With less than a week to go
I am now certainly looking forward to the next stage of my travel but at the
same time I am not looking forward to saying Goodbye to the lovely ladies I
have been working with the last 4 ½ months.
I have seen huge
improvements in their self-confidence and their vocabulary has increased
amazingly and their writing skills also.
The Nepali lady who funds the project visited Basandara last week and
asked them a large number of questions covering dates, time and she asked them
to speak to her in English,
I found myself beaming like a proud mother. She has now agreed to refunding the program
and wants to change the name to Advanced English class.
There are no volunteers
coming in the near future so hope the Nepali teachers can continue but I don’t
hold too much hope. I am sure a
volunteer will come.
Unfortunately, Sue who is the co-ordinator
couldn’t come for my last day to say goodbye but after pretending to teach my
last lesson, the ladies bought out food, drinks and presents and proceeded to
paint me up and put on heaps of bangles and take photos. It was really touching and we were all crying
and they kept telling me that I have to come back.
It was really hard to go and they all came
out to see me walk away to catch the micro to Balaju. They all loved the flowers I made for them
and they put them in their hair.
Balaju ladies were ready to
party when I got there and I donated a bottle of Australian red to the party
and Bobby brought Nepalese wine and whiskey and of course there were many
presents and flowers and red tikka and it was a lovely farewell party with many
tears.
It was amazing how close we had become over the 5 months and we had shared many stories and all with very limited language between us.
It was amazing how close we had become over the 5 months and we had shared many stories and all with very limited language between us.
It was a lovely day and once
again I was the one to find so much to thank them for and I just loved the
openness of the ladies and their unconditional love.
We arrived in New Deli and I
had time to walk around a bit and then it was time to line up to start the next
leg which was 9 hours flying time.
The upside of the day was
that it would be the last time I would have to take the mirco bus.
Saturday was passed quietly
and then Sunday came and I was to be picked up by taxi at 11 am as I decided
that I would go out to the school in the valley on Monday and there was a
farewell dinner on Sunday evening in Thamel.
The ladies of the house
cooked a special dahal baart for me which was chicken curry and rice pudding
and it was a nice last meal.
The Grandmother who I really
liked although we couldn’t talk to her came out to give me the traditional
farewell.
I know that Gaynu will miss
having me there as she gets quite lonely without her husband being there and
she doesn’t speak to the other members of the family except her husband’s
mother and father.
It has been a difficult time
over the last 3 ½ months because Gaynu had become pregnant when her husband
came home and she was sick at least 10 times a day and couldn’t cook, shop or
do anything except sleep and then the week before I left she had an abortion at
13 weeks because the baby was a girl and she only wanted a boy. It was probably not the best time to be
there.
It was interesting doing
home stay and I certainly had the opportunity of living with their everyday
happenings but sometimes it was just a little bit close especially when there were at least 5 in my bedroom and 4 of
them on my bed with me.
Anyway it was time to say
goodbye and get into the taxi to go to the Heritage Hotel.
 |
| Ladies preparing my last meal |
 |
| My bedroom |
 |
| Last hug from Gaynu |
 |
| Ceremony finished and time to leave |
I flew out of Kathmandu 0900
on the 8th July on Jet Airways India and I must admit that I was a
bit worried that I would be over the 30kgs and was pleasantly surprised when it
came in under 25 and I was able to also include my hand luggage.
We flew to New Deli in less
than 2 hours. We had just left the
airport and reached over 30,000 feet when I noticed the young lad next to me was taking pictures and I
thought he was a first time flyer and taking pictures of the cloud until I
looked out and this is what I saw …….
Security is very tight in
New Deli and we were searched at least 6 times and the last time was when we
were going up the stairs to the airplane and of course it is done in 2 rows one
for the women and one for the men and it took me a little while to work out I
was the only one on the men’s line which was quicker until someone told me that
I should be on the one with the women soldier frisking the women.
The flight was OK, I had a
small baby next to me but fortunately the mother was great and she took her for
walks.
We arrived a little early in
Heathrow airport and I had to find my way out to catch the train to Paddington
Station.
I knew that was in England when
a man in a Turban passed me on the escalator and spoke to me in a beautiful
English accent.
THE
NEXT PART OF MY JOURNEY BEGINS.
I will leave you with some
pictures of Nepal.
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