Mount Everest from the sky
2/20/2010
I arrived at Nicole's through narrow streets in a taxi Nicole arranged before her trip to India. Only later I discovered Kathmandu is a city without addresses. Parvati and two dogs greeted me. Parvati is the house keeper, a beautiful soft-spoken Nepali woman in her early 30's with big gentle dark eyes. Much later when reading a yoga text, I learned that Parvati, means universal mother in sanscrit. I thought it could not have been a more appropriate name for her.
It is cool inside the house. Parvati showed me my room upstairs. There is a sign "Kim" on the door. Kim is Nicole's daughter. I asked Pavati to make me a tea. I chose a local Hymalaya herbal tea. Sipping my herbal tea in the dining room that opens to the sunny yard basking in the warm Nepali spring sun, taking a moment to allow my mind to settle in and detach from the overwhelming noise on the busy streets and looking out at a garden that is casually tended, it felt as if I just arrived in a French countryside...
The two dogs were stretching under the warm sun and occasionally barked. I could hear children's high voices from next door and the passing planes over the sky. The dining room is connected by a door to the living room. The living room is quite large, comfortably and casually furnished, all the colors are muted. The quietness of the space makes one feel a sense of serenity and peace as if you enter a place ideal for meditation. A piano is at one corner of the room, the song book opens at a page with Norah Jones' come away with me...
Nicole made my arrival as easy as possible. I am looking forward to meeting her after exchanging emails for a few weeks. Giles has asked me to play Cupid and buy a dozen roses for her since it is only a few days past Valentine's day. For me, the magic of Nepal maybe partly derives from the eyes of Giles.
After I had lunch, Amandine and Americ, the young couple who are also staying in the house got up. Amandine is full of bubbling energy. She has enormous impressive green eyes. Americ is warm and friendly with that je ne sais quoi French charm. He was trying to be helpful by showing me the map of Kathmandu and the weekly schedule of electricity cuts. I learned that there is about 10 hours each day of no electricity since last year. After sharing a lot of information with me, they went out.
I took a much deserved nap. Parvati woke me up to show me where to find drinking water before she left. It is getting dark but there is no electricity until later. I closed all the curtains and sat in the dark and savor the very quiet moment alone after a long long trip... the busy time with friends and family in the last few weeks, the excitement flying over mount Everest, the hustle and bustle on the roads, now all faded into a space that belongs to a recent yet now past...
This is a moment of a new arrival, arrival at a time and space that has been in my imagination for a while. Part of me is still trying to adjust to the fact that finally I am, in Nepal...
Nicole's neighborhood
