Teaching – Watch, Listen, and Learn

There is something somehow calming about knowing that there is no way to tell what time you will arrive at your destination. You know that you will get there, eventually. And it will very rarely be at the scheduled time. And there is nothing you can do about it.

Nepal’s timezone is 15 minutes ahead of India’s, setting it just slightly off from the country that surrounds it on three sides. This is NPT – Nepal Standard Time. This partially political statement is just one more way the country is defined as “not India.” The locals, however, know a different NST – Nepal Stretched Time.

Continue reading “The Benefits of Surrendering to NST (Nepal Stretched Time)”

This is Kagbeni. This is the village of approximately 300 people where I have decided to live for a month this summer, doing research for my senior thesis and teaching English to 63 monks between the ages of 5 and 18. Kagbeni is situated at a narrow part of the Kali Gandaki Gorge – the deepest gorge in the world – and thus has historically been a stopping point for trade moving back and forth between India and China. At the convergence of two rivers, the town gets its name. Kag, literally meaning “stopping point” and beni, being where two rivers come together.

Looking down on Kagbeni from the south, you can see the yellow fields of barley are almost ready for harvest.

Continue reading “The Changing Winds of Tourism in Kagbeni, Nepal”