Goodbye and Thank you

The time has come. Its been one heck of an eye opening trip. The memories, the lessons, the experiences, the sights, sounds, smells, the highs and the lows, the good times and the tough times have been incredible.

The last few days i have been helping at Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC) with their activity week. I was one of the helpers for the kindergartens and grade 1’s. they had 2 teachers amongst the 30 children, but they had a young female volunteer helping them as well. i was placed into there probs out of desperation as they needed more volunteers for that group. Being an international school all different cultures were present but all speaking english. The past few days have been me just journeying with them and getting to know them, as well as supporting the teachers so that they can hear about God and also have fun. I guess my years of helping out at beachmission has really helped as it seemed like a breeze. Perhaps im the only male with them, but they really took a liking to me. By the end of the day, they all had to sit on my lap, and using me as a pillow as the afternoon crept up. The Korean kids kept trying to work out if i was korean or not, and gave me the nickname Mr Jon-ni. Even the teachers and volunteer said that they all really took a liking to me and that i was really quick in getting to know them. i’ve even been invited to come back again hahaha. It was hard to say goodbye to hey. They would constantly come up and give hugs and grab my legs and jump on my back to give me a hug throughout the days. And it was hard not to return the love, but im sure policy says i cant, so i had to make sure they couldnt sit on me. And then it got me thinking about the Bible and it coming to life again. You see, i imagine it with us and Him. That we claw and grab and grasp onto Him, yet, he would never drive us away, he would never pry our hands off of his leg and tell us ‘no’. Actually he asks us to come to Him as children. Yet, taking that scenario further, as kids we do let go of him as we see something else catch our attention. But he doesnt leave us, he’s right there watching waiting for us to come back, or else, he grabs us and pulls us back to Him.

last night, i also got to be a bit of a tourist and walked around the squares to buy some souvenirs. i saw the main square, where the earthquake damage had really affected all the temples. What once stood a grandeur sight for sure, only just stood the foundation. But nepal is reviving. The markets are open and selling things. yet then there’s the gas and petrol shortages. People are cramming onto buses, cars, tempos (electric rickshaws) all trying to get home. i had fun climbing onto the roof of the bus, with my fellow bus buddies and we just sat there as the bus navigated through the peak hour traffic. It wasnt pleasant on our butts though as we were sitting in a luggage rack. i forgot to mention that i had the chance to ride a bicycle through the traffic as well. It gets the adrenaline pumping as you weave and dodge cars and buses and motorbikes and pedestrians and other cyclists. Yet it was still so much fun! 

Finally today as its my last day here in Nepal, i was taken to Boudha, an area where the 3rd largest Stoupa stands. This all relates to Buddhism, the kind the Dalai Lama is. This area is kinda like a temple or shrine. we looked into monasteries and monks were all there chanting, praying and then on the streets shopping too.

Nepal and India really give perspective to life. you dont realise how privilege u are, really you dont. and theres a good chance that im gonna forget it and go back to comfortable living conditions, while my fellow man struggles to get gas, petrol, food, or just to forge out a life. I watched a movie called '3 idiots' and man its a good movie. A movie that really hits you hard, and encourages you - to not chase money but to chase what you're passionate about. What mark am i gonna leave in this life? i hope its not one of just that i existed, that i lived the safest, most comfortable life. But one where i did something knowing the privileges that i have been given, the talents that i have been gifted with. Another movie i watched called 'kick' was about a guy who was the modern day robin hood, who did everything for 'kicks'. But the ultimate kick was he was doing it for the helpless children. I cant help but agree - there's something about the kids here on this side of the world that you cannot help but show compassion, drive and passion to help and support them. Not only with money, laughter, joy, love, support, a listening ear, a lap to sit on, a shoulder to sleep on, but also hope. 

Thank you india, thank you nepal. Its not so much a goodbye, but a see you again soon.  Thanks God for igniting the soul

Boudha

sitting on the rooftop of a bus, stuck in traffic, looking at the ppl standing outside the petrol station 

stuck in the streets as ppl line up for rationed petrol

Nepal part 2

I've been in the country now for 6 days and i've only a few more days to go. I had the chance to explore the city and to see the earthquake damage. I had first hand accounts from MaryLou and her husband Keith about the destructions of the earthquakes. It is really sad to hear and see the damage that has happened around the city. But in saying that, the Nepalese are a resilient bunch of people. its been 6 months now and alot has been cleaned up - especially for a developing country like this. But unfortunately, the tourists are still staying away. The fear of earthquakes has scared them off.

But we walked the tourist strips and observed how the city was going. It's still hustling and bustling with life. The city is returning to what it once was. I had a chance to see some beautiful architecture - huge squares where hindu temples and oriental buildings are emplaced, with just concrete tiles lining the ground. no grass, no greenery, just squares.

And thats the amazing thing about nepal, never have i seen it in india. Buildings built so close together, stacked so high, where people live and sell things. Yet walking through them, the create squares - squares of peacefulness where no traffic can go. Some squares did have greenery, they had parks and even public bathing areas. Actually i find that a bit of a contradictory. People (Especially women) cover themselves up, its a modest culture. Yet here are these public bathing areas in the middle of the public squares with women bathing themselves.

Tonight i had the pleasure of having dinner with the guy who's running YoungLife Nepal. Him and 2 american YL directors came to marylou's house for dinner and some good hangs, and they've been teaching him how to grow his ministry. we ate some traditional nepalese food, but to be honest, its just like the indian food i had for 3 months. How do you know if you've been in india for some time? Well, there was 7 of us around the table - everyone eating with knives and fork. after eating it for some time, the Hom (The nepalese YL guy) and i just looked at each other, and i said that i need to use my hands. He looked at me and said yeah he needs to as well. so there was just the 2 of us eating with our hands while everyone used cutlery, and it felt good haha. and we both knew it, we just looked at each other and smiled.

My time nepal is coming to an end soon. The rest of my time i'll be volunteering at an international school as its their activity week. Its my last time see mary lou as well as she is taking her students away on a trek for activity week. We'll say our goodbyes tomorrow, at 5am as she needs to catch a bus to Pokhara (a touristy trekking spot) with her school students.

The remnants of a tall spire and tourist attraction. 150 ppl died while being in this tower.

ppl wear masks because of the dust and smog

selling fabric

so many wires. and this is a very popular cafe called Himalaya Java. also this is where Keith was when the earthquake struck 6 months ago.

Nepal part 1

I left Bangalore and headed for the airport with Reem at 11pm on 25th Oct. She had a flight to Aus at 3am and i had a flight to Kolkata at 6am. We said our farewells at the airport and it was time to contort the body to get some sleep. Getting a few minutes sleep i made friends with some guy sitting next to me, waiting to fly back to Delhi. Its so interesting how everyone has a story, i swear airports are the best place to hear them. It was time to check in and again get some more sleep. 6am rolled around and it was time to board AirIndia to fly to Kolkata. I sat next to a man and a woman and their 2 year old boy. He was an adventurous boy, trying to feed me pomergranate as well as trying to take my butter. We soon just looked through the inflight magazine together and tested his english. It was time to get off, but i had the opportunity to chat to the ppl next to me. I found out they were brother and sister, and the boy was the sister's son. They were both Nepalese heading back home from India. We hopped off the plane and realised we were gonna sit next to each on our flight to Kathmandu. What an awesome thing it was, coz it turns out he was a top bloke. We chatted in Kolkata airport (a huge airport btw) to kill our 5 hr wait time. He was so friendly and he was willing to give me a sim card to use for the fortnight i was in Nepal. He was also wanting to show me around Nepal and gave me his number that "if was ever in trouble" he would drop everything and come help.

We sat in the lounge waiting to board our plane. i forgot to mention that there were so many americans at Kolkata airport. Everyone wondered why? Next minute, all of them came sitting in the same lounge, all waiting to board to Nepal. 2 of them sat next to me, so i needed ask. I found out that there were 54 college students all part of this thing called 'World Race'. 11 months, 11 countries - serving and helping out different ministries and organisations. They asked me about what i was doing, and i told them that i was visiting friends and that i was a part of YoungLife. that got really excited because a few of them are a part of younglife in the USA. Its always like that, once you're in younglife, you're a part of the family. So we hopped onto the plane and headed to Nepal. I got the window sit this time, so i got to see outside, but unfortunately, the window was all dirty and scratched. But that did not stop me from seeing the views that i saw. Over the PA the pilot announced details about our arrival time and then said that we can see the himalayas and Mt everest. saw i quickly looked out the window and there it was - a vista of snow covered mountains. A sight that i have never seen before. Mountain after mountain covered in snow. Clouds would cover the top but some mountains still peered ontop of the clouds. what a spectacular sight. How much more spectacular if the window wasnt so scratched haha. As we descended to land, my mate that i made friends with a few hours before said that he would help me with the airport, and that he would call my contact, Mary Lou, once i reached the airport. Im glad he did, because Kathmandu airport was crazy! so many foreigners, so many ppl not knowing what's going on or wot to do. I had to buy a visa, but i needed to go to a counter, who told me to go to a different counter, who told me to go to another counter to fill out a form and then bring it back. gosh, it was hectic. Once that was all complete i went down to the baggage collection area to collect my bag. Theres only 2 carousels in a tiny room, and like so many flights coming in, so u can imagine what the scene was like....ppl jammed together trying to get their trolleys through with no luck, it was total chaos haha. but thats eastern culture, theres no lines. I lost my friend but then i found him again, he was waiting for me the entire time with a trolley to pick up my luggage. he gave me his phone and told me to call Mary Lou, she was outside waiting for me in the masses of people. I said goodbye to my friend and caught a taxi with mary lou. They crazy thing is that theres no petrol here, so taxis were demanding exorbitant prices, but thats what happens when theres no petrol. the airport was gridlocked as taxis jammed in together, trying to find business to at least make a buck. We drove through the streets of Kathmandu to lines and lines of empty cars parked on the side of the road, and lines and lines of motorbikes on the other side. All of them were waiting for petrol. A devastating sight to see.

We finally rolled up to a small alleyway and headed towards the gate. I made it to Mary Lou's place - a little bit of paradise. I made it to nepal!