And to conclude my letter, here is a list of what I will miss and not miss:
• I will miss the simplicity of the life here although I won’t miss
not to have a shower (I’m not even talking about a HOT shower) for one
month, to take my meals sitting on the floor in a very smoky kitchen and to
sleep on a wooden bed in a sleeping bag.
• I won’t miss to be covered by dust and to have really dirty hands
all the time although I will miss to be outside all the time, now that I’ve
been living outside for almost 3 months!
• I will miss the sunshine: not a single drop of rain and less than 8
days of overcast weather in 7 weeks.
• I will miss the fresh buffalo milk. But I won’t miss rice! I don’t
want to see rice in any form for at least one month!
• I will not miss to almost break my leg each time I use the steep and
slippery path to the toilets, to get completely wet when I have to unplug (and
then plug back) the hoses to get some water in order to fill the bucket which
is used as a flush, and to run out of toilet paper because I have to wait 3
days to get some!
• I will miss the generosity and the hospitality of the people here, as
well as their innocence. But I won’t miss seeing people putting their
finger deep into their nose while talking to me! ;-)
• I will miss the silence of the mountains and the beautiful sceneries,
sunrises and sunsets.
• I will miss Hari, Januka, Ahmah, Bhah, Monica, Manilla and Manes, and
their lovely neighbours, although of course, I’m extremely looking forward
to see Pierrick and my family for Xmas, and later on, my friends. I cannot wait
to move in with Pierrick after such a long time abroad!
I think it is important for a Westener to experience for a while the conditions in which 75% of the world live and I’m glad I had the opportunity to do it. One never really understands things until one experiences them. The living conditions here are tough but people are mostly happy and very generous. So this made me question many things about the Western way of life and realise what is really important in life. Thank you so much Hari, because without you, this amazing experience would have not been possible. Thank you so much for your time, your kindness, your knowledge and your generosity. You’re very inspiring and I’m going to miss you! You became a precious friend, and I hope to be able to collaborate with you on educational programs in remote Nepal in a close future. Many thanks to your lovely family as well!
Well, time for me to board in! En route for Brussels!
I wish you all a Merry Xmas and see you in 2009, if not before!
Claudia
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