Am I in a dream?

By Nurit A.

By Nurit A.

I wake up, look out the window and think "is this real?" I have this desire to take you all on this special journey with me. It almost  feels too overwhelming to tell you everything because I am afraid of not being able to express it right. As Adam was saying the other day, “not even the pictures can show the exactness of the beauty of this place.” Now that I feel like I am truly part of Bhutan, that I am living my life here, I think I can start sharing with you what it has been like.

I have travelled to many places in my life, but I have never encountered such a magical place. My ears are wide open; everyone here has something to teach us. Just this morning as a friend of mine, Kinga, woke me up at 5:30 am to practice for the marathon; we saw sunflowers and she asked me “Do you eat sunflower seeds in your country?” I told her we did, and that it was delicious when it was grilled with salt. I asked her if they ate the seeds here and she said “no, it is considered a sin because it is said that if you eat one seed it is as if you were killing 500 monks.”  There are so many beliefs; so many sayings and each teach us about what it means to be human and to be part of this world while respecting the environment we live in. She also told me that Bhutanese are taught not to eat honey because each bee puts in so much work in making it, that it would be considered as stealing to take it. While we were running, she kept on stopping in the middle of the road in order to move the caterpillars back onto the grass so that people would not step on them. After our run we went to her room to have some green tea. While the water was boiling she sat crossed legged and started her morning prayer. Then she opened her eyes and asked me if I wanted to join her in meditating. I gladly accepted and we meditated facing the window overlooking the mountains.

Being surrounded by nature makes all the difference in my life. It invites me to find my inner peace in such a natural manner. Its so easy to forget that there is a whole other world that exists outside of Bhutan. I think its because I have been so concentrated on my life here. Every day feels like weeks because so much is going on. We are lucky to be surrounded by a forest and a  river. This gives us the opportunity to escape into the wilderness for some alone time. "I feel like a fairy," is what Ellie said the last time we went for a walk near the river. She's right, so many times I have felt like we were part of this fairy tale where anything could happen and it would feel completely normal. But this is real life, and yet I still can't get used to it.  

By Adam Goldberg

Ludivine de Rancourt (class 2013)