Finally, I’m over the moon to have arrived back in Nepal. This return feels like coming home where I find myself wandering through the narrow streets of Kathmandu Thamel. I walk from my hotel to some regular restaurants that are still there after my 3 years of absence. Slowly I walk across the busy street so that the hordes of taxis and motorcycles, honking their horns, can make their way around me. I’m greeted by a group of giggling girls in blue school uniforms. They clutch their notebooks under their arms as they fold their hands together and shout “Namaste” to me with a big smile.

I continue my way through Thamel where I am yelled at every five meters by taxi drivers and market vendors.
At the second busy street I pass I let the traffic find its way around me again. Because that’s how it goes here. No one will stop to let you cross, but if you move your feet slowly you will make it across in one piece.

I pass a temple where a lady burns incense and rings loudly, to awaken the gods.
Looking at the incense, the smoke of which fills the air in graceful movements, I realize that this is the scent of Nepal and the place where I feel so good and that gives me the opportunity to do what I love to do most… Empowering for Change.