Dan, his dad and the porters were way ahead of us. Aunt Ethel, Mom and I were trailing behind.  It was mid-morning; we still had hours of trekking ahead of us.

Just across the ridge we heard some children whooping and goats
bleating.  We quickened our pace and came across a small herd of goats and a skinny cow tended by about half a dozen young children.

Just below the trail was a lone house surrounded by a small vegetable garden. It had a spectacular view of the valley below. At the sound of all the commotion, the door of the house flung open and the mother ran out waving what looked like a piece of paper.

We stopped. She scrambled up the terraced fields children in tow.  The piece of paper was a letter, a single sheet scrawled in pencil; in English in a childish hand. The letter was now worn. It had been opened and looked at numerous times.

She said, “A kind young couple took my oldest son to America.  He was nine. The letter is from him. I don’t know how to read.”

The son said he was going to school; he lived in a big house; he had nice clothes and toys and lots of nice things to eat. He did not say he missed his mother, his brothers and sisters. He did not say he was lonely and homesick. He did not say he was happy or unhappy.

He did say, “..sometimes I dream about home…”

There was no return address on the envelope. We asked her if she knew where he was. She did not. The letter was two years old.  He had not written since.

We translated the letter for her.  She clutched the letter to her heart and thanked us with smiles and tears.  She said Americans are good people. They are rich and know how to read and write.  She was sure that he was happy and some day he would return.

She told us to wait and made her way to the vegetable garden.  She returned with some mustard and turnip greens for us.

When we translated the letter we did not mention his dream of home.

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“Saag Dreams” (Recipe)

Nepali saag (greens)

Ingredients:
1 lb. turnip and mustard greens, washed, peeled, torn into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cooking oil
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat three tablespoons of cooking oil.
2. Fry mustard seeds and cumin seeds until they turn dark.
3. Add garlic, ginger, ground pepper, and turmeric; fry for a minute or so on low heat.
4. Add the greens to the spice-mixture, and stir-fry for about two minutes.
5. Add salt
6. Increase the heat to high and cook the greens until wilted and the excess liquid has evaporated. Do not overcook.