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About two months before my departure to Nepal, Ram sent me a text stating that his wife, Laxmi, was extending an invite to me to stay with them in their house in Kathmandu prior to our trek to the Everest Base Camp. I was very touched by this offer and accepted it without a moment’s hesitation. During those three weeks in Nepal, in addition to trekking to the Base Camp, I was privileged to visit the most amazing sights in Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. After the trek, Ram and I were joined by Laxmi and their son, James, and the four of us flew to the lakeside resort of Pokhara located at the footsteps of the Annapurna Mountain Range. We visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and came with a bus tour that we will never forget. While getting to know each other, we saw the most amazing sights of nature and architecture.  These experiences and places will be etched in my mind and heart forever; however, the time I spent with Laxmi and Ram in their house in Kathmandu, I will treasure the most.

The first picture brings the biggest smile to my face. James is wearing a Las Vegas Golden Knights t-shirt and hat; we are drinking my father’s Polish tincture that I had brought with me. Later on Ram opened up Nepali, 8848 Everest Vodka and Devine Wine.  As it was right after Christmas, we also shared in a Polish Christmas Eve tradition of breaking “oplatek”. We laughed and ate delicious food that Laxmi had prepared with her nephew and served on beautiful brass dishes.

These encounters show how deeply interconnected we are. We may be born in different parts of the world, live in different sets of circumstances, our core fabric may be stitched and influenced by different cultural norms or traditions, but when we meet eye-to-eye and open our homes to each other, we realize that there is more that connects us than separates us, that we are more alike than different. I will be eternally grateful for Laxmi and Ram’s hospitality and the kindness they showed to me during my stay in Nepal, and it is my deepest desire that one day I will be able to host them in my home in Las Vegas.