Thanksgivingtime

Time is getting short before New Year's Eve, which will signify imminent departure! With friends visiting and finals looming, it's hard to get in all the preparation I had planned. There was so much I wanted to study before going...and I'm still hoping to at least be able to touch my toes before starting intensive yoga work. It's all a reminder of how harried and unexamined my life is--I'm tempted to say here, in New York, but the truth is that geographical location has little to do with it. Hopefully some methods for living differently will have a chance to crystallize while I'm abroad.

Meanwhile, in lieu of actually doing what I planned to for preparation, I picked up a package of "Pack This!" papers from Urban Outfitters to save time on making an inventory list. As for the mental and emotional preparation, the LonelyPlanet guide to Nepal is on my dresser--where it's been sitting for a month, untouched. The culture shock won't be real until the experience begins in earnest. Amazing how we go around trying to shock ourselves...even without realizing it, people are always fighting to wake up and get out of the ruts we're in. But there are so many habits to break, and so many more we can't even see. I hope Nepal will be a shock for at least the first week or so. I hope I can come up against something new every day I'm there, intentionally. Once I heard some advice to "do something every day that scares you", which sounds like a good idea. I suppose the first step is to recognize what I'm afraid of. This is always the essential question; why am I going in the first place? What was it inside me that made the decision to go to Nepal? The purpose of the trip in my life overall almost certainly won't be the same as the reason I decided to go.

So, tonight I buy the tickets and make things even more concrete. Hopefully it won't be more than $1800 or so. Fingers crossed to find a good deal and not have to resort to a travel agent...