19/07/2026
(Photo taken from the roof of our house)
It is Sunday, and the song of the last few days has been the first section of Matt Redman’s 10 000 Reasons.
The sun comes up
It’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
We flew out of Sydney on Thursday evening, had a ten hour stopover in Delhi, and arrived in Kathmandu Friday evening, into the chaos of Kathmandu traffic. It’s a constant barrage of beeps, with cars and motorbikes/scooters and buses and bikes weaving in and out of each other, all over the road.
Our new home is in the south of Kathmandu, in a gated community a few minutes walk away from the school. It’s a small oasis of calm. We had bought quite a lot of bits and pieces from the teachers who lived here previously, so we immediately had most of things that we needed – such as furniture and cutlery, washing powder for our first load of washing, and Wifi, which was such a wonderful blessing. That evening, and the following day, of the teachers showed us to a small supermarket, and another teacher took us to a market stall to get some fruit and vegetables. We walked the scenic route back, and saw chickens, cows, goats, sheep, ducks, and so very many street dogs.
Today after church a fellow Aussie expat helped us catch the bus to the major department store, where we were able to buy towels (no more sharing one communal towel, hooray) and a stool (for the kids to be able to reach the many high up door latches) and a rice cooker.
Soon Tim will pop out again to buy vinegar for washing fruit and vegetables, and then we’ll settle for a quiet afternoon. We still have to get our local SIM cards activated, and set up Nepali bank accounts.
There is a lot that is overwhelming, and will probably continue to be overwhelming for a while. I tried to learn the Nepali word for thankyou, but my brain is so full that it won’t stick. Each one of us has things that we are finding particularly hard, but the kids are doing so, so well.
But by grace, we’re still singing.
– Alex
The Newmarches in Nepal 