Momos and Laughter

Okay so wait... maybe todayyy was one of the best days of my life also...

I started my day with my Nepali language lesson... Nepali is weird, and hard, and confusing, but easy but weird. I have a few words I did learn though and it was really fun because I could pick them out of different conversations I heard today.

Piro is spicy
Masu is meat
Ek is one
... yep that is all I remember right now, but hey, I'm getting there.

More motorcycle riding with Ram (I upgraded to a helmet today), lots of walking and exploring with Sam, one of the Canadians living here right now, and I got to sit in on a photo lesson.

Some people come to this program just to learn the basics of photography, so I had nothing else to do while two students took their lesson today so Ram let me help teach it. I chimed in when I thought further explanation might help! It's always fun to go back to the basics.

I had some really long and wonderful chats with Ram today. We talked mostly about journalism and photography (an easy topic for the two of us) and I learned so much about the experiences he's had in his career and what he's learned from them. We talked about projects I'd like to work on while I'm here and he actually got me in contact with a really awesome organization already and we went there today so he could introduce me and explain for me in Nepali who I am and why I would be there. We talked a lot about another project I'm going to attempt and his experience with it as well.

We bumped into another important local photographer on our walk through this ancient village and so Ram was able to introduce me. We talked for a bit and I got his information too. It's so interesting to see the community of journalist here and how excited they are to assist us.

So, after biking and learning more about the situations in the area and the origins of a lot of the culture and stoping for photos, we stopped and had Momos and Masa for dinner. Today I tried my very first Momo. It is a day I will never forget. I will never forget the first Momo I ever ate not even after I eat ten zillion more. I love Momos. If you've never had a Momo I strongly encourage you to get off your butt, stop reading this blog immediately and go get yourself some Momos.

...

Good hunh?! (If you didn't eat a Momo yet and are continuing to read I want you to know that I'm disappointed.) Anyway-- I've been here just five days. In those five days I've been told about five or maybe six times how Nepali I seem. I've been told I look Nepali, I act Nepali in my body language, gestures, eye movement, and my personal favorite- my laughter. This leads me to the story of how I discovered Nepal is unique, Nepal is wonderful, and Nepal is happy.

Walking down the streets today with Sam it finally clicked with me what was so strange about this place. The streets are a mess, traffic is a mess, hell- the government is a mess, but I've yet to see one sad or angry Nepali. Yes, it's only been five days, but these people, they seem an odd type of resilient. It's not fancy jobs or homes or shoes or cars that makes them happy. It's visiting the temple in the evening, its sharing a cup of masa with a friend, its just life, the smell, the taste, the sound of life; these people are happy.

So, during my dinner with Ram we talked at first about photojournalism. Then we transitioned into talking about life. We talked about what it means to be happy and all of this crazy prophetic stuff that to him just made such sense and to me is just so foreign. It is a beautiful culture. It is beautiful because they smile. It is beautiful because they laugh. If it is my laughter that makes these people think I resemble their culture, I'm going to go ahead and say what a wonderful culture it is.