Small Community

February 2, 2015

Small Community and What I Love

Contrary to what I said previously, we are all having a great time! The fun and games are certainly an important piece. I mean, how often do you get to take two months off from your “real” life and spend it in such close proximity to a small group of complete strangers, working towards a common goal?

We chat about cases, and then we chat about life. We play games, go for hikes (and then breathe in some necessary-alone-quiet time :D). But, I love how we all eat our meals together, three meals/day – not to mention outside with the sun and moons. We also brush our teeth outside with the neighbors, using the communal “sink” on the streetside. In the morning, we do so with the roosters. At night, we do so again, under the bright moon and constellations. After the initial feeling of being dirty, it now feels so natural – the way it should be.

I’ve also never lived in such a small community before! Soo small. And everyone knows us as the amazing white foreign doctors (hey, wait, I’m not white ;D!).

I love how everyone greets us with “Namaste” or “Namaskar” – on a bad day, these small moments of gratitude and compassion sparks the light back in me.

I love how the people all talk to one another like brother or sister…cause we are all brothers and sisters! The other day, Bex, Milan (one of the translators) and I went for a Sunday hike to Suping. On our way, a boy of 13 yrs came running from his house to catch up with us with a big sincere smile. “Hello! Hello! What is your name? What is your name?”

We invite him to come walk with us. He and Milan walk side by side and Bex and I follow. They chat like brothers the whole way (cant understand, but so it seems). We stop by a medicinal plant, and the boy tells us it’s used to stop bleeding. On our way back home, the boy invites us in to his home for tea. He shows off his dog, that he hopes to take to Hetauda to enroll in dog training school. I ask him, “Do you always invite random people off the streets for tea?”