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 ;^)