changing direction

Admittedly, I have not met many non-Nepali people whilst I have been in Kathmandu but those I have met have been so inspiring. It seems that Nepal attracts people who have, without quite knowing why, been drawn here and now they are here they can finally breathe again (despite the insane amount of pollution) and start life again and never plan to leave again. Take Jane, Jane is in her late 40s, worked in London selling photocopiers, owned a flat, made good money. One day she was trudging through the rain across another miserable, grey business park somewhere near Stratford (east London, not upon Avon). When she finally reached her destination, soaked through and pissed off (her new suit ruined) it turned out that the person she was meant to meet wasn't in. Jane stood there for a while, rain dripping off her nose, running down her neck, she looked around her, at the buildings and the greyness and her ruined new suit and she picked up her mobile, dialled her boss and quit. Just like that, she quit and now she is living in Nepal.
I know I have a bad reputation for encouraging people to quit and leave and run out of London yelling "don't stop til you can see the sky again"...and I know this is not always the answer, and having left London I miss it and I know I'm not ready to turn my back on it yet. But man, you've got to have respect for Jane, for saying you know what this isn't the way I wanted my life to be, for giving up the money and the job and the security and all the things we tell ourselves we need to be happy and getting on plane and landing in Kathmandu and feeling happy and alive with nothing.

And then there is Nara. Nara is another wonderful Australian lady I have spent many laughter filled evenings with. She is so alive and full of spark and has really found her smile in Kathmandu. Nara has been hospitalised with food poisoning, has huge marks all over her legs from a bad case of bed bugs, has a dog that (is lovely) but regularly tears up her apartment or pisses in her bed, has no money and yet she is so happy here. Now, she is desperately trying to find a way to stay here and live in a mud hut, on a hill, in a village, on a patch of land that a Nepali family (who have practically adopted her) have given her. Yay Nara!