​Well I got waaaaay behind. So I'm just gonna sum up the rest of my trip. We definitely marched down that mountain and I was definitely exhausted and I was definitely dirty. That night I went & saw elder christofferson speak at a church building in the city. So cool! They gave them the first copies of the Book of Mormon in their language. He talked about the importance of reading it & how it will help them with their reading skills. Then the last 3 days in Nepal were free days. I shopped a lot in Thamel. The souvenir shopping here speaks to me. I love it all!!!! I could have bought so much but I had to have self control. I also went bungee jumping which was quite the experience getting there because there was a landslide so we couldn't pass for a few hours & then once we finally did pass.. the roads sucked anyway & we had to walk some & stand in the bed of a truck to get through the bumpy/intense parts that a bus couldn't. Like 5 hours later we got there. & it was so worth it!! Such a thrilling experience! I bungee jumped AND did a canyoneering swing which was honestly scarier than bungee because you had a longer free fall. Then we drive home like 4 hours home. Such a long day! It finally came time to go home to America yay!! It's just taken 500 years. I had a 14 hour layover in china which was the worst. But I did get a free hotel which was nice & I got to shower & sleep. Now I'm in San Fran waiting for my flight to slc in like 7 hours uuuuugh! Get me hoooooome!!! Anywhoo Nepal was dope & amazing & exhausting BUT im happy to be home:)

​I just woke up & had a coughing attack. My nose is also having major issues. Hopefully it gets better once I'm up & moving. 

Breakfast was soooooo good! French toast & porridge. It was delightful! I could stay here for a while. BUT NOT. I'm actually ready to head back down that frickin mountain. But more than that.. I'm ready for our last three free days already so I can do whatever I want. I'm just not feeling well at all & im so physically exhausted. We weeded & helped plant today.. it was so hard cause we are all sick & dying but trying to be positive & serve but DYING. 

​Today we go on our last rotation!!! We are on the bus rn on our way to start our 10 mile hike. Aaaaaaaand our bus just got a flat tire. Yay. 

Alright so that hike was definitely the hardest hike I have ever done in my life omg! I don't think I have ever sweat that much in my life. I was literally dripping sweat. It was so hot & so humid. I was in the fast group. We would stop every once in a while to wait for the slow group to catch up but our trekking guide said we were the fastest group out of everyone! That's tight. There were some dang steep parts of the hike that were just killer... but so so beautiful & so so worth it!!! When we finally got to our location at the top of the mountain I could not have been more happy! We were all STARVING we ate spaghetti that they had made us & I took a heavenly shower & then we passed out in our rooms until dinner. The cook here is fantastic! We had the best dal baht last night. We are all a little delirious & out of it.. haha I think that is a sign of heat exhaustion. We're all sick too. Like a head cold situation going on here. I have a cough & a stuffy nose. Kinda annoying. Well goodnight!

​Today we left around 8 and drove back to Raksha. It was a much faster drive back than it was there. We got back around 2 and showered. Omg that shower felt so nice!! I hadn't showered for like 5 days. After that we left to the city and went to a little festival at a temple where there were a milli people and a small little parade going on. Then we stuffed all 50 of us in a van and went to dinner at a fancy restaurant where all the servers there are deaf. Very interesting! We had momos with the little Raksha kids. I am just so tired & getting sick cuz of this pollution:/ goodnight!

​I woke up at 5 as usual.. & laid awake until people got up around 7:45. We had rice & omelets for breakfast. Since it was raining.. we had some international service training/education & waited for the rain to stop so that we could go work on the house some more. For the training we basically just listened to a ted talk and had a discussion on how we can effectively serve internationally rather than serving to step up your social media game. Also, it's important to realize that these people function just fine without us & we aren't here to change their lifestyles but instead just improve it & be examples to them. 

We just ate lunch & now half of the group left to go work on the house some more. 

​Well powers out at Raksha. We woke up at 5 to leave on our "choice program" project. It's like a 5 hour drive there. No wifi, no showers, no electricity (possibly) & buckets of rain. We will see how this goes...

We got here & had lunch & put our stuff in our incomplete/under construction humble abode then walked about 10 minutes to our work site where we are building the house. We are just working on the foundation right now so basically just digging out the wall to make a foundation. The family we are building the house for was there.. the kids helped us & the dad sat there & watched the entire time. It was so precious to me that he stayed the whole time. He's so grateful & excited. The house they are living in right now is apparently (according to some local nepalis) the worst they have ever seen. Which is why we are helping them build a new home. They have a newborn baby that is seriously so tiny & malnourished. It's so sad! We did that for about an hour and then it started to rain so we headed back for dinner. We played a couple games & seriously I was in bed by like 7:30 lol.

​Good morning! I woke up to a huge spider on the ceiling & no wifi:(

Today was actually my favorite day so far! We went on a tour to a couple different villages. The views were amaaaaaaazing. The first place we went to was a small little sewing business that recovering prostitution girls started. Raksha helped them get to where they are now. They now have a way to make money rather than using their bodies. People are so friendly here. They greeted us with a flower bouquet & a blessing. & I literally have done nothing for them.. besides my program fee I guess that goes towards help programs. Anywhoo we took lots of pictures with them & then left & Kumari (19 year old member of Raksha) & Manuka (owner/starter of Raksha) took us to a waterfall! We walked through villages to get there & it was seriously so beautiful!!!!!! Then we drove at least 2 hours to another village where they also greeted us with blessings & flowers.. then took a milli pictures. They are so caring & amazing people! Then we ate a candlelight dinner in Thamel on a balcony right next to a huge Buddhist temple. Then drove an hour back home to the shelter. 

​Today we came to the city & went on a tour around Thamel to a couple different massage parlors. These massage parlors are partners with rashka (women empowerment & healing center) basically rashka works with women who don't have money to get an education so instead of selling their bodies in desperate times they can learn a skill like sewing to earn money in a healthy way. Sometimes massage parlors are just a front & they have issues where men take advantage of the workers. Rashka is working with women at these massage parlors that are basically doing prostitution & trying to help them. If police find these women, they have 6 months to get legit massage certified or else they get arrested. & if police find out about prostitution going on even if they have a certificate they will be arrested. 6-12 years. Women are so desperate for money sometimes that they feel like that is their only option to make money. Rashka does not look down on those girls but rather they understand them & help those girls realize they are worth more than that and there are other ways. The girls that are actually living at rashka are victims of sexual assault & were either found or referred to them..often by the government. They go through a recovery process & stay there until they are ready to be on their own or old enough to leave. A lot of girls are uneducated because they are born out of a rape situation where they don't know who the father is.. & if a child doesn't have a birth certificate they can not go to school. Therefore, many uneducated women. Often times men will "marry" a woman so that they can abuse/have sex with them legally. Because prostitution is illegal. Super sad situations. 

Later we helped "days for girls" make reusable menstrual pads. I was basically just trying to keep my eyes open the whole time. I didn't get lunch today & walked a ton. I'm so tired & so hungry. It's 7pm & still haven't eaten😫

​My first rotation is here at the shelter/city. So we have a pretty chill first few days. We gave a couple of the kids lice treatment because that is a big problem.. basically everyone has it because it spreads, so whenever they get a new girl at the shelter she gives it to everyone else.. so they basically have to treat it & kill the lice every couple weeks.. a lot of them go untreated tho:/ We also helped the kids with english/reading & then before lunch we had a little dance party with them. We haven't left the shelter today.. we were supposed to go to the city but since today is a festival.. (they have festivals like alllll the time) we ended up not going cause lots of things are closed. So tomorrow we will be doing more stuff hopefully! We have been eating a lot of dal baht which is something they eat here all the time. As well as momo.. so yummy! It's kinda like potstickers. Anywhooo imma take a nap✌🏼

We have been officially welcomed to Raksha Nepal! The girls here sang us a welcome song & introduced themselves one-by-one in their broken English.. their name, what they want to be in the future, & how long they have been here at the raksha shelter. They are so precious. They greeted us with the Hindu blessing & a scarf & then gave us each a handwritten card with our picture in it. They are so happy to have us here & make us feel so loved. The Hindu spot represents "our third eye" & the openness it creates.. without the spot we are without our eye.. lol something like that. Not toooootally sure. The orientation also included the girls dancing for us and it couldn't have been more adorable. 

We went to the chandragri chair lift to the top of the mountain! It was so cool! Super foggy so it looked pretty in the green luscious mountains. We went with the Raksha girls & I was with Oosah the entire time & she wouldn't let go of my hand! She was so cute & we could actually talk cuz she knows a good amount of English! We split into 3 different groups & tomorrow we separate & will be going through 3 different rotations throughout our time here. 3 days each. The hike, the city, & a choice project. I guess I will go more into detail in those days as they come. I'm glad we're splitting because everything moves way too slow with 50 ppl!