s]xL lbg cl3 bLksn] u+uf;Fu laafxsf] k|:tfj /fv], h;nfO{ u+ufn] :jLsfl/g\ . Go"of]s{df kmlqmPsf] pgLx?sf] k|]d g]kfnsf] z/0ffyL{ cfO{cf/l;sf sd{rf/Lx? ltgsf ;Nnfxsf/ x'g\ . Hof]ltifL klg ;Nnfxsf/} x'g\ . sd{rf/Lx?n] ltgnfO{ klxn] hflu/ vf]Hg] ;Nnfx xf]nf < bLks eG5g\, ælax] x'g 6fOd nfUYof] .Æ do if they got lost, which they expect they will. The difference between uptown and downtown beguiles them. At the house, Kalawati serves tea and says she’s feeling better. It gets hot sometimes, and when it rained, Bishnu worried the roof would leak as it did in their one-room hut in Nepal, but mainly the apartment is fine. And yet, Kalawati says, living in Nepal and living here are “like two sides of a hand,” one they knew, one they’re trying to grasp without the benefit of foods, spices, words, sounds and routines that had defined their daily existence. They’d had some good news: Jiva’s brothers will arrive soon, along with his parents, and IRC has found them an apartment down the block. It’s not the same, though, Kalawati, says. Everyone knew each other in the camps. People here are spread out, divided by thick walls and wide roads, and the children can’t just run outside to play. “We might enjoy things when we get used to them,” Tuka Devi says. Jiva found a sense of fellowship in this morning’s class, confusing as the lessons were. “I got the sense that there are others who had to flee their own countries.” July 1: After class, Brad, an IRC volunteer leads the family to a Social Security Office on East 41st, where they take a number and wait. It’s a dreary room but a necessary errand, Ganga applied for Social Security last week, but Bishnu is nonetheless traipsing around and showing off the heeled-sandals and black-and-white purse she found in the donation bins. Jiva, meanwhile, updates the family’s medical situation. He’s had minor stomach trouble, and found out he needs reading
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glasses. A doctor wants to run tests on Kalawati to locate the source of her headaches. A pediatrician prescribed vitamins for the three youngest children, judging them very thin and small for their age. Kalawati says many children in the camps were skinny, but she worries about Yubraj, whose belt wraps nearly twice around his tiny waist: “No matter how tasty I make the food, he only eats a little.” When their numbers are called, Brad shows the agent their I94 forms, which function as a temporary ID. All goes smoothly. Approval is likely in a few weeks, after which they can seek employment. On the walk over, Jiva and Tuka Devi asked about welfare, wondering if it means they don’t have to work. July 7: At 125th Street, the Neupanes switch to the 6, heading to Hunter College for the start of IRC’s summer youth programme. Every child but Ganga will attend. They were told it would help prepare them for school in the fall. There’s a moment of confusion when they realise that Hunter was the subway stop, but the programme is actually at Marymount, Manhattan. When they arrive, the opening assembly is already underway. The teachers are trying to quiet a rambunctious room filled with a few hundred children from four continents who’ve been in the US anywhere from a few days to a few years and who, in many cases, endured terrible traumas and carry the aftereffects with them. After the assembly, Jiva and Kalawati looked more lost than at any time since their arrival. Ganga says she’s concerned about her mother, who’d been their household leader but is