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 ;^)