "labor and serve loyally". Elder Holland admonished us to "Come, Stay True, Love and Lend a Hand." Elder Hales talked about forsaking our nets and following Christ to become converted and stay converted, to feed His sheep, to encourage and build up His kingdom. I could never have imagined what a mission in Nepal would have been like but I am grateful for this opportunity to serve, to have left "my nets" and now to hopefully become "fishers of men."
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