A Little Bit Louder

So I’m still in Nepal. I went down to the Thai Air office and it was twice as hectic as it was yesterday. Everyone is trying to find different ways to get around asia without going through Bangkok, one of the largest hubs in the area.

Last night I was speaking with my travel insurance company (thus far useless), and they were trying to be “helpful” by suggesting things like taking a train/bus to another international airport…

agent: “Maybe you can take a train or bus to New Dell HI” me: “sorry, where?” agent: “New Dell HI, India?” me: “oh, you mean, New Delhi!” agent: “uh… yeah” me: “... it would be faster for me to sit around for a week”

I’m not sure what it is here, but it seems like my hair is growing like weeds. My hair is pretty shaggy now, my nose hair is growing quickly, and my facial hair gets really nasty really quick… though i might keep that… just to blend in with the nepalis even more. I can get a haircut for about 50 cents here… I think I may be better off waiting till I get back to Thailand or Hong Kong, (which I just booked a flight for!), but then I wouldn’t be able to say “I got a 50 cent haircut”.

Or “What to do? it sucks…”

So i’ve been feeling a bit sick yesterday and still not quite right today… In general, I’ve been feeling a bit run down the last few days…. i think it’s because i’m spending so much energy just trying to stay warm… looks like i need another trip to thamel to buy some warmer gear…

On another note, these guys:

want to kill the guy who lives 2 doors away from us. So now there’s a police checkpoint coming into our neighborhood. I gotta admit, i get a bit jumpy every time there’s a loud noise or someone bangs on a gate.

Kee Garn Nay, Katum Chha…

so apparently a couple protesters were arrested and then killed in the last few days. So the city decided to have more protests… “agitators” as they’re called locally, take to the streets in angry mobs and block the major roads… in ktm, this means the ring road, which we’re on the outside of … when that happens, buses don’t run, people don’t venture out if they don’t have to, and the city shuts down.

I didn’t get to see any of it unfortunately, but when we ventured out this afternoon, the city was eerily empty. Streets that are usually packed with traffic, noise, pollution, and people, were for the most part empty. A few people on bikes were around, and lots of pedestrians walking around, probably because there were few taxis and no buses around. Most stores and restaurants all had their protective steel shutters rolled down. I managed to find one open bakery to eat at, but every time there was nose outside, the staff all rushed to the doorway to see if the mob had returned.

Everyone seemed quite nervous as they wandered around trying to buy what they needed from the few stores that were open. If i were to imagine a post apocalyptic world, it would look something like this. On the way home, there were hundreds of people walking along the road as the buses had not started running again. It looked like some sort of mass exodus.

As weird as things were today, there’s a good chance that things will be back to normal tomorrow. Protests happen 2-4 times a month and this sort of thing is perfectly normal. I heard a micro (small bus) hit a motorcycle, and the mob torched the thing within minutes. For some reason i found this really funny… maybe it’s because i’m a jerk… or maybe because the Solomon, the guy telling the story, couldn’t help but laugh himself. The Nepali are pretty good at laughing at how ridiculous some stuff is. I wish I could have seen it myself.

Oh, and I got a Gurka Knife as a present from a former Gurka army soldier. It was pretty cool… though I’m not sure if it was just a nice gift, or if by accepting it, I just agreed to marry one of his daughters?

So after some web difficulties, my blog is alive again….

I got to go to Nepali service Saturday morning. And there, I had my second “wow, that’s really beautiful” moment. It was during worship, when I looked around at all the people crammed into a small room worshiping God in Nepali. Their singing seemed to come from something a little deeper than that in the west. It was a subtle yet strong and heart felt cry… maybe out of the realization of their real need for God… I’m not sure… but the authenticity was amazing.

I also got to share a bit. I’m learning quickly that the verse: 1 Peter 3:15 plays quite prominently here: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” It seems that every time we go somewhere, I’m asked to share something with the group/congregation. Often, very last minute.

Last night at youth, I shared my testimony. This morning was more of an encouragement/exhortation from Philippians 1, and Acts 1:8. Tomorrow, I’ll be teaching at English service. When I stop to think about it, it should be quite easy and second nature to simply share what God has been teaching me, but in reality it is hard when I’ve been going through a rougher patch in my life.

Saturday afternoon, the youth group spent some time cleaning up the neighbourhood around the church. Mark and I envisioned picking up lots of garbage and having the guys who come around for garbage once a week to haul it off. The youth had other ideas. They came with shovels, sickles, and meat cleavers to clear the brush that had overgrown the streets. Think weeds… 6 feet high…. and garbage everywhere. It can be demoralizing to pick up bags and bags of garbage, only to look up and realize the garbage goes back 10 feet from the street. It made a big difference though. After all was cleaned up, we put everything in a big pile and burned it… seems to be the way to clear garbage here. There’s always a fire or two burning somewhere and the smoke and smell gets everywhere. So much for the environment….

I love hanging out with the youth though, which ranges from 13-30 … so it’s more of a youth/c&c mix. It’s a fairly regular group of guys and I’m getting to know them a bit so it’s pretty fun. They’re all quite eager to learn and are fascinated by the fact that I look Nepali…. Limbu/Rai tribes to be exact… so now i introduce myself as Jacob Limbu… makes me feel more hard core mountainy…<—yes, that is a word.