Well life maybe looking a bit more exciting in Nepal. Mom’s birthday turned out to be a great time. We planned on just going to the Yak & Yeti and sitting in the beautiful garden and grabbing something to eat. Then I got a call from my Nepali friend from Chicago. She grew up in a very prominent family here – her mother is a physician and father is in politics. She has been doing some research on finding an apartment for us before she heads back to Chicago on Thurs. So we met Supriya and her mother for coffee. They met Antara and couldn’t believe how big she is. We chatted for about an hour and then they invited us to have dinner with them at their friend’s home. We accepted the invitation and headed out. The driver took us up the rough, rocky road and came to a stop at a large gate. The gate opened to an absolutely beautiful home surrounded by gorgeous gardens. We slipped off our shoes and entered the home filled with Asian antiques. Eventually there were about 15 of her family friends. They asked me about the adoption and I explained the situation with the US Embassy.

We were served delicious Nepali foods including Momos and a spicy potato dish. Antara is really good around a lot of people. We sat there for hours and she didn’t make a peep. We left at about 8:30 just in time for her bedtime.

The family was so kind and said they would help me in any way possible.

Soon after we went to bed I heard a funny noise coming out of the closet. I was nervous and woke my mom who said “you must be dreaming.” Of course the next morning the food we had in the cabinet had holes in the packaging from the mice!! I was mortified so I went down to the front desk and told them about the mice. They just looked at me like everyone else has them too!! So, I asked them to change rooms. So we spent the morning changing our room.

Today is a holiday called Janai Purnima. It is a celebrated Hindu holiday. Many wear a red or yellow string bracelet (a rakshya bandhan) around their wrists to protect them. Many pilgrims journey to the mountains north of Kathmandu to emulate Lord Shiva by bathing in the sacred lake of Gosaikunda.

Today, our play date at the British Embassy (not US Embassy of course) was cancelled due to the rain storms. So we hung out in the room and made our way to the big grocery store in the afternoon. We had dinner at the Fire and Ice in Thamel.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow.