Nepal: Part II
People.
It's what makes up a place.
It's what makes a home a home, it's what brings us all together, it's what makes us learn to love, and it's what makes us all connected and, at the end of the day, more similar than we think we are.
People are what define a place - it's what gives a place their identity.
And what I've come to find is that the identity of Nepal is their heart to persevere. The people of Nepal are special people. They are what defines the country, and what makes it so significant to me.
As a really, really, extremely lucky child who not only gets the chance to love to explore, but to also go out and actually be able to go on my exploration dreams - I've had this overwhelming feeling of being so, so blessed to meet the people in Nepal. They really helped me get perspective on some things - huh? Thought I forgot what I said in my last entry? No friggin way! - that's right folks, we're going to talk about perspective!
So get comfortable, and gather around kids.
First off, I want to say that throughout all the beautiful beautiful places I've been to, whether it's the Philippines, the United States, Africa - from Oceania to Okinawa and back to cities in Germany - every place in the world share one horrible, horrible similarity - and that is - drumroll please....... poverty. Mean, ole', terrible poverty. The one thing that's been plaguing our world since humans first built communities and obviously, obviously, poverty FACKING sucks!! I mean of course poverty sucks, it sucks tremendous dick, but what I mean is that seeing what I've seen across this beautiful, yet also terrible planet - this oxymoron that we call our home - the one thing that they all share and heavily weighs my heart is watching the suffering of people, people who we are connected to me in a way that we're all built in one big nebula - and if one of the 7 billion is hurt, I can feel a little wince in one of the teeny, tiny, trillion cells in my body - my heart hurts when another heart hurts - I can feel it too.
Think about it, we've been so blessed with this life. We've been so blessed to have parents that are successful, to have a family that really, really cares and we get the chance to go to amazing schools to get amazing careers... and what did you do to deserve it? Absolutely nothing. It's simply because you were born into a good family, a well off one. Did you ask for it? No. Did they? Absolutely not! And if I'm this lucky, then how could I possibly turn my head on people who are struggling, who weren't as lucky, on people that just want to be doing okay in life. I can't give up. And you mustn't. We have to keep trying to make this world a better place. Together.
So right, back to perspective. Well Nepal really gave me some perspective. If we look back at my posts, we'll notice that I bitch and whine about many things - and yes, I have the right to bitch and whine because as I said before, you have the right to feel what you feel and no one else can ever feel the way you feel, but - I guess what I'm saying is - have you ever stopped to think about everything that's right in front of you? Like I watched as these orphaned children at the Rainbow Home be so proud to show me their rooms - they would drag me by my hand, open the door to their rooms and my heart would drop, they were proud of their shifty, broken, and little wooden bunk beds, their small rooms, their extremely small shared bathroom - which to me looked simply like a hole on the floor - they were happy with just a chipped room of painted animals and ruined, hand-me-down books. It and what they had was simply enough. It was enough for them because they felt like they had it all. Me? I have so much more than that - and yet why is that sometimes I feel like it's not enough and I need more? We're flawed, and we have to be reminded sometimes to think about the simple things that we have that other people may not. Okay, for example, when was the last time you stopped to think about hey, I have running water, damn I have running water!!
Back in 2011, when I came home from Uganda, Africa, I turned on my tap in the bathroom and legitimately fell to the floor sobbing - I had running water. I had running water. I felt so lucky to feel water flow through my hands, I felt so privileged in that moment, and I promised myself that I would look at the things in my life and tell myself shit, I'm so fucking lucky already.
Here's a list of things that Nepal has made me appreciate, and maybe here are some things that you and I maybe haven't stopped to appreciated in a while:
1. Clean water (In Nepal we weren't allowed to use the water to brush our teeth because it was so dirty)
2. A recycling system (Trash filled the country. It was everywhere. It wasn't their fault, but I know for a fact that the US produces a fuck ton more trash than they do, their country just isn't at a place where trash can be disposed like that)
3. To live in a place where there aren't any tremendous earthquakes (This one was by far the hardest one, seeing the ruins of their precious temples, the debris of fallen homes... so much was lost.)
4. Showers, toilets & sinks (It was so difficult to find showers, toilets, and sinks - lots of these were communal, and large amounts of people from one entire village would come to that one bathroom. They were also poorly made, showers were in boxes, barely any water would come out and of course it wasn't hot)
5. Having a family and a home. (This one's a pretty generic one, but seeing the orphans create a home without their parents truly inspired me and I can't imagine not being able to have a supportive family like I do)
Back in the Rainbow Home, a boy named Boulbon shyly watched as I sat down in a chair. I immediately noticed his smile, his long arms and his bright blue T-shirt against his dark skin. So sweet looking. So precious. I instantly said hello, and we quickly bonded. He was outgoing, chatty, and so curious. He kept forgetting my name, and I kept forgetting his, now of course his name is forever written across my heart, and as soon as we started tours around the home, Boulbon was insistent that he take me around by grabbing me by the hand and pulling me all around his home. There was so much to talk about, so much to learn about one another. He already knew what he wanted to do, he told me he was the top of his class, that like me, he wanted to be a teacher. We really bonded over this because it was important. He was barely 10 years old and already he wanted to help others. He held my hand the whole time, even though it was 90 degrees out and my palms were probably wet and sweatier than a dirty pig, but there he was, holding my hand like we were old pals. He asked me cheekily if I had a boyfriend, and I laughed and told him he could be my boyfriend for the day, even though, mind you, he wanted to "wait until he was a little older and more mature" to have a girlfriend. This little dude is barely 9.
Right off the bat, I knew Boulbon was a smart kid. He knew what he was doing, he knew what he wanted... but what was more important to me, and what made me realise what kind of people Nepal has, what kind of person I want to be, is Boulbon's heart. He clearly had a heart of pure good.
Boulbon is only a kid, who barely knows English, yet he never failed to ask questions about me, like he wanted to get to know me, even when I was there for him. Boulbon kept asking me if I wanted to play soccer, to really check up that I was okay being left to cheer for him. Boulbon gave his one and only balloon away to a little girl because she had popped hers on the way to the field. Boulbon gave me back my sunglasses even though he loved them and I told him that he could keep them. Boulbon made sure I had a seat, and that the other kids had a seat, he was always smiling and being there for other people in little, kind ways - expecting nothing back in return.
Boulbon pulled me back that day, he pulled me back to my dream of being everything that he is - selfless, kind, happy, smiley and helpful without expecting anything back in return. Humble. (Sit down - jk lol)
Boulbon wasn't the only Nepali to show me great kindness, in fact throughout my journey I saw a lot of kindness and pure good. I saw in the Tibetan Refugee Camp when the children would get a little embarrassed to play soccer with us, and then absolutely crushed us even without shoes and even when they were only about 7 years old. I saw it when I met the old lady that made rugs and told me all about her family in Tibet. I saw it in the porters, the way they always helped us first, even when we insisted on helping them. I saw it in the little store serving Chai Tea up in Poon Hill. I even saw how it affected the people on my trip, how it made us kinder, more aware and to look at things with more perspective.
That was the key.
Thank you, Nepal.
You're never alone.
It's what makes up a place.
It's what makes a home a home, it's what brings us all together, it's what makes us learn to love, and it's what makes us all connected and, at the end of the day, more similar than we think we are.
People are what define a place - it's what gives a place their identity.
And what I've come to find is that the identity of Nepal is their heart to persevere. The people of Nepal are special people. They are what defines the country, and what makes it so significant to me.
As a really, really, extremely lucky child who not only gets the chance to love to explore, but to also go out and actually be able to go on my exploration dreams - I've had this overwhelming feeling of being so, so blessed to meet the people in Nepal. They really helped me get perspective on some things - huh? Thought I forgot what I said in my last entry? No friggin way! - that's right folks, we're going to talk about perspective!
So get comfortable, and gather around kids.
First off, I want to say that throughout all the beautiful beautiful places I've been to, whether it's the Philippines, the United States, Africa - from Oceania to Okinawa and back to cities in Germany - every place in the world share one horrible, horrible similarity - and that is - drumroll please....... poverty. Mean, ole', terrible poverty. The one thing that's been plaguing our world since humans first built communities and obviously, obviously, poverty FACKING sucks!! I mean of course poverty sucks, it sucks tremendous dick, but what I mean is that seeing what I've seen across this beautiful, yet also terrible planet - this oxymoron that we call our home - the one thing that they all share and heavily weighs my heart is watching the suffering of people, people who we are connected to me in a way that we're all built in one big nebula - and if one of the 7 billion is hurt, I can feel a little wince in one of the teeny, tiny, trillion cells in my body - my heart hurts when another heart hurts - I can feel it too.
Think about it, we've been so blessed with this life. We've been so blessed to have parents that are successful, to have a family that really, really cares and we get the chance to go to amazing schools to get amazing careers... and what did you do to deserve it? Absolutely nothing. It's simply because you were born into a good family, a well off one. Did you ask for it? No. Did they? Absolutely not! And if I'm this lucky, then how could I possibly turn my head on people who are struggling, who weren't as lucky, on people that just want to be doing okay in life. I can't give up. And you mustn't. We have to keep trying to make this world a better place. Together.
So right, back to perspective. Well Nepal really gave me some perspective. If we look back at my posts, we'll notice that I bitch and whine about many things - and yes, I have the right to bitch and whine because as I said before, you have the right to feel what you feel and no one else can ever feel the way you feel, but - I guess what I'm saying is - have you ever stopped to think about everything that's right in front of you? Like I watched as these orphaned children at the Rainbow Home be so proud to show me their rooms - they would drag me by my hand, open the door to their rooms and my heart would drop, they were proud of their shifty, broken, and little wooden bunk beds, their small rooms, their extremely small shared bathroom - which to me looked simply like a hole on the floor - they were happy with just a chipped room of painted animals and ruined, hand-me-down books. It and what they had was simply enough. It was enough for them because they felt like they had it all. Me? I have so much more than that - and yet why is that sometimes I feel like it's not enough and I need more? We're flawed, and we have to be reminded sometimes to think about the simple things that we have that other people may not. Okay, for example, when was the last time you stopped to think about hey, I have running water, damn I have running water!!
Back in 2011, when I came home from Uganda, Africa, I turned on my tap in the bathroom and legitimately fell to the floor sobbing - I had running water. I had running water. I felt so lucky to feel water flow through my hands, I felt so privileged in that moment, and I promised myself that I would look at the things in my life and tell myself shit, I'm so fucking lucky already.
Here's a list of things that Nepal has made me appreciate, and maybe here are some things that you and I maybe haven't stopped to appreciated in a while:
1. Clean water (In Nepal we weren't allowed to use the water to brush our teeth because it was so dirty)
2. A recycling system (Trash filled the country. It was everywhere. It wasn't their fault, but I know for a fact that the US produces a fuck ton more trash than they do, their country just isn't at a place where trash can be disposed like that)
3. To live in a place where there aren't any tremendous earthquakes (This one was by far the hardest one, seeing the ruins of their precious temples, the debris of fallen homes... so much was lost.)
4. Showers, toilets & sinks (It was so difficult to find showers, toilets, and sinks - lots of these were communal, and large amounts of people from one entire village would come to that one bathroom. They were also poorly made, showers were in boxes, barely any water would come out and of course it wasn't hot)
5. Having a family and a home. (This one's a pretty generic one, but seeing the orphans create a home without their parents truly inspired me and I can't imagine not being able to have a supportive family like I do)
Back in the Rainbow Home, a boy named Boulbon shyly watched as I sat down in a chair. I immediately noticed his smile, his long arms and his bright blue T-shirt against his dark skin. So sweet looking. So precious. I instantly said hello, and we quickly bonded. He was outgoing, chatty, and so curious. He kept forgetting my name, and I kept forgetting his, now of course his name is forever written across my heart, and as soon as we started tours around the home, Boulbon was insistent that he take me around by grabbing me by the hand and pulling me all around his home. There was so much to talk about, so much to learn about one another. He already knew what he wanted to do, he told me he was the top of his class, that like me, he wanted to be a teacher. We really bonded over this because it was important. He was barely 10 years old and already he wanted to help others. He held my hand the whole time, even though it was 90 degrees out and my palms were probably wet and sweatier than a dirty pig, but there he was, holding my hand like we were old pals. He asked me cheekily if I had a boyfriend, and I laughed and told him he could be my boyfriend for the day, even though, mind you, he wanted to "wait until he was a little older and more mature" to have a girlfriend. This little dude is barely 9.
Right off the bat, I knew Boulbon was a smart kid. He knew what he was doing, he knew what he wanted... but what was more important to me, and what made me realise what kind of people Nepal has, what kind of person I want to be, is Boulbon's heart. He clearly had a heart of pure good.
Boulbon is only a kid, who barely knows English, yet he never failed to ask questions about me, like he wanted to get to know me, even when I was there for him. Boulbon kept asking me if I wanted to play soccer, to really check up that I was okay being left to cheer for him. Boulbon gave his one and only balloon away to a little girl because she had popped hers on the way to the field. Boulbon gave me back my sunglasses even though he loved them and I told him that he could keep them. Boulbon made sure I had a seat, and that the other kids had a seat, he was always smiling and being there for other people in little, kind ways - expecting nothing back in return.
Boulbon pulled me back that day, he pulled me back to my dream of being everything that he is - selfless, kind, happy, smiley and helpful without expecting anything back in return. Humble. (Sit down - jk lol)
Boulbon wasn't the only Nepali to show me great kindness, in fact throughout my journey I saw a lot of kindness and pure good. I saw in the Tibetan Refugee Camp when the children would get a little embarrassed to play soccer with us, and then absolutely crushed us even without shoes and even when they were only about 7 years old. I saw it when I met the old lady that made rugs and told me all about her family in Tibet. I saw it in the porters, the way they always helped us first, even when we insisted on helping them. I saw it in the little store serving Chai Tea up in Poon Hill. I even saw how it affected the people on my trip, how it made us kinder, more aware and to look at things with more perspective.
That was the key.
Thank you, Nepal.
You're never alone.
(Boulbon!!!!) ^^^
- teeny tiny & terrified
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