Time is going faster than I can even keep up with – this is the end of the 5th week, with only three more left! After our midterm exams, we had a four day weekend holiday – two of which I spent on a field trip to Nagarkot – a little get-away from Kathmandu where one can see the mountains even in the monsoon season (if they’re lucky – which we were!).
Here in Nepal, I’ve been corrected numerous times for saying how pretty the ‘mountains’ (हिमाल) were around Boudha. The problem is, in a country with 8 of the 14 tallest mountains (the 8,000-ers, which includes Sagarmaathaa [सगरमाथा], also known as Everest), ‘mountain’ very specifically means a mountain with snow on the top year around. A ‘mountain’ without snow is actually a pahaaD (पहाड).
This language differentiation makes perfect sense (even if I probably will still continue to call the little mountain-hills I normally hike on back at home ‘mountains’), and when one sees the majestic snow caps, one can really see how different the पहाडहारु and हिमालहारु are. In Nagarkot, we were so lucky that the monsoon rains and mist cleared for a moment to see the snow tops. They were so white, it almost gave us headaches gazing at them for too long. We were so happy – calling to everyone still inside to come share the view with us.
Even when the mountains weren’t out, the break was great – I feel the few days just to breath fresh air and wander around really helped the language sink in. It’s almost scary to think of how little time we have left to learn so much more. Luckily, everyone here is so helpful and I’ve found a language partner back in South Bend who agreed to help me over the next school year. I’m already thinking of all the things I’m going to miss in this city and program, but hopefully I’ll be back soon for research – and with a new language skill at that!