Since my departure to America has met the one month mark, I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the relativity of time. It’s crazy to think about myself a year ago, when I had just decided I would study abroad in Nepal, and the subsequent months of anticipation. Once I finally arrived in Nepal, it was as if the past few anxious months had only been a week – the fact that I was actually living in Nepal seemed to creep up on me so suddenly.
I got here and for the first six weeks time seemed to pass unbareably slowly. In the midst of my worst bouts of home-sickness, when all I wanted to do was be back in Colorado surrounded by the comforts of a familiar life and people I loved, I remember waking up in the morning and telling myself “only three more months, you can do this.” Every day seemed to be ten days packed into one and when I compared the time I had been in Nepal with what was still to come my heart yearned to be back in the US.
After Kathmandu grew on me and I began to truly love Nepal it was as if my time here was already over. Although I still had over a month left of my stay, I found it sad that just as I was beginning to love Kathmandu it was time to leave. Since my mind has been set on the beauty of this country all of a sudden time starts to move so fast, and now in less than three weeks I’ll find myself sitting in Chicago longing for mountain views, dalbhaat and the countless wonderful people I’ve met during my stay.
The lesson of time is an important one. Reflecting on the extreme relatively of it reminds me to be always grateful, stay positive, and most of all to live in the moment. When we forget these things and become distracted we let life pass us by.