Me & the Nepalese crew
Back Row: Dilesh, Smriti, Bharosa, Arpit, Ishwor, Me, Narayan and Pratik
Front Row: Parmeswor, Prasoon, Durga and Keshav
Little Brother Dilesh and his didi (big sister)
Me & Ishwor
Bharosa and myself
Me & the guys..Pratik (or The Rockstar as Haley calls him) and my Little Brother, Narayan
Me and another little brother, Keshav.
Again....me & Narayan
After meeting one Nepali last semester, I got to know other Nepalese students quickly thanks to his introducing me to many. Soon, I had built relationships with them and had grown rather fond of my new friends. As I said goodbye to some great guys (miss you guys...Rabin, Sulove, Santosh, Pankaj...and more), I have said hello to new ones. Over the course of the last few weeks, it has been a true joy to get to know the new students from Nepal. They are an amazing group. I have seen such hearts of gratitude from them as well as very caring spirits. I was nearly brought to tears this past Tuesday night when one of the students (Dilesh) asked me if he could call me "didi". I asked why he would want to do that and his response was this: "Didi means big sister in Nepali and you are my big sister." For a few weeks, he had simply referred to me as "sister". When he asked to call me "didi" that let me know that I am special to him. Dilesh likes to joke around a lot so I had to make certain that what he was telling me was true..that "didi" did indeed mean "sister." He was being honest. So, I agreed....he may now call me "didi". The same night, one of the other guys gifted me with something I had been wanting badly...a specific item from Nepal. The day prior, he had heard me speak of wishing I had one of these caps and he decided to surprise me with one. I was so excited and did not even know what to say aside from thank you. I couldn't believe he was giving his cap to me. In addition to those two, one of the other guys sat with me and we shared a heartfelt discussion in which he asked me a few questions about something and was very honest in letting me know that he cared for me. Even if they have studying to do or work to tend to, if they know that Haley or I are present at the campus, they make it a point to come say hello to us. They greet us with a hug, they leave us with a hug. The time in between is filled with laughter, love and learning. To my new friends from Nepal: I was introduced to your homeland by those that came before you. Through your loving-kindness, I am falling in love with you and your country. Meeting people like you all makes me even more anxious to one day visit Nepal. I just hope that those I encounter there will be half as great as all of you. I know you speak of all that we do for you but you've no idea what you do for us. That you are eager to see us, you call us to check on us, you miss us when we are away, you call us your sisters.....that brings such a smile to our faces. You warm my heart more than you know.
