Today marks the exact half-way point of my field-trip in Nepal. How fast time flies. It feels like yesterday that I had that kid-on-Christmas-day feeling as my plane descended into Kathmandu Airport. Now with my notebooks already getting full and so many thoughts, impressions and hours of interview recordings I start to wonder if maybe I have actually been here a very long time! In the last week I have met many inspiring individuals, from women working in empowerment programs through garment manufacture, to expats who have come here to try to make a difference on the ground, to NGO project managers that know they need more knowledge to do things right but are not sure where to turn to. Their stories are sometimes sad but always inspiring. So many insights and much data to sort through… I thought I would be able to begin writing my actual thesis by this point but things take time here, so my patience will need to extend to my drafting also. In my daily life here in Nepal I have been lucky to combine field research with reading, yoga, meditation, and many many cups of chai! I’m wondering how I will leave this place come November. But for now, I have planned a ten-day vacation. A self-imposed holiday break to mark the half-way point. It will be off to a remote region where internet access will be limited and I will have much time to gather and sort all the information that is accumulating in my brain before I head off for the last 4-weeks research voyage in more isolated areas to visit and interview local NGOs. A wonderful opportunity to see a little more of this spectacular country, a nation very small in comparison to its giant neighbours but so big when it comes to generosity, kindness and culture.
Meeting Womens Empowerment Project workers in Pokhara
Mountain traffic jams – travelling with patience
Making new friends along the way to enjoy
cups of spicy masala chai and the amazing Himalayan views