June 29
It was a long, stuffy bus ride from Staples Mill Road Baptist Church to Dulles (Washington D.C.). I sat with Richard, and we had some nice conversation. The storm held up our flight until...
June 30
The Trans-Atlantic flight was very nice. I sat with Jamie. There were great options for media and maps of the flight path.
The rest of the day was spent lost to the time zones and wasted in the Doha Airport. I was expecting something fancy, but it was in a temporary building. Many varieties of Muslim dress and mosques off the bathrooms!
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| Restroom... and mosque |
July 1
The flight to Nepal was shorter and not as roomy. Qatar Airlines was great though.
Kathmandu looked very worn and heavy architecturally. There were long lines for the visas but everyone was nice.
The drive through the city was crazy! The people are dressed so well, but the place is so dirty.
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| Here is a cow, outside a new car showroom. Cows wander freely in Nepal, as they are sacred to Hindus. |
We had brunch at Mike's Breakfast. It was American-style with English-language menus.
The ride from breakfast to the resort was even crazier. There were more back streets taken and less room. People had managed to convert a roto-tiller with a wheel hooked up to a cart [oh they call this a tractor] into a road-going vehicle. I must have seen five of these.
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| Fancy wiring |
The resort is lovely. I have seen monkeys, bunnies and geckos! Dinner was good, much like Indian food.
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| Fancy landscapers |
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| Monkey who found a straw |
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| Golf Course! |
July 2
I slept very well! I got up at 6:45 a.m. No alarm needed. It gets dark earlier here. I had breakfast with Charles, Dustin, Dena and her mom. I had French toast, pancakes, eggs and bacon. I've tried to update Facebook, but it's not working. The Internet is slow here! The electricity goes off occasionally as well.
Today, we are making plans for VBS.
I read letters from Amy, Mom, Brian B. and Justin. It makes me feel awesome!
Lunch was great, again. Wine-glazed chicken and mashed potatoes. Even the cheese curd stuff was good.
Most of the day was necessary for decorating and organizing VBS.
Some of the teens in our group went hiking and came back with leeches! The forest is pretty thick around the golf course.
Jordan brought a leech back with her as it turns out. There was a big bloody spot on her sock. I had the job of throwing it out, and it bit me, too!
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| Leech = bloody sock |
I tried not to eat so much and dinner and was successful! I was very tired and went to bed early.
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| Lovely room all by myself |
It rained all night. I think it has rained every night since we've been here. It doesn't cool off much. My air conditioner works, but not every one's does.
Earlier, Richard and I were walking around. We watched deer on the golf course. We then saw some crazy monkey action. There were babies clinging to mothers. The teenage monkeys were going nuts in the trees!
July 3
It stopped raining by morning.
We prepared more for VBS. At lunch, I saw some students, Oddly enough, they slept through VBS, and never made it.
Some new lingo:
Namaste = Hello
Dhanyabaad = Thank You
Ho = Yes
Haina = No
Ramro = Good
Mero Naam Brian Ho = My Name is Brian.
Dinner was like traffic in Kathmandu! This place is packed. Many of the families have 2+ kids. My class was good. One girl cried at first. I was wiped out from the day .After dinner, I met my roommate, Michael from Australia. I apologized for passing out. I went to sleep at 8:30 and woke up at 4 a.m.
July 4
I had breakfast at 7 a.m. I left a Snickers for housekeeping. I'm practicing my Nepali "thank you." Michael and I realized we only have one key, so we are leaving it at the lobby desk.
We are getting ready for a big day in VBS! I read Jason's letter.
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| Our class |
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| All the kids |
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| Eating outside |
We've completed two sessions of VBS - not too bad. We have 15 four- and five-year-olds. There are a couple of three-year-olds who sneak into our group as well. I did three puppet shows today, since we missed one yesterday.
I felt very blessed today. I tried to remember to love the kids more than anything. We had swimming after lunch, and the pool was cold. Isabel cried afterwards because she was so cold. She was more tired because she ended up falling asleep on me.
I practiced, "My name is...," to a couple of guys today. They seemed to find humor in it! I've given away all my Snickers bars, since I don't need them. The food is still good.
My roommate Michael is from Melbourne, but he has been in India six years. Earlier today, he said he has no TV, so it's nice to see the news.
I volunteered to watch someone tonight with Mike B., but we weren't needed.
I developed a nasty little stomach bug. One Imodium did not help!
July 5
The stomach bug continues. I took another Imodium, and it's mostly working. I read Hannah's note about perseverance~ I made it through most of the morning. I took off the games segment. I was able to eat a little lunch. Jan gave me a Gatorade packet, which helps.
I wanted to Facebook my wife, but it doesn't cooperate very well. I have spoken to a few of the folks here:
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| Jeeban - Newari store owner |
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| Yundin - chef from Tibet |
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| Ramesh: Nepali server |
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| Deepak: Nepali server |
The stomach bug has stayed mostly quiet. The kids lost focus for the second half of VBS. We had two fights during crafts time! We gave away all the toys and decorations from VBS. The kids were (mostly) delighted. A few realized that this was the end of VBS.
At night, we made plans for going back to town. We signed up for different groups. My plan is to get on the route with the nicest bathrooms. I read Brian McG.'s letter in the afternoon. He's so funny!
July 6
Just a half-day left here. We are practicing for our presentation. Some kids still cry when they get dropped off.
The kids:
Jonathan really likes chicken. He's quiet. Roman loves to play and any stuff that could be viewed as gifts. Crissa is very quiet. And just a little naughty. Natalia likes to play in the rain. Levi is sweet and gives hugs and kisses. Kylie really liked our group name, Ginny's Geckos, and when we called them "little geckos." Kira liked eating dal and rice here. Aashini always had beautiful things in her hair. Kyra's favorite thing was coloring. Graydon likes butterflies and tigers and snakes. Joshua always wanted to play with the little toy animals. Isabel tries to wrap everyone around her finger! Andrew was three but accidentally got sent to our class. Sammy took off his shoe and hit him in the head. He hardly blinked! Sammy came to our class to be with his sister Hannah. He liked the music. Hannah liked the swimming and wanted to win the dolphin. Abigail liked the snacks. Her brother Charlie snuck in with us often.
I read Jason H.'s letter today.
Mike gave a rousing speech as we gathered to leave. He told from experience how important these events are, more for the parents, but for the kids as well. It was touching.
I sat in the front seat for the van ride back into town. Luke and I had the best view of the action. Gopal also played tour guide as he drove.
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| Gopal, the best driver in Nepal |
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| Trash! |
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| Hey, look at the pretty hoses! |
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| Just a little wet |
I told Luke that Gopal was the Dale Earnhardt of Nepal. He intimidates the traffic! This house is not as nice, but the wi-fi is predictable. I did some Facebooking.
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| View in Boudha (or Boudhanath) |
It looks like I'll be going back to the resort to watch kids Sunday. Some of the new ones have extra training. There weren't a lot of volunteers.
Some folks went to the ATM and saw the area. There is a Buddhist stoupa close by. There is also a store next door selling cold Coke and Sprite. I had a Coke!
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| Nice store! |
We went to the Lazy Gringo. I would not have chosen Mexican myself. The place was packed though. It was said that it's never that busy. The ride through Kathmandu at night seemed depressing... more sad.
July 7
I woke up a few times in the night to the sound of dogs barking. Then in the morning, I woke to Buddhist chanting. I got on the computer for a while and shared with my friends.
We walked through the Boudha Stoupa area. The Buddhist monks are some of the wealthiest people in the ares. We had people offering their wares. One child came up begging for food. Andy gave him some cheese crackers.
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| The stoupa |
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| Walking to church |
The Nepali home church was great. It was packed! More than 60 in one room, and close to 100 in the house. They were very welcoming. We each got up and told our names and home state. I tried Nepalese! The people were from the foothills of the Himalayas. Their worship songs went on an on. Sometimes they sang quietly and then they got up and bounced like it was a rock concert. They apologized that they couldn't translate their sermon in English. They prayed for our prayer walking around the city and want to join the group in Boudha.
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| Church! |
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| Area around the house church |
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| Main street along the stoupa |
I had two spoons of scrambled eggs for breakfast and flan for lunch. I was blessed to keep everything in all day.
After lunch, I saw very sad dogs around the stoupa. I gave a few some jerky. A couple dogs had better days.
Then we went to Thamel for shopping! There were lots of shops: art, clothes, shawls, jewelry, Hindu knick knacks, book stores. This area was not as nice as I expected. I bought my share of stuff. This is not the tourist season, so the sellers were desperate, especially on the street. One guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse. There is lots of dickering necessary, and the prices can get ridiculously low.
One lady had a kid with her and asked us to buy milk for her baby. Later we saw her with another kid. They thought that if you bought her milk, she would return it for money.
We walked from Thamel to the Nepalese version of Rodeo Drive. This runs out from the Royal Palace, which is now just a museum I think. We ate at Pizza Hut, which was very fancy. They toppings were odd, obviously. They had mango, baby corn and lots of veggies. I had two slices of cheese pizza.
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| Palace in the distance |
July 8
I got on Facebook to chat with my lovely wife. Facebook hates Asia apparently, and never wants to cooperate.
I went to the resort to watch more kids. It was nice to see familiar faces again. We had fun riding with Gopal again. We (Luke and I) sat in front and asked many questions. His English isn't good enough to get all the details.
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| Cow in trash |
The kids were easy. I went between both groups. There were ages 3 to 11 and under-three in two different rooms.
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| Resort Lobby |
We ate at the golf clubhouse for lunch. They served Thai pad Thai and green curry. I'm still a little troubled in that area, so I ate light.
When we got back, Beth, Dena, Charlie and I went to the Boudha Stoupa again. We walked around it three times. I talked to many people, just friendly chatter. I bought a few things. I gave away candy, and jerky for the dogs.
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| Help for the lame |
We went back to Thamel for dinner and the Roadhouse Cafe. I had steak! It was a great night. I didn't really need to buy anything. I took all the leftover pizza from the restaurant. I handed almost all of it to kids within the first block. One boy had a deformed hand and burnt face. He came for more and had his arm in front of his face as a disguise. I said, "It's okay!" So he smiled and took more. I still had the last of the pizza when I went off with Dena and her mom. I found a vendor in the street from whom I purchased necklaces previously I told him I wanted turquoise in a the nice design. He didn't have one, but he said he would make one and come back. I told him we were leaving soon. He was desperate due to the poor sales in monsoon season. Well, he didn't make it.
I told his friends where I would be waiting for the van, but to no avail. I figured if we went to Thamel tomorrow, I would see him!
Back at the hotel, we had another debrief with Mike. People talked about their days. Chip and his group went to a Hindu tour. I think they spend most their time near the river where Hindus (and Buddhists) cremate bodies. Chip struck up a conversation with a man who was explaining the proceedings. So Chip explained that his hope was in Jesus, rather than in having his ashes sent down the river.
Mike took a group outside the city up in the hills to see a Buddhist temple and monastery. They said the views were great, and the city looked clean from up there. The girls (Jordan, Sarah and Angela) presented the gospel to a Muslim tourist from India there. A tour guide wanted to practice English with Mike, so he got to hear the gospel as well.
[July 7 addendum: Luke and I were riding in the from to Gopal's van. Luke leaned over and asked, "Do you think he'll let me honk the horn?" In fact, Gopal and every other drive did that every ten seconds or so. I said, "How do you ask to honk another man's horn?" Luke laughed. Then he asked. And then he got to honk the horn. I have a pic.]
I read Historian's letter this morning!
July 9
This was the day where I was going to go prayer walking through areas with prostitutes. Kacy was one of our guides again. Jonathan's group had a bad experience on this trip the previous day. Dena, her mom Sarah, and Jamie joined me. We had four others from the Mississippi group as well, and were going to split into two groups. I asked Kacy if we Virginians could be with her. I got the money for this trip form Dena via Mike. I would pay for taxis and lunch with 4000 rupees ($50)
We took three taxis to the part of town with the Lazy Gringo. This took 600 rupees.
From the major intersection, we walked to Mrs. F.'s house for a brief meeting. There we met with our other guide Holly and translator Pawana. Mrs. F., a humanitarian worker from the conference whom we all had met, gave an overview of the sex trade in Kathmandu and Nepal. She introduced Pawana, who had been an orphan and street kid. She had been told all her life she would become a prostitute but, praise God, did not!
We broke up into our small groups for instruction on the plan. We would go to a park first. It was detailed how I would be protected from the prostitutes, what was appropriate as far as touching, hugging and so on...
Spoiler Alert: I don't think I came within ten feet of any woman outside our group.
We took a taxi van to the park for 75 rupees. We packed in with strangers. This worked like a city bus, but was a private venture. Sometimes more people got on than got off, which meant women sitting on laps!
The park was similar to Monroe Park in Richmond, except dirtier and more crowded. We walked around a soccer game, then started praying and walking. I sang Micah 6:8. Right after that, a man walked up to me and asked what we were doing. I told him we were Christians and were praying for the people there. He told me his name is Deepak and he is a math major at a university and wanted to practice his English, which was pretty good!
We walked and talked. He was trying to make out what he could about the various religions. So I told him about Jesus. I think he was touched when I told him about God's love. I told him we were praying for the prostitutes, and God loved them just like him and me! Pawana and the ladies were talking to three "working girls" which I did not really see. Other men were starting to gather around me and Deepak. Pawana came over to help translate. She gave Deepak a small Nepali New Testament. I asked him to read John 3:16. She also had the "gap" picture cards. One other man seemed very interested, but could not speak English. I wanted Pawana to translate for me, but...
Another man began to argue with her in Nepali. Many minutes went by. I took a picture with Deepak, and we exchanged e-mails. I asked Pawana what the issue was. His problem with Christianity was America. How the leaders do wrong! Pawana explained that not all Americans are Christians. She pointed out we were in Nepal because we loved them. (I had heard stories that Hindu and Buddhists leaders who get rich sometimes go to America. If they die here, rumors spread that our government had them killed.) Unfortunately, I feel this distracted from sharing more personally with the other men.
I tried to make the best of it. I complimented the man on his thoughtful argument. I pointed out that this was a perfect illustration of how everyone fails to bring God glory in their actions sometimes. He wasn't satisfied of course, but Pawana took his number to discuss further.
At this point, there were 20 or more men gathered around Pawana and me. She later told me she was somewhat afraid that the angry man would get the crowd against her. (She had been harassed previously for wanting to "help" the ladies.) The fact that six Americans were there helped. Because tourism is so important to Nepal, they try to exempt foreigners from their daily strife.
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| Talking to Deepak |
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| A crowd gathers |
I handed out all my Jolly Ranchers then. I prayed with Deepak, for his personal success and for understanding the Bible.
At this point, Holly said we should get going. We took two taxis to Thamel for lunch and more prayer walking. 700 rupees.
We stopped at Fire and Ice for pizza and soft serve. A lady came to sell us purses. I gave my best Nepali, "No, thank you." She enjoyed my attempted courtesy and that I spoke Nepali well. We all had a laugh. Jamie then saw her purses and wanted ten. This made her day, and she gave all-around two coin purses each. We got four fun pizzas and ice cream cones.
Over lunch. Holly said we could look above the shops and see the seedy stuff. There are dance clubs and massage parlors. I had noticed these before, but the ladies had not. I didn't know for sure that's where prostitutes worked, though.
After lunch, we walked down the now familiar street praying for the city, the government and the girls especially. We went to a building where we prayed at the sign of Help Nepal. They give job training to prostitutes. We walked just a bit further and standing before me was my friendly neighborhood necklace salesman. He pulled out my necklace, and I pulled out my money! Happy buyer and seller. I greeted him and said I would pray for a successful season and that he would feel God's love for him. Not long after that, we looked for taxis and prayed for each other, our humanitarian workers and Virginians. Holly and Pawana stayed behind. The five of us piled into one little taxi, me in front. The three ladies were in back, with Kacey lying on their laps! Very funny! I chatted up the driver, after Jamie said I was being quiet. Taxi fare was 350 rupees, and I gave him 400.
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| Where's Kacey? |
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| There she is! |
At the B&B, we recounted our stories. Everyone had felt good about their days. We went down to the stoupa for dinner. We were charged a tourist tax for the first time. Mike was NOT happy! Dinner was fine, but my stomach still hurt. I just had an order of naan.
After dinner, I walked around the stoupa with Dena and the girls. I fed dogs! One dog bit/scratched Jan. We are not sure if these two are related. I went up on the stoupa with Sarah and Angela. I took Denas's camera. It was kind of gross up there: burnt wax and ashes. I said goodbye to the shop owners I'd met. I was standing with Sarah and Angela while the others shopped in a store. Someone grabbed my shoulder. I didn't recognize this person, maybe a vendor I forgot? He said, "It's me, Yundin." Yundin, from Tibet. I told him he looked different in a t-shirt and no chef's hat. It was his day off and he came here to pray. He was very warm, so much so that I knew that his previous friendliness at the resort wasn't just his job. I prayed for his success and his career and for him to know how much God loves him. What a good day.
We went back to the B&B. We picked up Marge and Dena, who were lost. It's not easy to find the way back. The main road is easy, but SO dirty and busy. We packed up the luggage and took one more ride with Gopal. We sang, "We love riding with Gopal. He's the best driver in Nepal," one more time.
I read Lizard's letter that morning. At the airport, we have prospective helpers (hoping to be paid), but they responded to "Chi di na, dhannyabaad." This is the most polite, "No, thank you," as someone taught me. They went away.
I sat with Luke and the girls during our last hour in Kathmandu. Jordan claimed there was a gecko in the dirty, dirty bathroom. Angela agreed to go in and snap a picture.
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| Gecko in the girls' restroom |
July 10 (the longest day)
On the plane, I ate some chicken, finished "This Means War" and watched Denzel's "Safe House." I slept an hour or so. We got in to Doha at night. I journaled like crazy. I am bored to death. There is not much to do here. Luke is on the floor, sleeping under the seats. I sat across from the girls who were sleeping and sharing a blanket.
We went through an extra security check for U.S.-bound flights, causing more lines than normal!
I slept early in the flight and missed most of Europe. I saw a little of Denmark and Sweden... then clouds.
