They can lead you on a trek through the Himalayan mountains, but can they navigate through Manhattan traffic? Outside Magazine reports that there's growing population of Sherpas now behind the wheels of New York City taxis:
Though roughly 150,000 Sherpas still live in Nepal, northern India, and Bhutan, perhaps more than 5,000 have left—heading to England, Australia, and Germany (where one, Ang Jangbu Sherpa, flies a Boeing 767), but mostly to America. Over the past decade Sherpas have been streaming to the U.S.—to San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and above all New York. The city's Sherpa community has become the largest outside of the Himalaya, with around 2,500 members, most employed legally through yearlong work visas, harder-to-get green cards, or rare lottery visas, 50,000 of which are awarded randomly to applicants from developing countries each year.
The taxi drivers say the mountains and the traffic both require Zen-like patience, so it's not that difficult a transition, but writer Christian DeBenedetti told ABC News that they struggle to adapt to their new home. "They're caught between two worlds," he said. Fortunately, there's a growing community of Sherpas in Queens (the most diverse county in the country), and we love the description of their neighborhood in Jackson Heights.
...If the center of worldwide Sherpa culture is the Solu Khumbu, in America it's Jackson Heights, the polyglot epicenter of Queens. At the corner of 37th Road and 74th Street, groups of women walk by in traditional Bhutanese robes, shopping bags from Bed Bath & Beyond in hand. Himalaya Video, at the corner of Broadway and 72nd, is the place to pick up a commemorative Everest T-shirt or the latest album by rapper Nurbu Sherpa, who recently moved to New York as well. "Representin' K.T.M.C." (short for Kathmandu City) is his big seller. Or how about a bootleg of Nhyu Bajracharya's single "Ma Sherpa Ko Chhoro," remixed with the sounds of an avalanche and grunting yaks?
We just might have to plan a trip to Queens to pick up some Yak Rap.
--Janelle Nanos
Image: ABC World News
Many Sherpas have also settled in Colorado where I reside. They are great friends of mine. I used to lead treks to the Everest region and written about them to let the world know what amazing poeple they are.
Sherpas are the true heroes on Everest. One third of all deaths on the mountain have been Sherpas but one rarely learns of this. To learn more about this amazing tribe that makes climbing Everest possible, read Beyond the Summit by Linda LeBlanc. Details of Sherpa culture and religion are interwoven in a tale of romance and high adventure. The story has something for everyone: a love affair between an American journalist and Sherpa guide, conflict between generations as the modern world challenges centuries of tradition, an expedition from the porter's point of view.
Posted by: Linda LeBlanc | December 10, 2007 at 04:38 PM