Last night I had a dream that I was caught in a tornado. It was quite a thrill to be flying around in the air, and fascinating to be hundreds of feet above the ground. But it was also scary and dangerous. I needed to find protection, a shield to protect me from the raging wind and shrapnel. Eventually, I saw the front part of a car flying past me in the tornado, so I grabbed on and hid behind it's strong frame. I was safe.
I see this dream as a reflection of this past week in my orientation to Kathmandu. I am constantly in a whirlwind of new and fascinating. Hindu bells chiming at dawn and dusk. Banging on the roof of a tempo when you want to get off. Greeting others with "Namaste." Eating hot dal bhat with my bare hands. People. Colors. Ways of dressing. Simply crossing a street is all new!
While as beautiful as this colorful whirlwind has been, I am also starting to realize it's challenges. Not knowing the language makes everything so much more difficult, and is such a barrier to building relationships. Beyond just the language differences, it is the daily cultural interactions that are so easy to mess up. Like accepting food with my left hand instead of my right. Or handing the cashier a ridiculous assortment of rupees because the different colors, sizes, and Nepali numbers makes me frazzled. Or awkward silence. Am I doing something wrong/culturally weird? Are Nepali people just quiet at a moment like this? Are we both just muted by our inability to freely speak our first language?
So amidst this crazy, awesome, scary tornado of SALT in Nepal; what will be my shield? What do I have in Kathmandu to protect me through the storm? Even as I write this post, there are cracks of monsoon thunder and strikes of lightening. But the sweet smell of rain wafting through my window reminds me that the Divine is in this storm. God brought me here. And God will be that strong frame I can hide behind. A protection that is always within me!
