Introductions

In an attempt to separate my public school teacher life and my personal life, I’ve decided to createthis blog. I’ve realized there are too many things I’d like to share that I just don’t really want associated with my teacher blog.

Silly, yes.

Slightly paranoid, yes.

I don’t care.

I some times have difficulties separating my life from school because it consumes so much of my life. So, in an attempt to establish my outside of school persona, a new blog is born.

Part of my desire to begin anew as well is to chronicle the latest adventures in my life. In the last few months I’ve had the amazing life changing opportunities to visit Thailand, Nepal, and Costa Rica. I took over 1500 pictures in Nepal and another 300 in Costa Rica. I want to share my experiences with friends and family all over the country.

One of my friends who accompanied me to Nepal has started to do “Nepal Highlights” on her blog. I’ve been inspired by her short but detailed snippets of her trip. It is a daunting task trying to share and convey the overwhel

mingness of Nepal. Every time I think of possibly beginning I feel daunted at the sheer amount of information I’d like to share.

So I’ll begin with one of the simplest yet most profound terms I learned in Nepal.

Namaste

The direct translation of “Namaste” is, the divine in me recognizes the divine in you. How beautiful. Many people use namaste as a simple greeting in passing on the road, in greeting, in leaving, in joy, and in welcoming. Due to the sheer amount of times a Nepalese man or woman says namaste during the day, the beauty of the statement is sometimes lost.

When we learned what the literal translation meant, it brought a brand new appreciation for the Nepali people. They are humble and proud of their country, of their children, and their culture. As we passed men and women on the road, we were often looked at with confused looks and sometimes apprehension. (The villages we were welcomed into were quite remote and we were a bit of a novelty). But we would place our hands together, give a small bow and a smile, then exclaim happily “Namaste”. This was always greeted with with a face splitting grin, a recognition of their cultural hello, a small bow and a “Namaste” in return. Some of the older gentleman would often return with a “Namascar” which is the formal greeting.

So, namaste my friends. The divine with me recognizes the divine in you. May you find a moment during the day to truly greet and recognize someone in your life.

Namaste