On the way out of my housing area tonight, the security guard looked in the car and smiled wide at me.
"You went to Nepal right? Your mother told me about it! How was it? Did you like it?"
His joy was infectious, and soon I realized that I was smiling wide in return.
Here he was, asking if I liked the place he calls home. :)
...
This Nepal trip has offered me so much new perspective. While I may not have been of as much help as I hoped to be, I got to learn much, and understand more of the world.
One of my last days here before leaving for this trip was spent in KL city with my dad looking for a foreign currency exchanger. The more we roamed KL, the more I realized that this was a city of Nepalese men, amongst other races. A moment of sudden empathy hit me. These are men that have left their homes, their wives and their children to make a living that they may be able to provide for them. These are the men who have sacrificed much for what is most precious to them.
The plane ride to Nepal was likewise filled with Nepalese locals. Some looked excited, while others looked indifferent. And there it was again, this moment of empathy. What was it like for them to be returning to their country, after who knows how long? What did it feel like to be able to drop the responsibilities of a harsh world for but a moment, and go home? Could it be possible, that I have been taking the experience of 'going home' for granted?
"You went to Nepal right? Your mother told me about it! How was it? Did you like it?"
His joy was infectious, and soon I realized that I was smiling wide in return.
Here he was, asking if I liked the place he calls home. :)
...
This Nepal trip has offered me so much new perspective. While I may not have been of as much help as I hoped to be, I got to learn much, and understand more of the world.
One of my last days here before leaving for this trip was spent in KL city with my dad looking for a foreign currency exchanger. The more we roamed KL, the more I realized that this was a city of Nepalese men, amongst other races. A moment of sudden empathy hit me. These are men that have left their homes, their wives and their children to make a living that they may be able to provide for them. These are the men who have sacrificed much for what is most precious to them.
The plane ride to Nepal was likewise filled with Nepalese locals. Some looked excited, while others looked indifferent. And there it was again, this moment of empathy. What was it like for them to be returning to their country, after who knows how long? What did it feel like to be able to drop the responsibilities of a harsh world for but a moment, and go home? Could it be possible, that I have been taking the experience of 'going home' for granted?
Not only that, my mum told me recently that the village I had visited up the mountains, the one that made me fall in love with Nepal - Khalte, was actually one of our guard's hometowns. I wish I could tell him how beautiful it still is, and how incredibly hospitable the people there are. I bet that the curry and dahl I had eaten without a second thought is the meal he misses the most. Had I told him these things, I believe that he would have savoured every last word, just for a taste of home.
...
It's a world out there, of people.
Isn't it amazing that there exists a place that is so entirely different from what I consider home.. yet it is the only home for somebody else?
...
I think that I have fallen irrevocably in love with this world I live in.
I have fallen in love with diversity, with people, with life and with the opportunity to live for but a moment in someone else's home.
I am as blessed as ever. :)
Love,
Dice
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