Traveling to Nepal: Reflections and Revelations
My feet swayed, suspended in the air. Thin-trunked trees towered above me, their snaking branches gently waving as a delicate breeze swept through the forest. I took a slow inhale. My gaze was locked on fluttering leaves that obscured the sky. Patches of blue occasionally peeked through the canopy layer. Streaks of sunlight were visibly glowing and I savored their warmth as we moved through the rays. Sweet melodies echoed throughout the forest — a soft hum, a low buzzing, a chorus of chirps, and the rhythmic footsteps of the massive creature I found myself atop. I was riding an elephant through the forest in Chitwan, Nepal. The moment felt infinite.
While the moments immersed in nature in Chitwan were unbelievably special, the true heart of my experience in Nepal was in Bungamati, a small town south of the capital city of Kathmandu. For two weeks, along with twelve juniors and seniors from my high school, I stayed at the Tri-Ratna Cooperative School and taught photography classes. Each teaching group worked with seven secondary school students, ages 11–13. During morning classes, we led creative games and activities, introduced photography terminology, and showed students how to navigate their cameras. In the afternoons, our students would guide us through the town on “photo walks,” bringing us to temples, farms, family houses, and viewpoints. We were as much their students as they were ours.
I shot and edited a short film touring the school with one of my close friends on the trip, Olive. She and I woke up early the morning before we left to make the video:
Am I really here? I often asked myself this question during my time in Nepal. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have my phone. I wasn’t checking my email every morning or reading the news. All that existed was the moment I was in. I stayed up journaling every night and woke up every morning giddy with excitement and anticipation: Who knows what the day could hold? The circumstances I found myself in were so far removed from anything I had ever experienced that reality seemed inconceivable. One day I was riding an elephant next to a mother and baby rhino, the next I was canoeing beside dozens of alligators, the next I was holding hands with two of my students, wobbling as we walked over a suspension bridge. And while each day felt endless, the adventure was over before I knew it. When I returned home, and people asked, “How was Nepal?!”, I found myself speechless. I would respond, “It was…so beautiful.” But the words felt empty. Nothing I said could communicate what the experience was like for me and the twelve other juniors and seniors who went on the trip.
Jeffrey Romanow, a photography and literature teacher at the Institute for Collaborative Education, offers the trip through the Youth Arts Writing and Photography Program. For six months, we prepared for the 18-day journey. We took Nepali language and culture lessons, designed lesson plans for our photography classes, organized fundraisers, and practiced teaching. On February 22, 2023, we flew to Dubai, and then Kathmandu. I had never been so far from home, and some of us had never been outside the country. Realizing that my feet were touching land on the other side of the planet was surreal. Throughout the trip, I consistently reminded myself of how lucky I was.
It would be impossible to choose the most special moments, but there are a few that stood out above all else.
1. Celebrating Holi
We were in Nepal from February 22 — March 12. On March 6, we celebrated Holi with our students. Holi (pronounced Hole-ee) is a Hindu festival of colors, love, and spring. It dates back to the 4th century CE and is celebrated by throwing gulal (colored powder) and water. We ran around for half an hour with our students, chasing each other, doubling over laughing, with smiles stuck on our faces. By the end, we were unrecognizable — covered in color, faces only visible through the whites of our eyes and teeth.
2. Attending A Wedding Reception
We had the opportunity to attend a wedding reception in Bungamati. Everyone in the town was invited, and since we were staying at the school, invitations were extended to us as well. We were fitted for traditional clothing and shared a very special meal with each other. This was the most authentic experience of Nepali culture I had during the entire trip. We sat on mats along the perimeter of the room, backs to the wall, legs crossed. We ate with our right hands, trying a variety of delicious foods. It was incredible.
3. Seeing the Himilayas
One morning, we left the school at 4:15 am and took an hour-long bus ride up the mountains. When the bus slowed to a halt, the sky was still flushed with deep indigo. We climbed a few sets of stairs, the sky brightening as we neared our destination: a small viewpoint tower adorned with prayer flags. The rungs of the ladder leading to the top platform were strikingly cold. As we huddled on the platform, our eyes wide and teeth chattering, the sun began to emerge from the horizon. Thick haze blanketed the sun so much that we were able to stare directly at it for the first moments after dawn. Rather than a streaky splotch of glaring yellow, the sun rose as a perfect pink-orange circle. For the first time, I could truly appreciate the size of the sun. It was magical. I remember turning around as something caught my eye. I squinted in disbelief. “Guys… Is that a mountain or cloud?” I spoke with hushed excitement. In the far distance, the peak of one of the Himalayas rose above the cloud layer. Just the snow-covered tip was visible, yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
4. Writing Our Song
While in Nepal, two friends and I wrote lyrics together. Ella, Ethlyn, and I are in the songwriting elective together at my school, and we play with our band Alchemy. One evening, Jeffrey found us a guitar at the school. We spent the night talking about how we could express what the trip was like for us in a song. I scribbled down our ideas in my journal as Ella strummed the guitar and Ethlyn hummed gracefully. This is what we came up with:
We flew across the world
Excitement in our hearts
It was just the start
We landed half past six
Smiles stuck on our faces
Ready to experience new places
Mountains hid behind heavy haze
My eyes couldn’t land their gaze
I looked around in disbelief
Filled me up with a strange relief
The sky was painted pink
The moon hung upside down
All around me echoed new sounds
Organized chaos filled the roads
A way of life I’ve never known
When we returned to school, it became our band’s first song, titled: “A Strange Relief — Nepal Song.” I remember getting chills when we played all together for the first time. And then, in June, we were given the unique opportunity by our music teacher, Albert Marqués, to professionally record our song with Gary’s Electric Studio. As we recorded, I closed my eyes, thinking back to writing the song in Bungamati, when the trip felt infinite. A wave of sadness and deep appreciation rolled over me. We had truly come full circle.
You can listen to the song in the video below, but soon you will be able to find it on Spotify :)
My time in Nepal was transformative. I relearned the value of patience and acceptance. My ideas were challenged. I created life-long friendships. I am eternally grateful for the experience. I will end this piece with an excerpt from my journal entry on March 12 — the last day of the trip:
“It is 12:51 am. We are sitting on the plane in Kathmandu. My feet have offically touched Nepali land for the last time. Perhaps one day life will take me back. I feel conflicted. There is still that deep loss — the trip is over and I will miss it dearly. Yet I am also excited for the next step of this journey — back home, back to school. And the adventure continues. It’s all part of one long adventure. Looking at it that way is comforting and exciting. I will try to remain in that mindset for as long as possible. Forever, possibly. It just keeps going. This infinite moment.”
