The Arrival
I was feeling a little nervous when I arrived at the Denver
airport because I was travelling alone for the first time and meeting new
people in completely new environment. However, when I finally met my cast mates
at the airport and at the Pinnacle center, where everyone was gathered….oh gosh!
Have you ever heard the term flooding in psychology where people who have fear
of something are made to face their fears all at once? That is exactly what
happened with me! For a girl who felt awkward talking to new people, meeting almost
100 people from different countries at once….that was facing my fears in a
different level! I tried to talk to everyone there. I don’t actually remember
everyone, but I met some really awesome people. They were from 19 different
countries! (I checked it out in my file later ;P) So the first day or the
arrival day alone was a great achievement for me. (No pictures folks! I was so overwhelmed with what was going on around me that I completely forgot I had camera!)
The host family day
Let me begin by saying that my host family is awesome! My
host sister is also my cast mate and so we have a lot to talk about (but that
is not just the things we talked about haha). So the first day was the host
family day- thank God! My host dad made pancakes (which were awesome!) and
then, we went to the zoo!!!
Let me tell you why I was excited. I have been to a zoo only
in Nepal, which had very small…..and I have never seen species which are not
found in Asia- the Lion, giraffe, seals and other sea animals. Nicole (my host
sister’s name) was super excited about the new elephant center….and off we went
to the zoo with my host dad, Nicole, and her grandma. It was a wonderful
experience to see animals that I only saw in animal planet or national
geography. Oh! and I saw Dory and Nemo from finding Nemo!!
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| This is Nicole. She is my host sister and my caste mate! |
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| This is Dave. He is going to Nepal again in October! |
At the elephant
center they put on a small show and this guy from the zoo who was talking about
elephants said that he had been working in Nepal- in Chitwan National Park, and
was trying to raise funds so that they could build animal hospital there! I met
him after the show and introduced myself…. He said to come around the gift shop
where he will be signing his book on elephants and told me he wanted to give
one to me. When I went to the gift shop, he not only gave the book but took off
his necklace and gave it to me! How cool is that! He said that he met many
Nepali who were quite supportive to him and his work and that he was very
grateful. It amazes me how small the world is and how goodness is everywhere…..we
just need to look for it!
In the evening, I showed my pictures from Nepal to my host
sister. She was so excited that we could ride elephants and go into the jungle
and even bathe with them in Nepal! I invited her to visit Nepal and she was
super excited about it! J
I met her friend in the evening during dinner and we had these heavenly tasting
brownies that Nicole made….A perfect end to a perfect day! I went to bed with a
smile on my face.
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