More on Langtang to come soon...

For those of you wondering about Melissa and I's experiences in the Langtang Himalaya, I plan to catch up on this soon, and to include photos. We spent two and a half weeks in the mountains, visiting Tamang villages and meeting deaf people near 24,000 foot Langtang Lirung. We were within ten miles of the Tibetan border at one point, and with newfound Dutch and Nepali friends, I got as high as I've ever been in my life-- above 16,500 feet at the summit of Tserko Ri, deep in the heart of the Langtang Valley. There I tied a white prayer scarf for my father and had an awe-inspiring view of the Langtang Himal all around me. Afterwards, we visited the holy alpine lake of Gosainkund and crossed a 14,500 foot pass on our return to Kathmandu. It was a wonderful trip, and while I'm focusing on working with the deaf kids at the Naxal School for now, I'm looking forward to when my research will take me back into the mountains in a few months.

First day teaching at Naxal Deaf School

Today I stepped into a classroom at the Naxal School for the first time. I was still jubilant from the Obama victory, and a little jittery from a few cups of tea. I've agreed to teach two afternoon art classes, to grades 2, 3, and 5. I'm still a novice at Nepali Sign Language, but the teachers are there to help me out, and the students are very enthusiastic and excited to have a deaf American teacher.

In Nepal, and elsewhere in Asia as well, it's typical to learn by rote, so my biggest goal will be encouraging creative thinking. This is harder than it sounds. In my first class, I asked the students to draw their favorite things from nature, and nearly everyone drew fishes and flowers, because they'd learned how to copy what the teacher drew on the board.

My first real challenge, though, is remembering names-- I have about 25 new sign names crammed into my head. I'll be teaching this class six days a week until the winter holiday in January.

Yes We Can!

I spent the morning with several hundred other Americans at Phora Durbar, Kathmandu's American compound, watching the results of the elections come in. The crowd was very pro-Obama-- I think American expats tend to vote heavily blue. At around 10 am, much earlier than anyone expected, Obama was elected president, and a cheer went up into the room. Hopefully, a Fulbright celebration will be in order tonight!

I feel a new pride in being American that I haven't felt in a long time. Watching Obama's victory speech, it was clear that the speech wasn't just for America, but for the world. And it's quite clear that the whole world is cheering right now.