Catalyst: A Hike Up Bald Mountain with Refugees from Nepal
By Kathryn Stam
I invite my Bhutanese-Nepali refugee friends to go for an easy hike to the top of Bald Mountain, their first time since being resettled to the U.S. three years ago, after living for eighteen years in Nepali refugee camps. They tell me, “We know only Walmart and the Burmese store,” but I know they exaggerate, because they found a farm to buy goat meat and bulk potatoes. It is typical fall day in Central New York. The leaves are changing in Utica and I imagine they are near peak up in Old Forge. I instruct Shyam and his family to eat before we go, which everyone knows means spicy rice and lentils, and that they need to wear sneakers and not climbing gear because this is just a hill, not a mountain like in Nepal. We confirm the details- there should be about 7 or 8 people going.
"The Rai Cousins on Bald Mt., Oct. 2014."
By Kathryn Stam
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