Harmonies in the Dark

          On our walks back from Fulbright each evening, I've started making a habit of stopping at local cafes with big tables to color. Yes, color. Funny enough this the largest piece of homework we've had over these past few weeks - coloring flashcards, cuts out fruit, and paper teddy bears dressed in patterned pajamas. The reason I often stop at a cafe is because I know the moment I get home, no coloring will get done. There are too many better distractions - well really just one distraction.

           Picture this.. the lights have gone out, again, thanks to load shedding. With head lamps perched on our foreheads, Emily, Caitlin, Alanna, and I are sitting huddled together, half on the floor and half on the sofa, guitars in laps and lyrics typed out on a computer screen. Our apartment is tucked in far enough to be blocked from the sounds of traffic. Instead of the blaring horns and rumbling engines that have become so normal, harmonies swirl around us in the dark as we strum and sing and strum and sing. It makes for the perfect evenings - which is why we often don't put down the guitars for hours. Emily is teaching me to pick individual strings and we're both training Caitlin to go easily between the chords of G and C. I already know that it's one of my favorite memories from Nepal, and something I miss terribly once we're all at our separate placement.

       But having a bit of music during this trip has been a completely unexpected joy. I hope to use the guitar in English classes and maybe in after school clubs with students. The best part is that Emily is only a 20 minute ride up the hill from me - so we can always get together to sing together on our day off.

     As we leave for our families, there are going to be some big hugs going around. I'm going to miss these five other girls that have become my family here - who I've sat with so many time, sipping coffee or mint lemonades, marveling over history and philosophy and life with, and bursting into long fits of laughter with. It does make you treasure relationships and the people you meet... and I'm thankful there will be even more special people entering my life on Monday. I can't even know now what they might mean to me in the end.