EYE Carumba "What a Wonderful World"

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We experienced how wonderful our world is. It began with a meeting in a conference room here at the Mt. Everest Hotel. The meeting was to give us all an understanding about what we will be doing while we are here in Kathmandu. I looked across the conference table and saw Noora, Eli and Pramila sitting across from me. Behind them was a giant world map. The song, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong came to mind. It is so beautiful to be here with all of these wonderful people from two opposite sides of the world. After we heard about what we will be doing this week. Rajendra B. Shrestra (Team Leader of the GSE team from Nepal who will be traveling to USA in April), asked what we would like to do. I asked if someone could please take me to the eye doctor.

When we arrived on Monday, my right eye was very red and painful. This is why I wanted to go to the eye doctor. I'm thankful that I was in the company of Rotarians. A phone call was placed to one of the Rotarian's who is an Ophthalmologist in Kathmandu. Within minutes my eye appointment was set. Vinod (GSE Chair) drove me to the office of Dr. Chandra Lekha Tuladhar. Team member Sarah Patrick accompanied us as well. Dr. Chandra Lekha Tuladhar looked and my eyes and told me that I was very lucky part of my eye layer did not rip off. Apparently, it was a very bad idea for me to wear my contacts on the fight here. The air pressure from the flight for a long period of time cause my eyes to become very dry and irritated. The Dr. said some people lose a layer of their eye when they take their contacts out with this type of condition. She gave me eye drops and I will return on Friday to pick up a new pair of contacts. She did not want to give me contacts until my eye is healed because she thought I would wear them. (She is right about that). I'm very grateful that I was able to receive help from this Dr. who also happens to be a Rotarian. She is very dedicated to clean water projects and youth projects. It was very interesting to see how the filter system works for the water.

When we returned, Pramilla (Becki's host) took us shopping for saris. It was so much fun to see all the colorful materials and try on this cultural clothing. Eli and Vinod were very helpful in guiding us towards the right selection. There are so many beautiful saris, it's difficult to make the right selection. After we all made our choice, we headed to Pramilla's house and she helped us put our saris on in a hurry because we had to be to our dinner party.

The dinner party was held at Chopsticks, a restaurant owned by Nepal GSE team member Srijan Shrestha. This restaurant would be a hit in Los Angeles. The food is DELICIOUS and the environment is fun. It was so much fun to talk with everyone from Nepal. The people here are so beautiful. They have lovely and kind spirits. One of my favorite moments was when we were dancing. Rajendra B. Shrestha and Eli are quite the dancers. :)

Overall, I would say that this experience in Nepal reminds me of how wonderful our world is.

Best wishes to all.

Michelle

P.S. I promise I will NEVER EVER complain about the traffic in Los Angeles ever again.