I'm asked, on occasion, "Why 'Bambuddhism'?"
It's a pun, naturally, on the immense interest about Buddhism by the western world, as well as a more intimate reflection on my own personal journey to Nepal.
For we western-types, coming from our Judeo-Christian cultures on the other side of the world, Buddhism (and, to a certain degree, its Hindu origins...) continues to be one of the most fascinating, intriguing and lasting attractions of life in Nepal.
I remember a photo of Scott and me at Amherst when we were studying Buddhism w/ the young (we were all young then...) Bob Thurman. We were dressed in white kurta and beads, long hair, devoutedly sitting in a full lotus asana with our hands in a meditative mudra. Although, the ironic, playful smiles on our faces had more to say about our pyschic state than the posture -- for sure!
No doubt, part of my own youthful journey outside the US in the late 70s, after a stint on Capitol Hill, was not only for some much-desired cultural fresh air and perspective, but also the desire to learn more in situ of these great Asian religious traditions, as well.
I'd started college w/ a keen interest in politics and political change. I even left Amherst after a month, convinced/seduced by Allard Lowenstein (LBJ's nemisis...) to come to Brooklyn to work on his election campaign. The politics of the 60s was in my blood from 1968 when Robert Kennedy ran for president against Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War. Then I'd worked on McGovern's campaign in Upstate NY in 1972 the year I went off to college so full of such political idealism and naivite.
When I met Scott that first week in James 410 son/grandson of Presbytarian missionaries to China, Berkeley-raised, my world shifted a few degrees off my earlier center. The books for his religion courses looked more interesting than the political theory courses that I'd enrolled in. Quickly, I shifted my studies from political science to religion, philosophy and literature, the humanities.
In this way, the call of the world outside had more to do w/ the nature of culture, history and reflections on our human patterns on this precious world -- than political change.
Maybe, as well, that teenage idealism couldn't quite last through the 60s and 70s in America. The assassinations, the election of Richard Nixon, the seemingly endless trauma of the Vietnam War, the doubts about how one could change a country as large, powerful and vested as the States led me to thoughts both more philosophical and spiritual.
For, as we know, those years were also the first public, open engagement of the modern Western world with the diversity, cultures and religions of Asia. Somewhere on the distant horizon, past the suburbs of America, was another world that flickered in our consciousness. It appeared in the evening news, in the war-obsessed reporting from Vietnam, in sacred writings we studied and a youthful longing to have some first-hand experience of that ancient world.
Youth, of course, as we learn, turns slowly, ineluctably, yet steadily into new challenges, new opportunities, new choices, life decisions and professional experiences. Those thoughts that animated us when we were younger never quite disappear (hopefully...), but they become enlarged or enriched by the daily path that we traverse in creating our own place in the world.
Thus, finally reaching Nepal and India in the autumn of 1979, after a year and half of travels, while reading 'dharma' in Dharamsala (Macleod Ganj) overlooking the Dalai Lama's residence-in-exile, then later in the Mairut Khmer refugee camp, along the Thai-Cambodian border, through my work with Save the Children building a 'wat' (temple) where the Theravada monks could serve the refugees, all the while reflecting on the depth and beauty of those rich and diverse teachings, I made my own parabolic personal relationship w/ Buddhism.
As much as I was profoundly moved by the deep wisdom of the Hindu-Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, the elaborate spiritual architecture created by those Indian savants a thousand years ago, the lack of a confused diety in the teachings of the Buddhists, the central emphasis on compassion as the guide to living and the non-violence which drew from ancient Indic values, the awe-inspiring devotion these teachings inspired in common folk throughout South Asia... there was a spiritual river I could not cross.
Not the Jordan, but possibly the Indus.
Maybe that historic, tribal crossing of the Jordan river a couple thousand years ago had sunk it's engraving so deeply in my childhood identity that I was unable to be reborn yet again in the emblematic white kurta that I'd so blithely and playfully worn during college.
[Curious that it's Easter today, Christ's resurrection, when I find myself speaking of my own unrebirth in another religion...]
Even with the spiritual riches that define Buddhism, for me, there was still the uncritical devotion to the guru, the expensive maintenance of the numerous monasteries, the materialism of many rimpoches, the Baroque Catholicism of the sacred rituals, the lack of commitment to social justice, the uber-emphasis on the individual and, most importantly, truly, my own reluctance.
For me, this is the parabola effect...
You come closer and closer to your goal, stretching, reaching and pursuing... closer and closer.. til the object of your desire is in sight, just within reach...
When you are near enough to feel the truth of your search...
You suddenly and, possibly, unexpectedly feel a resistence -- not externally, but internally. That urge that animated you until that moment suddenly subides and you feel a related but quite different feeling. Related -- but oddly opposite. A new truth, more personal, more honest, more stable reveals itself. Again, unexpectedly, you feel your heart, your mind, even at times your body begin to move albeit imperceptably in a new direction, a new idea, a revised, alternative self-definition away from the object of one's earlier passionate desire...
Such is life, no? These momentary awakenings and revelations. As meaningful to each of us in our own personal karmic lives as the searching stories of the great teachers: Moses on Mount Sinai, Christ in Gesthemene, Mohammad in the desert, Ram in the forest or Gautum Buddha under his Bodhi tree.
In our own lives, we each have our personal revelations, redefinitions and resurrections. The moments or decisions of life that establish our individuality and mark our journey across time and space.
That, too, may be another reason I turned back toward my Self and not further into the wealth of Buddhist teachings and iconography. There is a part of me that steps sideway when given the choice of prostrating before another, be it a teaching, a temple or a testament.
As much as I am embellished and cherish these High Tradtions and Great Religions, my true heart is more aligned with the Dickensian, Hugoian or (earlier) Tolstoyan view of the world. If I can lump those literary geniuses together, their undeterred humanity beckons my soul more than robes, religion or righteousness.
Thus, my own whimsical, personal, searching Bambuddhism blog...
The 'Bambuddhism in Nepal' title combines my sincere affection for the compassionate teachings of the holy dharmic spirit that animates our lives, our souls, with the simple truths of an individual's life. Not Buddhism, the historical tradition, but Bambuddhism, the personal story of awakening, self-realization.
Of course, for those who know me, there is the additional inspiration of the bamboo that I equally love. What I perceive as the truth of nature in our lives. The sacred gift of the natural world in which all is revealed and returned. From dust to dust. Or, from earth to earth. The world around us that we too often tend to neglect and forget. The damage we have done to the riches of the world around us. The garden from which we were exiled. Yet, the source of so much of our peacefulness, well-being and contentment.
Somewhere along the line, suprising me as much as those who know me, I fell head over heals in adoration of bamboo as the penultimate expression of nature in our lives. The tactile beauty of this behemoth of a grass, bending, arching, flowing, growing, spreading, rising to the heavens while swaying, swinging, waving, whispering to our souls as the great wind animates our lives.
In our petite 'Giardinetti Licchavi' up here in Budhanilkantha, we have planted some forty species of bamboo (from the grand 25 m variety to the short grasses that run wildly). Each spring, like now, these bamboo send up new shoots, new life, new awareness, new awakening, new birth, a natural resurrection to endow our lives, and give us pause for reflection.
Thus, again, Bamboo-dhism, combining the rarified teachings of compassion and annica (non-attachment) with the earthy beauty of these bamboo shoots, tall, tender, defiant, powerful, colorful, vulnerable, independent, ambitious, quiet, in perpetual stillness.
Maybe more Bamboo-dhism than Bam-buddhism, if you see what I mean. More nature than sacred ideology. More pliant than formal. More natural than man-evolved. More garden than monastic. More green than maroon. More individual than authority. More free than structured.
Or, not really 'more' anything or 'than' anything...
Just being, as we used to say...
A hieroglyph of natural and human wisdom as perceived by another member of our inter-connected human tribe, another soul lost in space, struggling to keep it all together, learning how to lead a good and noble life.
Simply put, as the Thais say, 'tam di, die de' -- 'Do Good, Be Good'.
Another of the species passing temporarily through this wondrous world trying to combine the sacred with the mundane, the righteous with the riches, the familial with the professional, the sound with the fury, the sceptical with the trusting, the humble with the dignified, the earthy with the transcendent, and the giving with the receiving of life.
In this drama, this 'Bambuddhism' blog is my escape, my sanctuary, my monastery, my sacred garden...
My effort to reflect, to think aloud, to observe and perceive, to write...
Or, to'Only connect.' (as Forster said...)
To be ever slightly more alive.
While alive...
Showing posts with label amherst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amherst. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, October 29, 2007
Travels with Joshua in Massachusetts on these Autumn Days
after the long miracle and discomfort of air travel, i've arrived in body, if not fully in spirit, on the native shores of north america. from the sky the world looks so peaceful, calm, soothing.
of course, sitting in steerage for 20+ hours from kathmandu to boston is a slightly different and aching experience. still, the travel is remarkable, astounding even, to slip so easily from one world to another w/in 36 hours, all the way around the globe, from my home outside kathmandu to my son in western massachusetts. magellan should have had it so good...
wondrous visions, as well, of a snow covered mount ranier, lake stahekin, where we vacationed with dave & lisa a decade ago when the boys were small, then the snake river. the soothing, fresh, warm welcome at minneapolis airport before flying into boston at dark, the lights of fenway on thursday night illuminating the skies while ribbons of red and white lights circled the city on rte 95. it's amazing to see such urban density and light after the hours of darkness in the night skies. the miracle of the modern world for those of still captured by the struggling reality of our third world countries. i'm awed in an ancient sense, both fearful and trembling while inspired by the power and majesty of the world around me.
now, a few days after arriving, josh & i are relaxing at bruce's comfortable home in newton. we drove in yesterday afternoon from nmh b/c josh's football/soccer game was cancelled, alas, due to the heavy rain all night & day. really sad, however, as i was excited to see he & his team play after reading so many game reports while in nepal on the school's sports log. knowing how much josh loves the game and his profound determination, i so much wanted to see him and his team-mates on the new england pitch together. after all, his love for this game was one of the reasons he travelled so far to go to school.
still, the day+ on the campus friday w/ josh was a pure delight. i went to all three of his classes (bible, us history and physics) & had private meetings w/ the professors. all his teachers seem quite pleased w/ joshua's performance so far. in fact, most of them commented on how 'seamlessly' josh has made the great transition to nmh and the states.
a few of the professors commented that joshua's performance is really impressive for his first term at nmh, given the profound transition from his world in nepal. they were all complimentary about josh's level of participation in the classes, his academic commitment and, particuarly his religion teacher, on the originality of his thought. great!!
my smith college friend, sheila, who has been at nmh for 20+ years and is head of the music department, also showed me the latest nmh newspaper which had an article by josh about the cross-cultural differences b/n being a nepali & american. very insightful. she said the teachers were talking about the article in the teachers lounge, saying, 'did you see that article by that kid from nepal?'. to which she would say, 'that's joshua leslie -- not just a kid from nepal.'
clearly, josh has made the passage to the states with aplomb. it helps, of course, that he really likes his roomate, dean, who seems a very sweet guy (great basketball player, i'm told), good mathematician and quite grounded. his other closest friends seem quite sincere and sensitive, as well. i met mohammed from alexandria, sergio from brazil, an american/thai kid from bangkok and a few others. i wish i had more time w/ them, as they are the world in which josh has found his niche here. i'm pleased as they all seem smart, eager and thoroughly enjoyable.
overall, i felt comfortable with the nmh world immediately. it's a caring, intimate and active world. one that is commited to the head, heart and hands of the whole person -- not just intelletual or academic achievement. although, after traveling for his soccer to other new england schools, josh says that the facilities at some of the other schools are even more amazing, i find nmh the right balance b/n the world of lincoln school in kathmandu and the colleges ahead of him. in fact, i'm not sure i'd want josh or ez at the best endowed, wealthiest private school in new england. as josh says, nmh is quite an upgrade over lincoln already. best, methinks, to appreciate the value of what he's found, rather than long for something more elite, aloof or distant from the reality in which we must live.
today (sunday) we're going in to cambridge, to see our friends, jerry & monique, then we booked tixs for the musical 'wicked', the story of the wizard of oz's wicked witch before dorthy showed up. it's gotten brilliant reviews and turns the tabel on our understanding of what truly is 'wicked', and why. it's $90/seat, but these are the remarkable opportunities that the west offers to the general public of seeing outstanding stage or musical performances that whirl the mind and uplift the spirit. take a good catholic liturgy in chartres from the 17th C. and then add all of the color, mystique, romance and humanity of the modern mind -- et voila -- there's broadway, the secular ceremony of the unbridled spirit.
last night, after resting a bit at bruce's, josh & i drove out to a framington mall (got lost looking for it...) and saw two new movies, 'dan in real life' and 'kingdom'. both good, but 'dan' was exceptionally fresh, honest and loving (with steve carrell et juliet binoche) while 'kingdom' was one more tale of endless terrorism and revenge-seeking americans hunting the 'bad guys' in saudia arabia. actually we only were supposed to see one movie, but the other started soon after ours finished, and the room was right next door, so since it was already $10 for a movie, we just invited ourselves in for a double feature. ;-)
of course, once again, i'm amazed how quickly we can make this transtiion from one brave new world to another. in our minds, and in distance, it's a long way away, but once the plane disgorges you and you quickly realize you need to drive on the opposite side of the road (duh... it's the opposite side of the world, space traveller...), it's all surprisingly good.
different. eye-opening. lush w/ autumn colors. wonderfully smooth roads. tons of traffic, but moving mostly. big cars. little cars. blue cars. red cars. food stores, furniture stores and shops for everything everywhere. too much junk food. clear skies. dark clouds. stunning architecture. boring architecture. more to do than one could fill a few lifetimes. tons of entertainment. move theaters in malls the size of cities. more malls. small urban parks with 200 year old trees. tons of trees. and trees. lots and lots of people. lots of over-weight people. well-dressed people. casual and perky people. all hues and hair styles. bag people. rich people. lost people. found people. people always on the move. ambition. desire. a new world, sans doubt...
we'll go back tomorrow (monday) to nmh. my brother bruce & his wife buff are out visiting their daughter liz at her college this w/end, so we'll only see them monday morning. then, we may see the basketball hall of fame on monday en route to nmh. tuesday i'm at amherst for lunch w/ some students, then my talk on the evening on human rights (wrongs) in nepal. i've got plenty of notes by now and some interesting leads into the talk (like 'the last time i was speaking here was the w/end that the royal family of nepal were murdered...'). i'm anxious, of course, speaking publicly and at my alma mater (another form of mother-complex, i suppose...), but when i let the nervousness fade away, i'm actually looking forward to speaking on something i've lived and experience at the core of my life the past couple of decades while hearing the curiosity and intelligence of the amherst students' thoughts. something about a school or college seems to fill a open part of my soul.
i'm sure limited time left with my pilgrim son, joshua, will speed past, particularly since i say goodbye to him when he must be back in his overtrun dorm by 7 pm on m onday. for now, as i've tried to say, it's simply so nice to be nearby him again. because, if anyone asks, being a parent is probably the most profound and satisfying joy that one can find in this brief and ever-passing lifetime. someone, somehow, a long time ago, sure figured that out.
as my buddy, rasan rolan kirk, wails on one of his inspired saxophone songs, "g-d must have a master plan". clearly, our love for our children was central to it.
amen.
of course, sitting in steerage for 20+ hours from kathmandu to boston is a slightly different and aching experience. still, the travel is remarkable, astounding even, to slip so easily from one world to another w/in 36 hours, all the way around the globe, from my home outside kathmandu to my son in western massachusetts. magellan should have had it so good...
wondrous visions, as well, of a snow covered mount ranier, lake stahekin, where we vacationed with dave & lisa a decade ago when the boys were small, then the snake river. the soothing, fresh, warm welcome at minneapolis airport before flying into boston at dark, the lights of fenway on thursday night illuminating the skies while ribbons of red and white lights circled the city on rte 95. it's amazing to see such urban density and light after the hours of darkness in the night skies. the miracle of the modern world for those of still captured by the struggling reality of our third world countries. i'm awed in an ancient sense, both fearful and trembling while inspired by the power and majesty of the world around me.
now, a few days after arriving, josh & i are relaxing at bruce's comfortable home in newton. we drove in yesterday afternoon from nmh b/c josh's football/soccer game was cancelled, alas, due to the heavy rain all night & day. really sad, however, as i was excited to see he & his team play after reading so many game reports while in nepal on the school's sports log. knowing how much josh loves the game and his profound determination, i so much wanted to see him and his team-mates on the new england pitch together. after all, his love for this game was one of the reasons he travelled so far to go to school.
still, the day+ on the campus friday w/ josh was a pure delight. i went to all three of his classes (bible, us history and physics) & had private meetings w/ the professors. all his teachers seem quite pleased w/ joshua's performance so far. in fact, most of them commented on how 'seamlessly' josh has made the great transition to nmh and the states.
a few of the professors commented that joshua's performance is really impressive for his first term at nmh, given the profound transition from his world in nepal. they were all complimentary about josh's level of participation in the classes, his academic commitment and, particuarly his religion teacher, on the originality of his thought. great!!
my smith college friend, sheila, who has been at nmh for 20+ years and is head of the music department, also showed me the latest nmh newspaper which had an article by josh about the cross-cultural differences b/n being a nepali & american. very insightful. she said the teachers were talking about the article in the teachers lounge, saying, 'did you see that article by that kid from nepal?'. to which she would say, 'that's joshua leslie -- not just a kid from nepal.'
clearly, josh has made the passage to the states with aplomb. it helps, of course, that he really likes his roomate, dean, who seems a very sweet guy (great basketball player, i'm told), good mathematician and quite grounded. his other closest friends seem quite sincere and sensitive, as well. i met mohammed from alexandria, sergio from brazil, an american/thai kid from bangkok and a few others. i wish i had more time w/ them, as they are the world in which josh has found his niche here. i'm pleased as they all seem smart, eager and thoroughly enjoyable.
overall, i felt comfortable with the nmh world immediately. it's a caring, intimate and active world. one that is commited to the head, heart and hands of the whole person -- not just intelletual or academic achievement. although, after traveling for his soccer to other new england schools, josh says that the facilities at some of the other schools are even more amazing, i find nmh the right balance b/n the world of lincoln school in kathmandu and the colleges ahead of him. in fact, i'm not sure i'd want josh or ez at the best endowed, wealthiest private school in new england. as josh says, nmh is quite an upgrade over lincoln already. best, methinks, to appreciate the value of what he's found, rather than long for something more elite, aloof or distant from the reality in which we must live.
today (sunday) we're going in to cambridge, to see our friends, jerry & monique, then we booked tixs for the musical 'wicked', the story of the wizard of oz's wicked witch before dorthy showed up. it's gotten brilliant reviews and turns the tabel on our understanding of what truly is 'wicked', and why. it's $90/seat, but these are the remarkable opportunities that the west offers to the general public of seeing outstanding stage or musical performances that whirl the mind and uplift the spirit. take a good catholic liturgy in chartres from the 17th C. and then add all of the color, mystique, romance and humanity of the modern mind -- et voila -- there's broadway, the secular ceremony of the unbridled spirit.
last night, after resting a bit at bruce's, josh & i drove out to a framington mall (got lost looking for it...) and saw two new movies, 'dan in real life' and 'kingdom'. both good, but 'dan' was exceptionally fresh, honest and loving (with steve carrell et juliet binoche) while 'kingdom' was one more tale of endless terrorism and revenge-seeking americans hunting the 'bad guys' in saudia arabia. actually we only were supposed to see one movie, but the other started soon after ours finished, and the room was right next door, so since it was already $10 for a movie, we just invited ourselves in for a double feature. ;-)
of course, once again, i'm amazed how quickly we can make this transtiion from one brave new world to another. in our minds, and in distance, it's a long way away, but once the plane disgorges you and you quickly realize you need to drive on the opposite side of the road (duh... it's the opposite side of the world, space traveller...), it's all surprisingly good.
different. eye-opening. lush w/ autumn colors. wonderfully smooth roads. tons of traffic, but moving mostly. big cars. little cars. blue cars. red cars. food stores, furniture stores and shops for everything everywhere. too much junk food. clear skies. dark clouds. stunning architecture. boring architecture. more to do than one could fill a few lifetimes. tons of entertainment. move theaters in malls the size of cities. more malls. small urban parks with 200 year old trees. tons of trees. and trees. lots and lots of people. lots of over-weight people. well-dressed people. casual and perky people. all hues and hair styles. bag people. rich people. lost people. found people. people always on the move. ambition. desire. a new world, sans doubt...
we'll go back tomorrow (monday) to nmh. my brother bruce & his wife buff are out visiting their daughter liz at her college this w/end, so we'll only see them monday morning. then, we may see the basketball hall of fame on monday en route to nmh. tuesday i'm at amherst for lunch w/ some students, then my talk on the evening on human rights (wrongs) in nepal. i've got plenty of notes by now and some interesting leads into the talk (like 'the last time i was speaking here was the w/end that the royal family of nepal were murdered...'). i'm anxious, of course, speaking publicly and at my alma mater (another form of mother-complex, i suppose...), but when i let the nervousness fade away, i'm actually looking forward to speaking on something i've lived and experience at the core of my life the past couple of decades while hearing the curiosity and intelligence of the amherst students' thoughts. something about a school or college seems to fill a open part of my soul.
i'm sure limited time left with my pilgrim son, joshua, will speed past, particularly since i say goodbye to him when he must be back in his overtrun dorm by 7 pm on m onday. for now, as i've tried to say, it's simply so nice to be nearby him again. because, if anyone asks, being a parent is probably the most profound and satisfying joy that one can find in this brief and ever-passing lifetime. someone, somehow, a long time ago, sure figured that out.
as my buddy, rasan rolan kirk, wails on one of his inspired saxophone songs, "g-d must have a master plan". clearly, our love for our children was central to it.
amen.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Winter Mist, Loss in the Himalaya, Summer Plans, A Cambodian New Year's & Gary's Wisconsin Retreat...
it's rather cold out this morning. morning mist so thick there is no horizon or hills beyond the fog. i'm typing away at 7:30 am after josh & ms. leah trundled off to school & while ez & shaks sleep. i hear the sound of tek bahadur outside sweeping the morning leaves off the terrace & dear gita down in the kitchen cleaning up after last night's biryani dinner. as for me, i'm dressed in the same ochre fleece jacket, boxers & socks i wore to sleep last night.
winter in the third world remains a shivering affair. in kathmandu, we don't get the heaps of snow outside the window, the sleety roads or the joys of godly white crystals raining from the sky -- and within an hour here there will be a luscious blue sky over head -- but, the chill factor inside our homes at night-time is the price we pay for a dire lack of government services & modern amenities. of course, after so many years, i'm used to it, i.e. until winter comes and we crowd our space heaters in the evening & snuggle next to each other & our rubber water bottles at night.
if anyone's looking for a good holiday read, i highly recommend, "an inheritance of loss' by kiran desai. for anyone w/ some affection for beloved south asia or simply interested in how the mad rush to globalization affects the lingering, chattering & revolutionary classes, it's a beautiful, funny &, of course, slightly tragic story. as some may know, kiran just won the british booker prize for this novel. shaks & i loved it. although it was lambasted here by a writer who felt that she was too racist toward the nepalis. not exactly my impression (it's a novel, after all...). but then that may say something about the vulnerable state of the nepali identity these days given all the whiplashes of political fate and uncertainty in the country over the past few year years. sometimes we, too, feel like one of kiran's characters whose fate is wrapped up in larger issues & events outside of their control...
it sounds early, but we just used our latent nw (or, as ez says w/ a smile: northworst...) miles for a nearly six week trip to europe & the states next summer (even though i'll have only four weeks of official vacation...). we don't really have any plans, but it seemed wise, if we were going to draw down some of the 400,000 miles that i'd accumulated over the years, to book early -- so absolutely unlike us!! ;-) the boys are already scheming to dump us for the ten days in europe so that ez can run around copenhagen w/ his buddy, oliver, while josh may join lisa, his german girlfriend, in deutschland or flee together to spain. i had hoped to go together for a short walk in the swiss alps, but the teenagers are looking past their parents already, alas. then, a month looking at colleges in america, maybe a week in the adirondacks, time w/ family and, no doubt, a strong urge to get home to our own beds & lives toward the end of that time...
more closer to the horizon, over new year's, we are off to scott's new riverine home south of phnom penh. he's so excited by this latest wonder in his life and, it seems, to have been a joyous salve for the passing of his two biggest daughters from the home and the compounded rigors of a life in the un system. the last two thanksgivings, my amherst friend & best man had come up here to enjoy a bit of autumn while spending a week w/ us in kathmandu, so i'm glad to return the friendship and get away from the winter cold. we usually have gone to thailand, but i'm off there these days, w/ too much commericialism and the after-affects of the tsunami still in my short-term memories. a quiet week on a river in cambodia, reading, swimming, chatting sounds best.
i was, curiously, last night thinking, too, of my friend gary's lakeside home in wisconsin. shaks, leah, ez & i were watching the movie, 'notebook', and there are lovely scenes of the main character in his small white boat out on his alabama lake. for some reason, i thought of gary & his w/end retreat and how fortunate he must be to have a place of quiet & solitude.
sometimes, i think i'm getting ready to retreat from the world... is that ever possible?
winter in the third world remains a shivering affair. in kathmandu, we don't get the heaps of snow outside the window, the sleety roads or the joys of godly white crystals raining from the sky -- and within an hour here there will be a luscious blue sky over head -- but, the chill factor inside our homes at night-time is the price we pay for a dire lack of government services & modern amenities. of course, after so many years, i'm used to it, i.e. until winter comes and we crowd our space heaters in the evening & snuggle next to each other & our rubber water bottles at night.
if anyone's looking for a good holiday read, i highly recommend, "an inheritance of loss' by kiran desai. for anyone w/ some affection for beloved south asia or simply interested in how the mad rush to globalization affects the lingering, chattering & revolutionary classes, it's a beautiful, funny &, of course, slightly tragic story. as some may know, kiran just won the british booker prize for this novel. shaks & i loved it. although it was lambasted here by a writer who felt that she was too racist toward the nepalis. not exactly my impression (it's a novel, after all...). but then that may say something about the vulnerable state of the nepali identity these days given all the whiplashes of political fate and uncertainty in the country over the past few year years. sometimes we, too, feel like one of kiran's characters whose fate is wrapped up in larger issues & events outside of their control...
it sounds early, but we just used our latent nw (or, as ez says w/ a smile: northworst...) miles for a nearly six week trip to europe & the states next summer (even though i'll have only four weeks of official vacation...). we don't really have any plans, but it seemed wise, if we were going to draw down some of the 400,000 miles that i'd accumulated over the years, to book early -- so absolutely unlike us!! ;-) the boys are already scheming to dump us for the ten days in europe so that ez can run around copenhagen w/ his buddy, oliver, while josh may join lisa, his german girlfriend, in deutschland or flee together to spain. i had hoped to go together for a short walk in the swiss alps, but the teenagers are looking past their parents already, alas. then, a month looking at colleges in america, maybe a week in the adirondacks, time w/ family and, no doubt, a strong urge to get home to our own beds & lives toward the end of that time...
more closer to the horizon, over new year's, we are off to scott's new riverine home south of phnom penh. he's so excited by this latest wonder in his life and, it seems, to have been a joyous salve for the passing of his two biggest daughters from the home and the compounded rigors of a life in the un system. the last two thanksgivings, my amherst friend & best man had come up here to enjoy a bit of autumn while spending a week w/ us in kathmandu, so i'm glad to return the friendship and get away from the winter cold. we usually have gone to thailand, but i'm off there these days, w/ too much commericialism and the after-affects of the tsunami still in my short-term memories. a quiet week on a river in cambodia, reading, swimming, chatting sounds best.
i was, curiously, last night thinking, too, of my friend gary's lakeside home in wisconsin. shaks, leah, ez & i were watching the movie, 'notebook', and there are lovely scenes of the main character in his small white boat out on his alabama lake. for some reason, i thought of gary & his w/end retreat and how fortunate he must be to have a place of quiet & solitude.
sometimes, i think i'm getting ready to retreat from the world... is that ever possible?
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