Saying Goodbye

It is hard to say goodbye after all these months. While i am so excited to be heading home, I am sad to leave the others behind and the family we have developed here. I feel hopeful they will be home soon. The last few days have been hectic running from Embassy to Embassy attempting to get all our paperwork in place. I then headed over to the Thai Air offices to ensure our airline tickets were confirmed. The guy at the ticket counter informed me that Antara’s seat was in the premium class and I was in economy class. Not sure who they thought would take care of her  Let’s hope they can upgrade me.

I, of course, have had to get all my last minute shopping in. I found a Tibetan rug that I will somehow manage to carry home in my suitcase. I have dumped basically all my clothes. I had hoped to burn them when I got back, but am giving them away. I can say that I have worn the same flipflops for about three months. As DeeDee pointed out today when she was going through some of her clothes “you know your clothes suck when the woman who massages you and lives in a hut doesn’t even want them”.

We had a going away dinner last night at a traditional Nepali restaurant called Nepali Chulo. There were sippy cups and wine. It was Emma and Sujon; Vicki and Nima; Cherie and Maya and DeeDee and Bina. The girls loved the singing and dancing. We will miss everyone. DeeDee and Bina are family. Antara and Bina act like sisters and it will be sad for them to leave one another.

But we are absolutely thrilled to be heading home . We leave Kathmandu tomorrow, have an overnight layover in Bangkok and arrive in Chicago Saturday.

Oh by the way, it’s true.. first loves never die. We gave Bina a beautiful doll from the US, but Chuckie is her true love and really the only doll Bina still loves dearly.