Never forgotten

I'm back. It's been over two weeks already. Trying to understand what Nepal means in my life. My time has been consumed with settling in to my new town. Finding work and figuring out all the neighborhoods we would be happy in. I have to say, I love it here. Despite the fact that life is not exactly how I desire it to be...but it will be!

I've dreamt of my Nepali sister Shova twice in a row the last couple of nights. On both occasions she looks at me in the eyes, in despair, eyes swollen thinking I've forgotten about her and her family. I try my best to convince her that I would never, be able to.

A lake out my window. Clean wooden floors. Shiny marble counter tops. Soft comfortable bed. A prosperous future (the odds are in my favor). Electricity on demand. A full breath of clean air. Attainable dreams. Choices. A multitude of choices.

Try convincing me I'm not lucky. Try convincing me you're not lucky.

Coventa - Goddess of Wells and Springs

Yesterday three of us (one other volunteer and another traveler) ventured outside of Kathmandu to a town called Bhaktapur ("The Town of Devotees"). Bhaktapur was once the capital of Nepal and houses a 15th century ancient kingdom. En route, I dazed in and out of sleep. I had a vivid dream.

The time may have been hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. I was an onlooker (although I felt as though the person was me) of a man with a long cloak. His master had asked him to fetch water from the well. As he was pulling the water up from the well walls, two sages (for lack of a better word) sat watching and as he turned to walk away, they reminded him that it's not the act of retrieving the water, it is in the return of the task that counts. It's in the return he should be conscious of.

As we entered the the city walls of Bhaktapur, I see women retrieving water from a large well. Never had I seen this as a source of water for the people in Nepal!

Tomorrow I leave Nepal. I've been thinking about my Nepali family. The rain comes and then leaves as fast as it came. I pray that the wells of the sky provide the nourishment of the monsoon that is needed for their virgin crops.

I find that I am more hesitant to ask the universe to provide me with abundance. It has already provided me with what I need!