Hello again,
Well, as well as all of the wonderful things happening here, I have also been fighting an uphill battle with my knees. Extremely long story short, they have not stopped hurting since I've been here, and after countless doctors appointments with anyone and everyone I could get to look at me, we have discovered that the right one, which was originally operated on, has the exact same problem as it did, and now the left one is also torn, and is now worse than the right.
The JV office and I have been talking, and the decision was made for me to get the two surgery's in the states. The only problem is that I will not be able to return to Nepal to complete my assignment because I will need more than a month to recover. As hard as it is to accept this decision, I understand. I'm ready stop thinking about all of this. It's been such a huge beast over these past 11 months, and has pretty much consumed everything.
The decision was made about a week ago, and so I've had time to process
everything and let the emotions run the gamut that they need to, so
forgive this email if it 
sounds simplistic, easy, or unattached. I'm
not ready to leave this place, these people...the past two weeks have
really been incredible, because I have seen more clearly how much
everything here means to me, how much I have been affected my
everything and everyone, and how much I will truly miss being able to
live here. My sister just sent me a Dr. Seuss quote that reads:
"Instead of crying because it's over, smile because it happened." In
that case mine is stretching from ear to ear. I feel very fortunate to
have had this experience, and that's pretty much all I can say.
My last day of teaching coincidentally fell on Guru (teacher) 
Purnima
(Full Moon), which is basically Teacher's Day. All of the children
created skits and prepared dances and songs to honor the teachers. I
was made chief guest because of the situation and was honored with a
traditional Nepalese serving set, as well as with a plaque. Over New
Year's Camping last December, I had taught two Class 9 boys how to play my song "Raining
in My Head," and they surprised me during the program by performing it in
front 
of the whole school. The whole day was wonderful, and everyone
here was so generous and kind and caring and concerned. Actually,
everyone here IS so generous and kind and caring and concerned. It's
those memories and those feelings which will remind me of how
magnificent this country is, and how truly special my time here has
been.
I can't really say how it's going to feel to be back in America. Maybe
weird. Maybe hard. My brain has been on this "2 year out of America"
mode for so long, and I can probably expect a jolt now that the plan
has been cut short. Regardless, I just want to thank 
everyone who has
supported me while being here. The love has been incredible, and I am
happy that I was able to share this experience with so many people.
Since coming here I have felt this deep need to share, to show, and to
tell, and I am overwhelmed by how many ears, eyes, and hearts have been
walking with me.
Thank You.
Love,
Kevin