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 […]

Things I Don’t Understand

As the title suggests, here are things I don’t get about both Nepali and American cultures: The Wasps’ Nest There was a wasps’ nest in the entrance to my house since I’ve been here. When I first got here, it was no bigger than a quarter, and just as my Nepali skills grew, this thing […]

A Big Small Bus

The American Embassy in Nepal has a mobile bus that travels the country on request to bring books and activities to remote villages that otherwise wouldn’t get exposure to a library. It’s aptly named “the Book Bus.” That bus filled with books along with six teachers came to my school at for a week to […]

Holidays Abroad

Here’s a secret that we can never mention again: I cried on Thanksgiving in front of a room full of strangers. I was helping my family cook and serve dinner for 30 election officials who were staying at the school for the elections. It was so cold that night, and it was really late, and […]

Let’s Play

When I first got to my village, I asked my host brother if I could join in his daily soccer match with a group of 20 young men from the surrounding area. He told me, “girls can’t play soccer.” Ten months later, my girls organized a three-day, four-team, all-girls soccer tournament. They found two local […]

An Easy Decision

A few days ago, my friends finished their time in their villages. They packed their bags, gave out hugs and photographs, and left their communities. I’m the last one living in a village. Now, when I hear rats scuttling in my room, when my toes turn numb from the cold water while I shower, when […]