The past four weeks in Nepal has brought a variety of smells, colors, flavors and to the senses. Not only is the food in Nepal flavorful, it is litterally "finger lickin' good"! I say this because here in Nepal you eat with your "hand"(always the right). It is customary in this part of the world to do so for various reasons. On my trip down to Janakpur I joined my driver and his brother to a plate full of rice, dal, chutney, sag, and masala stewed chicken. Glancing out of the

Plastic litter fills the street. A man steps outside his home to toss a half a plate of food on the ground. A mix of organic and plastic "waste" burn on the street corner. This was a typical scene in the border town of Birgunj, in southern Nepal. I visited Birgunj with Dhiraj to pick up a used electric engine necessary to process the hemp fibers. Being on the border, the town is a hub for industrial goods. Mechanic's, welder's, and craft-mans' shops lined the main street. We

She who knows excellence, becomes excellent. She who knows stability, becomes stable. She who knows success, becomes successful. She who knows home, becomes home for others. — Chandogya Upanishad 5.1.1 Listed above is a quote from the Chandogya Upanishad's, one of the oldest of Hindu sacred texts. There is a lot of strength in this text, providing the reader with hope and confidence. These "lyrics" or stories have been passed down in regions all over Nepal and India. Unti

On Tuesday morning we woke up early and gathered supplies for plastering the wall of the house in the village. Although I was unsure of what to expect from the village and the hemp house, I assumed the houses there would be similar to many of the homes I saw on the roadside, a mix of bamboo, brick, and clay. We drove 10km from Janakpur, passing fields of wheat and beans just beginning to ripen for harvest. Before the heat of the day, people were out working, harvesting and pi