Namaste!

Namaste! (I see the light in you- The Nepolis way to say hello!)
Sorry I havnt been updating all of you this past week. I am so excited that so many people are following along this trip with me, it is so nice to know that through my eyes I can share my story with everyone back home.
The last week has been insane! On Monday we went back into Kathmandu to buy the groceries that we were going to need to take on being the cooks for the day for the orphanage. We decided on making french toast and fruit salad for lunch, and pasta with ceaser salad and garlic bread for dinner. The lunch was a hit, and well, the dinner wasn't good at all! But we tried. After buying the groceris Sapana (the mother of the home) took us into this back street of Kathmandu. There was a festival going on, and the streets were absolulty packed with cars, buses, motorcycles, people, vendors, and children with toys and balloons piled ontop of their shoulders. There was smoke and inscense burning throughout the streets and large temples on wheels which were actually a small hut on the back of a truck with a 50 foot leaning tree coming from it. People were praying and climbing the tree and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. On our way through the street I saw several large dumpsters overflowing with garbage and people and many small children sorting through it. The clothes were being layed out on the dirt beside the dumpster and people were walking by and claiming a new article of clothing. Can you imagine this being your form of a garage sale? The smell of the garbage and the pollution is awful and you can only handle being down town for a short period of time. Sapana took is into this sketchy back shop and we climbed several levels of dark stairs and made our way into a small shop. All the girls got to pick our own fabric and they are making us our own Hijab (the tradition outfit worn by Nepoli women). Mine is flouresent colours and I cant wait to get it back next week. Im probably going to wear it on the plane home!
Our Canada experiance day was a success, we taught the kids how to sing our national anthem, and they really enjoyed Canadian food, especially syrup! Attempting to do the dishes after a dinner where we used every single pot that we could find was insane. You know you are in trouble when you here someone say "Its okay guys, we are making progress, there are no more dishes on the floor". The washing system here takes forever, and we are definitly not nearly as efficient at it as the older kids. They stood back and laughed at us and eventually took over.
Yesterday we had a touristy day and took a 3 hour bus ride to a resort called "The Last Resort". The drive there was gorgous. We drove through the Himalyans and were only about 10km away from the Chinese boarder. The worst part was during one of our stops I was eating a sandwhich. I looked over at the door and a Nepoli woman was standing there motioning with her hand that she was hungry. We have been told time and time again not to give anything to people who are begging, but this made me feel stick to my stomach. I always try to acknowledge the people who are begging, and the children who are pulling on you asking for money, but having her staring at me while I was holding food was easily the worst feeling in the world. The driver closed the door in her face and I was absolutly disgusted.
When we made it to the resort I bunjee jumped for the second time. Yes Mom, i through myself off a metal, wobbly, bridge that stood 160m above a flowing river and between to moutains. It was awesome! I got to the bottom however and looked at the mountain that I had to climb to get back to the top. I think the hike back up was more dangerous than the initial jump!
I almost died on the ride home! We experianced our first monsoon which was insane. It was raining harder than I thought was possible and the wind was Lethbridge strong. In 3 hours we drove through a mudslide, we had to stop to move boulders, we dodged a fallen tree, and almost ran over a man who got blown off his motor bike. I am not going to lie, I said a few prayers in my head that we would make it back alive. We did though and now I am here telling you the story!
Today we finished painting the compound of the second orphanage that will soon open. It looks great and was a huge job! We also talked to Sapanas brother Keesher about Nepoli politics and about the country as a whole. I learned a lot about the child labour problems as well as the issue of young girls being sold into borothels in India. I hope to learn more about this throughout the reamining weeks.
I have to go sing with the little ones!
Miss you and love you all!

xoxo Tory

Ps- Sorry for my spelling I am trying to beat the power outtage!