My last adventure in Nepal for this year was the Himalayan Whitewater Festival on the Trishuli river. I had a fantastic time and competed in a couple of the kayaking events. I did terribly but learned a lot, made some new friends, and didn't require a rescue so it was a success.
Leaving Nepal was bitter sweet. A month ago all I wanted to do was go home, but at long last I had grown used to the places things that upon arrival I dreaded and feared. The pace of life and attitudes of the culture had grown on me. I learned so much and finally was able, within the culture to accomplish tasks. Thankfully, I am going back and I am excited that I already have things lined up to have an even more amazing adventure. I have arranged with my friends at adrenaline rush to teach their guides English live at the camp, go on some trips, and hopefully drastically improve my kayaking.
I've been back in the USA now for about a week and still have not caught up on sleep. I enjoyed some time in Tennessee and North Carolina with Kristen and her family. The whole time was a whirlwind. Into Nashville one morning, Knoxville that afternoon, Winston Salem for 3 days on the next morning, back to Knoxville, to Nashville, went to the Titans game yesterday and flew out this morning. In the last three weeks I have woken up in 13 different places, none of them more than 3 days in a row. The jet lag has been tough and compounded by the need to readjust to the pace of life and the food. I have gotten some rest though (looking forward to more) and I am feeling myself getting back to normal. Reflections have begun to come to me now about the things I have learned in the past few months.
I have learned as much about the USA through my travels as I did about Nepal. My perceptions have changed and things that I felt weakly before have come to the surface and become much more apparent, stronger and clearer to me. It has become abundantly clear how blessed we are in this country, and it breaks my heart when I see people taking these blessings for granted. People are squabbling and hurting one another over trivial things that are only a distraction, a decoy serving to draw attention away from the things that matter, mean something, or the right thing to do. The veil of materialism, the desire for more, more, more is blinding us from the fact that there are people that are needlessly hurting nearby. The drive for more even causes harm to ourselves; it keeps us from enjoying what we have. Happiness through material acquisition is a carrot on a stick.
I don't want to get on a soapbox and preach, it would inevitably end in arguments of the type I just described. I will sign off for a month or two leaving you with a thought: when arguments, conflicts or tough decisions arise, keep in mind that most of us have more than we really need (that is the word,need, that requires the most thought) and ask yourself "Is what I am faced with conceding or giving up necessary to my life or would it be for the greater good to just let it go?"
With that I am back to Alaska till February and will see many of you. If I don't look for more adventures to start again in February when I once again cross the pacific.
