Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown

For all of my Simpson College friends out there, you might want to sit down for this one.

Before I get to the “mind blowing” portion of my story, let me tell you a little about Nepal, particularly Kathmandu, as I’ve experienced it thus far.

Kathmandu is like nothing that I have ever seen before. The city is extremely crowded and polluted. The streets and sidewalks (if they exist) are in disrepair. It is often hard to look up while walking because you are constantly looking down to make sure that you don’t step in or on anything that you probably shouldn’t. There are no road signs. There are no street names. There are no lanes. At first glance, it appears that there are no traffic laws or rules. One thing that is not lacking, however, is traffic. Cars, motorcycles, buses, minibuses, taxis, tuk tuks, bicycles, and pedestrians weave in and out of each other in a terrifying dance orchestrated by skillful driving and car horns. I would never trust myself to drive a car in such traffic, as crossing the street is a task in and of itself.

 

Now…on to my story. Yesterday, my three roommates and I had just caught a taxi (or rather bartered for one) and were on our way to the Fulbright Commission for our second day of training. We were in a sea of vehicles, but directly in front of us was something special….something very unexpected. On the back window of the little white car was a window sticker. When I saw it, I had to do a double take and thought, “Could it be? There’s no way.” I asked Virginia, who was sitting in the front seat, to take a picture so that I could zoom in on the sticker, expecting my original thought to be dismissed. But sure enough, in red and gold, were the words SIMPSON COLLEGE. My first reaction at this point was to slightly freak out. Honestly, what are the chances? Not only was I in a different country, but I was in a city of this size. My second reaction was to think, “There is no way anyone will ever believe me.” So I took a picture for proof. :)