Traveling is often defined by the people you meet. That has tempered my impressions of Spain and Iceland, even Alaska…. the interactions put color and character to the story of my travels. As I moved through Nepal I found myself hungry to speak the language. I realized how much value and comfort comes for me from being able to connect, verbally. Isolated from that experience I felt much more an outsider, aware of passing through this landscape, observing the culture much like I might do at a museum or the zoo. It felt uncomfortable. It made taking pictures of people seem intrusive rather than interactive. This was a feeling I had to learn to navigate. 

What I did find, is when I had a genuine interaction with someone I was much more comfortable asking if I could take a picture. What follows below are some of the faces of Nepal that were a part of my trip. 

This woman is almost 80! We ran across her on the trail, she had gotten something in her eye and asked for help. I put some eye drops in and that seemed to help! She was full of spunk and laughter. The basket she was carrying was at least half her size!
I bought a necklace from this woman. She and her baby have a small table stand on the trail. I was able to converse with her using my 3 basic sentences. “How old are you?”, “Are you married?”, “Do you have children?”, “How many?”. It felt good supporting her.
This is our jeep driver. He doesn’t look old enough to have a license! It was a 5 hour bumpy, twisty, narrow road ride… and he kept us safe and drove it well! He is a go getter with a road running career ahead of he wants.
This was a tea stop on our way up the Tsum. This little girl didn’t want her shoes on as much as her dad tried. She was full of character rolling on the floor, laughing and playing. I made her cry when I would smile at her. Oh scary me!
Our lama friend. What a jolly and happy man he was, full big smile most of the time. He was the grounds keeper at the Gumpa. Generous and quite amusing, he opened his quarters to us to sleep for the night. This is his house kitchen space.
The muleteer! He is a young entrepreneur bringing goods from Tibet for his shop and guest house. He let us get on his donkey. The saddle is way more wiggly than expected and I almost toppled off!
Ani from the nunnery making milk tea. It is custom to offer a cup of tea to a visitor. The kitchens are usually dark and the warmest place. The life of the house is always in the kitchen.
I loved this young woman! She is 18 and  running the families local guest house. She has a lot of hutspa and reminded me of the many wonderful students at FR. She is full of dreams and wants a career more than a relationship. Her English was excellent and I got to talk to her and get a young woman’s perspective from Nepal.

Lama Sherap, a most gentle and interesting man. He has traveled and taught internationally, including having Pena Chodron as a student! We had a lovely time learning about him.
This was my first friend. We bonded over the cat. I can speak about her level of Nepali. Actually she taught me some words! She is fearless and covered in scrapes from “the kitty”.