I don't know if I'll ever really process my trip to Nepal. It was exhilarating, beautiful, challenging (oh, so challenging), thought-provoking; there simply aren't enough words in the English language to describe the experience.
The scenery being magnificent almost goes without saying. The Himalayas made me feel insignificant in relation to the power of our earth which made them. There is a strength and majesty to those mountains which simply does not exist in the Alps, Rockies or Andes. It's a travesty that the word "awesome" has been reduced to describing Kleenex that has aloe in it because these mountains filled me with such awe. They are truly awesome.
What made me feel even more insignificant were the people. I have
never, ever met or seen such happy, handsome, beautiful, peaceful
people. When I say peaceful, I don't mean peaceful with each other,
although I never saw a frown or heard a cross word, I mean peaceful
within themselves, with who they are, with whatever task they were
attending to.
"Hardworking" would be an understatement when it comes to the people who live in the mountains. There are no machines. In the picture of the girl and boy to the right, each of those stones that make that building are hand cut. Not only are they hand cut, they are then carried to the building site on the back of a man, in a basket. I literally went for 12 days without seeing a wheel.
For 12 days, there was not an item I used or ate that was not carried on the back of a man. This struck me then and strikes me now with such enormity that I am humbled. Not only humbled by the fact that a team of men did this for our group, but humbled when I think about the silly things that upset me or that I feel are too difficult to do.
These are some of the things I cannot seem to either process or express in a way for other people to understand. The words sound so weak and lackluster in comparison to what I saw and how these things made me feel.
I want to tell my teenage daughter and her friends what it was like and how these people live. I want them to feel grateful for all they have and all they don't have to do. I know I can't. I know that I have to feel it within myself and live what I have learned and perhaps by my example, they will get a glimpse of the message.
