After ecstasy, the laundry

It’s been a whirlwind recently, and after all the fun and work and craziness, it feels completely satisfying to be back in Hetauda with things on my to-do list like: do laundry.

I remember a postcard my friend Karen had on the wall above her work desk. It read: After Ecstasy, The Laundry. Indeed.

Two now-friends, Catherine and Nick, came to visit me here in Hetauda for a week of volunteering along their 6 month around-the-world trip (read about their travels here: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cat-and-Nick/). It was reinvigorating for me to have people to talk about development with, to have an outside perspective on my life here and the work our organization is doing, and to have several opportunities to get out of the office to see what the staff in the field are up to.

Plus....stories from an around-the-world trip....fabulous. I was pretty sad to say goodbye to them. I adjusted very easily to having their company for food shopping, cooking, motorbike rides, song and game sessions with local children, and birthday parties.

Then, was off on travel for work. I still think of the elephant that lived just behind my hotel room in Chittwan. And how wonderful it was to sit at the river in the morning before we started to share the stillness with the water, jungle, canoes, and birds.

After the jungle, it was off to the mountains where I helped facilitate a leadership training in the company of the Himalayas. I worked SOOOO hard during that training. It was no vacation by any means. But if there is anywhere in the world to have to work really, really hard....

Finished off my travels by attending my landlord’s daughter’s wedding in Kathmandu. A Newari wedding - very elegant and multi-day affair that deserves a post of its own.

I am so exhausted after all the traveling and work and dancing(much, much fun was had in the process of so much work) that it doesn’t take much for me to break out into tears right now. For just about any reason. When I think about Elijah leaving soon, when I think about how lucky I am to be in such a stunning environment doing difficult work, when I can’t get my CD player on my computer to work AND the internet is despairingly slow AND my new Mp3 player is confusing to me....when I think of how easy I have it compared to people living in Japan in the moment.

When things like development, the “right” thing to do, or turning 35 soon seem overwhelming....laundry is wonderfully comforting. Watching the water cleanse my hands, my clothes, washing dust particles down the drain to return to the soil below.

Above:

1. Women coming home from work, enjoying watching Nick and village children playing games (photo by Catherine)

2. Nick is a hero! Nick is signing his autograph on hands of children who clamor for his attention. Sometimes being a foreigner in Hetauda can feel like being a celebrity...

3. Catherine taking a picture of the road. We made it up to here on the motorbikes after pretty tough terrain...but this is where they can't make it any further. On foot from here to meet with the local woman's community action group.

4. Leadership Course. Did it!!! Huge personal success for me as one of my goals in coming to Nepal was to help identify and support local leaders who are doing the *real* social change work here.

5. At the wedding, a perfect way to celebrate the end of several weeks of hard work.