the wall of greatness

china has been a wonderful surprise. all of our preconceived ideas of an old, shabby infrastructure and ancient, far away place have been shattered. come august, beijing will give the world an impressive olympic show. china is almost ready, and the olympic spirit is everywhere! olympic flags, a "no spitting" policy, olympic souvenir shops, vast amounts of chinese lanterns, 90,000 more police on the street, a tienanmen square that has a 7 o'clock curfew... these are all signs that china is getting ready for the world. we passed the "bird's nest" stadium, and it looks fantastic. yesterday, we ventured outside of beijing and took a cable car to some of the best preserved portions of the great wall. at the top of beautiful grey mountain ridges, we walked along a wall that has been in existence for over 2000 years. everything about the wall was impressive... the enormous stones, the ancient architecture, the great history, the beautiful chinese landscapes. it was absolutely incredible. someone thought of a very creative way to make more money at the great wall... instead of taking the cable car down again, we took a super fun toboggan ride to the base! joe went first, and i followed! we went straight down the whole way! the chinese workers kept yelling at us to slow down, but we just nodded to them as we zoomed past at full speed!! i'll be honest, the toboggan ride was a close second to the great wall! we've been blessed (once again) to have some wonderful hosts along our journey. we are reaping kindness from a student my grandparents taught english to while they were living in china over 20 years ago. our host got us settled in to our hotel (no one speaks english there) and he helped us understand some very important information from the front desk. he translated: "you should know that it is common to find long centipedes and scorpions in your room. if there is a problem, just call the front desk and they will take care of things for you." so... these are the phrases that we know in chinese: "hello" "thank you" "how are you?" and "scorpion".

my people

welcome to songkran!
from the early stages of planning, we always knew that the second week of april would be in chiang mai, thailand. in fact, our entire first portion of our trip evolved entirely around thailand's new year celebration. and finally, this week has arrived. songkran was three days of pure water dousing. it was everything we imagined; thailand was everything we imagined, wonderful. today we're off to china!

time out in thailand

All of our ambitions have returned void since we last wrote. Instead of capitalizing on our bonus week by embarking on a last minute excursion to a new and exciting destination, we've been digging deep into the medicine bag to find the right formula to fix me. I got sick. Felt like the flu, but I also tend to think that I had emotionally ingested all the extremes of India and, upon leaving it all behind, my body sought to physically express and purge itself. The good news is that I wasn't throwing up, but a fever, fatigue, congestion, and shortness of breath were enough to be out of commission for four days. Other good news is that we've been able to maintain a home base with friends in Bangkok whose house and hearts have made for a comfortable recovery.

Monday was my first day of near normalcy, and yesterday we ventured deep into downtown to sneak a swim at one of the posh hotels by the river. Next on the agenda is our departure for Chiang Mai via overnight train tomorrow night. We'll visit with Wanida's extended family and experience the traditional Thai new year and the Songkran water festival; think country wide water fight, everyone's in.

Having been refreshed by the healing of body, mind, and soul, it's time to check back in to this magnificent adventure.

taking flight

india was incredibly overwhelming in every sense of the word. it was emotional, it was draining, it was manipulative, it was colorful, it was spiritual, it was sad, it was powerful, it was frustrating, it was intense, and there were always moments of beauty in everything.

still, we made a decision on tuesday morning (april 1) to change our tickets, and leave india 8 days early. tuesday evening, we were on a flight to thailand. we needed to leave; it felt right to leave. india is not for the faint of heart. it's a very sad and wounded place. i don't think that i can even share all that india did to us, but, i will say that as we were waiting for our 3:30 am flight to bangkok, joe and i had one of those talks. those talks that you pray for. the ones where god moves in your heart, and moves you to grow. joe started sharing one of the many incredible stories we collected in india, and instantly we both were moved to tears. together in a little indian coffee shop, we cried for the sadness that drowns this country. honestly, if we stayed any longer, we would have been drowning too. even as i share, there's a lump in my throat, it hurts. india was just too overwhelming to commit eight more days to. i know its impact will stay with us much longer.

so now (deep breath), we are in this cyber cafe in bangkok, trying ot figure out how we want to spend these extra days! we could stay in thailand, perhaps find a little thai island to frolic in, or head to cambodia? or southern china, singapore, malaysia? the change brings refreshment, and it feels good.

today marks day 44. so much ahead, and we're excited. i'll share the india stories as we upload more pictures, uploading pics has been a bit of a challenge lately. the stories and pictures will give you a glimpse of our wanderings through india.

pondering on a pilgrimage

On our last night in Tokyo, we returned to the free observation deck on the 45th floor of the Municipal Government Building. Had a cup of tea. Journaled a bit. I thought I'd share some of my reflections from our "ascent".

Every now and then one must ascend to take in the view--to appreciate the reality of the surroundings and the promise of the horizon. I'm above it all, but not for long. The reality is that I'm in the thick of it, and the thickness is sweet. To descend now means to return to the deep river of addictive experience by which I've been carried away. The trouble is that rivers only flow in one direction, so to go back is an impossibility. No, I must navigate these waters, and sooner or later I must be swallowed into the sea. There are many directions in which to paddle out there. There may be fog to inhibit my sight. There may be storms and waves to rock and sway me. Alas, my Lord will bring peace, and even if my anchor is lost or my boat is flooded, I will rise to follow him as we walk on the water. Upon returning home, I will not, I cannot be the same.

in the hub of humanity

Last I heard, Tokyo is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Whether or not that's true, there are more than a handful of human beings here. The city's electric, both literally and figuratively. It's a land of effectiveness and efficiency. It's a contrast of big of small. Everything is shrunk down so as to squeeze in as much as possible--appetizers, appliances, apartments--then the critical mass explodes up and out in the form of sky high bills and buildings. From 45 floors up it's quiet, but one can be sure that, down below, there's no shortage of activity in the concrete jungle that stretches as far as the eye can see.

We're hooked up with more great, gracious Maneevone connections here in the western suburbs of Tokyo. No, we're not sleeping on the 45th floor, but every now and then one must ascend to take in the view--to appreciate the reality of the surroundings and the promise of the horizon.

bagus bali

Yes, Bali is very bagus!! Bagus (bah-goose) means good, or great, or something like that. All we know is that we say bagus when we like something, and we like Bali. This wonderful place is worthy of more than just two blog posts, but we’ve been out and about doing everything under the sun—literally. Our faces have been lit up by a week and a half of mostly sunshine and a couple of Maneevone family friends who have treated us to more than we bargained for. Also, we admit it, we just indulged ourselves (for the first time) in an American Idol rerun of the top twelve performers that we stumbled across on tv.

About Bali, though, some highlights: We spent the first five nights here at Hotel Padma on Legian Beach, then did three nights on the north side of the island in Tulamben, and now we’re wrapping up our final three nights back at the Padma. Time to move on to Tokyo tomorrow night! The purpose of the Tulamben excursion was primarily to wrap up our open water scuba certification course. Yes, we succeeded, we can breathe underwater. In fact, Wanida has the ability to make the air in her tank last much longer than I do; having to return to the surface is always my fault. I hear it’s a gender thing though. Really, it is. Females take shallower breaths and their muscles don’t use as much oxygen. Is that true about the muscles because they’re smaller? Now I’m in trouble. Anyway, we saw a warm underwater world full of coral, big clams, lion fish, scorpion fish, eels, barracuda, and maybe a small shark. By the way, coral is not merciful, even if you scrape it by accident. My hand is only now getting over it. We’ve been to the beach many times, the pool many times, and we’ve had many food adventures—I ate a pigeon heart, for example, among other innards. We also wandered among monkeys and held a certain flying nocturnal creature. Pics? Of course!!

Many humble thanks to Yanto, Mie Khie, and their families for being the kindest of hosts to us. Very undeserved. As far as we’re concerned, bring your travel dollars to Bali—they’ll go far, and the experience is worth the mileage. Today we mark one month since we departed. Missing you all, but savoring the moments.

they walked all over us

Today, Joey and I were victims of the Adian Hotel and Spa. Side by side, the pranced and danced down our bodies. Balinese toes are really quite remarkable. With a fierce prodding, their toes almost brought us to tears! Over and over, they tenderized our backs, our arms, and legs (down to each individual toe). If there were only cameras to capture our hidden faces! We were dying! Our survival method was to laugh through the pain, and we laughed a lot! Today the Maertzs were weaksauce. In the end, our Shiatsu toes masters asked us how we liked it? Our response came with a big grin, "It was intense, amazing and intense." Joey and I are walking a little more gingerly, and enjoying life at a slightly slower pace. Life is slower in Bali, and we love it. The massage was simply a fun story, honestly we really can't share enough wonderful things about this beautiful little island, and all the people in it. We ended our day, sharing drinks and a cherished conversation with a old family friend MieKhie. He and his family have showered us with kindness. Every time we express our gratitude to him, he says "I have many friends, but only one spiritual father, your dad." That statement meant a lot to me tonight. My mom and dad have made wonderful relationships with many international students, and here we are in Bali, reaping the benefits of my parent's kindness. It all feels very undeserved. Reminds me a bit of grace, and the grace that we have already seen throughout this adventure, all completely undeserved. Joe and I have been gifted with so much. That's just a little of how I'm feeling tonight... grateful, really grateful.

little joeys everywhere

Baby kangaroos, that is, but no, we didn't see any. Actually, you can't see much of Australia in 48 hours, but we did our best in Sydney. The city is beautiful, cosmopolitan, and surprisingly diverse. We arrived on Thursday evening with enough daylight to locate a hostel downtown (didn't sleep on the streets after all), then walk farther and faster than expected to be at the Opera House by dusk--wanted a landmark and a panorama with which to breathe in the moment and say, "Ah, we're here."

On Friday we picked up our Daytrippers ($16 passes that allow you unlimited travel on all of Sydney's buses, subways, and ferries for a day). First stop was the famous Bondi Beach. Bondi's a nice beach for sure, but nothing to write home about (just blog home about), and we had just enough time to eat lunch and twinkle our toes in the water before the clouds caught up with us again. We packed up, cursed the weather, and moved on. Next we bussed and subwayed ourselves to the north side of the Harbour Bridge, then strolled back across it. Very nice. Ferried ourselves to the Manly Beach area for the evening, and wished for sunshine and more time there. For dinner we ate the best, tastiest, most authentic and reasonably priced Thai food right at the Manly wharf. It's one of those places that you don't think could possibly produce the meal that you're eating for the price that you paid for it. Good stuff. Riding the ferry back, rain started. Friday night in Sydney, Australia and it was raining. Don't cry for us, though, we've had enough precipitation.

Redemption: Saturday was splendid. In the morning we did the Starbucks thing (for Wanida's sake), read and wrote for a little while. We walked miles and miles that day, enjoyed the city (and weather), took plenty of pics, and just chatted.

What in the world are the subjects of our conversations these days? Well, we remind each other how blessed we are to be able to do this, to savor it and to be thankful. We replay stories and memories that we've already left behind, and get excited about the many things to come. We get serious and ask each other about ways in which we want to be "better" when we get home, the point being that we want this trip to transform us. Acknowledging God as the true transformer of all things, we talk about how we can be used to transform the world around us. So many places and people are passing before us, and by these creations and through these experiences we seek to refine our God given vision and mission.

Getting back to our adventures and exploits, we got stuck--due to flight unavailability--with an overnight layover in Perth on the way to Bali. How unfortunate. Really. We knew it was coming, but to make matters worse we always approached it with a budget mentality and a plan to persevere through one night at the airport. Some of you are already grinning at the thought of splurging on bungy jumping, but pinching pennies on much needed accommodations. I know, because we're talking about an almost sleepless night of pushing chairs together, flopping around on the ground, flies and mosquitoes, bright lights, and enough random noise to remind you that you're always awake. The morning brought swollen eyes for Wanida, but we celebrated the fact that Bali and the beach were only hours away.

Yes, we're here now--Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. It's incredible. We've been very much looking forward to moving on from western culture and, although we're well taken care of here, it's still foreign and exotic and wonderful. Check back for a Bali post in the near future, but we had to share about Australia.