Settling In/Reunion

Thankfully, we didn't have anything planned the next morning. We all slept in a little, and had a chance to ease our way into absorbing everything around us. For lunch, we went to a restaurant that was basically next door to the hotel and sat at an outdoor table. I ordered Dal Bhat (rice with lentil sauce and some other stuff...I'll talk about the food some other time) and some kind of seven-bean lentil soup. It was very green. And delicious. I also ordered tea; Nepalis drink tea just about every time two or more people are near each other, so we had quite a lot of it over there.

The meal was cheap - when converted to USD, all nine of us ate for about $30, and had plenty of food. We walked around the streets near our hotel afterwards, exploring the area. We were in the Thamel district of Kathmandu, which is the tourist district; nearly two weeks later, Pastor Ram would tell us that Nepalis never go to Thamel for anything unless they're somehow involved with the tourist industry. So it was an interesting first impression of Nepal, but not exactly reflective of the country as a whole.

There were shops everywhere; we looked in some of them, but mostly we just walked around and prayed. Our group sensed that the area had a very heavy atmosphere, spiritually charged and thick, and that the people in that area seemed to be lacking much hope for a better life, focused instead on simply getting by within their current system. I agreed with that sense in principle, but I can't say I felt it personally. I was mostly feeling optimistic, light, and eager to get into the ministry work we had come to do. Not that anything the group was feeling was wrong; it was just that God had me in a different place, spiritually. I believe that He was using the trip as a time of building me up, gaining confidence and trust in Him, and it was not a time of testing - at least, no more than a simple test of trusting in Him to continue to smooth the path in front of me. Kelly later said that she had been feeling a similar sense of calm and peace throughout the trip, but many others in the group had more of an up-and-down experience.

Later in the afternoon, we met up with Shailesh, Aimee, and their three daughters - Anika (6), Sarina (4), and Priyasha (2); all of them had already been in Nepal for 2 weeks. Shailesh and Aimee were leading the trip, and are also the leaders of our young adult group at Two Rivers Church. Shailesh is late 30s, and is actually from Nepal - he grew up in Kathmandu, not too far from the areas we traveled to, and went to college in the U.S., where he met Jesus and became a Christian, and also met Aimee and eventually got married. Aimee is mid 30s, American, but was a missionary kid who grew up in Austria. 

We all met on the roof of our hotel and discussed jet lag, the various landmarks we could see (the "monkey temple;" a bunch of newly constructed buildings that Shailesh said were added in the past five years; in the distance, behind some clouds, Mt. Everest), and plans for the next day. The rooftop was very cool. There were some chairs and a table up there, and we could see the rooftops of other businesses and homes, with people hanging out, doing laundry, etc. Rooftops are pretty much the front porches in Nepal. There were a bunch of Hindu prayer flags attached to the top of our building, extending downward on long lines. Hinduism is the most common religion in Nepal (with Buddhism 2nd.)

Shailesh, Anika and I went into the city to look for a guitar. We were originally going to borrow one from one of Shailesh's relatives, but when Aimee was tuning it the entire neck broke away from the body of the instrument, so instead we decided to buy a fairly cheap one to use for worship, and then give it back to Shailesh's family when we were done. We talked to some guys on the street who directed us to a shop near the Beijing Hotel, which was out of the tourist district and would have better rates than the places we had walked by. And by "we talked," I mean Shailesh spoke rapid Nepali with them while Anika and I looked on, uncomprehending. It was interesting to see Shailesh interact in his native language and culture. He doesn't have any noticeable accent, whether speaking English or Nepali.

The three of us took a rickshaw to the store (which was kind of fun), only to find that it was closed. Saturday is really the only weekend day in Nepal - Sunday through Friday are considered workdays - so everything that's non-essential shuts down, sort of like Sundays in America used to be. We walked back to the hotel and decided to come back for the guitar the next day. Our group had dinner together at the hotel, and then went to bed early. Apart from being a little tired, I was feeling good!