School has been out for eight days but it feels more like
eighty. We’ve done family soccer games, a skills challenge (skills tested:
eating a donut off a dangling rope, bobbing for apples, egg on spoon, water
balloon toss, cornhole, paper airplane making, etc.), 4 trips to the pool, an
innovation competition, TV and movies, lunch outings, and so much more. Yet the
kids are constantly saying to me, “I’m boring.” I know they actually mean to
say “I am bored,” but it’s still not very fun to be reminded daily that you are
not fun and entertaining enough. What’s even worse is there are still two more
weeks of vacation and I am running out of ideas and brain cells. How did mom
make it through 3 months of summer vacation without losing her mind each year?!
One thing on our vacation bucket list was to go camping. The
idea of taking a large group of children who have never camped before into
unmarked wilderness territory was a bit daunting, but Krishna Bogati told me it
was her birthday wish to celebrate turning 13 on a camping trip, so we had to
make it happen. Equipped with a change
of clothes, a blanket, a banana, PB&J, a bowl, a spoon, two packs of ramen
noodles, and whatever else could fit in a tiny backpack, the 20 oldest kids and
6 fellows hopped on the school bus and started heading west on Monday morning –
the first day of the Nepali new year 2071! Jamie and Luke (sustainability fellows)
had been camping west of Surkhet a few weeks ago so they pointed us in the
right direction, but I would be lying if I told you I had any idea where we
would be sleeping that night. We wound up and down and over and across
mountains for about 1hr 45minutes before stopping in front of a tiny shop on
top of a mountain. We hiked downhill for about an hour, before the trail spit
us out on a pristine little beach on the side of a beautiful, teal-colored
river. Some of the older boys had run ahead and when I arrived, Nabin (one of
our 13 year olds) was being chased by an old village man with a giant stone in
his hand. There was a misunderstanding and the man thought Nabin had thrown his
fishing nets in the water, so naturally, he grabbed the nearest rock to put
Nabin in his place. A great way to start our trip! We spent the afternoon
swimming in the river. The water was freeeeeeezing, like max 55 degrees, just a
casual 30 degrees colder than the water I’m used to at Caswell. But I’m very
proud of myself, I swam for over an hour with the kids until I couldn’t feel my
toes anymore. Soon after, all the kids were climbing trees with knives in hand
(yeah, doesn’t sound like the safest thing to allow), cutting down branches to
make forts, collecting twigs for fires, and gathering leaves to sleep on. They
were naturals! One of our boys, Shahi, was grabbing rocks for the fire pit when
a scorpion stung him. We called back to the house and after some googling, were
told to give him some ibuprofen and ice the wound. One of the fellows provided
the advil and somehow one of our 12 year olds had prepared so well that he had
brought a 2-liter bottled filled with ice! The medicine had not quite kicked in
yet and tears were streaming down Shahi’s face, when we noticed a Nepali
villager floating down the river in a tire with an oar and we called him over to
ask about scorpion bites. The man picked up the dead scorpion (which our boys
had caught and killed), plucked off the stinger, crushed the rest of the
scorpion’s body and smeared the carcass filled with “anti-venom” all over
Shahi’s finger. Talk about traditional medicine! A few minutes later, Shahi was
completely fine…and I like to think the ibuprofen had nothing to do with it.
By nightfall, there were three forts, two leaf pile beds,
and 8 fires built. The fellows cooked ramen noodles over the fire and we were
joking about how this would be the first time the kids would eat a meal that
didn’t have an excessive amount of salt in it, like the aunties prepare each
night. Right then, one of our boys unfolded a piece of newspaper from his
pocket, revealing a couple tablespoons of salt and some chilis to add to our
dinner! Seriously, best campers ever. As the full moon rose, we did satsang
around the fire, danced and sang, and played tag around the beach under the
moonlight. The night was super cold, but I woke up around 1am and two of our
girls were restarting their fire. I quickly fell back asleep, with a campfire
warming my back and little Nepali girls snuggled next to me. It was
perfect!
Just three months ago, I was bundled up in New York City
celebrating the American New Year with my best friends. Pizza, high heels,
beer, heated apartments….it’s crazy to contrast that trip with how
I spent the Nepali New Year. Ringing in 2014 was a lot more cushy than ringing
in 2071 in Nepal, but ya know what, I’m not quite sure if cushy is better. This
is an experience of a lifetime and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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| panorama |
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| beach nook |
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| so serene |
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| forts |
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| dinner |
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| family being crazy |
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