I guess I have been putting off composing this, my last blog post for “teachingcardioinkathmandu”.
I arrived back in Canada last week (4 hours to Bangkok, 17 hours to LA, 2 HOURS in the immigration lineup to get into USA, 6 hours sleep in a hotel in LA and then 2 hours back to Vancouver: 31 hours total). It took about three days to get over jet lag but that is just physiology. It takes much longer to shake off the feeling that I have left behind more than just a few kg of weight.
On my last day in Kathmandu, on the drive to the airport Anil (hospital car driver) asked me what music I wanted to listen to and I said “you choose your favorite music”. He selected a CD of piano music. I love listening to someone play piano but for some reason it brings out more emotion for me then listening to other instruments. I have always thought (illogically) that it was because there is more space left open between the notes that are available to fill with feeling… So as the notes played out, and as we drove the back streets of Patan to the airport, I watched the scenes unfold in front of us and I felt what I always feel as I leave Nepal: reluctance to leave.
I consistently get so much more than I give when I am there, and that was true in spades for this trip. I learned more about who I was as a teacher, what my preconceived notions were about pedagogy, and I learned that the more you know about a culture the more you realize the vast amount you don’t.
That’s the beauty of a long term relationship, however, I have a lifetime to keep learning about it.
Namaste
Thanks for reading!
Pheri betaula (see you again)
