From Ilam to Europe | My Life As Quarantined Wife
Leaving my husband and toddler behind, I traveled from Ilam to Europe. On the search for a place to live, work and arrange documents for the visas for my husband and child.
Everything
turned out JUST right. God was there with me every step of the way, holding my
hand.
In the early
morning of that Tuesday, I got up and took seat in a jeep that took me to a
plane. From the cool air of Ilam into the heat of Jhapa. After a short break
with samosa, a local bus took me to the airport for just 40 rupees. I had only
35 rupees of change paper bills left, but thank God, I could dive up a few
coins to make it 40.
My luggage
was way too heavy, and I almost gave up when I had to walk a few minutes from
the bus stop to the airport. Thank God, a family came walking down the lane to
send their daughter off to Kathmandu. Walking together made the long road so
much shorter as I could focus on the conversation rather than on the heaviness
of my luggage.
Checking in,
the staff didn't say a word about my excess luggage. They were apparently too
busy requesting people to maintain their social distance. At the gate, the air
was cooler because of fans spinning from the ceiling. I had a conversation with
my neighbor seated one seat away and edited some photos on my phone.
In the plane
we had to wear a face shield over our mask, and we hardly could hear a thing,
but I managed to have a conversation with my neighbor about her family, work,
and trip. No social distancing available here.
After a long
wait for my luggage, I managed to find a taxi driver who promised me a cheaper
rate if I would wait for him to find another customer for the same route. Taxis
are all so expensive nowadays. It was Tuesday and a lockdown was announced to
start in Kathmandu on Thursday, so just like the airports were packed with
people, the streets were packed with vehicles as people were doing their last
jobs outside their homes before being locked up.
I arrived in
Kathmandu just in time. I had one day left before the lockdown would start. So,
on Wednesday I did some dental and ENT check-ups and met up with a Dutch friend
who was in Kathmandu. He shared his testimony of how his life has changed since
he visited us in Nepal two years ago. Very much blessed to witness his love and
excitement for Jesus!
Both
Wednesday morning and Thursday noon I got interviewed by Nepali YouTube
channels. This is a smart way to promote my own YouTube channel. They do all
the work and with joy. And I don't have to do anything other than just have a nice
chat in Nepali and enjoy the rising numbers of subscribers and views on my
YouTube channel.
Saturday the
time had finally come to get tested for Covid-19. At 6.30 in the morning, I
drove on my nephew's scooter to the hospital. The police allowed me through. And
yes, just as my friend had speculated, the testing would start only at 9 am on
Saturdays. However, many people expected it to start at 7am and therefore a
long line had formed long before 9 am. So, I was lucky to be one of the first people
in line. Testing started only at 9.30 am.
Most of the
people came to get tested for flying abroad for work. However, some of the people
in line were there to test because they had some symptoms of corona. Sadly,
those people were the rudest; complaining about everything but not keeping
any social distance themselves.
Finally at 10.30
am I reached back at the Mission Center and had my meal. At 11 I joined the
church service where only the inhabitants of the Mission Center were present,
and the sermon was broadcasted live to all other believers. After some relaxing
time, I helped my sister-friend to create a CV for her.
Around 6pm I
received my negative test result per email. So, at night I repacked the cloths
I washed and closed my suitcase again, to wake up in the morning at 3.30 am and
leave for the airport. It rained extremely hard in the early morning and it was
still raining on our way to the airport. That is why no one checked where we
were going, police officers didn't come outside but just watched from their
seats.
The airport
was the biggest chaos I have ever seen. I lined up to enter inside. However,
the security officer told me I had to get a stamp on my covid test result at
the health desk the government had set up for this. I had brought all my
documents on my phone because I didn't get the information to bring the test result
on paper. He told me to see what they would say at the health desk.
And so I
waited for half an hour in line, just to hear them say to go and get the test report
printed. The airport shop staff told me he had a printer available until
yesterday. O yeah. He told me to go to the Turkish Airlines office in the next
building. With my heavy suitcase and hand luggage, I strolled out of the chaos
into a silent office building.
The guard told
me the TK office was on the 2nd floor. I left my 30kg suitcase with
him at the entrance to get lost in a building with long and narrow hallways
where no one was seen or heard. It was just 6 am, so no one was in operation.
After a short stop at the washroom that I found on my way, I finally heard some sound
coming from behind a slightly opened door. The office was a Nepali government
office called Wet Briefing. It appeared to be the weather department of the
airport. The guy working there was directly willing to help me and printed the
test report for me.
Then back to
wait in line for the health desk again. This time it took around 15 minutes. Most
of the crowd had already gone inside, so now I just had to wait a few minutes
to get inside. After scanning my luggage, another 30-minute wait in line
awaited me to get checked in. Luckily, there is never a dull moment when you
are surrounded by Nepalis. They are so happy to talk with anyone and especially
with people who speak the Nepali language.
After
receiving my boarding pass, I had to wait for I-don't-know-how-long to pass
through immigration. It seemed that all the foreigners in Nepal were flying out
today. The lines for working immigrants were busy too, but this time the line
for Nepali citizens was noticeably short, while it is normally the longest.
The girl at
the security check recognized me from YouTube. She was surprised that I
traveled alone. Sadly, there is no other option this time than to go ahead alone
and arrange the necessary documents for the visas for David and Elnathan.
Due to the
weather condition the plane arrived one hour late. Our boarding was an hour
late too, but we took off only at 10 am. I had good company with a Nepali guy
from the UK next to me. And I watched a grand total of two films during the eight-hour
flight and broke my head over a sudoku that I couldn't solve.
The TK meals
were good as always, however, I realized that my appetite had become a lot
bigger since being a mom. It was like I hadn't eaten anything at all. I asked
for any leftovers, however, there seemed to be no leftovers available because
the plane was packed till the last seat.
We thought
we would miss our connecting flights, because of the delay. But thank God, I
found out that I actually had a 3.5-hour layover and not only 1.5 hours as I
anticipated. For my neighbor, the plane to London delayed waiting for all the
passengers to London from our plane and we landed just at the neighboring gate.
I had to
walk 15 minutes through a new wing of the airport to get to the security checks
and then it was just a minute walk to my gate. The boarding already started
when I finally got through to David, after trying to call him many times.
In the
flight I sat next to a young couple. I talked a bit with the lady, but the
conversation was very polite and difficult. I realized that Westerners are not
like Nepalis at all and gave up on talking and watched another movie.
We landed right
in time and I got through the immigration really quick. My luggage arrived just a few minutes after I reached the luggage belt. I then went on to search
for the train station. At first, my bank card didn't work when I tried to buy a train
ticket. But thank God, it was just the problem of that automat and I easily got
a ticket out of the next one.
Now I had
just two minutes left to get downstairs to catch my train. I didn't have time
to run to the elevator and there was no escalator going down. So, I let my
suitcase roll behind me from the stairs with great noise. But I didn't care
about the people watching me and I got on the train just in time.
The landlord
of my apartment was so friendly to pick me up from the station with his car. He
took a whole hour to show me the apartment and everything in it and go through
the contract and sign it. They are a genuinely nice and friendly couple, just like
my mom and dad. I am living in quarantine all by myself and he and his wife have
bought me groceries already three times.
Now I am
sitting here, working at my computer the whole day, and checking the local
municipality's website every 10 minutes to get an appointment for registration
in my new place. I have UNPACKED my luggage, but the local government
registration facilities are PACKED and I haven't managed to get through just
yet…
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