This is an excerpt from an email Matt sent me.....




Ok, so today I was taken on a little shopping trip into the city so I could get two cases of water.  It was an adventure as expected.  Traffic was congested with little to no organization but everyone seemed to know what was going on and how to get through the area.  And yes, I saw plenty of their little green and white buses that you thought were so cute.  The streets were lined with open drains and I think the sewers ran into them at one point.  The roads were a mix of pavement and dirt that connected the commercial (paved) and residential (dirt) areas; we stayed on the paved ones because we were headed to the store.  The store was interesting.  It was laied out similar to our stores, more like a general store in a tiny town or like some of the smaller stores I went to in the UAE.
 
For being a predominantly Muslim country, they are more open and accepting to the western way.  I was told that they are more "religious" when prayer time comes on Friday because it means they get off work and start the weekend early.  The other members of my team said that in the two months of being here, they've only seen five of their students actually go pray.  I guess its more of a religion of convience or tradition more than anything else.  I was also told that the plausible threat toward Americans is relatively low compared to other westerners (i.e. Europeans).  It was explained that there is no use in kidnapping Americans because the American government will not pay a ransom for them, while other European governments will pay to get their citizens back.  That's all they want at this point is the money, at least in this country. 


{CoDele Here: My side not is that Matt said that someone was wearing a t-shirt on his flight that had a cross and it said "Jesus Saves." Made me feel better. Plus, the guys in Nepal are living a ghetto life right now. Matt really wanted to go there instead but it looks like he got the better deal. HEE HEE. }