“Yoga was a great experience.  Rupesh was amazingly patient and helpful.  He had great enthusiasm for his work and class didn't just end with poses, he took the time to explain the basics of why yoga is so useful to the body and how it should be used as more than just a way to keep flexible and in shape.”

"I'm not going to pretend that I've spent years admiring the beauty of Tibetan carpets or that my lifelong dream has been to learn the art of weaving; to be honest I've always just taken carpets as something pretty to cover an otherwise boring floor or wall.  Since spending a week doing a weaving internship, I've added weaving to my list of simple things that are mind-blowingly amazing, and when I'm buying souvenirs from my trip, I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to bargain down the price on a hand woven carpet.  Weaving definitely has a meditative quality to it.  It is so repetitive and focused that I find myself completely lost to motion of it.  Though not so focused that I don't take notice of the small puppy that would play with my balls of yarn, or the Nepali woman who was teaching us laughing.  When I finish my carpet, it will be a beautiful reminder of my experience in Nepal, the knots the perfect symbol for the individual ties I've made to people and places to form the overall image of a culture I've come to deeply appreciate."

“Perhaps the most amazing thing to me is the friendliness among the children.  Many young kids, boys and girls alike, walk along cheerfully with arms around each other, an activity might seem too touchy-feely to 8-year-old American boys.  There is a warmth among them that seems to identify with a universal model of childhood happiness.  In a world where video games and violence on television is virtually non-existent, kids here seem to live a happier and more carefree existence.  Coming from a mechanized, self-assured Western culture, I felt refreshed to see innocence embraced so openly, among children who need nothing more the their collective imaginations to entertain themselves.”

"For almost seven years I have been intrigued by the Tibetan culture and history.  Only through books and imagining in my mind's eye have I had a chance to experience the culture.  Over the last two weeks I have been able to live everyday life; cook, clean, talk, laugh, learn, and share with a unique traditional Tibetan family.  I lived with three women, from three generations. My grandmother (Momola), who is 83 years old, and my mother (Amala), were both born and grew up in Tibet.  In 1959 they fled with their family and the Dalai Lama from Tibet to Nepal where they currently live and work.  Tendol, my 25- year-old host sister, was born and raised in Kathmandu with her brother, sister and cousins.  All but Tendol are currently studying in America or India.  Their family runs a small handicrafts shop at the Boudha Stupa.  This small family has graciously taken me in and included me into the folds of their everyday life, and the stories of their history.  To hear the trials and triumphs, to understand the religion and culture from their point of view, to eat their amazing food and to learn their language is an experience that no book can explain, no words can describe.  I thank my host family from the bottom of my heart for their openness, hospitality, history, and for including me in their story."

"When we become ill it is believed to be due to an imbalance in these five elements within our bodies.  Tibetan medicine then treats each illness or disease with a combination of mineral, animal, and plant medicine in such a way that works to bring the body back into balance by treating our bodies with medicine made of the elements that we are lacking or have an imbalance of in our body. The philosophy within this embraces the Buddhist concept of interconnectedness that exists between each individual and the world we live in.  I was greatly inspired by the philosophy within Tibetan medicine as well as the wisdom, kindness, and friendship that the Amchi offered us."

"Both Leah and I felt incredibly blessed to have the experience to talk with and learn from Amchi (Doctor) Lopsang at the Shelkar Institute in Boudha.  We found ourselves not only learning about the foundations of Tibetan medicine, but also being able to discuss with the Amchi about how the medical situation has changed in Tibet since the Chinese occupation, as well as his more personal memories of and experiences in Tibet.  Each day we were greeted by his kindness, offered warm tea, and found ourselves in the presence of a wonderful teacher and new friend as we escaped the monsoon and entered into the institute filled with the aroma of medicinal plants.  While the students at the institute study for seven years to become Tibetan doctors, Leah and I were still able to get a small glimpse into the basics of Tibetan medicine."

"Going into the process of silver jewelry making, I must say I did not know what to expect at all.  The only thing that I knew about jewelry buying or making is shopping at Tiffany and Company.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of arts and craft that I have ever done.  From buying the silver and carrying it in a zip lock bag, melting it in the burning hot furnace, pouring that melting hot silver into a stick.  Then hours of smashing that little silver stick into the desirable shape and form, bending and molding that shape into a bracelet.  From having little silver pellets into a hard metal bracelet and polishing it, whether it is nice or not you will end up loving everything that you did, because it's your own sweat that went into it."?