The task of stripping the thick outer skin from the stems of the pumpkin leaves and runners was time consuming and an excuse to sit and gossip. I used the hours of food preparation to learn Hindi and more about Nepal and the immediate neighborhood. Those hours are some of my most cherished memories of Nepal.

When I wasn't helping with food things or working on conference stuff I roamed the lanes of Rampur with my cameras and journal writing down the descriptions and names of plants, asking my litany of a thousand questions to anyone who would listen. I enjoyed the interactions with the neighbors and they did as well. The quiet setting and the relaxed pace of the communication were valuable in helping me learn the language and helped the neighbors get to know me. I was curious how my presence as a white male from half way around the globe was felt by the people I met. My whiteness was a continual point of connection because some of them had never seen a white person before. They loved looking at me in detail, wanted to touch my skin, the hair on my arms, and some kids even wondered what I might taste like if they were to lick my forearm.

I'll discuss this concept of gender, color, education, and class a litte further down in the blog, For the moment I will only say that upon my arrival in Nepal I felt a sense of "freedom" because I was outside the "system" and it gave me a kind of license but I also felt enormous responsibility to be overt, honest, make myself available and be transparent to everyone I met. By available I mean that I let people "make use of me" as I do in my social work: to be open and let them ask personal questions, rant about things, share their personal narratives and express their feelings honestly without judging them.

Nepal life is so much slower than anywhere in the West. It is pedestrian by contrast to the culture I live in and a pleasant change from a large cosmopolitan city like Berlin or even my own city in Western Massachusetts in the US.