Himalayan Healers

If you haven’t lived in Nepal, you might not be aware of the profound level of freedom that exists there in comparison to your average suburb in Generica. The type of freedom I’m referring to is the freedom from restrictions or rules, and the level of acceptance for just about anything. There’s a certain amount of magic to that that is tough to explain.

With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that when Peace Corps asked me to leave Nepal – giving me 4 total days to visit my post, say my goodbyes to people I had spent 2+ years of intense struggle and joy with, pack up all my goodies, and fly out, leaving my projects and passion unfinished in Nepal – that I decided the best course of action was to buy myself a tailored white silk suit, rent an elephant, and slowly ride to Peace Corps headquarters to hand in my resignation and letter of protest, before flying out.

(Now, depending upon who you ask Peace Corps either “kicked me out”, or I “resigned”, but we’ll leave those details to the Congressional Inquiry that was called on my behalf as a result)

Causing a 4 hour traffic jam in front of all the major Embassies while slowly ambling along on an elephant, drinking warm beer in the morning, wearing a white silk suit, and stopping every 10 meters so that a local could offer pooja to the elephant was an amazing experience, if not a little absurd. The elephant is a sacred symbol in Nepal, and my parody of an adventure carried with it more meaning to it than initially meets the eye. While the neo-colonialists I passed in the Embassies may not have “got it”, many Nepalis did, and that was part of the point.

One advantage to this course of action was that it resulted in me leaving in a very good mood, rather than leaving with a sense of anger or frustration. I did NOT want to leave Nepal, but sometimes life doesn’t go your way. Because of the completely absurd adventure and parody of riding an elephant to resign, I literally laughed all the way home to America. What a great way to go.

Another advantage was that it called attention to my situation and led many people in Nepal to ask just why would this Peace Corps Volunteer do something as absurd as ride an elephant to resign? Good question. Important question.

The Kathmandu Post ran a comic on the front page that week about it, and the word got out around town that maybe there was more going on than the official version at that office. Maybe there was a problem or two…

As a result, I gained more local friends in Nepal who came to know of the risks I took, and the stand that I took. That is for another story, though…

After landing in America I enjoyed more than my share of cheeseburgers, tasty beer, and sushi, and made the only decision that made any sense at all: Fly back to Nepal on my own and continue the community projects I had started as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

While I did have several job offers in America – including a publishing company that would allow me to pick any city in America to live in and work from – I made the decision to take another risk and follow my heart.

This would eventually lead to the creation of Himalayan Healers, with a few adventures along the way…