17 Jan 18
Tuesday
Chitwan to Kathmandu
We left Chitwan this morning at 8:00. It’s 5:00 now and we are stranded by the road, 1.5 hours from Kathmandu by a broken gear on our bus.
The first stop we made for this problem was impressive- they had parts off the bottom of the bus and in a shop within a few minutes of stopping. Apparently this was a needed repair but did not solve the problem because we soon stopped again due to loud banging noises from under the bus. This time, they took off the universal joint to find several missing teeth. We are currently waiting for a new bus to come from Kathmandu to take us the rest of the way.
I just finished reading Hidden Figures and I hadn’t realized when I packed the book, the significance and connection it bears to this trip in themes of women’s empowerment. It leads me to back to the through of parallels. Women in so many nations, racial disparity in so many places. It’s human nature, it seems, to attempt to come out on top,and any difference is one we can identify as an excuse to do so. I like to think human nature is good and works for good of all, yet these patterns plague the world again and again.