Whether due to smog or just morning vapor, the mountains were divided horizontally into stripes of grey purple and blue. Their very tips caught the fire of the sun, and I sat quietly on my mat watching the warmth permeate down through night’s cold hazy colors. The view from my window is so striking I hardly believe it’s all mine. Such resolute power and beauty call to me yet simultaneously I fear the sharp white peaks and the dark shadows that settle in their crags. It’s as if those summits were pinched and scarred by a great potters hand. Pinched and twisted and pulled up towards the heavens, the foothills mounds of soft dark clay awaiting their turns. While my eyes watched my ears listened: A morning prayer bell or the bell of a cow shaking its heavy neck? Voices in a language I have yet to learn. neighborhood dogs fighting for scraps or calling to birds that taunt them from a thin black branch. It is nearly impossible to escape the sound of honking and the hum of a motorcycle.I’m embracing and learning to welcome many things. I have made many new friends from the past few days, both from England and from right here in Nepal. The Nepalese people, from the little I have seen, are incredibly beautiful and friendly; the food, the architecture, and the clothes are also quite vibrant and exciting. I would be lying if I said my stomach felt okay, but that’s normal according to my advisor Basant! The Oyster travel team has been so amazing and I can’t stress that enough. Their organization and support definitely make me feel more at ease in a culture that is very very overwhelming to me (in mostly good ways). They helped Zoe and me move into our temporary home in Lubhu, which is a village in the foothills about an hour east of Kathmandu. Our Nepalese mother is “Sushma”, our father “Rajand”, our little brother “Sisir”, and of course there is half a village of family members I have yet to meet. Lubhu is a beautiful, verdant village of paddies, yellow flowers, and mostly tall, colorful cement houses or small adobe-like homes with short blue doors and windows. By short I mean you would have to be 4.5 feet tall to fit through. According to Basant there are many reasons for this, but one is that bad spirits are blind, and if you have a short doorway they will hit their head and not be able to pass into your home. Sounds good to me. the house I live in does not have one of these doors. In fact this house doesn’t really have windows either. Luckily for Zoe and I our rooms have glass on the windows, but the rest of the cement home is completely open to the elements: for example, I can see my own breath starting at 5pm up until around 10am. My room is pink, with a large wooden chair, a small desk, and a bed that is really just a large wooden board with a thin mat on it. As I mentioned in the beginning, a bit more poetically, my view is the best I’ve ever had. The best thing about Lubhu is that I get a panoramic view of Kathmandu, and the FREAKING HIMALAYAS right behind it. Every day. All for me. It’s pretty cool. Im nervous to start teaching at the school, but I think it will be really fun once I get into the swing of things. I also have Zoe here which is such a blessing. I’ll write more soon.
Namaste
Samsel Fly
Static Nomadic 
Sounds like a slice of heaven! Can’t wait to read about your experiences. Namaste!
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