Joy Cometh in the Morning

weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. -psalm 30:5 I was holding my grandfather’s hand when he died. To this day, I can remember exactly what it felt like. His skin was warm and slick. His pulse had been getting weaker throughout the day, his breathing more shallow, and I […]

And then Continue Onward: Part 1

Terminology in this post: High school=9-10th grades; College=11-12; University=our college 8% of Nepali girls will graduate from 10th grade (which is graduating from high school). Of those, less than 1% will score high enough on the national high school graduation exam to qualify for scholarship for university. In the history of the village where I […]

A story of time

My grandparents, like all old people, owned four hundred and seventy three clocks. There were clocks made of wood, clocks with dainty flowers around the edges, clocks imbedded in plaques, and my personal favorite, a clock of the shiniest gold-plated metal that had two columns that spun. My grandmother always had the TV on to […]

A patch of green grass.

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Part of that was that med school keeps me busy. Part of it was that I couldn’t think of what I could write about that would be anywhere near as interesting as my past. Part of it was that once I stopped, it was hard to start again. […]

An(other) election

On our election day, I wanted to write about my experience witnessing Nepal’s first general/local election after the long civil war. The civil war was in some part a fight to hold local elections for all citizens. In the days leading up the election, various political parties (at the time there were 57!) would go […]

Live from (Syracuse) New York

Check out the photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EkavMyVktWcaN89n9 (I can’t post the photos here because they’re higher resolution than my hosting site allows, and I can’t be bothered to resize all of them.) Notes: I would like to thank the South Side Innovation Center and the residents of Syracuse’s South Side for their hospitality. I obtained consent […]

Three Shadows in Unfamiliar Hills

There is a pressing issue facing Nepali society, but I was never really that interested in it: Over 10% of Nepalis (and over 50% of young men) are currently working abroad. In addition to the “brain drain”, where Nepal’s brightest minds go to live permanently in other countries, many low skilled workers are attracted to […]

Tales from the Front of the Class, Part 3

Four-Year-Olds are (not) so Cute I had secretly always wanted to teach little kids, just a few times, but I didn’t have time to add another class onto my teaching schedule when I lived there. So last week, when a primary-level teacher asked me to fill in for their first grade class of 45 four […]

I’m back.

As I was saying my goodbyes to everyone in Nepal, I was always asked one question, “when are you coming back?” And my answer was always the same: I’ll be back in two or three years. My sister was with me when I was saying goodbye to the village, and as we drove away, she […]

Where to Now?

I majored in employment practices and theories, yet I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated. There were many different ideas and visions for what I could do: teacher, musician, corporate HR, lawyer, diplomat; I heard it all. I studied for the LSAT, GRE, and (a few years […]

Welcome to my home

Meet my host family! I live with a five-member family in the heart of my village. My family has lived in this village for 20 years, but my host father was for the southern flatlands and my host mother was from the high mountains. The family is middle caste but certainly one of the wealthiest […]

The Wedding

I attended a wedding a few days ago. It was the first one in my village since I’ve gotten here. I’d seen other wedding parties merrily walk by, beating drums and chanting on their way between the bride and groom’s houses in different villages, but none had taken place in my village. My family was […]

Behind the Fence

My school hosts the state’s only disability program, providing 24/7 care for students with disabilities until age 12 (after that, they can go to an expensive private school, but most of them drop out). There are 11 kids, ages 4-11 who live at my school during the school year. All of them are deaf or […]

Dust and Dirt

I’m writing this one in the dark (we haven’t had electricity for a few days), sweating profusely (it was quite warm today), desperately needing a shower (since it’s been over a week), while lizards lurk overhead. So it seems fitting that this one is about some of the daily challenges. I have no desire to […]

From the Front of the Class

Every day I teach four 45-minute classes at the local public school; the education system is very different than that of the US. I consider it a huge honor to have the opportunity to teach these kids. My students walk for up to 2.5 hours one way to get to school. In Nepal nationally, 10-15% […]