I’m from Nepal, where the beautiful, breathtaking mountains touch the blue sky. I spent my first 5 years in Nepal and had already learned a lot about our culture there, our beliefs, the traditions, and my heritage. In Nepal the streets are small and all children from the neighborhood would come out to play and by the time we came home we would have had dirt and mud all over us. We would enjoy every bit of it. There were street store on every corner and kids would cross streets without having to be afraid and buy chips and candy. When the little ice-cream bike bells rang, the children would beg their parents for money for the best type of ice-cream, a koolfi. This topic may seem irrelevant to the readers here in United States, but Nepal is the second richest country in water resource but we still have problems with hydroelectricity. Everyday electric current goes off for hours and people are compelled to live in the darkness, but we still go on with our lives. Both of my grandparents from my moms and dads side had a farm with cows. Every day they would go outside and milk the cows, feed the cows, basically raise them. I remember when my brother went to Nepal and would always go herd the cows with my grandma. There are different stages in human life therefore; we must learn different knowledge and skills. In Nepal real learning age begins at the age 5 years and above, every day I came home with a giant backpack full of books and never ending homework. As I grew up I would sometimes see poor people living in tents outside near dusty roads making them unhealthy. In Nepal many kids didn’t have good clothes, food, schools and medicine and some didn’t have anything. Not everyone can be lucky but if you are you could always share some of it to people who aren’t that fortunate. Most Nepali families were fighting for daily needs but I’m proud to say that even though Nepal has a poor environment, every kid are still bright and have a lot of potential when they will have opportunity.

It was December 2009 my life turned to another chapter. My mom and I were headed to a journey to The United States of America, where most Nepalese would think of it as heaven. When I first got off the plane and went inside the airport I thought to myself for a second, if this is what it looks like inside then outside is going to be way more exciting. When I went outside I saw perfect roads, there were stoplight and signs everything was very well organized. There was no littering, fresh green grass, beautiful structured houses and better living facilities. Once I started to settle in, I noticed that so many things were different. We couldn’t go outside alone because it didn’t feel safe but in Nepal I felt like I owned the streets. After I moved to Gaithersburg there were many kids and the neighborhood was lovely. The kids would go out to the park at mid day and came home with sweat on their faces. At school the teachers respected the students unlike Nepal where students would get punishment and abused for mistakes. Herein the U.S. we had less homework to relive our stress. School schedules are very organized and equally separated for each subject. After school, the kids in my neighborhood would finish homework and go to the park. Everyone accepted each other as they were. In America there was more equality between race, gender and beliefs.

When I went back to Nepal at the age of 10 so many things had changed and improved. The buildings, offices, roads, houses, etc. People came up with solutions for temporary problems. More equality has been spread around the country. Still after the horrible earthquake disaster Nepal has still come this far. A lot of people have persistence and don’t give up. Yes America has better education, medical, living facilities but both people work hard to live. They both have to work to earn money and use that money to buy food and other things to keep them and their family living. No matter the differences between America and Nepal, no matter how many cons there are in Nepal’s environment, it will always be my mother land I will always love that amazing place.

By: Aishwarya Laxmi Niroula