Yoga, Education and Cultural Exchange in Nepal

Recently Perki inteviewed Kristie McCourt. Read on to learn more about Kristie and her experiences in Nepal.

Perki: How, what and/or who started you on the road to training for distance?

Kristie: My friend Keli asked me if I wanted to run a marathon, I figured why not.  I had never even run a 5K, but I played lacrosse and was pretty active at the time.  We ran with Team and Training and raised funds for the leukemia lymphoma society. 

P:What is your motivation?

K:I love it!  Also, the running community, I’ve met so many interesting and wonderful and compassionate people through running.   

P:What has been your hardest lesson to date?

K:I think I am still learning it.  Coming back from an injury or hiatus is difficult, your head wants you to be in one place and your body is saying something else.  But it is OK to just be where you are.  

P:Tell us about a EUREKA! moment.

K: When I ran a PR for my marathon, I had trained a lot and really focused on fuel etc.  I was not hurting afterwards and thought wow, this training stuff really works

Perki: You just returned from a trip to Nepal with Buildon.org Why did you take this trip?

Kristie: I started doing yoga two years ago. I wanted to check into becoming a yoga instructor. I wasn’t planning on doing it so quickly but when I saw this trip as part of the teacher training I just knew I had to do it. The purpose of the trip was to raise funds to build a school in the village we visited and to interact with the community in the spirit of education and cultural exchange. The education tie-in rang true to me.

P: You had to raise a lot of money and travel a good distance. Was it worth it?
K: (without hesitation) YES.

P: Did the trip or the destination match your expectations?

K: I don’t think I had any expectations. That is a first for me. I hadn’t researched the trip or tried to control every aspect of it. I think the living conditions were better than I would have expected though. We stayed with families in the village. My roommate and I stayed with on family in a 3 room hut. It was clean but they had no water and the electricity did not work.

P: Where did you stay?

K: We stayed in a village called Ganeshpur.   Our original destination had to be changed because of the weather and inaccessibility. 

P: How did you communicate with the family you stayed with or the villagers?

K: Mostly sign language. We studied a little Tharu language before going but with the change of destination that study didn’t help us. This village spoke Nepali. I think. Sign language and was the most effective.  We also had a translator with us should the need have arisen. 

P: So what was a typical day like?

K: In the mornings our group would meet to do yoga together before breakfast. The children in the village would watch and imitate us. That was very cute. After breakfast we spend about 3 hours each day digging the foundation. We used handmade shovels and hoes. We also hammered rocks that they will use to make cement.

After that we had lunch followed by some cultural activity. One involved a panel of people from the village exchanging questions and answers with us. We shared information about or respective lives. The people from the village could not understand the concept of separation or divorce where children moved between parents’ homes. It was such a foreign concept to them.  The villagers also performed traditional dances and songs for us and we danced a lot. 

P: Did you finish digging the foundation?

K; Yes we did with the help of the villagers. 

P: So what happens next? How do you know it will become a school?

K: The village makes a contract with Build On to finish the school. We visited a finished school while we were there. That was fun. We got to teach the kids at that school. I showed one class “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes”
P: (groans) Really? Just one of many nightmare songs for a parent.
K: Maybe but it’s easy to teach and learn.

P: So what were the biggest takeaways from the trip for you? What left the biggest impression on you?

K;  I couldn’t tell who was happier us that we were there or them that we were there.  I was reminded that no matter where we come from or how we live we have the same desires, and insecurities.  
P: Can you give us an example of that?
K: A group of women asked me to photograph them and as I was getting the camera set the woman began to fix their hair, and clothes.  Also, the outpouring and support for the new school from the community and their investment in it. 

P:What is your favorite sound in training?

K:Silence, except for feet hitting the pavement, also rain drops on a quiet morning. 

P:What is your least favorite sound in training?

K:Car horns

P:What is your favorite workout?

K:A long run or tempo run followed by yoga

P:What is your least favorite workout?

K:Speed work, I’ll run hills any day over running circles on a track

P:If you could spend a day with any athlete present or past, who would it be? Why?

K:Kathrine Switzer despite the odds against her she knew what she wanted and she went after it.