By Emily Faulkner
In our time together on campus, we spent our weekends on a variety of enriching field trips. We were a big crew of 17 students, 3 faculty and 2 lovely Nepali guests, Nicky Chetri and Bhagwati Pun. Our first trip was to the St. Louis Gurdwara on Sunday after week one, where we sat in on the prayer service and enjoyed a free, tasty lunch in the Gurdwara, experiencing firsthand the generosity that is core to Sikhism.
Saturday after week two, we took a fun excursion with our Nepali guests, Nicky and Bhagwati, to experience with them the beauty of St. Louis from the top of the arch. Next came a plentiful all-you-can-eat buffet at Everest Cafe, a local spot run by a Nepali doctor and his wife, in which some profits from the restaurant support medical care services back in Nepal. We ventured to the Missouri History Museum afterwards to check out the exhibit on the Mighty Mississippi.
Friday after week three we spent with kindergarteners from Principia lower school at the Hindu temple, followed by a trip to a Mosque, where we gained key insights from the charming Maysa Albarcha about all things Muslim; for example, she explained that women pray in a separate room from the men because no woman wants to worry about men staring at their behinds while they pray. The next day, we took our last group excursion for some team-building at the Halsey’s escape room in Alton (10/10 would recommend!)
Overall, these field trips were wonderful opportunities to gain exposure to religious beliefs we would encounter while in India and Nepal, and to bond as a group with our sweet Nepali guests.