This is my fifth full day in the village of Balamchaur, yet this is the first time I’ve taken a moment to write. There is so much to take in! Even now as I sit on the front porch, there is so much going on… my Ama is cooking dinner over a small fire behind the clay wall I’m propped up against. A cow in the shed across from me munches on grass harvested early this morning. Dogs are barking, chickens are clucking. Neighbors converse over daal bhaat in Gurung, their native tongue. A century from now, this place and these sounds may no longer exist. A culture vanished amongst the towering Himalayas. Again I’m reminded how fortunate I am to be here now.