I cautiously taste a "momo" filled with buffalo meat
Holding a video camera and looking through a view finder makes you feel like what is in front of you is on television. There is a separation between artist and subject. This morning, what is in front of me is a woman surrounding by 13 girls. Everyone is crying, but everyone is happy. Stephanie Waisler-Rubin has just reunited with the girls that she helped build a home for. They’ve not seen each other in six years.
“What is your name sister?” I looked down from my video camera to find an approximately 3 foot tall Nepalese girl staring up at me with the biggest and most curious eyes you can imagine. Blink Blink. I realized I’m not watching television, I’m here in Nepal. “My Name is Janelle.”
I could feel the tears forming, but I held it together and asked “And what is your name little sister?” She giggles, bashfully turns her head away for a moment, and then suddenly looks back at me to respond “Sanisha.”
I looked over at my best friend, also having a video camera in her hand, trying to capture all the magic of the moments surrounding us. We are in Nepal. We have met the Unatti girls. We’ve seen cows roaming the streets. There is no time to cry, however. No time to absorb.
The Girls from the Unatti Foundation sing for us
The girls have been anticipating our arrival for at least six months. In preparation, they’ve assembled a day’s worth of activities to welcome us. Ramesh picked us up at the airport with flower leis and bouquets. At the hotel, we filmed a tika ceremony, then after a short rest, the girls performed for us. In their street clothes (much of which had been donated through Stephanie’s foundation), they sauntered on stage America’s Next Top Model- Style. They shared their name, year in school, and that they were pleased to meet us.
An hour later, the dancing and singing had stopped. We took a short break for momo’s. We’d been hearing about this treats for quite some time. Just for clarification, when you hear “dumpling,” what they really mean is the exact same thing as “potsticker.” The difference here is that they are filled with Buffalo meat.
“When in Rome”, right? And yes. Picky-eater, non-red-meat-atarian Janelle K. Eagle DID have the buffalo momos. I ate three of them in fact. While a bit stringier, they tasted just like beef. Patty and I looked at each, appreciating the rare opportunity we have to experience a day like this.
We have 13 little sisters and a month of buffalo momos ahead of us. I will have to remember to put the camera down every once in a while so that I can appreciate how wonderful it all is.
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Janelle K. Eagle is infamous for always having her hands tied up in multiple projects simultaneously. She's directed a lot of theater, worked on some films, and raised lots of money for non-profits. She travels all the time and loves to share her videos, photography and writing via this blog. 
