My Daily Dose of Humility

I have a few more excursions and days at the Koseli School worth blogging about. Last week a few of us volunteers took a flight at 6am over Mt. Everest and surrounding peaks. I am not even going to try to paint a visual, because the magnificence and sheer size of these mountains is indescribable. But when we went to book the flight I took the meeting as an opportunity to practice the few Nepali phrases and questions that I’ve learned. Shocked by my attempt and curiosity with his language, the travel agent sat down and preceded to give us a half hour long Nepali lesson. By the end of our morning, the man looked as though he was going to cry.  “Proud, I am so proud. Every customer I work with expects me to speak their language (English, French, German anything) nobody ever tries to speak mine. Thank you. My country is proud of visitors like you.”

My friends and I sat in silence.  It was a very touching, humbling moment and if I were one to cry when it was naturally appropriate, this would have been a good time! But here we were, 4 Americans and Canadians that just hopped onto planes and dropped into this man’s country, his home for the past 30+ years, and he is thanking us for our oh so poor attempt at speaking his native tongue.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been very grateful that almost anywhere I end up, lost on the bus, in dire need of a toilet, or dodging cows along the streets, I’ve been able to find someone that speaks at least a bit of English, but it’s disturbing that as English speakers we really can get by with little to no attempt to immerse ourselves in the culture of these generous hosts. We are so fortunate to be even welcomed into this country as foreigners. The least we can do is show some appreciation for their lifestyle and do all we can to not impose.

Ok, my apologies for the language rant, but here are some photos of the Everest flight.

Dorje-Lakpa, 22,854 ft. (far left) and Phurbi-Ghyachu, 21,775 ft. (far right)

On the theme of cultural appreciation, Ishwor has really started opening up to me. The 4 hours I spend with him each day are my highlights, no competition. After spending 20 hours a week with someone, one on one, you get to know one another quite quickly. As I have mentioned in blog entries before, there is a mutual respect that has been established between us. Yes, I can assist him in perfecting his English conversation skills, while he attempts to teach me basic Nepali, but it’s more than language instruction. According to our standards, Ishwor is living in extreme poverty. By age 10 he was working 18-20 hour days in the mountains until age 14, just to help support his family. I’m not sure how comfortable I feel posting many more details as he has shared his story with me in confidence, but let’s just say this kid is one of the strongest, most innovative, optimistic individuals I’ve met, even though all his paths in life have directed him otherwise. I am humbled every day by his modesty and laughter.

Thanks to the wonders of the cyber world, I was able to watch Brian’s high school graduation live from my roof in Kathmandu at 5 am Monday morning. Congratulations again!

So much love to you all back home. Thanks for reading,

Al