After 12 hours of sleep, fevering all night and endless toilet runs, I finally felt a little better in the morning. The sickness came about unexpectedly. I woke up feeling so dehydrated but the most important thing was to get myself to the airport. I dawdled myself downstairs and checked out of the hotel. The funniest thing happened when I walked towards the taxi's. Two of the taxi drivers nearly had a punch on running up towards me. They were fighting over for my business. It was so random. But I finally negotiated a descent price and within a minute I was on my way to the airport. I took the earliest flight possible back to Pokhara in time to see the kids before they head to school. I like the domestic flight, as it's only a short 25 minute ride in a cosy plane.
I arrived in Pokhara super excited, as it was drawing closer to seeing the beautiful faces. When I jumped out of the taxi in front of the house, some of the kids saw me from the balcony and yelled out my name with excitement. I could hear it in their voices that they were happy to see me. It was such a nice feeling. I felt like I had just arrived back to a very warm and loving home. They all ran up to me asking me about my weekend and viewing photos from my camera. They were so curious about Thailand. We chilled out on the balcony for a while before having breakfast. I sat with them during breakfast but did not eat. When I walked the kids to school, they fought to hold my hand - it was a nice feeling to know that they were happy to have me back. Beatrice carried Aayuus all the way to school but soon realised that he still wasn't feeling well (from a few days before), so she took him back home.
Holly and I had breakfast at 'Fewa Paradise Restaurant & Bar'. My tummy was finally feeling a lot better so I ordered eggs and toast. We sat and ate our breakfast with a gorgeous view in front of us. I told Holly that I was glad to be in Pokhara. Over the last few days, I really did miss the girls, the kids and the lake.
After breakfast, I went to enquire about getting a tattoo. I've been thinking about this tattoo for quite a while, so when I was in Bangkok I finally made up my mind that I would get the word 'wanderlust' with swallows flying over it - on my foot. Wanderlust will be written in Nepali - because I love the language and text. We stopped by H.Mandala Tattoo Studio by the lakeside and I met with the tattooist - Haru. I had previously researched how to write wanderlust in Nepali - but Haru corrected it with confirmation from a Nepali/English teacher friend of his. There was just a slight character that was incorrect to what I originally had - so I was convinced that the final Nepali wanderlust that Haru came up with was correct. Haru had to draw up the stencil so I made an appointment with him for the next day. I'm looking forward to my next ink work.
We walked along the lakeside browsing in bookstores and shops for a while before making our way to my favourite restaurant - Hungry eye for lunch. MoMos are extremely popular in Pokhara and one of my favourite dishes so I decided to try the chicken momos. Holly ordered a tuna sandwich. The momos were delicious. Hungry eye has never disappointed me - I really enjoyed the momos.
We picked up the kids at 3pm and it never surprises me that Nishan is always the first to run out of the school grounds. He ran up to us with a massive grin on his face holding a red package. We asked why he had a gift and he replied "sir gave this present to me because I was top of the class student". We were really proud of Nishan.
Nishan opened his present at home - he had received a new exercise book and a pen from his teacher. When Jeeban arrived home, he was also gifted by his teacher and received a new exercise book and a pen for being the top student in class. We were extremely proud of the boys. The kids all sat by the balcony and did their homework. Nishan tends to get distracted but he always complete it without any assistance - he's a smart little cookie.
Ramesh had developed a rash over the last two weeks and it appeared to be getting worse. After he did his homework, Holly and I took him to see the doctor. It turned out that he had a fungal infection - ringworm. He was prescribed with a lotion to apply three times daily - hopefully this will help clear it up for him - he has been itching it like crazy.
When we got back the kid had finished all their homework so it was time for me to treat them with the gifts I bought back for them from Thailand - swimming costumes. The boys received shorts or panties and the girls received bikinis and one piece costumes. They were super excited about it. One by one, I handed it out to the kids and all had gone to try them on. The girls in particular, looked adorable in their bikinis - the bright colours of the costumes lit up their faces with even brighter smiles. Little Aayuus received also got a one piece and it fitted him perfectly. The kids were really happy with their gifts and I was really happy to see that I had once again put a smile on their faces. The kids were all very appreciative of their new gifts - all saying thank you several times.
At dinner, Phurpu requested that I sit next to him - he's such a sweetie. It's no wonder, he's my favourite. I was actually looking forward to having dal bhat again.
After dinner, we made popcorn and had movie night with the kids. We watched '7 days in Tibet' - starring Brad Pitt. The movie is based on a true story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet. As the film was being released, it was condemned by the government of the People's Republic of China, stating that Communist Chinese military officers were intentionally shown as impolite and arrogant, brutalising the local people - as a result, the director Jen-Jacques Annaud and stars Brad Pitt and David Thewlis were banned from ever entering China .All the kids sat quietly in front of the TV indulging into their popcorn - sharing it amongst each other in little groups. During the movie, I sensed the feeling that the kids had definitely missed me - Aayuus laid on me holding onto my hand and caressing me, it was the sweetest thing - he kept giving me kisses as though we was telling me - 'Sandi, I missed you. I'm glad that you're back'. Phurpu and Kiran shared the space on my legs and laid down comfortably to watch the movie. The girls sat around and close by. Having the boy's heads lay on me for a while gave me pins and needles several times throughout the movie, but I didn't move as they seemed like they were in such comfortable positions. It was definitely nice to be back and knowing that the kids had missed me made it extra special. It was a long movie and it was getting really late - we had to stop it halfway so that they kids would go to sleep. All I can say is that 'I'm glad to be home again'.
Good night world.
XOXO
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