I’ve been coming to Nepal for more than a decade now. It’s a time scale that is still a little difficult for me to grasp–my mid-thirties snuck up on me, piled with stories, adventures, and challenges I’ve faced. As a Dragons Instructor,......Read More
This is my first time posting. Made it two months without one, which was not ok. Nepal has been great experience for me! I feel a change within myself. All I have to say. Peace....Read More
As I get into a minibus overflowing with people, I can’t help but smile. The bus speeds off down the road for a couple of yards before taking a sharp during into oncoming traffic to fill up at a gas station. I’m not shaken anymore.......Read More
It feels so familiar. The bustle of the city. Not just the external bustle, but the activity of the mind, in the passage of time and the way I think. My morning commute on a bus—with ceilings so short and people so dense—feels routine, far from......Read More
I haven’t posted a yak in quite a while, but it hasn’t been for lack of adventure or excitement to document. We are now in our final week in Kathmandu before heading out to trek and I find myself longing for more time!! More time with my......Read More
Have you ever thought about clay? It all starts out as one giant mass. Then as a potter, you divide it. Making new pieces from each segment. They become different objects that are connected by their past. Eventually, they may live in different......Read More
Heat. Hit. Heat. Hit. Heat. Bind. Heat. Brush. Bracelet making is more time consuming than I’d expected. My mentor also promises it’ll take around half the time it usually does. I live a 40 minute walk from my mentors home in Kopan, and......Read More
It was difficult choosing an independent study project (ISP). There were so many things that I wanted to learn; Nepali cooking, sewing, traditional folk music, pottery… The list goes on and on. However, in the end, I chose yoga. In the back of my......Read More
There’s a rooftop in Kathmandu. It’s higher than most. High enough for the prayer flags to catch wind. High enough to see the edge of the smog way up in the sky. High enough to see the city and the mountains, blurred by dust, on all sides. Up......Read More
Nighttime in Nepal is the dance between two forces. One is the darkness that rolls in from the Himalayas and gets thrust like a blanket over Kathmandu, and the other is the dust that by day hides in the sunlight, but by night grows alive. When the......Read More
I walk home at 5. I walk down a hill, turn left and walk down another. I walk beside a muddy river lined with trash. Plastic bags, half lodged in the gritty sand, float aimlessly. How many? Countless. For how long? Decades. I walk past barking......Read More
Yesterday morning, our leaders of the day (Nils and John) put together a surprise for the group. Rather than go through our morning check-in as usual, they met at 6am to plan a ceremony and prepare a space for it. As we milled around eating......Read More
26/Oct/17 I’m here, sitting on my living room, practicing my Nepali with my sister and journaling until dinner is ready. My sister Sajita is doing her homework next to me. My little brother is wearing a really warm hat as his jumping around......Read More
Noble silence Before going to Namo Buddha I was told that we would be holding noble silence from Friday 7 pm until 9:30 the following morning. Immediately my brain started making up reasons why I, as an adult (18 years of age), could choose when i......Read More
The darkness just before dawn has a unique quality. The world is still and silent, listening, and awaiting the sun. A thin line of vermilion cloud hangs low and bright on the eastern horizon, mirroring the rise and fall of distant peaks. As......Read More