Merry Christmas everyone!
I was trying to get this off before Christmas so it would actually be on time, but I was never able to get around to it. Whoops. I hope everyone had a great holiday and celebrations. We had a good time here in Nepal, although I must admit it is a very different experience celebrating a holiday that only about 1% of the population celebrates as well. It's hard to get that holiday feeling when almost everybody around you is going about life as usual, but we made out pretty well. Had a great day with both JV communities as well as Liz's parents.
There was a lot of crazy stuff that went on from the 23rd up through the of evening of the 25th, so I'll just rewind a bit to Tuesday and try and convey to you how truly different this year's holiday season was.
I had a lot of errands to do in town, which required me to walk all over the place. Everywhere I needed to go was too close to take a micro or a tempo but just far enough for the errands to take up my entire day. I dropped off some pictures to be developed and headed towards the Indian Embassy (I'm going to Darjeeling after the New Year, so I needed a Visa). I came across a crowd staring way down the street towards the Royal Palace. I stopped to see what was going on, and saw thick black smoke billowing up and filling the sky. There was a huge gap from where I was standing with the crowd and where the fires were burning, so I couldn't really get a good view. Right when I decided to go a line of cops in Riot Gear came up behind and were "sweeping" everyone off the street. Thought it was a little weird, but didn't think much of it and continued on towards the embassy. Got there and I had missed the window of business hours, and after wondering why all government offices around the world are only open during certain "windows" throughout the day instead of all day like everyone else, I turned around and headed to Thamel to pick up a gift.
All of us JV's did a Secret Santa drawing, and I drew Liz, so I was going to go pick up a T-Shirt I made for her that said " I heart (the symbol, not the word silly) Dahl bhot," but the dahl bhot was written in Devanagri, the Sanskrit script used here in Nepal. It rocked, and I'll probably go make one for myself now. Anyways, heading towards Thamel, and I look to my right and all down the street ahead are more fires, with thick black billowing smoke. Curiosity grabbed ahold of me and I headed right, through a crowd and a group of riot cops waiting for orders until I was standing next to a mound of logs and tires in the middle of the road. I was walking around looking and asking people if they spoke English so I could figure out what was going on, and finally found someone. He was telling me that there had been a fight between students and the cops, and as he was saying this I look down and realize that I've been walking in crushed brick, and everywhere up and down the street is covered with broken pieces and rocks. I must have arrived right after the fighting stopped. There were a lot of people just standing around, and I headed further down the street to the next fire. I think there were a total of three, and every now and then a procession of students chanting something would come walking by. At one point about 6 guys held up sticks with rags on wrapped around them, lit them on fire, and led a procession of shouting students right past us. There was a lot of anger on their faces, but also a sense that they had defeated the cops. The crowds had complete control of the entire street, and the cops were staying put back at the entrance.
After a little while I decided I needed to get to Thamel, and so left and retraced my steps past the fires and past the cops, found the road that lead into Thamel, and headed down that. The t-shirt shop is down a this little alley, and across from it is this amazing sandwich shop which I always go to when I'm near. You can't really get sandwiches in Godavari, so it's always a nice treat. So I get my shirt, pay what I owe, thank the owner, realize he's cross-eyed, hope someone else embroidered the shirt, and took a few steps and walked up to the walk up window to order my sandwich. I usually just say "Mix Sandwich" and they make it, but this time the guy tells me I have to pick three things from a list of about 10 items that I want on. At about that time all this noise starts picking up in the alley, and I hear all these "Swoosh, Swoosh, Swoosh," but I don't really pay attention to it because I'm trying to explain to the sandwich maker that I feel like the cheese and vegetables shouldn't count as two of my three choices, and that I should get to choose three types of meat. I wasn't trying to screw the guy, just going off my past experiences there. So the noises are getting louder, and I finally turn around to see what everything is, and when I do, it turns out that every shop in the alley is furiously putting all of there merchandise inside their tiny shops and slamming the garage door style doors that every shop here has to cover their storefronts. A little bit of a shock to see, and I don't really know why they're doing it, but it seems as if everyone is expecting something. The sandwich shop owner comes out of the back and tells me to get inside (the restaurant is sit down as well as walk up), but if I did that I wouldn't be able to see anything. So I get next to the door, and watch down the alley towards the main road as all these people start to walk by, shouting, throwing their fists up in the air. The amount of people is getting denser and denser as finally a huge group gets pushed, and instead of continuing straight down the main road, they turn down the alley and come barreling towards the sandwich shop, with me standing on the step. Figured that would be a good time to jump in the door, and after I get inside I watch as this huge mob comes running by. It felt kind of "Running of the Bulls-ish," and I was glad I was behind the door, but also unsure of what they might do, since the shop was the only one not to pull their door down. About a minute later the alley is clear, and a few minutes after that, the stores begin to open again.
While waiting for my sandwich, I pick up a newspaper and read how the day before there were protests and riots all over town, at the colleges, staged by the Student Bodies, wings and offshoots of the Maoists Party. Apparently a week before this all happened, there was a protest with all 7 Student Organizations, and three of the Leaders were arrested for Defaming the Kings name. The protest was a peaceful one, and the arrest of the leaders enraged the groups, so they had planned these new protests all week and until the government released the leaders. Thus the fires, and the bricks, and the mobs, and the crowds.
So I eat my sandwich outside on a step and watch a few men pick up a motorcycle, the only casualty of the bull run, and head out of Thamel and begin the long walk back to pick up my pictures. As I wind and weave my way through the narrow streets, I watch as all of the stores are closing down and moving everything inside. I walk past a police van as two riot cops are carrying a crying man into the back, and continue on my way. Everyone seemed confused and lacking information about what was going on.
I finally got to the beginning of the last long street I had to walk down before reaching the photo shop, a street that was totally normal when I walked up it a few hours before. I'm looking down, lost in my own thought and somehow drowning all the city noises and people out, and I see a fairly large beam layed across the street. Didn't think much of it, and was actually more engrossed in whether or not someone would come move it, since it prohibited cars from passing. Still thinking about that when I came to two more beams layed across, and thought, "Wait a minute, this isn't right." I looked up and found myself in another crowd, staring down the street towards a burning fire, with students standing right next to it, yelling, chanting, and throwing bricks down towards the cops standing at the other end of the street, precisely where I needed to go to get my pictures. The whole scene looked as if the students and taken over the college, had taken it hostage or something and were standing outside making sure no one would take it back. Again, there were large gaps between my crowd, the fire/students, and the other crowd at the other end. This time though, bricks were coming from over the campus walls and landing and shattering in the middle of the road. Then large pieces of metal slabs would come hurling over, and then they switched to pieces of pottery. It wasn't pouring or anything, just a slight drizzle of heavy objects. I noticed that across the street, hugging the storefronts tightly, was a thin line of people that needed to get through but were otherwise blocked by this protest. I watched it for a while, making sure nothing was being thrown at them or that any yelling was being directed towards them. Sure enough there wasn't, so I decided I'd get a little closer and make my way to the other the side where I would successfully pick up the pictures and then, and only then, could say I officially kicked my "To-Do" Lists' butt. So walked as close as possible to the store front, my head looking up the entire time making sure no stray bricks were coming my way, and made my way to the other crowd. So now I'm looking down the street where I came from, and it's not that much different of a view. Only this time I'm standing on the side of the cops. I finally turn around to walk the last block to the photo shop, and just as I get out of the crowd, it starts to pack in tightly and everyone is trying to look at something. I turn back around and see about 10-12 riot cops charging the students with their helmets and shields and bamboo sticks. The students throw they're last minute bricks at the charging cops as they retreat inside the campus wall, and now more bricks are starting to fly over the walls, and the road is becoming littered with more and more red dust. All of a sudden the crowd I'm standing in turns around and starts to jam, everyone running everywhere. I couldn't tell why, but thought it would be smart for me to leave as well, so I turn around and start hobbling out of there.
Now, my knee had been hurting in the past weeks, and I went for a checkup and the doctor said I was on target for a successful recovery, and all I need to do is keep up my exercises and be very gentle with it and make sure not to over use it. Since I knew I was going to be doing so much walking around on this day, I made extra special sure that I didn't do anything to it to make the pain linger for a few more days.
So I've turned around and I'm kind of doing this fast walk sort of thing, relying on my left leg, telling myself that I'm not going to run. I decide to look behind me to see if I can tell why everyone is ditching so fast, and in one of those moments that leaves a still photograph burned in your mind, I see this riot cop charging us, and everything is in slow motion for a few moments, and he's running with a mask on and a tear gas gun in his hand. He's got pads on all over and looked a lot bigger than he really was, probably, since, well, he's Nepali. At about that time I told myself that then would be a good time to start running and not worry about my knee. I really don't think he had any intention of shooting, I think he was just trying to break up the crowd and get the street back to normal. At any rate I figured it was a good time to leave. And, I know you're all wondering...and the answer is yes. Yes, I did get the pictures finally. Yes, I did. Champion of my own To Do List. What a successful day. Took the hour long micro ride back to Godavari and thought it was pretty funny how everywhere I needed to go, everything I needed to do, was somehow strategically placed right next to a college, and right next to the hot spots for the week. Got back and was telling a teacher's daughter a little bit about the day, and she was like "Oh yeah, the news said today not to go into Kathmandu, and if you needed to not to go by the colleges." I guess televisions aren't always bad.
So the next day, Christmas Eve, I go back to the same areas because I have to go to the Embassy again, this time totally within the "window" of opportunity. Get turned away again because turns out the Visa I need to get has to be purchased the day before you leave for India. So I leave again, and laugh at how it seems that all government offices all over the world are somehow inefficient and difficult and waste so much time. I was with my friend Rabin, and I had brought my cameras this time, you know, just in case. I was so mad I didn't have them the day before. Rabin seemed a lot less interested in heading down the "Riot Roads" so we just went and ate, but again black rubbery smoke was clouding up the skys of Kathmandu, and trucks upon trucks full of police men and riot cops were pouring into all the college areas. Didn't get to take any pictures, but figured that everything would be escalating as each day passed, and thought that once would be enough.
So I went
to the post office to pick up a package, and while in the customs area, where
they go through all the contents, all these candy canes pour out and the three
workers around me ask me if it's Christmas, 
and then wish me a merry one. I
give them each a candy cane, and take one for myself and after the first lick,
for the first time this year, feel like it's Christmas time. That's the latest
that feeling has ever come, but at least it came.
That night
we went to mass, and then afterwards went over to the Gurung's for dinner and
music. They all gave us gifts, 
and Liz's parents has brought over stuff for
all of them, so we had a nice little gift exchange. Vicki dressed up as Santa
Claus and did the duty while scaring all the little baby's. After that we made
our way up to the roof where a bonfire was already going, and sat around and
sang Christmas Carols and other songs, until about 1. Most everyone went home,
but Liz and I stayed and talked with Dheeraj and Santos and Ajay about all
the protests and the state of Nepal and all the crap it's in, and how unnecessary
most all of it is. Found out that they had released the student leaders that
afternoon, so the protests would stop for now. Got home at about 3:30 and crashed.
Next morning
all of us Godavari JV's got up and started cooking breakfast, and at about 11
the Jawalakhel JV's and Liz's parents came over, and we ate and did the gift
thin
g. We had a tree, which was more like a branch in a pot, but Geraldine did
a good job of decorating it so it looked festive. At about 2 we took off for
a hike through our village, way further than I had been before, and headed to
a Hindu temple on the top of a mountain. There was an amazing 270 degree view
from the top...all of Godavari, and all of Kathmandu. At the temple you were
supposed to climb up on it, and then down these stairs and through a crack in
the wall. Supposedly if you fit it means you are cleansed of you
r sins and that
you're a good person. I'm so happy I fit...I was sweating about it and losing
sleep for days, I was so nervous. Thought it was funny we went to a Hindu Temple
on Christmas.
Got back to the house at around 5, and we were getting our stuff ready to go to Liz's parents hotel to stay the night, and one of our 8th grade students stopped by to talk to me. Ok, so now some back story: Ave (Ah-Vey) lives in the village right across the river from our house, and recently lost his father. His mother committed suicide a year earlier. The girls visited him a few times during his 14 day Hindu mourning ritual, and I went with them once. The morning his father died, I actually ran into him as he was leaving our house and I was arriving. He asked me if I would teach him guitar, and I said sure. A few days after his 14 days were up, he came over to visit. Before the death he would stop in and we'd give him one CD to borrow, and he'd bring it back and we'd exchange for another one. I thought he was just going to ask for another CD, but you could tell that he wanted to talk or needed something else. At the time I was the only one home, because I skipped church, and he asked if he would be able to live with us, saying he "would do all the works around the house" and would be good. I told him I'd have to talk to my housemates and the school, but that it probably wouldn't work out. I knew there was no way he could actually stay with us, but I didn't want to just throw a "no" in his face. I told him to come back a little later. He came back a few hours later and now it was only Monica and I, and we brought him into the kitchen and explained to him how it would be inappropriate to stay at our house, him being a student and us being teachers. He sat there quiet for a while, holding his nose and covering his face like he always does. He asked us if all acid was poisonous and wanted to know where he could get some, saying he wanted to kill himself. He said he wanted to "go where his father is." After struggling to find the appropriate words and what seemed like a silence that lasted forever, I got up and went and talked to Fr. Boniface, the principal. He wanted to talk to him, so I went back to get Ave and we walked up to school together and Bonni was awesome. He told him that he didn't need to worry about the money for school, that it would be taken care of, and worked out with him where he could stay. He has some family in his village, but I don't know how supportive they are, but Fr. Boniface told him he needed to talk to them and needed to stand up the the challenge and be courageous and all that stuff. When we left to walk home, Ave seemed to be doing much better and told me he "felt free" and seemed to walk with a different step.
We started guitar lessons the next week and he, being a lefty and having to play on a right handed guitar, was doing very well. We'd meet two time a week for about an hour each day. Ok, so, Christmas night...he comes over as I'm getting ready to leave, and I put everything down and invite him in my room. We both sit down and after a long silence he asks if there is any medicine to help get rid of drug addiction. I told him no but there were places someone could go to get help, and he asked me if I knew where these places were. I asked him if he had any friends that needed to go to a place like this, and he said no. I asked him if he needed to go to a place like this, and he said yes. I started asking him questions about what he was doing (marijuana and "the needle stuff"), if he was using now, why he was using, where he was using, all that stuff. He said he was using because he "couldn't handle" and his friends told him it would make him feel like he "was in heaven," which was a pretty powerful thing for him to say since before he said he wanted to kill himself to be with his father. I told him I would talk to some people and find out the details of this place (called the Freedom Center, in town, run by the Jesuits) and that we would go the next day. He agreed and said he would come back, and I told him to sit tight while I finished getting my things together and we would walk back together, since the hotel was just past the turnoff for his house.
I went in and spoke with Liz for a sec, since she volunteers at the Center and would know the most information. Everybody was sitting in the room, and everybody's face simultaneously dropped, knowing full well what my question really meant. We talked for only a little, since I didn't want Ave to think we were talking about him, and she gave me some candy to give to him, and then yelled down the hall to him a big hello. He didn't answer, so she yelled again, and by this time I had already walked down the hall and was looking at my room, and he still wasn't responding. I waved to her to stop yelling and went him and found Ave shaking uncontrollably and holding his head. I asked him if he was alright, he said no, I asked him if he was using, he said yes (although previously he had told me no) and I asked him if he was using heroine, and he said yes. I don't really know how heroine works, but I guess he was peaking and looked as if it was hurting him. I got him off the stool and layed him down on the floor, covered him in blankets and made him drink a little water. He was lying in the fetal position, shaking and still holding his head. I really didn't know what to do, so I went back to the girls' room and asked for any suggestions. Colleen and Liz ran up to school to use the phone to call the Freedom Center and Fr. Bill, who is in charge of it. I went back in the room and sat on the floor with him and just pretty much waited to see if something would pass. I was counting on spending the rest of the night there with him, and let go of the plans to stay at the hotel. A little while later though, something seemed to have passed, and Ave, still dazed, was able to get up, although I made him lay down for a little while more. I took him to the bathroom and he washed his face and used the toilet, and wanted to leave after that, but I said he had to stay at our house until Liz and Colleen got back. Brought him into my room again and gave him my guitar to waste some time.
The girls got back, and were advised not to have him stay at our house, and when he was a little better, to walk him home. So we did that, and told him to come back in the morning. After dropping him off, we found ourselves in the "View Bhrikuti" about 10 minutes later, walking on marble floors and sitting in a large dining room with a fountain and comfortable plush seats. Worlds apart from just an hour earlier when I was watching a kid go through the cycles of heroine and then walking him back, through the dirt, to his mud house with dirt floors, low ceilings, and no furniture. It was similar to the feeling when I used to fly from Los Angeles to Sacramento. One second I was in LA, my new home, and a tiny bag of peanuts and full can of ginger-ale later, I was in Sacramento, my other home. The transition always seemed too sudden, and it always took a few minutes to adjust to the "warp" that I had just gone through. Driving never seemed to do this to me since I would have 5 hours (or roughly 5 _ albums) to slowly adjust. So sitting in the hotel felt a little awkward, as did the hot shower I took in the nice white ceramic bathtub. Went from one side of the spectrum to the other in only the time it takes to walk the equivalent of two or three blocks. A little too quick.
Our 
dinner
was funny. We were the only guests staying in the entire hotel, so of course
we were alone in the dining room. Our food came out at all different times,
so we were all just eating whenever ours came out, since waiting would make
the food really cold. I had the honor of carving the chicken meatballs. No
turkey again...our table was filled with club sandwich's, fish and chips,
Indian food, and fried rice. So as you can see, we stayed as traditional as
possible. The next morning I went and spoke to Fr. Bill who runs the Freedom
Center to ask him what I should do with Ave, and he gave me some really good
advice. Ave came over a little while later and we spoke and I told him about
the Freedom Center and everything it entailed. He'd have to stay there for
three months, he'd get counseling, his family must be involved in the rehab
process, and school would have to stop for the meantime. Kind of a lot for
an eighth grader, he seemed like he wanted to do it. I told him he was not
allowed to come over to our house anymore if he was using, but that if he
ever felt the need to use, that he could come over instead. We agreed to this
and then I told him he had to go talk to his family about everything. A man
from the Freedom Center would come out on Sunday to talk with the family and
get the process started. He told me he willingly wanted to go through all
of this, and would talk to his remaining family. He came over later that evening,
and told me his grandmother would send him to his aunt's house in town for
5 days. So as of now there won't be any Freedom Center for him, but I told
him his aunt's house won't be the same as staying at the Center. We'll see
what he decides.
So that was my Christmas. It's amazing how much different it was than the ones I am used to, but it was still good. I guess you have to kind of expect that if you choose to celebrate it in a Hindu Kingdom thousands of miles from the Christmas epicenter.
So what else...Our
school hosted the 8th annual Fr. Moran Memorial Football Tournament. It was
a huge ordeal, with over 16 teams of 4th and 5th graders. The played for two
weeks, three games every day up to the quarterfinals. Our school kind ran at
50%, since every time our teams (we had an A and a B) would play the entire
school would be out cheering. Lots of fun. Our A team ended up taking 1st place
in a very boring championship match. The semi final was incredible though, and
ended up going through the double overtime and into a penalty shootout. There
were hundreds of people watching the game, 
and
we ended up winning it 4-3 on a goalie save. The entire crowd (well, the ones
cheering for St. Xavier's) rushed the field and everyone was crying and the
players were dog piling and everyone was just running around jumping and yelling.
It was great. And I hated the other team...dirty players, bad attitudes...so
I was glad for their bittersweet ending to the tournament. Yes, I do have some
evil in my heart. One of the teams came from the Jhapa, a village at the border.
There is a Jesuit school out there too, so they stayed on campus for the two
weeks. We had them over for breakfast one day, and pumped them full of chocolate
milk and chocolate cake. I think they were a little overwhelmed.
Other than
that...there have just been a lot of parties. And they've all been great. We
had a bonfire right outside our home which was a lot of fun. For over an hour,
Laxman, Vicki, Liz and I took pictures of ourselves smiling with 
Oreos spread
across our pearly whites. Man, we couldn't stop laughing. We'd take the picture
with the digital, look at it, then spread more Oreos, and take another one.
Wonderful.
Well, I will wrap now, for I have rapped enough. Wow, 5 pages. Thanks for getting this far. Have a great New Year and a great rest of the holiday season. I'll be taking off to Darjeeling on the 2nd, for about 10 or 12 days. I'll let you know about that when I get back.
Alrighty, till next time,
Kvin