Newark, Brussels, and Mumbai!

Hello from the Mumbai Airport!! (never thought I would be saying that)

I'm not sure what day of my trip this is. All I know is that I have been traveling since 6:40pm on Wednesday in NY, took a 2 hour nap in Brussels, and will be landing in 8 hours on Friday in Nepal after a 33 hour trip. So if this entry is a bit all over the place, you'll know why.

The trip has been fun though! Sat next to some interesting people on the plane and watched about 4 movies. They did take away my peanut butter at security though....didn't realize it qualified as a liquid.

I can't believe that the experience I have been preparing for since June is finally here (well kind of here, the only experience I've had so far is trying to figure out what adapter to use to charge my laptop in the airport).

I guess I should explain what exactly this trip is because no matter how many times I say it, people still ask, "wait, what are you doing in Nepal?" (as opposed to the "why" question which I'll answer later.

To answer the "what"- I am going to be a participant on an Israeli program called Tevel B'Tzedek (Earth in Justice). According to the website, the program "is an Israel based non-profit organization promoting social and environmental justice. Our mission is to create a community of Israeli and Diaspora Jews engaging in the urgent issues of global poverty, marginalization and environmental devastation from a place of deep commitment to the Jewish people and its ethical and spiritual traditions."

Basically for the first month, I will be living in a house in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. As a group we will learn about Nepali culture, politics, and the language (all of the seminars will be in Hebrew- ah!) We will also talk about human rights and social justice from a Jewish stand point. For the following 3 months, we will be split up between 2 villages and Kathmandu. We will work with children, run women empowerment groups, help with farming and medical services, and I assume a lot of other stuff. We will be living like the Nepali people do- in very primitive conditions.

From what I have heard and read, Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world; however it is also one of the most beautiful. Heard of Mt. Everest? yea, that's in Nepal (now do you know where the country is? Don't worry, most people don't)

Now to the WHY part of my trip.

1. "Delay life to just live"- Matt Sackett wrote that line in a plane letter to me. As soon as I read it I underlined and starred it. I get very frustrated when people ask me if I'm going to Nepal because I'm not ready for real life. This is real life. I'm not "ready" to sit behind a desk at a job I'm not happy with. I am ready to see the world and gain an understanding that life isn't what we have in America- there is so much more out there and I honestly feel like this trip will help me live a more fulfilling life

2. I'm a political science major- through out college I took classes about human rights, international aid, globalization, wars, political violence, etc. It's time to see all of these things first hand (not that I'll necessarily be in a war but I will see the effects of Nepal's recent civil war).

3. I want to make a difference- putting aside the "selfish" reasons of wanting to see the world, I actually do want to help people. I can learn about all of the things mentioned above and I can see it first hand, but what difference does it make if I don't try to do something about it.

4. I just love doing crazy, adventurous things!

Anyway, soon I'll be in Nepal and it will be Yom Kippur and I'll either be passed out in my hostel or at Chabad (yay Chabad is everywhere!)

Thanks for reading!

Mumbye!! (thanks Ari for that one)

 

my stuff for the next 4 months

 

my "bed" in the Mumbai airport