Following a traffic accident, when the other party, unable to get their way, though they were at fault, lodged a "case" against me with the police. When I was told that, I was scared. I didn't know that the trauma of incarceration in Qatar had also engendered another feeling: fear of police cases and the the police.
Children want to impress and please adults they look up to, whether the adults are family members, teachers, or members of their local community. As a teacher, if you have high expectations of your students, by and large, they will do everything they can to meet those expectations, partly to impress and please you.
This is a very feel-good story of a former student of mine who, as a HL IB Chemistry student, rose up to meet my expectations, succeeded AND went on to do a PhD in Chemistry at Oxford in the UK.
Near the end of my academic career at Grinnell College, I wanted to "go see the world" after graduation. However, even until just months before graduation, I had really done nothing towards that goal! And yet, I ended up working, living, traveling the world for 19 years following my graduation from Grinnell in May 1994!
In Nepal, you pay a price if you, as someone Nepali society considers to not be sufficiently meritorious, comment on the issues the society suffers from or holds up a mirror.
Another way the universe appeared to have conspired to send me home was the racism it sent my way! ;) I experienced a lot of harassment and abuse from locals in Baku as well as in Doha. I was also profiled by establishments in both the cities angering me greatly and compounding my depression, as well as adding to my weariness with moving and traveling. Nepal's attractiveness had been increasing steadily.
Grinnell College and my Grinnellian community of friends and peers have humbled me once again!
