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Join us from Chicago to Minneapolis: Added American leg starting Oct 21st 2008

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

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Today on Jims birthday in Vienna Austria, we have taken the biggest step since starting our long journey nearly one year ago on Sept 16 2007, and have bought our plane tickets ‘home’ from Paris, arriving in Chicago on Tuesday October 21st. This has wrapped up numerous loose ends for us, not only solidifying our end date but also Nakia deciding to for sure join us for our newly added 2-week American leg of our bicycle journey. In the spirit of our mission to help build bridges of understanding and peace across the world, and to promote all people to bicycle more and drive cars less because of the inherent goodness of bicycling environmentally, physically, and socially, we have decided that the only proper way for us to arrive ‘home’ in Minnesota is by bicycle.

We hope that you will consider joining us for all or part of the way. This is your one and only chance to experience life on the small roads with Fueled By Rice.

Our roughly planned route (to be updated) will take us through Chicago, Aurora, DePaul, Madison, LaCrosse, Rochester, and Minneapolis, arriving in Mpls roughly around Nov 7th +-3 days. If you live along this route, we warmly welcome invitations to camp in your yard or sleep on floors! Please e-mail me at pdehresmann@yahoo.com if you are interested in hosting us.

Whether you can or can’t join us on bicycle, we would like to celebrate the end of the trip with you at a late afternoon picnic at Lake Calhoun in Minnapolis upon our arrival around Nov 7th 2008, exact date and details to be determined and posted later.

Other ideas for activities after we arrive are:

-A presentation at St. Johns University-College of St. Benedict open to friends and family to share a bit of our year of bicycle travel

-A fundraising concert to help Nakia buy a plane ticket home from Minneapolis to Nassau, Bahamas in time for Christmas. This is the cost of having the privledge of her joining us to bring FBR in complete to the US to share our perspectives, stories, and music in America.

-Recording our music professionally

For now, in celebration of Jim and Drew’s birthdays this week, I am taking the gang out to a Chinese lunch buffet to again be truely Fueled By Rice instead of by bread, our first restaurant experience since a celebatory Pizza Hut buffet run in Istanbul after we earned more in street performing than we expected.

This afternoon, we will continue westwards along the Danube River through the Apls towards southern Germany: Regensburg, Heidelberg, and into France via The Alsace and on to Paris.

Thank you for all of your continued support!!! Get out there and bike!

Street Performing in Istanbul: An Audiovisual Collage

Friday, August 29th, 2008

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In Istanbul, we performed music on the street for the first time - as street performers and not, well, village and home-stay performers as we had in Asia. People in Asia often seemed to be more interested in looking at our strangeness and talking about us rather than listening to our music. Istanbul marked our biggest transition - in living standards, culture, and continents, as well as attracting audiences that stopped and listened simply because they honestly wanted to hear our music for what it is and not just stare at our foreignness. It was new and exciting for us to play in this dynamic environment.

And for the first time on the trip, we earned money…more than we ever thought possible from street performing. Although no city thus far has been more fruitful than Istanbul, we have been earning enough money from our music to pay for all of our food - one of the most amazing blessings we have been given on this trip. It does help that we never eat in restaurants and keep a simple diet of bread, dairy, and vegetables.

Another blessing is the people we have met while performing. Ignatius and Louise, two professional photographers from Brazil, found us our first day on Istanbul´s famous pedestrian street, Istiklal Street, in Taxim, when we were brand new to European street performing. Their excitement and patience - staying with us over an hour before we stopped so they could talk with us - greatly encouraged and emboldened us in our new career. They were so kind to take the time to compile these photos and one of our songs in this presentation. We are humbled and grateful for such a beautiful composition. Unfortunately, Jim missed these days performing in Istanbul because he left early with his mom to meet up with his sister who came to visit. You can use the mouse to scroll through the photos.

You can find the original slide show in it’s own window here.

With Louise and Ignatius in Istanbul

Playing Budapest

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

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After about a week of riding from Belgrade, we arrived in Budapest yesterday afternoon after a short day of 30km. We biked in straight to the center of town (on the Pest side), ate a leisurely lunch in a park along the Danube River, and then sought out the pedistrian street to perform our music on. We were blessed with a warm response despite being asked to move locations once by a neighbor who doesnt seem to like harmonious noise close to her apartment.

Trying something new, we are staying with a new friend, Anna, a Budapest local, whom we found on-line at www.hospitalityclub.org, which is a free database of people willing to host travelers for free at their homes - a most excellent use of the internet. Besides Anna who sounded eager in her message to host us, another young man offered to house us for our 2-3 days in Hungary`s capital. Anna met us in a park down town, showed us on a map how to get to her apartment, and gave us an extra key to her place. She went to meet up with a friend while we walked with Robert and Agem (two amazingly nice young people who became fans during and friends after we played music) to her apartment…an hour away by foot it turned out. We cooked ourselves a pasta dinner and made ourselves at home, with Anna joining soon joining us with her boyfriend.

Anna`s immidiate trust and warm welcome reminds me of Bilge and Asli Kőprűlű in Istanbul, Turkey, amazing me how trusting new friends (some may say perfect strangers) can be. Imagine if we all were a little more trusting and giving, would it not make life more pleasant? What is it that holds us back? What makes us suspicious first, holding a guilty until proved innocent attitude toward a new person instead of the opposite? Some precautions are of course necissary - we have to have a profile with our passport number and photo on the Hospitality Club for example - but perhaps we could all benefit by reaching out in faith and fellowship just a little more.

On the road to Beograd (Belgrade) Serbia - should arrive on 4 Aug

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

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After Nakia successfully received a 2 month visa (THANK YOU Serbian consulate in Istanbul) we embarked from Edirne, Turkey to cross Bulgaria in less than 10 days (Nakia only got a 10 day visa from Bulgaria upon the second application since the first was refused for no good reason).  Although there were doubts as to if we really could cross all of Bulgaria in 10 days, we did it with a day to spare.  Excellent.  Photos of Bulgaria will come later.  My initial impression of Bulgaria is that there are few people but plenty of beautiful mountainous countryside, at times reminding Jim and Netzy of their home in Montana, and there even was a Bulgarian town named “Montana.”  Many small villages are falling apart and abandoned, perhaps as younger people have gone off not only to Bulgaria’s two big cities, Sofia and Plovdiv, but also to Western Europe in pursuit of brighter economic opportunities now that Bulgaria is a member of the European Union (EU).

Netzy, Jim’s mom, cycled with Jim for all of July (mostly in Bulgaria back and forth), and with Drew, Nakia, and I for the last 2 weeks of July.  She quite an amazing mom, and she did excellently with us, even camping daily. Autumn (Jim’s sister) and Jay (Autumn’s boyfriend) also made the journey over to join us in Europe, but unfortunately, due to Nakia’s difficulties with getting a Bulgarian visa both in Istanbul and in Edirne, most of their time was spent bicycling with Netzy and Jim in Bulgaria back to Turkey to meet Drew, Nakia, and I for 2 days in Edirne on the border before they had to head back home - an unfortunate outcome of Bulgaria’s terrible visa service in Istanbul that had us camped out at midnight in line in front of their consulate for a night only to not get in the next day, being told rudely by the guard to “try arriving earlier next time.” 

On July 27th, we entered Serbia (part of the former Yugoslavia) and are now in the middle of the country about 2 days away from its capital, Beograd, for some reason known in English as Belgrade.  In Beograd, we will be staying with our friend, Lela, whom I met in Beijing last year.  Lela has graciously invited us to stay with her and her family for an indefinite period of time while Nakia applies for the most difficult of European visas, the Schengen Visa, which is for all of Western Europe.  Please see Nakia’s earlier post, “Visa Support“ with e-mail addresses of French and Hungarian officials to e-mail to show your encouragement and endorsement of Ms Nakia Pearson and the nature of our trip to help Nakia receive a Schengen Visa. 

I have been looking forward to visiting Lela in her home country since we departed Beijing last Sept (2007) when it was still uncertain how far we would really get.  It is so great to now be so close to her home, only 2 days of biking away. 

It really is amazing when I stop and consider all of the infinite baby steps and small, seemingly insignificant events that have happened to get us all to this point right now in this now 10.5 month journey.  Time and Time again I have seen God provide for us, showering us in blessings through people we meet, people who invite us in for coffee or to sleep, those who show us the way, and through those who put money in our Er Hu case upon hearing our music on the street to buy us enough food for a few more days…  God’s provisions are most obvious when we put ourselves out there in vulnerability and uncertainty; things always work out….it is always OK…and we are again and again provided for.

Flying to Istanbul from India CONFIRMED: June 18th

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

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We have made the executive decision to, most regretfully, fly over Pakistan and Iran (and as a side-effect nearly all of Turkey) from India to Istanbul Turkey.  From Istanbul, we will continue the European leg of our Eurasian bicycle tour, still aimed at finishing in Paris, France. 

Highlights we’re looking forward to in Europe include visiting my good Serbian friend, Lela, at her home in Belgrade.  I met Lela in Beijing last year, where she also taught English.  I’d also like to visit Medujorje, Bosnia, a pilgrimage destination for Christians, especially Catholics, but we still need to discuss this option more.  Nakia also has a few friends in Bosnia.  Northern Italy is home to My Favorite Restaurant In The World, San Rufino, in Leivi village, near Chivari on the Mediterrainian cost.  After all my raving, we couldn’t pass up their 15 course set meal overlooking the Mediterranian Sea.  We also hope to coordinate meetings with our American friends Jen and Natalie, who will each be in Europe this summer on study/internship.  Finally, one of our close Chinese friends, Cecilia [her English name], recently moved to France to start a 4-5 year graduate degree in Comparative Literature.  She was in our small send-off group in Beijing when we left last Sept (2007), so she will have the honor of being the only person to see us both at the beginning and the end of our 1 year journey. 

The number 1 reason we are not going to Pakistan and Iran is cost.  Due to the sad lack of diplomatic & business relations between the US and Iran for several decades now, the already difficult and lengthy process to get an Iranian tourist visa is even more lengthy and difficult for Americans - but NOT impossible.  Jim had found a contact in Iran who has been helping us for a couple months now.  He wrote a letter of invitation for us, submitted it to the Iranian government for approval, and recently even got it back approved.  The big set back is a regulation that American tourists in Iran must be accompanied by an official tour guide at all times.  Our contact informed us that said tour guide would cost us US$100 a day - simply way out of our small budgets. 

We’d also heard from one other traveler that the landscape from Tehran to the Turkish border was not as good as in other parts of Iran - dry, hot, difficult.  Moreover, the road from Pakistan into southern Iran would most likely have to be traveled by bus, as it is 100s of km of desert.  Though that could have been easily handled.

Additionally, many people (mostly Americans) have also been worried about safty in Pakistan.  On the contrary, we have heard about wonderful experiences several other European bicycle groups have had in Pakistan in the past year.  We were really looking forward to a personal perspective on Pakistan, which seems to be one of the most misunderstood countries in the US.  However, without Iran in the route, going to Pakistan doesn’t make geological sense.  And yes, we care about our parents worries and wish to leave them at ease. 

In an effort to acknowlege and show our respects to Pakistan and Central Asia which we are now unable to visit, we would like to include two charities in this part of the world, often neglected by funders and aid organizations.  I will write a separate post to introduce them later. 

For the time being, if you haven’t yet read the book, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, I strongly encourage you to get your hands on a copy.  It is perhaps the best account of Pakistan on the ground in the last decade, highlighting the higher importance of education over military force as a means to “fight terrorism” by builiding balanced-education schools in poor areas.

Safe in New Delhi but worn out

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

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Jim, Drew, and I arrived safely in Delhi last Friday and Nakia will be meeting us this afternoon for the first time in over a month since we parted company in rural West Bengal.  The three of us guys have been recovering from the ride in through crazy Indian traffic while negotiating prices.  Tonight, we plan our Next Move.  That move will most likely be flying to Istanbul, Turkey after a swing through Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.  To be confirmed.

 

Although us guys arrived in Delhi safely, the journey from Nepal to Delhi has certainly taken its toll on me.  For the first time in our 8 month journey, a couple weeks ago I was longing to be home, a feeling I’m not familiar with; homesickness?  It’s not severe, but a steady, gentle pressure.  I’m going through a period of fatigue and dreaming of eating my mother’s famous cherry coffee cake, caramel rolls, and egg bake while I’m stuck with rice, dal, potato curry, and samosas…everyday 3x a day as I have been for 2 months.  Luckily I have a large tolerance for the same mediocre food day after day, perfected in numerous Chinese university cafeterias.
 

The fatigue has come from some difficult experiences dealt to us by India and Nepal, centering around people labeling us as “tourist” and trying to cheat us by charging higher prices, as well as asking us for money straight up.  We’ve met plenty of average local children (not unusually impoverished, in fact one child was in their nice school uniform with white shirt and tie) who rudely (due in part to poor English) asked us for money, “Give me money!  Give me pen!  Give me money,” especially in Nepal when we merged with the Kathamandu-Mount Everest road that sees many foreign tourists (whoapparently give out pens and money to these packs of children).  Meanwhile, at restaurants for weeks we’ve felt we’ve always had to be on guard because several times people would change the price we’d agreed on, sometimes giving some lame excuse for charging us extra, like “Oh, the price I gave you before was for a HALF plate of chow mein,” after we’d eaten it…as if we had asked for half a plate in the beginning.  One teenage daughter of an Indian restaurant in the middle of know where last week said, when we were discussing the prices which at first were 3x what we had paid for lunch 40km away, made a side comment along the lines, “Oh you can afford this price,” so we should just pay the upped price.  Its been quite stressful to have to assume people will try to over-charge us.  We were warned of this though, a couple of our home stay hosts told us that northern India is known for cheaters or clever business men, unlike the south where people are more honest.

 

We haven’t seen this blatant price-change rip-off strategy since Vietnam.  I’m disrespected each time; disrespected that they don’t look at me as a brother or fellow human being, but instead as a rich white foreigner with money to throw away or worse, a stupid dehumanized thing to be exploited for a little extra cash.  It is racism and prejudice, terrible things but good for me to experience from this perspective outside of my home country.  I know I shouldn’t take it so personally, but sometimes I can’t help it.  I can handle and even enjoy honest bargaining, but it makes me so sad every time people try to cheat us. 

 

In turn, I’ve found myself approaching people with a negative attitude which only starts things off on a bad foot, my negativity bringing out the worst in them.  Its alarming to see how fast negativity and disrespect spirals out of control.  Its contagious.  

 

Adding to our fatigue is the general fact that India is the most INTENSE country we’ve cycled through, even more than China .  More people.  More people staring at us, yelling at us without really wanting a response just to practice their 1 English phrase, “What is your name” as they zip by on their motorbike, more people approaching us always having us on guard thinking,  “OK, what does this person want from us?”  Insane and dangerous traffic and terrible horns, always truck, bus, car, and motorcycle horns…ALWAYS honking.  China has a lot of horns, but I’ve nearly been driven insane by Indian horns.  For a country with a reputation of being religious or spiritual, I find their use of horns completely contradictory, selfish, “I’m more important than you so get out of my way,” of course different horn honkings have different meanings.  But it’s nearly always not just a beep.  They LAY on their horns.  The trucks and buses have these crazy air horns made of many notes that change very fast, creating a feeling of extreme urgency & distress, letting you know if you don’t get out of their way, you will die. And they’re so LOUD.

 

If it weren’t for our positive experiences (also in Nepal and India ), I might be ready to end the trip.  However in the middle of all this, we were graciously hosted two nights in a row by different people just before we arrived in Delhi.  Our hosts were generous and kind, the night before Delhi rescuing us from bathing (as we always do) at a public water hand pump in a satalite town comprised mostly of military camps.  Camping in that area would have likely gotten us detained for questioning upon setting up our tent, as Jim was while looking for a suitable camp site.  But I’ll let Jim tell that story

We’ve cycled over 10,000km, Beijing-(almost)Delhi

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

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We’re actually around 10,500km, but as Drew said to me this morning while we were pedaling along our 2-lane secondary road in an effort to avoid even crazier Indian National HIGHWAY traffic into Delhi, “10,500km just doesn’t sound as impressive as 10,000.”  Humans do seem to like nice round numbers, all those zeros and just one “1.”  “10,000.”  Ah, Nice.  If we said the exact distance we’ve cycled, 10,527.8km (which of course we don’t actually know due to large margins of error and disagreements between our different bicycle odometers), all those other non-binary numbers make it rough around the edges and difficult to swallow, having even less meaning, and certainly creating more confusion. 

So 10,000km it is. 

8 months. 

Beijing-Shanghai-Hongkong-Hanoi-Phnom Phen-Bangkok-Calcutta-Kathmandu-Delhi (almost…give us 3.5 more days)

Thank you so much for all your support and prayers.  They have definately paid off.  Please keep ‘em coming!

We are resting on the Nepal-India border before heading to Delhi

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

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We are alive and well in Mahendranagar, Nepal on the far western border with India in the sparsely populated Nepali lowlands (south end).  We came down out of the mountains from Pokhara via Butwal (the only way out via the small 2-lane highway) about 5 days ago, down from the cool and the rain of the mountains to the intense heat and dryness of Nepal in the hottest month of the year before the monsoon, though we have had 2 or 3 thunder storms at night.  So we again are taking our daily rest from 11am to 3pm to wait out the heat.

Even Jim and Drew are coming around and are actually enjoying eating dal baht again, the Indian and Nepali standard meal that most people eat twice a day every day: rice, liquid dal (lentils), shubji (potato curry), with occasional vegetable sides and just lately, milk curd which has been an excellent addition.  The best thing about dal baht is that it is “full,” that is one eats until they are full, aka all you can eat.  This has been a great thing for me (the biggest eater on the FBR team) but a not so great thing for Jim and Drew who don’t have the insensitivity of taste and tolerance for the same mediocre food every day that I do, and apparently not great for Nakia as she contemplates her added weight.  The biggest lack of the dal baht meal is no meat, though that can be bought for extra, albeit usually doubling the cost.  However, due to multiple stories about getting sick from Indian meat, we usually just get the vegetarian meal and supplement our diets with eggs and milk in the form of lassies and curd. 

Moreover, the all you can eat meal is at most US$0.70 a person, or in West Bengal India in the countryside, US$0.30 a person.  These food prices are much cheaper than in China, where we’d usually spend US$1.25 to US$3.00 per person per meal.  So its been difficult for me to comprehend the supposed current “global food crisis” and rise in food prices.  I’ve never eaten this cheap before in my life, and again, the rice is unlimited when you pay the all-you-can-eat price, a whopping US$0.66 in Nepal.  The one-plate option is usually US$0.50.

I’ve read that one of the causes of the rise in global food prices is the rising price of fertilizers due to a higher demand, mostly coming from farmers around the world planting more corn for ethanol production, in addition to the direct effect of rising oil prices.  Although I haven’t done extensive research into ethanol, everything I’ve heard and know says that it is not a good option.  The energy it takes to produce ethanol from corn, combined with the fuel used in the trackors used to plant and harvest the crop is nearly the same as the energy given by the corn.  Thus, the fossil fuels used to produce ethanol might as well be used directly, freeing up land to be used to produce food, not fuel, to lower food costs for the poorest of the poor around the world.  What’s more, corn is a harsh crop on soil.  It is especially draining to soil’s nutrients, requiring even more use and increasing dependence on chemical fertilizers which have their own negative affects such as surface and ground water pollution and perpetuates this new cycle of rising food prices.

I would encourage you to look at ethanol critically and support other alternative energies like solar (the big one), wind power, and full 100% electric cars instead of the cop-out hybrid, which unfortunately is the best option on the market now after full electric cars, EV1’s, were taken off the market and destroyed in California around 2000 in large part due to political and economic collaboration for Fuel Cells by oil companies, car manufacturers, and the US government.  While modern electric cars with a 300 mile range were here in the late 90s and early 2000s only in California (little to the knowledge of most Americans), Fuel Cells will take atleast 20 years to research and develope so they’re both effiencient and less than US$1 million a car…and of course this time frame gives the world’s oil hawks ample time to wring out the last profits from the soon to be archaic energy source.

For now though, we are planning to re-enter India tomorrow and continue our last leg on bicycle - always the best environmental, physically healthy, community building, and anti Saudi oil money-funded muslim extremist madrasa schools option - to Delhi, which we expect to reach in 5-10 days.  There, we will make our executive decision based on if we’ve heard from our Iranian contact, if we can go to Iran or more likely, fly from India to Istanbul Turkey in the first part of June.  In Istanbul, we would start the European leg of our Eurasian journey for increased global understanding, friendship, and a quick response from all to take action now to slow and eventually stop the Global Climate Crisis.

In closing, here is one of my favorite quotes from one of many peace-loving moderate/liberal muslims:

“My heart has opened unto every form. It is a pasture for gazelles, a cloister for Christian monks, a temple for idols, the Ka’ba of the pilgrim, the tablets of the Torah and the book of the Koran. I practice the religion of love; in whatsoever directions its caravans advance, the religion of Love shall be my religion and my faith.”
                    -Ibn Arabi; Sufi Islam mystic and philosopher

Peace.

Bhutanese Refugee Camp stay - Nepal

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

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From the depths of slumber I begin to hear roosters announcing the arrival of the morning seemingly before it has arrived. Women are moving about, bringing their water jugs and pots to fill at the iron hand pump within 10 feet of my head. I stir and feel the mosquito net embracing me, everything so far assuring me its just another day as FBR. Looking at the woven bamboo walls plastered with newspaper letting the faint morning light in beyond my net, however, I suddenly remember that this is no ordinary home stay. I’m waking up in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp.

As I slowly get my bearings I remember that this all started yesterday morning at breakfast. I’d prayed that the Holy Spirit guide us to meet the people we were supposed to meet that day, hopefully kind people who wished to help us and from whom we could learn.

In the evening, we stopped to bathe and eat at a small town along Nepal’s main east-west Hwy 1 in the flat lowlands. We chose one of many small restaurant stalls that also had several hand pump wells out front. We quickly drew a crowd, curious to see foreigners, including one young man who eagerly pumped water for me while I bathed, and another young man who talked with Drew, named Santhos. When Santhos learned that we were planning to camp in a field that night, he invited us to stay at his church - he was Christian and his older brother was the assistant pastor. I’d learned from a boy who had biked with us 10km before town that there was a Bhutanese refugee camp nearby, and as we followed Santhos on his bike in the dark a bit out of town and up to what appeared to be a rural village, I realized that his church was located within that very refugee camp.

He led us into the center of the camp after getting approval from the guards. We put our bikes inside the woven bamboo church. Santhos’ older brother, Mouikumar Maga - the assistant pastor in his 30s - came out to meet us and the crowd of children and other onlookers we’d picked up biking and walking through the camp’s bumpy dirt roads. After we briefly introduced ourselves and our trip goals, he invited us to go back to his home for tea, and at our suggestion, music.

Walking between the homes in the camp

The momentum was rolling along and soon there we were seated in Mouikumar’s humble UN-funded, refugee-built bamboo house with swept mud floor and Drew, Jim, and I realized we didn’t know anything about their situation. As Mouikumar’s wife prepared tea, we began asking questions about Mouikumar and his neighbors in this camp.

“The political situation in Bhutan didn’t allow us to stay, so we came here [Nepal] in 1992 as refugees,” Mouikumar starts. He, the other 24,000 people living in this camp and the other 75,000 refugees living in other camps in Nepal are ethnically Nepali. Their ancestors immigrated to Bhutan in the 19th and early 20th centuries as laborers. Instead of casting aside their language and culture to assimilate, the Nepali people living in Bhutan tried to maintain their original cultural heritage including language, dress, and for some of them, their Christian religion. Over time and generations the Bhutanese government became more and more concerned about their lack of assimilation. The issue came to a head in the 1980s when the Bhutan government enacted policies seeking to catalyze the Nepali’s integration by not allowing them to study Nepalese in school and persecuting those who were Christian. When the situation was too dangerous in 1992 and they were clearly unwelcome in Bhutan, Mouikumar, his family, and many of his fellow Nepali-Bhutanese decided to flee across international borders to Nepal, at which point the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stepped in to help by drilling hand pump wells in their camps and providing funding for the refugees to build their simple mud-foundation, woven bamboo houses/huts.

Although preserving their Nepali heritage was important to these Bhutanese, Nepal doesn’t feel like home to them and moreover Nepal lacks the social and economic structures to absorb these 100,000 refugees. They and their parents and grandparents were born in Bhutan, making this a situation similar to asking German Americans who have kept their heritage alive to go back to Germany - in the end, they are still Americans and Germany is not their home. After 16 years of waiting with their real lives on hold, the US and several European countries have agreed to slowly accept small groups of families. Mouikumar’s older brother, Michael Thapa, was the senior paster of their church. He emigrated with his family to Atlanta, Georgia last year where he is continuing his ministry. Mouikumar and his family recently completed the lengthy UN interview process for resettlement and hope to join his brother in Atlanta in 4-5 months. Mouikumar’s neighbors are all on different schedules, but most will be waiting for the foreseeable future before they move out of their refugee camp.

In the pause in our conversation, everyone pondering their situation, them no doubt for the umpteenth time, and us for the first time, Mouikumar broke the uncomfortable silence and asked us suggestively if we brought instruments to play music. We grabbed the guitar, er hu, and bongo drum and he asked if I would open our music session with prayer and said he’d lead the closing prayer. I was struck with how clearly and fully my morning’s prayer had been answered, the more than mere coincidence that lead us to be in Mouikumar’s bamboo hut living room surrounded by his family and neighbors at that moment. I prayed and we played. Mouikumar plays guitar too, making for a nice exchange mixing secular songs with Nepalese and English praise songs.

Around 9pm, Mouikumar suggested that we wrap things up so the neighbors watching and listening to us could go to sleep. “The 8pm curfue has already passed in the camp, why don’t you sleep here instead of at the church.” Our sleeping bags, tooth brushes, and change of clothes were all back with our bikes inside the church, but it was a 10 min walk away and technically people weren’t supposed to be out anyway. “You can sleep here,” as Mouikumar lead us into his own bedroom containing two small double beds. “Oh no no, we don’t want to trouble you, and where will you…” Mouikumar cut us off insisting in a way we couldn’t argue with. After making sure we had everything we needed, Mouikumar and his wife left us - humbled - alone in their own room in their own beds in their simple home, complete with mosquito nets.

After waking up early, Mouikumar and his wife couldn’t send us off without breakfast. The chapati (flat bread) and potato curry was freshly home made and excellent.

Mouikumar (white R off cen) and his family in his living room

With brothers Santhos (red L) and Mouikumar, (white R) on the side of their church.

Outside and inside the refugee camp’s church, where they let us store our bikes over night.

With other Bhutanese refugees on the side of their church.

A big THANK YOU to Mouikumar, Santhos, and their family for the amazing hospitality! I sincerely hope that my fellow Americans will be thoughtful, aware, and empathize enough to extend half the welcome and hospitality the Bhutanese extended to us.

We were warmly welcomed into a refugee camp, shared music, and learned a people’s story we previously didn’t know about - quite possibly a perfect Fueled By Rice day.

For more information about the Bhutanese refugees’ story on the other side, settling in the US, see this related news article:

** From Bhutan to the Bronx **
Dumeetha Luthra meets some Bhutanese refugees who have arrived in the
 US from Nepal.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7372916.stm >

Let us work to close the divide between East & West

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

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Friends,

I am saddened and greatly concerned over the growing divide and wall between east and west, between China & the US, and between Europe & China over the Tibet conflict.  We have a responsibility, as educated peace-loving people, to work hard to close this divide and break down this wall NOW, before it gets too high.  As this article in the International Herald shows, the wall is not only being built in China, but also in the US at the countless American universities that Chinese students are attending.

Clearly media on all sides are failing to give us accurate facts and unbiased reports.  Because we know that, we can vigorously apply our critical thinking and analytical skills with a cool head to dare to explore perspectives different than our own on this issue.  We must strive to understand all sides with empathy.  I am seeking to more deeply understand Beijing’s perspective, and I desire to know more about what ordinary Tibetans think and want, the latter of which is not clear in many news articles.

Above all, we must remember that we are brothers and sisters, world citizens, and that the conflict in Tibet is affecting us all. Through civilized and intelligent (and certainly always non-violent) debate, approached with humility and an open mind to listen to the other sides, we will slowly get at the truth and, I hope and pray, discover and craft a creative and respectful resolution for all connected issues.

Ping An, He Ping, Peace,
Peter

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/29/america/29student.php