Ellen Joy

Baby, Business, Body, Band, Birthday ...

Well this past week was quite a big one for me!  My Nepali friend had a baby (a couple weeks early, but TOTALLY HEALTHY, PRAISE GOD!).  My business is registered, but I still have to process the visas (that should be done this week).  Had some frustrations with the process, but it's nearly finished now!  Hooray, Beauty for Ashes, Pvt. Ltd. (Private Limited) is official!  I got stomach sickness for a night and part of a day.  I'm still healing from my bicycle accident - just finished antibiotics and can finally sleep on my right side again and don't have worry about oozing wounds.  I had to learn a lesson in humility ... again ... and be corrected about something I did wrong.  Then this weekend I had to put together all the chords for the music for the Worship Team at church last minute.  Oh, and my internet service got shut off because I didn't know I had to go into the office to pay the bill.  Pretty exciting week, right?  And I still managed to have dinner with friends on 3 different occasions, go to a 4th of July celebration, go to a Nepali kid's 2nd Birthday party, write a rental agreement for my new office, yell at my new landlord (actually, I just yelled at the phone after I hung up with him ... ha ha ha), have a couple "heart to heart" chats with my lawyer about my frustrations with the business registration process, and .... well ... I'm just rambling ... 

That's all boring compared to the birth of my friend's baby!  I'm so excited about it and proud of her!!  She didn't give up.  She pushed through and had the baby naturally despite odds against her.  Labor was only around 5 hours ... and less than 3 hours after her water broke!  Amazing!!  Everything went so well.  I feel so blessed.   

The baby is a girl and weighed only 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) when she was born, but she is totally healthy!!  Isn't she SO CUTE!!!  And she caught on to breast-feeding right away!  I'm so excited for this little miracle!  Now we just have to find a name.  Often Nepalese people don't name their babies right away.  About an hour after she had the baby, my friend looked up at me and said, "Now I am happy" ... "What should we name her?"  We??   What an honor!  She wants me to help name her!  I told her that it was her choice and she should name her whatever she felt in her heart was a good name.  The midwife (a wonderful Irish lady) told her to pray about it and God would let her know.  Today I looked up some "Biblical" names ... really they're just names derived from the Bible and the language of the time (Hebrew and Greek).  I'll do more research to give my friend some more ideas, but I think she just needs some motivation to get started thinking and praying about it. 

What doesn't kill ya ...

I haven't updated in ages ... but let's just pretend like I've been blogging weekly and this is just yet another weekly blog, OK?  Maybe I can build some momentum and keep it going for all of you who want to regularly check my blog.

Today I fell off my bicycle.  Got cut up a bit and will surely have some bruises tomorrow, but no serious damage was done except that it sorta shook me up for the rest of the day.  I know you're probably wondering how it happened, so I'll tell you - though I'm quite embarressed and would rather not.  I was running late ... doesn't the story always start that way? ... I was late for my language class and not really paying attention.  So when my cell phone rang, I thought, I'll just see who it is, but won't answer it because that would be dangerous to do while I'm riding my bike.  Brilliant idea #1.  I saw that it was my language teacher and as I was putting it back in my pocket realized I was going a bit too fast and needed to slow down. So with my free (left) hand I "gently" put on the (front) breaks ... and proceeded to fly over the handlebars ahead of my bike.  Pretty silly, huh?  I wasn't really going that fast and realized as people pulled the bike off of me and I was getting up, that I still had my cell phone in my hand!  Brilliant idea #2 - hang on to the cell phone at all cost. 

Well, I got some pretty good cuts and bruises, but this too reminds me of what life is like.  We often take tumbles in life that cut us up pretty good ... but there's really no serious damage.  We are repairable!  Isn't that amazing!?  We just have to get up, clean up, heal up, and keep on going.  Nothing is the "end of the world" except for the end of the world ... and even that's not all bad for us who know Jesus Christ as our Savior!

I've been on the fast track for learning this lesson for quite some time now.  And I'm figuring out just how "tough" I really am because of the help of my truly amazing God who is bigger than any obstacle I could ever encounter!  I've had some hard knocks within the last few years, but Praise God that He created me and knows how much I can handle (with His help of course) ... and I'm pretty resilient! 

Now God is challenging me with starting a business in Nepal.  I have no idea how to start a business anywhere, let alone a foreign country where the government is so unstable that the "rules" could change on a whim.  But God's given me this vision for a business to help women in Nepal who've been sexually exploited.  It's taken me a long time to get started because of all this fear of failure I've been nursing.  I've been afraid of the tumbles ... that will surely happen by the way ... that will leave me with cuts and bruises.  But God has shown me that His perfect love can get rid of the fear.  Because of His love for me, I can trust that He is going to take care of me in all circumstances.  And He continually and patiently (and generously) shows me this through the various trials of life.  The old saying really applies here:  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

I just sat through 4 days of a training/retreat with the anti-trafficking organization I work with, and though it was wonderful to be with the staff who work all across western Nepal, it was difficult to understand what was going on.  I understand quite a bit of Nepali now, but I still can’t understand when they speak at regular speed.  I’m at a frustrating stage in my language learning.  It feels like I should be able to understand more than I do.  I wanted so badly to know everything that was being said, but I felt bad when I would ask someone what was said because then they would have to stop paying attention in order to tell me what was said.  Hum.

                              

We had a great time bonding and playing games together, though!

Cabin Restaurants

     Today and yesterday afternoon I went to a couple cabin restaurants to help translate for some people from a YWAM team. A cabin restaurant is a place where men can go and order food/drinks and get a girl with their order. It's awful!! Often the girls don't even know what they're getting into when they come there. Honestly, I felt a bit silly and nervous at first because I know it must have looked quite strange for a group of white girls and guys to go into a place like that. And at first it was a bit awkward. But we just ordered a snack and sat and chatted with the women there. Every woman we talked to came to Kathmandu from villages west of Kathmandu. And they all left their villages because village life was difficult and/or boring for them. Most of them did not like working at the restaurants ... though a couple of them said it was "OK". Yesterday, we talked to two girls who were both 18 years old. The restaurant owner wanted to sit and talk with us, too, because we were his first bideshi (foreign) customers since he bought the place 3 months ago. He said that he bought the place because he was "bored" and his family gave him the money to buy it. It was difficult to talk candidly with the girls because he was there, but we had a good time talking with him, too ... and he left every now and then to do something, so I took advantage of those times to ask some more delicate questions. One young woman there had only been there a few months and was planning on leaving the job in a couple months to start school. She said that the owner is a nice man and he is nice to her. She said that her customers are also nice to her ... though upon further questioning, she admitted that sometimes they were not so nice. I am praying that she does actually leave this job and that she is not too damaged while working there. I've heard that the women that work at these places are allowed to leave whenever they want and the job doesn't always mean they have to have sex with their customers. But there is probably always some sort of sexual transaction. When it was time to go I asked if we could pray to our God for them and they agreed to let us. I asked what we could pray for them about and the owner said his mother is sick. One girl wanted us to pray for her mother, too, and also her life and going to school. The other girl didn't know what she wanted prayer for so I told her we'd pray for joy to come into her life.

     Today we talked to girls from 14 to 19 years old. My "team" went to two restaurants. The first one was alright at first. The women were starting to warm up to us; however, when the owner's wife came, they all got quiet and shy and didn't want to talk anymore. And the owner's wife seemd gruff and didn't want anything to do with us, but she stayed in the room and ate her meal (she was probably keeping and eye on the girls). One of the YWAM volunteers had gone to that restaurant before and said that the owner's wife had told her that when she married the owner she didn't know that he owned this restaurant (or maybe this "kind" of restaurant). As we were there a man came in and went upstairs. A girl followed him and later came down and talked to the owner's wife about something. I'm not sure what was said but it sounded to me like the man was mad about something. Then the man came down and was talking roughly. Something was said about the clothes being good or bad. Then the man pushed one of the girls out the door and they left together while the women in the restaurant were murmering something about money. I was so mad at that man ... I wanted to trip him as he walked by!!! We just prayed at the table and, after a few more attempts at conversation, decided to go. As we were leaving, I told one of the "less-conversational" girls that we were Christians and would pray for her. When asked, she didn't know what she wanted prayer for, so I told her we'd pray for hope for her.

     Then we went into the restaurant where another part of the YWAM team went. Shannon came with us today and this was her group. They were on the fourth floor talking to 3 girls who were 16, 18, and 23 (I think). These girls told us that they would like to open a beauty parlor instead of working there. Shannon and I said that we'd look into finding information about trainings for beauticians.

     Overall, it was an eye-openning opportunity for me. There are women working in the sex trade just a 15 minute bike ride from where I live!! And I have access to resources that could get them out of it! I need to really pray about how I can best help these women. I wanted to just take them all with me ... but I don't have anywhere for them to go at the moment. I pray that God would show me what I can do to help them. I have been thinking about starting a business in Nepal and maybe this would be a way to give these women an opporunity to leave their job. Of course they probably need intense counselling, too, but giving them a chance to do something else with their lives is a start.

New Carpet in Nepal

(Click on images to make them bigger)

I got my new carpet put in and 2 sets of curtains hung … but (there’s almost always a “but” in Nepal), the carpet job was not well done.  The carpet in my bedroom has patches that don’t match, and the seams in the carpet throughout my apartment are very visible.  They said they’d come back and fix it, but I don’t think that they’ll hide the seams in the carpet like we do in the States.  Oh well.  I’ll take what I can get.  At least it’s soft and not as cold as the cement.  The apartment is very bright and peaceful, so I’m going with a peaceful theme.  The curtains in my bedroom are really pretty – sheer with some embroidery.  They’re putting in the Roman blinds (for privacy) this morning.  I really like the carpet in my living room (minus the seams).  I splurged on it, but I think it’s worth it to help me feel at “home” here.  I also had some fake wood flooring put it.  It’s linoleum but looks quite nice (minus a few bubbles which they’re going to try to fix today). 

All my stuff is moved into my new place, but I’m not unpacked yet.  I still need to buy a couple things to hold all my things (i.e., cabinets/cupboards).  I don’t know how I’ve accumulated so much stuff!  A lot of it comes from other foreigners who’ve left Nepal … and I keep bringing more stuff back from the States!  Silly girl.

I don’t have internet in my apartment yet.  I’m hoping for that within a couple of weeks.  I can go to a coffee shop/café for now.  I’ve resolved to work on e-communication in the mornings during the week, so the best time to call my Skype number or ID is in the evenings in the States.  I’m also hoping to blog about once a week.  Feel free to hold me to these “resolutions”!

Highlights at "Home"

I came home to the States on December 20^th for a “break” from Nepal … and didn’t really break much.  Here are the highlights of what went down:

Christmas in Iowa

Three days after I landed in the States, my parents and I flew to Iowa to watch my sister in the Radiocity Rockettes’ Christmas Show and spend Christmas day with her.  She was in the ensemble and did a beautiful job.  While in Iowa, we stayed at a wonderful little Bed and Breakfast in the country just outside of Des Moines.  We adopted the Innkeepers as our grandparents for Christmas.  We had a huge Christmas dinner with them and a gift exchange!  (Notice the details of the matching PJs my sister got me – flamingoes in a wintry trailer park – she’s so silly!)  Our “new grandparents” even came to the show with us and were absolutely enamored with Emily and the show. On the way back from the show, we got stuck in the snow a few hundred yards from the house for an hour or so before we were pulled out by a neighbor on a tractor. A couple days before we came to Iowa, they had had an ice-storm and the Iowa plains looked like glass!  At night, the moon reflected across the ice as if it was water!

Christmas in Bakersfield

Here are my real grandparents in Bakersfield with their great-grandson (my cousin’s son), Ethan, at Christmas.  It was great to get some “real family” time, too!                                                                                           

                           

Christmas in Idaho

Two days after coming back from Iowa, my parents, my nephew,  Mikey, and I flew to Idaho to visit my other “real” grandparents (my Dad’s mom and step-dad).  Here in the foothills of the mountains, it was another gorgeous winter wonderland!  There were deer right outside the window and we could toss apples to them!   Mikey had a great time building a snowman with my Dad and playing with the new toys he got for Christmas.  “Papa” (my Dad) and Grandpa had a good time playing with Mikey’s new toys, too!         

       

CSUB - California State University Bakersfield

I also had an opportunity to speak about human trafficking at an Intervarsity event at CSUB.                                                                  

                           

Denver, CO

A week later, I flew to Denver, nestled in the Rockies, for a weekend to visit some  friends from Pathways Church.  Pathways Church partners with ServLife International in our efforts in Nepal.  They’ve sent several teams to Nepal and I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the people on a couple of these teams.  I was SO BLESSED by this church’s hospitality and love for me and for the people of Nepal.  I was warmly welcomed at a dinner where almost all the people who had come to Nepal showed up.  I was so surprised that all of them would take to the time to come.  They so obviously love the Nepalese and want to  support what God is doing there through ServLife and through their own support.  I got to hang out with some of the younger single folks and play games (like Wii-Boxing) and go out on the town.  I felt very “at-home” with this crowd and am blessed by their friendship!         

         

Los Angeles (South Bay)

A couple days after returning to Bakersfield, I drove down to the South Bay to visit my Hope Chapel church friends and spend some much-needed quality time with Micah (on the right in the picture), a former member of my small group in the High School youth group at Hope Chapel.  We had a great time together and even got to see another of my youth-groupers, Bekah, in a musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat).    

    

San Diego Half-Marathon

From LA, I drove down to San Diego to visit some friends there.  It was perfect timing because that weekend my close friend, Amy, flew out from Virginia to run a half-marathon with a couple of her close friends (mutual friends from Azusa Pacific University).  The night before the race, they convinced me to run it with them … I HAVEN’T RUN FOR OVER A YEAR!!  I ran most of it and only walked three miles toward the end.  At Mile 8, Jen and I separated from Amy and Michelle and started walking every other mile until the end.  We ran the last mile in, and had a total time of about 2 hrs and 38 mins. (Picture: Me, Michelle, Amy, and Jen).  I could barely walk the next day and was soar for a week and a half afterward!!!

                           

Cold Canada

The very next day after the race, I took off for Canada where I would visit the headquarters of the organization I work for in Nepal.  Dominique, and her partner in crime, Carla, picked me up from the airport in Vancouver.  It was so wonderful to finally meet my “boss” and get to know her and Carla.  Dominique is an amazing, eccentric, enchanting woman with incredible energy and a heart for serving the Lord.  It was truly eye-opening to see what the project could become and hear about all the lives that have been changed forever for the better. 

After that, Dominique and I were picked up by Naomi (she  spear-headed the project in Nepal) and taken to her log cabin in the foothills of the Rockies (the Rockies again!) in Alberta a couple hours North of Calgary.  She and her husband just had a baby a couple months ago – Micah Joy – what a cute name … and VERY cute baby!!  Here, we retreated in the snowy, tree-laden hills on a cattle and horse ranch.  Naomi’s husband even took me on a trail ride – truly a highlight for me!!

Indy 500

It sure feels like I’ve been in the Indy 500 since I arrived in the States!  From Calgary, I flew to Indianapolis where I found myself on the last lap of the race of my travels in North America before heading back to California and then Nepal.  In Indy, I met with my ServLife International team.  It was great meeting new members of the team and seeing others who I haven’t seen in a while.  We spent time getting to know each other and brainstorming about the future of ServLife in Nepal.

The Last Stretch

Thus ends my race, roller-coaster ride, whirlwind, or whatever you want to call it … besides a day-trip to the OC to visit my sister’s and my old church, Heritage Christian Fellowship, and a trip (hopefully) to Disneyland tomorrow!  I’ll also trek down to LA (South Bay) again for a couple days before I head out to Nepal on the 11^th of February.  Whew! 

Sticks and Stones ...

Sticks and stones may break our bones ... they can also damage emotions.  I had a tough day today.  After discovering last night that the new office Serve Nepal is moving into didn't have carpet, I spent the evening and morning getting some put in before the movers arrived with the furniture (not really my "job", but it needed to be done).  Then I rushed out to try to make it to my guitar class on time, but on my way to get a taxi I saw a friend who told me that some taxis were blocking the roads today because of the petrol ("gasoline" for you Americans) shortage.  Apparently the government has stopped giving petrol to publicly owned vehicles and the taxi drivers are enraged.  So, I called my guitar teacher to see if class was cancelled.  However, since it wasn't a declared "strike" and there were no problems on his side of town, I still had to go to class or it would count as an absence (I'm only allowed to miss one more class or I might not be able to renew my student visa).  So, I walked nearly an hour in the sun to get past the place where the taxis were blocking the road.  Then I took a taxi that charged me twice as much as usual and got to class an hour late.  All that for 30 minutes of class!!  Then on my way home I took a micro-van (this is one of the main forms of public transportation) and the road was not blocked at the same spot anymore; however, shortly after that spot, the van pulled over and told everyone to get out because there was a group of rioters ahead of us.  As soon as we all got out of the van, a crowd of men (mostly young men) who were shouting in the opposite direction turned around and started running toward us.  At first I thought they were mad at us for taking public transportation, but then I saw that there were army men ahead with those big "shields" they use during riots.  The group of men sort of dispersed and as I walked on to get to my destination, I saw another group of men walking quickly toward the main road from a side road.  As I looked more closely I saw that several of them were holding an older man's head and it looked like there was blood on the man's head.  They were calling for a taxi ... probably to go to the hospital.  I saw a lot of stones in the road and some taxis with broken windows, so I figured that the older man must have gotten caught in the crossfire.

It all makes me so sad.  Only a couple of weeks ago 3 bombs went off in Kathmandu targeting civilians.  Three people died and many were injured.  Most people say that it was an anti-election effort, but no one knows for sure who did it.  These things make me feel a little hopeless for Nepal.  Will they ever learn that violence isn't the answer?  I was pretty depressed for the rest of the afternoon.  I had already wanted to cry earlier because of having to walk in the sun (I know it's silly, but I was already feeling down), but now I wanted to cry for the nation, and for that man with the bloody head, and for every person in Nepal suffering because their country can't pull it together enough to protect them, because the leaders in Nepal care more about their own status and power than about the people of Nepal, and because of the spiritual oppression here that makes people think that they can get what they want if they demonstrate violence!  Sticks and stones haven't broken my bones ... but they broke my heart today.

Beautiful Feet

Wow!  I just had the most wonderful time washing the beautiful feet of many Nepali women.  ServLife sponsored a Christian Women's Conference last week during the Teej Festival.  This is a Hindu Festival for women where married women wear their red wedding saris and fast and pray to Shiva for their husbands and unmarried women pray for their future husbands.  At the end of the conference, 5 women from the USA (including me) washed the feet of all the women at the conference demonstrating Christ's sacrificial love and servant leadership.  It was so moving!!  In this culture, feet are extremely dirty (both physically and metaphorically!).  I wasn't sure how it was going to go over or if any of them would let us touch their feet.  God totally met the women right there!!  Many of them started to cry while getting their feet washed and afterward they just hugged us and sobbed!  Most of them had never been shown love in such a subservient manner.  They usually are required to serve and are never served.  It was incredible ... and such a good reminder not to let the culture get in the way of showing Christ-like love.

   

Another Birthday in Nepal

I can't believe I just had a 2nd Birthday in Nepal!!  This year was what some people would call "My Golden Birthday" (no I didn't turn 50)... I turned 31 on the 31st.  So, I had an excuse to have a REALLY big party ... two parties in fact.  We had two waves of people over to our house.  The first group consisted of all my Nepali friends ... those who like to go home before dark.  My wonderful neighbor, Shoba, was an immense help.  She cooked Nepali chicken curry and potato  cucumber "pickle" (chutney).  She also made around 4 dozen sel roti (REALLY greasy doughnut-like things) which you can see in the top picture to the left!  Toward the end of the afternoon, Shannon turned on some Hindi music and we all danced like Rockstars (My shirt says "The Star... It's Not Easy" in case you can't read it in the pictures)!!  The second wave brought mostly bideshi (foreigner) friends and we had some delicious foreigner food!!  Shannon made an awesome chili and some excellent fresh salsa.  We had yummy cheese, ham, green olives, and tiny pickles to snack on, too!  Mmmmmm.  I should have another Golden Birthday again next year!  =)  It was so nice to see all my friends in Nepal together in one place.  There were around 50 people altogether ... and not even all of my friends made it!  I am loved!! ... and blessed!!  I'm so thankful for the friendships God has provided for me over here. 

However, I must say that I REALLY missed celebrating with my friends from back home.  There really is nothing like old friends who know me inside and out.  I miss them ... I miss you guys!!

Tibetan Thangka Paintings

Last Friday I went to Bhaktapur again to pay for school and turn in my paperwork.  My trip was quite eventful.  I was welcomed to the school of music by a swamp where the pig path (see my post below) had been.  The most shallow part of mud was about 3 inches deep.  I didn't realize how deep it was until I had already stepped into it in my trail running shoes ... I guess that's one way to break in a new pair of shoes!!  I asked the two men ahead who were taking a break from shoveling the mud if there was another path and they just said, "Bistarai aunus!" ("Come slowly!").  That was a bit aggrevating ... but I managed, and Raju greeted me with a big smile as I crept my way up to the entrance.  Raju informed me that the river bed is too shallow and every rainy season, the bank turns into a swamp with every heavy rain.  So I have this to look forward to in my travels to music class over the next 6 months!  Everything went well and I was out of there within 20 minutes.  By this time the mud-shoveling men had made a small path on the cement/stone that was buried beneath the mud. 

But this was just the start of an interesting adventure in Bhaktapur!  I was going to be early to pick up some friends from the airport so I decided to rest for a little while and get some tea near Bhaktapur's Durbar Square (old palace square).  As I approached what looked like a very quaint little place to sit and get a cup of tea, a young Nepali guy came up to me and introduced himself.  I thought, "Oh no!  He's going to want to give me a tour" (that happens a lot around sites where tourists go).  His name is Manis (which means "person") and he said he was a student at a school for the art of Thangka (pronounced Tongka) painting and he wanted to show me his school and his art.  He said there was a competition going on so the art will be very good.  I told him that I really didn't want to buy anything (because that's almost always the reason Nepalese approach foreigners like that).  He said he didn't want to sell me anything, he just thought I might like the art and wanted to show it to me.  I decided to go see it, so he took me down a small alley to the next street over and into his school.  I left my muddy shoes at the door ... even after they insisted I leave them on because it would be rude to ask a guest to take their shoes off and walk on a dusty floor.  Manis introduced me to his teacher/supervisor, Sujan, who then gave me a detailed tour of the school.  I thought it was so sweet that they just wanted to show me around the school and introduce me to all the art that they loved so much, though I also knew they most likely had alterior motives.  Near the top floor was a little showroom where Sujan had me sit on a couch to listen to the "stories" of the Thanka paintings.  I said I only had time for one.  It was very interesting.  He showed me a traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thanka with the wheel of life being held by the god of destruction and of protection/judgement (to see a picture of a Wheel of Life, go to: http://www.craftsinindia.com/products/buddha-life-mandala.html#).  The god has three eyes because the third eye is the one that sees all their tears and looks out for their well-being.  Within the wheel, there are 3 sections for "heaven" and 3 sections for hell.  In an inner circle there are 3 animals biting each other's tails - a snake, a chicken, and a pig, representing delusion, hatred, and greed respectively.  Around these animals on one side are depictions of humans striving for good Karma, headed toward heaven, and on the other side were humans heading for destruction.  At the end of Sujan's story, he told me that he is actually not Buddhist or anything really.  He asked me what I am, so I told him that I'm a Christian.  He said that Christianity is similar to the story he just told me, and I said, "Really? How?"  He said in Christianity people are either striving for good Karma to get to heaven, or rebelling and are headed for hell.  I told him that that's not really what Christianity is about.  I said we have a story too, which can be painted into a beautiful picture.  I asked him if he'd heard the story and he said no.  I asked if he wanted to hear it and he said yes ... so I began with Creation and ended with the Resurrection and it's significance for all who choose to put their faith in Jesus Christ.  It was SO COOL to share the story of God's love for us!  However, at times I did feel a little like my story sounded to him like the story he just told sounded to me ... like a story.  At the end he said he had one first and final question for me ... "Do you believe it?"  I wholeheartedly said, "Yes!"  He smiled and said OK.  He said he'd met a lot of Christians who come in to look at the art, but he never heard the story like I told it.  He said that they all said Christianity was similar with all the stuff about people striving toward heaven or else being bad and going to hell.  I told him that they were incorrect in saying that.  It's not about people being "good" or "bad", but about Who we put our faith in.  God knew that we could never be perfect enough to be with Him in heaven, so He rescued us by giving us the ultimate sacrifice for all evil ... the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. 

By this time another man had come in and out of the room a few times, stopping to listen to most of the story and giving Sujan an unspoken message (apparently) that he'd better wrap things up with me.  Sujan said he had to get back to work and tried to show me some more paintings, but I told him I didn't have time.  He told me that actually he was hoping that I would buy a painting.  I told told him that I was really sorry, but I had made it very clear to Manis that I was NOT going to buy anything and was only interested in hearing about the art.  I sincerely apologized for taking up his time and leading him to believe I might want to buy.  He told me it really was no problem and he really enjoyed talking with me and hearing what I had to say.  He said that the next time I come in the store I will come in as his friend and not as a potential customer. 

(To read more about the Tibetan Wheel of Life go to: http://buddhism.about.com/cs/art/a/Thangkawheel.htm.)