Last Day...

Wow, I cannot believe that this is our last day in Nepal! We got back from Pokhara yesterday afternoon, and everything went rather smoothly...i.e., no traffic accidents, strikes, or bandhs! Today we'll just be packing and preparing to go back to the USA. We'll definitely miss the people here, especially all the Pradhans...and Peter of course! Today we got a surprise because Joshu Pradhan didn't have to go to school because some of the transportation systems are holding a strike today, and so we'll get to hang out with him a little more before we leave! Our time here has been wonderful, and I couldn't ask for better people to spend time with. They really have been a blessing for us, and I'm thankful to God for allowing our paths to cross. We said goodbye to our friend Saran last night. He'll be spending the next few months taking groups of clients trekking all over the Himalayas. If any of you feel adventurous and want to climb some snow covered mountains, he's the man for the job!
Well, our flight leaves tonight at 10:30pm here, which is about 12:45pm on the East coast. We're going to Hong Kong. We leave Hong Kong at around 9am there. Then the long haul, 15 hours to NYC! AFter that we'll be back in Raleigh by about 5pm on Saturday...which will be sunday morning here, so it's kinda like travelling back in time!
Well, thanks for keeping up with my blog yall! I'll hopefully post a "post-trip" blog once I'm back. Thanks for the prayers and support! Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the same country!
matthew ;^)

Hey everybody! So, I’m currently in the beautiful lakeside town of Pokhara. It’s a tourist town, and I think I’ve seen more westerners here than in Kathmandu, for sure. It’s a hotspot for trekkers because it’s situated in the green hills, just below the Annapurna mountain range. For the more extreme trekkers, the Annapurna range itself is a pretty adventurous trip. We’re here just to get out of Kathmandu for a few days, and the town is beautiful.
We had a little difficulty getting here though. About 20 or 30 kilometers from Pokhara, our bus got stuck in a huge traffic jam, along with miles and miles of other buses and cars. It turns out that about 10 kilometers ahead of us, an accident occurred and a few people died. Well, in the USA, insurance would cover things like that, but here, people hold up traffic and demand money from the person who caused the accident. It’s like the family’s form of life insurance. They held us up for over 4 hours, until they finally reached an agreement on the money. We finally made it to Pokhara in the evening.
It wasn’t such a bad time waiting in the traffic though. We met a German woman who teaches math and geography, and a couple from Holland, Azaria and Merika. We talked for hours and we really liked Azaria and Merika. When we finally got moving again, Azaria and Merika needed a place to stay so we split a cab and they stayed in the guesthouse we are staying in. Later that evening, we all went and got dinner and talked and laughed and had a really great time. Afterwards, we went down to the lakeside and sat and shared a bottle of wine. We talked a lot about Holland and the USA. They left yesterday for a trekking adventure of their own, but it was very cool meeting them.
Yesterday, a man named Purna took us around the town. First he took us to the Seti River gorge. It’s a river that has carved a deep gorge into the earth. The hindu myth around here says that the river goddess was angry with the people of Pokhara at some point, and decided to hide her face from the people by digging the gorge. Turns out, Pokhara has a lot of soft limestone and calcium in the rock bed. Then he took us to Mahindra cave. It was very dark and wet, but a lot of fun. We went in through a large hole in the ground, with stairs, but you have to crawl out the other end through a hole that a human body barely fits through. Then we went to Devi’s Fall. It’s a 200 meter water fall that is still digging away at the soft rock at the bottom as it flows over 600 meter below the earth! During the monsoon season it’s particularly strong because they open the dam on the lake. It’s called Devi’s Fall, because legend has it that a woman named Devi was bathing in the water above the falls, when they opened the dam and she was swept away. Later he took us to an under ground Hindu temple, that is situated in a cave near Devi’s fall. A large stalagmite was discovered there, which they worship as Shiva. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with Hindu mythology and religion, Shiva is the god of fertility and often represented as a phallic symbol, so hence the stalagmite in the cave.)
So, today we are awaiting the arrival of our friend Saran, and we’ll go around and see more of the town. We leave for Kathmandu and Thursday, and for the USA on Friday! I’ll try to post one more time before I leave, but I’ll be back in the country pretty soon! Bye for now.
Matthew ;^)

PS
I tried to upload some pictures, but I don't speak "computerish"...sorry :(

Whew! This week has been crazy! I've been extremely busy teaching the three english classes all week. I love teaching the people here, and they are really excited to learn which makes them very easy to work with. However, it does take a lot of time to prepare three separate lessons, and to travel to the different places that the lessons were held. This week, I woke up at 6:30am, and left at 7 to ride with pastor Nanda Simon, on his motorcycle to his church where I taught a lower level english class (pictured). They were really great, and Nanda is such a fun man to be around. He only knows a little english, but he doesn't let that stop him from talking! Where is lacks english vocabulary, he makes up in emotion, expression, and various sound effects to get the point across! At 9:30, Nanda would take me back to the moravian church, where I quickly ate some breakfast, and began the more advanced class. It was a small class but they had a lot of really good questions for me. Yesterday, friday, was the last day for that class, and they asked me to explain the difference between "the" and "a", and when to use them...(for those non-linguistics people, Nepali doesn't use "the" nor "a", so I was pretty much explaining an abstract comcept that has no equivalent in their native tongue!). At 12:30pm, I had a couple hours break, which usually were spent writing the lessons for the next day! At 2:30pm, I would start walking to start my journey to Khokana. The class there was usually 5 moderately proficient english speakers, and they were also very fun to teach. At 6pm, I began my hour and a half journey back to the Moravian church. Once I got there, I had usually had a few minutes before we had to wash up for dinner. After dinner I finally got about an hour to myself, before we all prayed together and went to bed. Whew...busy, to say in the least!
This week we were invited to eat dinner at Shanti and Vani's house, and it was amazing. As I've told you, they spent the last three years in America, so I feel like of all the people here, they really understand the culture we come from, and it's much easy to relate to them and talk with them. They are a really fun family, and I'm very grateful for the time we've spent with them. Also, they brought back ACTUAL coffee from america! (Here, they reall only drink tea, and the only "coffee" is instant with more milk than water). As a self-proclaimed coffee snob, it was a relief to finally drink the coffee with them.
One interesting thing that happened this week occured on the bus on my way back from Khokana. As the bus reach the top of a a hill, at an intersection, a crowd of people was gathered in the street, watching something. I couldn't quite see what was happening, until finally one man cut through the crowd and hopped onto the bus. His eyebrow was cut pretty badly, and he was bleeding everywhere. His shirt was ripped to shreds, and he used it to soak up the blood off his face. He was only on the bus for about 5 minutes, and hopped back off, and walked down another street. I asked soem people in the village the next day and they said that he and another man got drunk and decided to have a street brawl. The thing that shocked me the most about the situation was not the fact that he was injured and covered in blood, but that you could see on his face an expression of just brokeness. You could tell whatever happened, not only hurt him physically, but inside as well.
Tomorrow, Laura and I are leaving for Pokhara, a small lakeside town, for a few days. We are meeting Saran, our trekking guide friend there. We'll be there for the next few days until our flight back to the USA!
Well, I think that's all for now. be posting soon!
matthew ;^)

Monsoon!

Hello everybody!
So, as the title of this post says, the monsoon season has finally come to Kathmandu. Everyone here says that it was late this year. A lot of villages around Kathmandu, such as Khokana, have not received much rain yet, which means that a lot of rice farmers have not began planted their crops. But the rain has come to Kathmandu. It has rained almost everyday since I returned to India. But I think yesterday, Sunday, saw the most rain since I've been back. I love the rain, and the temperature cools down during the rain (I actually slept under a blanket last night!), so I don't mind it so much.
Well, my English classes are going pretty well. I had my first class in Khokana yesterday, which means I'm now teaching 3 English classes. As luck would have it, each class is at a different level of proficiency in English. That means I have to prepare three different lessons each day. But I don't mind, considering that my own native language is probably one of the easiest things I could teach! When I teach in Khokana, I have to travel to and from there by myself. So, yesterday was the first time that I left the church and travelled about an hour or so to the village. I have to walk about a mile to a large intersection called "New Baneshor Chowk", take the number 14 "tuk tuk" (a three wheeled vehicle that carries about 10 people) to "Jawalakhel", and then hop on the number 14 bus all the way to Khokana! It's not so bad, and I'm getting the hang of it.
Well, I think that's all for now. This video was shot while Laura, Saran, and I were riding on top of a bus from Nagarkot, in the foothills of the Himalayas.
matthew ;^)

My week back in Kathmandu!

Hey yall! So, my first week back in Kathmandu is almost up...and yes, I have pictures like I promised. The sunset picture is one I took on our trek with Saran to Nagarkot. The Next picture is of me and Manesh's two children, Mahita and Manoj, at the parsonage (before we got kicked out).
So, As I told you, when I arrived in Kathmandu, Pastor Nagendra's brother and his family, Shanti, Vani, and Nahum, were there. Well, they're house is now ready for them to live in and I helped them move a few things into their new home. They are really wonderful people, and I enjoy spending time with all of them.
Wednesday morning, Laura, Shanti, and I woke up early, to leave the house at 6:15(!) for an early morning crash course in music conducting that Laura taught to students at the music school. I learned a lot from it, but the thing I think I learned the most was that I am not coordinated enough to be a conductor!
Later that morning, Shanti and I left the school to meet a pastor friend of his, Pastor Nanda, to set up English conversation lessons at his church. However, on the way home, we had to take a different route than normal thanks to a bandh, a big protest where they close down streets. Well, it turned out that we got to walk right through Patan Darbar square, where we took some pictures. It's and older section of the city, where there are a lot of temples and idols. Even though the bandh was a little frustrating, it was a lucky turn of events since we got to see that part of the city.
As I said, I'm now teaching English conversation lessons. I had my first two lessons this morning. It was a lot of fun and quite a learning experience for me. My first group could read, but had limited English knowledge. And as I don't speak Nepali, it proved to be a little difficult, but I think we all had a very good time, and I hope that I taught them a lot. My next group was a married couple here in the church. Luckily for me, they understand English very well, and want to know more advanced conversational skills.
Well, gotta go for now, but I'll be writing soon!
matthew ;^)

On the road again...

Ok, so I tried to post this this entry below from Delhi, but because of computer issues, I was only able to save a draft and post it now. I am back in Kathmandu; I arrived yesterday afternoon. The plane ride went smoothly with no problems. I met a few British people on the plane, Kimberly and Owen. They were with a group that organizes volunteer work abroad. Kimberly is going to teach English for the summer, and Owen is going to do construction work in a small community.
When I arrived yesterday, Shanti, Pastor Nagendra's brother, his wife Vanni, and their son Nahum were at the house. I had heard a lot about them, and it was nice to finally meet them. Shanti even told me that he's been keeping up with this blog! They've been in the USA for three years while they went to seminary, and now they're back in Nepal. They are a really nice family, and I look forward to getting to know them.
Well, that's all for now. Sorry once again, I tried to upload pictures, but I promise I'll have some soon! Once again, the quoted part below is a post I attempted to post in Delhi, enjoy!
matthew ;^)

"Hey everybody, Namaste from Delhi!

We just got into Delhi around 7am this morning. It's now about 10am. We left Vijayawada at 4am on saturday morning...which means this train ride holds the record for my long train rides: 27 hours! We didn't have any problems on the train...the eunichs weren't a problem because they usually ignore foreigners. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, "eunichs" here are people that are either eunichs by force (meaning a castrated male) or it can also mean a hermaphrodite. They typically dress like Indian women, but have very masculine faces...needless to say they are usually greeted by inquisitive expressions on the faces of those around them. Well, they typically can't find work, due to social prejudices, so they are forced to get money by harassing people in markets and on trains. They make a lot of noise, whistling and clapping, and if you don't give them any money, they'll harass you until you give them something. Well, they didn't bother me, but it was quite a sight to watch them pester people on the train.

This train ride was probably the worst ride I've had, all thanks to a screaming toddler in the berth beside us. Conveniently, he chose to scream his head off around 2am. Other than that, the ride was pleasant because of the rain, and drop in temperature it brought.

It was interesting to watch a Muslim man that was in a berth near us. Of course, when it came time for him to pray, he would go to the bathroom and ceremonially wash his face, hands, and feet. He ususally asked us if he could use our berth to pray in. He kept a small compass, I'm assuming to help him find the direction towards Mecca. Well, in the evening, just before sunset, it was time for him to pray (consequently, the sunset was to his left meaning he was facing north, when, if my navigational skills didn't fail me, he should have pointed directly at the sunset to face Mecca...but hey he was on a moving train!). I looked out the window, and that sunset was the most beautiful sunset I think I've ever seen. The sky was just splattered with pink, blue, and purple color. I wanted to interupt this man to tell him that if he was looking for God, all he had to do was look at that sunset, and see Him. Anyways, he finished his prayers and the rest of the ride went smoothly. We arrived in Delhi, and now I am writing to you!
Well, gotta go!
matthew ;^)"

Dog days of summer in Kalaturu...

Hey yall! Just wanted to to give a quick update! I'm still in Andhra Pradesh, in the village of Kalaturu. Man, is it hot! It's usually between 100 and 110 degrees during the day, but it can be pretty nice outside at night. I mean, it can get that hot at home, but we don't really feel it because we can just go inside, into the air conditioning. Here, we have fans and shade. You get pretty used to it though...it's not so bad sleeping at night, and you try to stay in the shade during the day. However, the power goes out here sporadically...you never nowwhen it's gonna go off, and you never know when it's gonna come back on. I have had a great epiphany here...I have discovered the world's worst and most beautiful sounds: the worst being the sound of a dying fan as the power shuts off, choking off the only bit of relief from the heat; the most beautiful sound being the sound of the power returing, starting the blades of the fan turning again, if not giving you actual relief, at least you can convince yourself that at that moment a working fan is the best thing in the world.
Anyways, I haven't been up to much here. We have pretty slow days. We usually spend the day in the shade of the front porch of the house. I read a lot (I've finished Mere Christianity, The Grapes of Wrath, and Hamlet, and have just started the 6th Harry Potter book...I'm such a nerd). Then at night we have prayer meetings. We have to wait until night because most people are day laborers, in the fields and in their shops and such, so they come to the meetings at night. It's gone pretty well so far. I'm certainly no preacher, by any means, but Manesh always asks me to speak to the people in the villages. So, I say what I can, doing my best, and hope that I can say something to them that lets them know I'm just as human as they are and that God loves us all.
I'll be leaving India on the 6th, monday. I have a train to Delhi that leaves at 4am on the 4th of July (Happy Independence day!). We'll reach Delhi around 7am on the 5th, and we'll stay in a hotel until my flight back to Kathmandu.
Well, I still don't have pictures, but I hope to post some as soon as I can get a faster connection. bye for now!
matthew ;^)

Talk about irony...

So, I've got to make this quick again, sorry! The train ride from Delhi went smoothly with no problems. I made it VIjayawada, Andhra Pradesh around midnight on tuesday/wednesday morning. The firts few days were fine with no problems. I went to a prayer meeting with the family. I spoke there, and even though I am not speaker, I did my best. I spoke about the book of Ruth, and how even though Ruth was a "foreigner", God uses different people from all over the world for His greater good. Remember what I just said...
Well, the past few days have been rather rough. Friday, 5 members of Manesh's family got ill, and we had to take them to the hosptil. We can only conclude that it was food poisoning, becuase I didn't get sick, and neither did manesh. BUt the fun just started there...note the sarcasm. When we got back from the hospital, a car pulled up to the parsonage we were staying in, and Manesh told me to go inside. I was pretty confused, and after Manesh spoke with the men in the car he came in to speak with me. It turns out, the men in the car were the directors of the church Manesh pastors. They heard that a "foreigner" was staying in the church's parsonage, and came to tell him I had to leave. So at night, I packed all my things and stayed in a hotel. Talk about ironic! Here I am speaking to christians, hindus, and muslims about how God used a "foreigner" for His purpose and good, and it's the Christian directors of a church that kick me out! On top of that, they gave Manesh and his family one month to vacate the house, and he will no longer be pastoring at that church. These people have never once spoken to me either. Needless to say, Manesh's family and I were pretty upset, but Manesh told me he has too much faith in God to be upset or worried. We have rented a small house for the rest of the time, until I return to Nepal, so that his entire family--aunts, uncles, kids, grandparents, everbody--can stay with me. THey have really taken a lot of trouble for me, and I love this family. They really are a blessing. If you could pray for them to find a house at the end of the one month ultimatum, that would be appreciated.
Well, I gotta run. Hope to post some pics soon!
Matthew ;^)

Tamil Nadu Express!

OK, so I gotta make this quick, cause I gotta catch my train! I'm currently in New Delhi, preparing to leave for Andhra Pradesh. It's about 100 degrees here, and it's 8:30 at night! And, no A/C on the train. Sweaty train ride ahead.
The past few days have been incredible! The trekking guide, Saran, took Laura and trekking through the foothills of the Himalayas. We estimate that we trekked over 50 to 60 kilometers in two days...that's over 30 miles on foot! I don't think I've ever walked that far in my life! But it was worth it. We ate wild berries all along the way, and I must have eaten over 100! It was hard and very hot, but you don't get to see that side of Nepal by staying in the city.
This morning we took a bus back into the city. We rode on top of it, through the hills! (Mom: you know how you told me to not tell you when I've don'e something kinda dangerous, until after it's over...well, I made it :P). I wish I could post pictures, but this computer doesn't seem to hav a USB port available. Well, i gotta run, got a train to catch!
Matthew ;^)
PS
Not sure when I'll be writing again, so stay tuned!

On foot in Kathmandu...

Well, not a whole lot has happened since I last blogged, but I thought I would go ahead and write something because tomorrow (Saturday) morning Laura and I are leaving early with our friend Saran, to go backpacking around the rim of the Kathmandu Valley. We'll spend saturday and sunday trekking through the hills, and return on monday. However, monday afternoon I will leave for Delhi, and then take a train to Vijayawada (25 hour train ride this time!), so I may not have time to write anything until I am in India. Saran is a professional trekking guide, and takes foreigners into the himalayas. He has got quite a story to tell. In 2006, he was the only survivor of a group of 7 trekkers to survive an avalanche. He has yet to reach the summit of mount Everest (which takes around 70 days to complete, might I add!), but he hopes to soon. He has worked with producers from the Discovery Channel, and in the fall of 2010, he will lead a team to film a documentary about the himalayas.

Anyways, so the past few days have been rather quiet around here. While Laura went to the school to teach, I decided to get to know Kathmandu a little better. And what better way than to walk? I went to the main post office to send some post cards, and decided to walk home from there. Well, actually, I decided just to walk around a bit, not really knowing where I was in the city, and then just happened upon an intersection that I knew was only about 3 miles from the house/church we are staying at. It was interesting. I sat and ate PB&J's in this big park where Nepali people were having some dance festival. I would tell you more about it, but I don't speak Nepali, and have no idea what they were really doing. I also walked past the Nepali ministerial complex (pictured), which used to be a former king's palace, but is now used for different minitries of the government. I walked for about 5 hours, and somehow managed to make it back on my own two feet!

The next day, I surprised a few people in Khokana, but arriving in the small village by bus, by myself. They were surprised that I used the public transportation system alone--I guess they don't expect too much from foreign travellers! I stayed for a few hours and helped out with more of the construction work. Here, I need to tell you about the work ethic of the Nepali people. I'll describe two situations, and see if our society and culture would do the same thing: One man works 6 days a week to support his family and on his one day off, he decides to mix cement, and haul bricks, dirt, and rocks in the hot sun for hours; A mother of several children takes her youngest one to the construction site, stops carrying bricks only to nurse her child, and either gives him to a yonger girl or puts him on her back, and goes back to carrying bricks. All this work, to build a church for their community. Makes you wanna do a little more yourself, don't it?

Well, that's all for now,

matthew ;^)

Cremation rites and village life...

Whew, it's good to be back at a computer, to tell you all about the last few days. Since I last wrote, some pretty cool stuff has happened. STarting off, we had church on saturday, and in the afternoon, a borther and sister from the church, named Lidya and Lobkus aka "Peter", took us to the Basthipati, or 'Monkey Temple'. It's a hindu holy site situated on a small river. Now the interesting thing about this river is, it is considered holy and this is where many of the devout hindu worshipers cremate their deceased relatives, and dump the ashes in the river. We got to watch a cremation cermony on the banks of the 'ghat' (cremation site on the river), as they prepared the body by wrapping it in white cloth and washing the feet in the holy water to prepare the deceased for the afterlife. Then they set the body on the funeral pyre, and begin the cremation process. Several fires were buring while we were there, and it was a very interesting experiences to say in the least. Other sites on the campus of the temple included a deer park, like a bajillion shrines and idols to Shiva, and of course, monkeys everywhere.
Later on, Peter took us to his village, Khokana, to spend the night. We had a really good time with him and his family. He lives in a small mud house next to the hindu temple for the village (his older brother is the priest there). He took us up to a hill near by that overlooked the entire kathmandu valley. It's really pretty, but as you can kinda see from the video, it's covered in smog. We worked on the church while we were there, and we got one wall up. It was a good thing that we stayed in Khokana at the time though because the Maoist party here decided it was a good day to have a city-wide protest: burning cars, shutting down business, closing off traffic, beating up civilians and officials...you know, normal civil disobedience (note the sarcasm in my typing, the Maoists are not my favorite people here...). The stay is Khokana was nice. It's not what the average person from a developed country would call 'comfortable', but I thought it was comfortable and simple enough. You really realize that all the luxuries and comforts we have are not necessities at all, and that there is really a beauty to the simple life many people lead across the globe.
Well, I think that's all for now, but I'll be posting soon!
matthew ;^)

A day in the life of a Nepali...

OK, so not much has happened since my last post. Joshua, the Pradhan's son, and I went to the music school with Lauraon wednesday. I even picked up a trumpet for her first class! Then Joshua took me to the percussion room, and taught me how to play a few beats on a drum kit. This kid is good, he likes to just mess around with any instruments he can get his hands on. Later that day we ate 'momos' for 'lunch' (I say 'lunch' because we ate them as our second meal of the day at 4:30pm!). They are sort of like chinese dumplings, with meat and vegetables in them. From there, Joshua and I walked back to the house, about 3 miles or so, while Laura taught again at another church. I got to see more of the city that way, and also start learning my way around the city.
I thought I would describe our typical day here in Kathmandu. We usually wake up around 7am or so. I usually go buy and english newspaper, and when I get back we drink tea and read the paper. Breakfast is usually eaten around 9 or 9:30, and it's not necessarily breakfast as we usually think of it. It may be left overs from last night's dinner, but it is usually no different than the food we eat at any other meal: curries, RICE, potatos, all sorts of vegetables, water buffalo, chicken, paapar (a crisp chip kinda thing made from lentels), yoghurt, and mangos. Then I may go to work at the construction site for the new church, and return in the afternoon. If not, then Joshua and I usualy find something to do around the house for a while, like play catch (I brought a baseball and 2 gloves), read, play guitar and harmonica, or go for walks around the city. Then we'll eat 'lunch' around 2 or 3pm. It's not really lunch, but more of a large snack...maybe just potatos, or toast, or eggs. Joshua has a tutor that comes in the afternoons, so this is the time for me to just relax and read some. In the evenings, Laura comes back from class, and we all three usually play music or watch the news. Dinner is usually eaten around 8 or 8:30pm. Then we pray all together and go to bed around 10pm. A day in the life of a nepali family...

Some things I've seen or experienced...
-So, as I told you, Joshua really likes to play music, and Laura is trying to teach herself to play the guitar. We were sitting in the living room, when Laura asked me if I knew the chords to "Summer of '69". I said I didn't but joshua chimed in with "It starts on D," and proceded to play it and sing it for her. We found out that this 13 year old Nepali boy loves the Eagles, and can play and sing Hotel California! Haha, talk about globalization!
-THe other day, we came to the interenet cafe to check our email, and this little kid was sitting on a parked motorcycle. They start driving young over here...

At the top of the world...

Well, these past few days have been pretty exciting around here. Monday morning we woke up early to catch a 6:45 flight to take us to see the Himalayan mountains. It was incredible! The mountain tops were all above the clouds, and snow covered everything. You can really see God's hands at work on these peaks. Mt. Everest was pretty cool too. I got to see it from the cockpit of the plane! This is a video I took of it. The sound is not great, because the plane was loud, but it looks cool. We kinda imagine Mt. Everest as this one lone peak that kinda stands alone. But it's really more like, just the highest peak of a bunch of other really tall peaks. But it's still freakin awesome!

Yesterday we visited one of the churches here in Kathmandu, and watched a Nepali folk dance competition put on by the kids of the area. They were really cool dances, and I learned a lot. Today I will be going with Laura to the music school for the first time...I may pick up a trumpet, we'll see.

THings I saw recently...

-Peter, who works for the church, changed a flat tire on the van we were riding in, in less than 5 minutes! Move over NASCAR!

-Later on, Peter took a minivan down a dirt road under construction, that I'd be hard pressed to take my jeep down. They drive cars here til the wheels fall off...literally.

I think that's all for now...be posting soon!
matthew ;^)

So, I've finally made it back to a computer. sorry it took me so long to post anything new, but with power outages and political protests in the streets (burning cars, closed streets, the whole nine yards :) ), I haven't been able to come to an internet cafe. We are getting adjusted to Nepali daily life pretty well, and neither Laura or I have gotten sick...knock on wood. We went to Thamel, a section of the city where all the hippies and mountain trekkers go, with Peter (the man with the glasses). Laura tried juleibi, samosa, and gulab jaman. Unfortunately she dropped her camera, and broke it...however, praise God, a member of the church here is letting her use his for the next 6 weeks.

Yesterday, saturday, we had church. That's when they have off of work here to have church. It was a lot of fun, and the evening service was in the most beautiful village in the entire world, Khokona (I'm not kidding...the ENTIRE WORLD!). Some of these pictures are of that village. This village is where Peter and his family live. I told him I envy him, because he gets to live in sucha beautiful place, and lives a very simple life.

Today, sunday, we worked on a construction site for a new church, in Khokona. It was hard work, and we laid the foundation, but we had about 20 people helping us, so it wasn't so bad.

Things I've seen...

-Laura and I were playing catch with a baseball in the garden, when we suddenly heard a marching band...in Nepal! It turned out to be a wedding procession in which the groom goes to the bride's house to take her to the ceremony. Pretty cool.

-We saw a lot of marijuana...I know what you're thinking, it's not that bad. It grows wild here.

-Peter's house in Khokona is pretty cool...three stories with 1 room on each floor: 1st, bathroom; 2nd, his daughter's room; 3rd, he and his wife's room. But, it definitely was not made for 6ft. tall americans...as you can see my height compared to his in the picture.

-The new Nepali prime minister, Madhav Kumar, drive by us in his government caravan, while we were walking by the governmental grounds.

well, I think that's all for now.

matthew ;^)

We made it...

Whew, we finally made it to Kathmandu. It took us just under 24 of travel to get here, and we were pretty tired. we flew from Raleigh to New York City, from NYC to Hong Kong, and from Hong Kong to Kathmandu. WHile in Hong Kong, we ate chinese food...that's a first for me, chinese food in China! We are staying with a family, the Pradhans, at a moravian church. They are a wonderful family, and some of the nicest people I've ever met. I am sharing a room with their 13 year old son, Joshua, who is a very bright student.
Today we went into the city, to go to the post office and to buy myself some pants...I was told I shouldn't wear jeans to church, haha. Mr. Pradhan said that we may receive mail at this address:
Matthew Revilla
G.P.O. Box 14201
Kathmandu, Nepal

I think I'm going to try something different on this blog than last year, and write interesting things down that I saw or experienced in a list...

-I saw a man carrying an entire couch on his back...poor guy
-We rode in what is called a 'tuk tuk', a three-wheeled, battery-powered mass transit vehicle that certainly wouldn't pas DMV standards in the US.
-We visited the Kathmandu hospital...note to self: stay out of there at all costs, it was way worse than the one in Mexico...
-Everything here reminds me of India, the smells, sights, and sounds...except that we only saw 2 cows in the streets, not 3,458...
-I saw a 'sadhu', a hindu holy man, wearing converses! sweet kicks bro!

Well, I gotta go, but I hope to have more pictures soon!
matthew ;^)

Hong Kong

We're in Hong Kong! We're just here waiting for our connecting flight to Kathmandu, and we found a station with internet access so, I figured I'd say hey from China! Welp, gotta go!
matthew ;^)

T-minus 18 hours, and counting

Hey yall!

So this is my first post on my new blog for this year's summer trip to Kathmandu!  For those of you who don't know, I'll be traveling with my cousin, Laura, who will be teaching music in a school for the summer.  We are pretty excited, as our flight leaves tomorrow (Monday) at 6:30am!  Well, this is just a short hello for the summer, and I look writing again.

matthew ;^)