On mountain peaks and in valleys below

 Where to begin~ this may be the question that has detoured me again and again from writing a new entry here.

I’ve been living in the ancient town of Bhaktapur, located in the Kathmandu Valley, since leaving my Nepali family in the city of Kathmandu.  Its esthetics  could not be finer in my eyes.  Narrow brick streets pave the way below the multi-family homes/businesses constructed with typical Nepali mustard oil-coated bricks and intricate wood work;

Fresh vegetables allure the passer down nearly every street, usually in multiple locations, momo stalls and tea stands, thangka painting studios and pottery making;

Views out of the kitchen windows where I live present a roof-top world of bricks and launders, of pigeons’ nests and pots of flowers…and on a clear day, the majestic, tear-jerking Himalayan mountain range. 

Every morning and evening is accompanied by a group of elderly men who wear a particularly cute style of hat (worn by many men in the town) playing bells and chimes, rain or shine.

But my intention in coming here was not so that I could live in Bhaktapur, or even gaze at mountains.  It was to study with Dr. Sarita Shrestha at Ma Devi Clinic. 

I have written to some of my family already, telling them that I have fallen in love with her.  It is a strange experience really, I can not quite liken it to anything I have felt before.  As though whatever she advised, asked or taught I would be willing to do or believe.  I agree that this would be an unhealthy way of relating to another in most cases if it were not for one key component: trust.  I trust her teaching;  her energy, her humility and humanness, her joy, knowledge, intuition, vision and experience.  This trust, and a multitude of subtleties in her character I can hardly make sense of, let alone put words to.

Basically, I am doing an internship that I am not really allowed to do, as I do not have at least two years of training in some ayurvedic institute.  There is only one other intern, a very kind man named Josh from California who has ten years of experience working in the ER and for the past three years has been working as an ayurvedic practitioner back home.  He has been keeping a very regular blog on facebook, and has uploaded many pictures of some side trips we've taken if any care to read/examine (facebook- "Josh Greene").

Though skilled as a physician in all sorts of cases (and as an herbalist, she is occasionally sought by ayurvedic medicine companies who will hire her to design certain preparations)  Sarita specializes as an OBGYN, an area of health which I have become particularly fond of.  The degree of practical/clinical participation is far more than what I expected, and I suppose it can be, since many of the laws restricting such participation in the U.S are not present in Nepal. I think I had already looked into three different vaginas by the end of the first day.  But beyond that, the amount of kindred affection I feel for these lady patients is also surprising.  When a patient comes to see Sarita, the atmosphere is one of great vulnerability but paralleled by an equal amount of safety, and also, a deeper level of understanding and empathy that (I’m staring to believe) can be felt by all woman, in all woman to woman interactions of this nature.

When there are no patients, we will simply learn, learn, learn, about more than just medicine…laugh, share stories, and drink a cup of tea at 2:30.  Sarita is a very busy lady; during the days of the week she is not with us at this clinic, she is working at another clinic in the city of Kathmandu. While with her, she is so very present, happy and natural. No one would ever guess the degree of work she has committed her life to.

But she still prioritizes family, designating one day of the week just to spend time with her husband.  The two have no children and were married in their mid thirties- an anomaly within Nepali culture.

Josh and I were invited to attend the ‘Bel’ ceremony her extended family was holding in Bhaktapur last weekend.  It is the first of three wedding ceremonies that takes place amongst women in the Newari ethnic/cultural group- to which Sarita’s family belongs.  The young ladies that were participating were from five to around 11 years old (before menses) and all related.  It is a two day long affair, filled  with a variety of purification/other rituals, and commencing with “Kanyadan” of the girl by her father meaning, “giving away of the virgin.”  The bel fruit each girl marries is symbolic of the lord Shiva, thus protecting her from evil spirits throughout life and, should her mortal husband die before she does, save her from the unfortunate stigma of widowhood. The second marriage takes place around the time of first menses.  Historically at this time, the girls along with adult/elder woman would stay in a house for 12 days and nights, discussing womanhood, what to expect in puberty and marriage/motherhood, teaching skills along with beauty secrets.  Stepping outside and into the light, her second marriage is to the sun.  Though the tradition carries on, it is usually now over a shorter time period, and does not necessarily entail remaining inside the entire time.

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Two junior male doctors take one day of the week to teach, along with an ear/nose/eyes/throat doctor (a particular subcategory of ayurveda) who is also a surgeon.

On Fridays I walk the 45 minutes it takes to get to the rural village of Sipadole with one of the jr. doctors, Dr. Nirindra, where he works at Ma Devi’s sister clinic on that day of the week.  He is 26, shy, on one hand sweetly naïve and on another,  ridiculously intelligent, a never-ending encyclopedia of information.  His passion for medicine and teaching is evident and he seems to enjoy sharing it with me, whether it is regarding the medicinal value of the plants we are passing, what we have been going over in class…really, anything I am curious about or happens to come up.  Not so many patients have been coming during the time we are at the Sipadole clinic, so we’ll usually have a language lesson as well.  Yesterday he even taught me how to put in and take out stitches!  One thing he doesn’t know? How to swim. So I have promised to teach him how to do this (one thing I actually do know quite a lot about).

Though Bhaktapur is a very special town, Sipadole appeals even more to my heart.  It is a village, filled with fields of spinach, cauliflower, calendula…the Himialyas in the distance, bordered by jungle.  A little old lady, traditional healer- herbalist/midwife- makes medicines for and opens/closes the clinic each day.  Dr. Nirindra will translate conversation for us, but I so wish I could speak to and understand her.  I really am inspired to learn Nepali- I’ve even begun a spontaneous language exchange with the Baba from the temple near my home in Bhaktapur on certain evenings.

 Stangely, I never felt this way in India with Hindi.  I tried to make myself inspired, but it didn’t really work.  Now, in this place, I feel a strong desire to integrate at a deeper level, and also to continue returning in the future, so learning the language becomes fun.When the formal internship ends in April, I will move to Sipadole, making instead weekly or bi-weekly walks into Bhaktapur.   

The sun has gone down now and the chimes are beginning. 

I have absolutely no plan from here.  No concept of when I will leave, nor what particular perception I will leave with.  All that is clear now is that HERE could not feel more right.