in love...

with nepal. i definitely need to make it back here for some chunk of time at some point in my life. hopefully sooner rather than later. the country is beautiful, and so are the people. for the past 2 weeks, morgan and i have been teaching english in a village near the border to tibet. what an amazing experience. we stayed at a (how to explain this...?). there is a non-profit in the village called the tuki association which supports education and agriculture in the surrounding area. it focuses on locally run cooperatives. many of the staff members of the organization live at the headquarters. we stayed there with them, and taught at a nearby school that is partially funded by tuki. by nearby, i mean a 30-minute walk through a beautiful forest overlooking fields and mountains. not too difficult of a hike, and a great way to get in daily exercise. the staff of tuki is an amazing group of people, who taught us so much about nepali culture and language. we danced, sang songs, played cards, tossed a disc around, ate together and just had a great time. (but did not have access to internet, which was nice in a lot of ways, but makes catching up with all of you great friends a little overwhelming. sorry if it takes me a while to respond to you in a more personal way.)

the people at the school itself welcomed us so warmly, showering us with garlands of flowers upon our arrival and departure. the principal became a great friend of ours and took us to some hotsprings yesterday. the kids were amazing. we taught grades 1-8, and it was a challenge, but a really fun one. i may have mentioned this in my blogs about teaching in korea, but it's equally true now: i have so much respect for all of my grade-school teachers. it is hard work to make classes both fun and worthwhile.

it was hard to leave new friends behind today and return to kathmandu. traffic, noise, lots of people... a contrast to the life we've been enjoying for the past bit of time. but we're not here long--tomorrow we leave for bhutan. i think it will be much more serene. (and also cut off from internet, though i could be wrong about that. another week of little contact.)

so many of you have asked me about my future plans. i still don't know. some things are becoming more clear: it's likely that i'll be returning to the states at the end of march. i'll be spending time in minneapolis, bodega bay, and boulder. (probably in that order.) where i go after that will depend largely on employment opportunities. there are so many compelling reasons to return to boulder and make it home again (primarily the great people who form my community there)... and yet there is a part of me that isn't sure that's where i want to stay long-term, so maybe now is the time to explore a different part of the u.s. i'm seriously considering taking a stab at the pacific northwest.

i do think i'll land back in the states for the forseeable future. unless something happens between now and april to cause me to reconsider that plan. and to some extent nepal has caused me to pause on that point. it's likely that i could get a job at tuki as an english teacher trainer. in the states i wouldn't be qualified for that job, but things are different here. as a native speaker, i'm a great candidate. i'm definitely going to look into the logistics of getting a work visa for this country. on the other hand, there are some big problems with that potential plan. largest among them is the thought of spending any more time away from friends and family... anyway, just something i'm pondering. nobody freak out. yet.