My Final Days

I cannot believe that I will be on a plane headed back to the U.S. in less than 72 hours.  It's a bittersweet departure for me in many ways.  When I traveled to Mexico, I always knew that I would return again. With Nepal, it's hard to know whether I'll ever return. I want to, of course, but time and money constraints will inevitably make it hard.  Do I like Nepal enough to focus my studies and future career on it? Maybe.  It's hard to say at this point. I believe that I am here for reasons larger than just research and preparation for my second (and final, thank God) year in my Master's Program. I've learned more and have grown and changed in ways I would never have predicted.   And after three months here, I finally feel at home, which makes it even harder to pack up and say goodbye to friends yet again.  Nonetheless, I cannot wait to see everyone at home and eat real, delicious and fattening American food again.  It will be nice to be back on U.S. soil. 

I returned on Saturday night from a 6 night 7 day trek in the mountains of Nepal.  The trek was by far the most physically and mentally challenging thing I've done here - some days we walked for up to 10 or 11 hours in cold monsoon rains.  Each day had different challenges and completely different scenery - huge waterfalls, steep landslides, flat grasslands, steep green hills... it was breathtaking. And it wasn't like we just spent 6 days gradually climbing up - each day involved us going up and down several times a day, following the curve of the mountains.  I'm also pleased to report that I managed to hold my own with three Nepali guys who go trekking on a regular basis. That in itself was a huge accomplishment and also quite an adventure.  I've never seen anyone eat so quickly in my life.  

I did manage to upload some photos from the trek, so enjoy. Clearly I never was able to upload many others, but I'm sure you'll all be stuck looking at the ones on my computer every time you see me in the next year. 

And with this, I am signing off for good.  As of Thursday evening, my U.S. phone is back in business. Thanks for reading and for all your support. 

Love always, 

Lisa

The team from right: Sunny, Sanjay, me, Sidhi.  This is the four of us at the highest point of the trek - 4500 meters above sea level (a little under 15,000 feet). To put it in perspective: this is higher than any point in the U.S. except Alaska. 

As it turns out, I'm considerably faster going UPHILL than I am going down.  Who knew?  This photo is taken before I discovered a huge leech on my foot.  So lovely. 

"Action" shot. Every time we were tired, Sanjay would start singing some famous American rock song and we'd all start laughing.  Such a fun trip.