Our group arrived to Boudha this morning after a last quiet morning at our monastery stay. We had a full, thought provoking week at Namo Buddha learning about Buddhism, practicing the fundamentals of meditation, and engaging in thoughtful......Read More
February 24th After Jaime, Rachel, Emma and I finished the scavenger hunt with time to spare, we decided to sit on a bench and write a song about our brief time in Dharan. Emma, our talented songwriter, spit out lyrics pretty fast. We were singing......Read More
Outside my room I heard the sounds of the house slowly waking up. Dishes clattered as Ama cleaned the remaining plates from the party last night. Pawan’s TV hummed through the wall behind my head. I rubbed my eyes and rolled over on my side.......Read More
Neem, totle, tulsi, nettle, kalturda, bojho, sage, chili peppers, canabis, rudilo, titepate, tobacco, bhogote, gandepate, sarifa, barbari, ginger — each of these plants can be found within a twenty minute walk from the community center in Koshi. On their own they serve different purposes: smoke from bojho is inhaled to cure tooth and throat pains; rudilo is used to deter fungus from growing on plants and can be ingested when someone is experiencing hemorrhaging; in the case of dysentery or gastric issues, one can harvest the seeds from bhogote and cook them down into a tea. Separately each of these plants can help to heal. Together,… Read More
A tranquil peace nests over the town. The wind gently waves mustard down. A small road splits the village. Sounds echo in spillage. Now a truck, blaring, motorbikes whiz dogs barking kids cry SHOUTS!...Read More
Today we departed from our home-stay in Koshi with full, heavy hearts. The past two weeks have been filled with the beauty and challenges that come when fully immersed in families: morning work in the mustard fields, hand-washing laundry with aamas,......Read More
As I dig my hands into the dirt Soil spreading beneath my fingers I’m reminded of a time when I was younger Somewhere in my homeland The same motion and excitement Finding the starchy morsels that have survived with us for centuries To be......Read More
Holy cow. That’s how we all feel after an hour and a half in Dharan, trying to complete a scavenger hunt. The directions were simple: 3 hours, 3000 rupees, 18 tasks. Having no prior knowledge of Dharan, we got off the bus and were immediately......Read More
So here we are in this internet cafe, winning the scavenger hunt through blood (yes, literally), sweat, and tears (just kidding, all smiles here). We have learned so much about Duran duraaaaan lol i mean Dharan haha.. anyways. Now that we are done......Read More
We are told that today is Day 15 of our course, which is kind of hard to believe. In some ways we feel as though we’ve been together for months and months, but at the same time it feels like we’ve only just arrived in Nepal. Time is......Read More
On February 15, 2019 my host mom, Hema, took Meredith and me two doors down to Emma and Elizabeth’s house. On the table outside their bedroom were piles of colorful clothing and beautiful statement jewelry. “This is our Nepali cultural......Read More
In the little village, Parakashpur, cooking with my homestay Ama (mother), Yasoda, has been an absolute delight. The first day I arrived, she signaled for me to follow her into the kitchen where a pan was already heating up oil and a pressure cooker......Read More
We are halfway through our home-stays here in Koshi and are already wishing we had more time. Highlights this week include a five hour bird watching walk where we saw over 30 species of different native and migratory birds, visiting the Bazaar with......Read More
After an hour long, chiya filled Nepali class first thing in the morning, our group headed north to meet where the plains become the hills and the Koshi River shifts in width and strength. Our drive took us through the flat lands of the Terai, which......Read More
Him B has arrived in the Terai and we are enjoying the warmer weather as we begin to spend time in our new home-stays. The Terai is a beautiful place to begin our course. While at home, our days have already been filled with helping our families......Read More
