Hello again from Nepal!!

I am writing this reflection on March 19th, during the night before I travel to the Himalayas for the next two weeks. During my two weeks in the mountains, I will be in a very remote area and I will have quite limited wifi access. Although this will be a big change from my busy life in Kathmandu, I am very much looking forward to escaping the noise of the city and disconnecting from the internet. But before I go off the grid, I wanted to share some of my experiences from the last few weeks!

This blog post will mostly talk about Week 3, in which I went to Chitwan National Park in the Southern Terai (plains) of Nepal. Weeks 4 and 5 were spent back in Kathmandu, where I was taking classes, practicing Nepali, spending time with my host family, and getting to know the city with the other students in my program. I am not much of a city person, and at times Kathmandu feels very overwhelming to me, but I am also starting to find small pockets of the city that I love. That being said, I am still really excited to get some fresh air in the mountains tomorrow.

But back to Week 3 in Chitwan National Park. This region in Nepal is known for its successful conservation of animal species like rhinos, elephants, and tigers. Throughout the week there, we learned about some of these conservation practices while also diving into the history of the park. I think it is important to mention that the foundation of the national park can be seen through many different lenses, and it has been met with opposition because it displaced thousands of indigenous Tharu people when it was founded. Our group met with Tharu community leaders to learn about their history and experiences with their displacement and exploitation, and how they navigate the modern politics of the park. I found hearing their stories to be invaluable. That being said, I am still very grateful for the opportunity to see some of these incredible animals in the wild.

Although Chitwan’s animals were spectacular, my favorite moment of the week came from a very human interaction. During Nepali class one morning, my fellow students and I were given the assignment to head into town, talk to a stranger, and practice our Nepali by asking them some basic questions. My friend and I did just that, and after struggling through our questions with a local shopkeeper, a friendly man overheard us and was able to help us out since he spoke English. We struck up a conversation with him and learned that he is a painter and his painting shop was right next door. So, we took a look at his paintings and were blown away by his talent. He told us his name is Ram, and we now all kindly refer to him as Ram-daai (meaning older brother in Nepali). I ended up visiting Ram’s shop a few times throughout the week, buying three paintings for myself and bringing friends who bought some as well.

My friends and I were very happy with our purchases, but we were also interested in buying some local honey- another product that Chitwan is known for. So we asked Ram-daai if he knew anyone who sold good honey, and it turns out, his brother does! Ram-daai offered to take us to meet him and buy some honey. We followed him, expecting to walk to a honey store, but instead we walked twenty minutes into a neighborhood and ended up at his house. Upon seeing wildflowers and a beehive in the front year, we met Ram’s brother who then offered us samples of the four varieties of honey he sells. He was very welcoming and his honey was absolutely delicious, and after each buying some, we were all invited in for tea and a chat. My friends and I ended up spending a few hours with Ram-daai and his family, and we all absolutely love to tell this story now.

This experience showed me just how far Nepali hospitality can go after foreigners like me make the effort to speak the language and learn about the culture. Most tourists in Nepal only ever learn a few words of Nepali because it is admittedly difficult to learn, but I am very happy to learn it so that I can have experiences like this during my semester in Nepal.

Thank you again for reading my second blog- please scroll down for pictures with Ram-daai and some of my photography of Chitwan’s animals and beautiful scenery!