100 Days of Daalbhaat: Home at last

I'm back! Where to begin? Well, my two weeks of traveling with my friends Ranjana and Ananda were absolutely amazing. Chitwan was kind of a bust but our trek was epic and totally kicked my butt after not moving for over three months. We ended up doing a loop in the Annapurna region when we realized that our language teacher is totally nuts and told us to do the Annapurna base camp trek (a ten day trek according to lonely planet) in 5 days.... good thing we checked. We met some really amazing Nepalis along the way and realized that being able to speak Nepali put us at such an advantage over the other trekkers. We were the only ones trekking without a guide and we got discounts from all of the guesthouse owners whom we made friends with and told us to come back and visit again next year.

My goodbyes with my family were both heartbreaking and comical. I told my family I needed to leave for the airport by 12 o'clock but my aamaa insisted that we first cook some barra pancakes because they're my favorite. So the clock strikes twelve and I'm standing in my closet sized kitchen flipping lentil pancakes and trying to explain that I actually need to leave. My aamaa brings be downstairs to give me tikka with the fam and of course I instantly start tearing up. The tears turned into sobs and my daai decides now would be a good time to take photos. As I'm crying and the camera is flashing my aamaa and baa give me tikka and I frantically try to shove two giant pancakes down my throat so I don't miss my flight. Aamaa road with me to the airport and we held hands the whole way. She watched me through the window until I disappeared into the madness that is the Kathmandu airport.

My last conversations in Nepali were so wonderful. First I tried bargaining for 7 bounty bars in the airport with a man who was extremely unimpressed with my speaking abilities. He mockingly repeated "mahango bhayo?" (or that’s expensive) when I emphatically declared that bounty bars in Sukedhara (my neighborhood in Kathmandu) were much cheaper. Our argument attracted a lot of attention and people in the store gathered around to watch. Sadly, I lost and boarded the plane bountybar-less. My next conversation was with a young Nepali woman checking the contents of my bag. It was a typical conversation that would have usually annoyed me but I ate up every moment of it. She told me how Nepali I looked and asked me whether I would marry a Nepali man and when i planned to return. I've realized that my Nepali face will not earn me such attention anymore in the US.

Fortunately I had my friend Ananda with me for my 8 hour layover in the Delhi airport. We decided we would meet at an Italian restaurant (if that even existed in India) in the food court and sure enough we found each other in front of a dominos. We shared a large pizza, played cards, wandered aimlessly looking for bounty bars (which I found and bought at a fixed price) and watched a Bollywood film. Then we parted ways and I realized I was on my own for the next 30 hours or so.

So, 40 hours and many tears later I'm home, in my new house. It's so strange to be back, especially in a home that is not my own yet. Lucky for me I have wonderful parents who unpacked my entire room and set it up for me so I didn't have to come home to a room full of boxes. The combination of being in a strange house and a strange country is a little unnerving for me right now but I'm happy to be back safe with my family.

I miss Nepal a lot already. During my last days I complained about the chaotic nature of everything and felt fed up Nepal’s general disorder. Now I’m in the epitome of suburbia and I miss the chaos of the poo. Most of all I miss my SIT group and my family. It's surreal that my time in Nepal has come to an end when it became my reality for what felt like so long. If I can say anything about the last four months it's that I'm grateful to have had this experience with such a close group of amazing people.

This is my last entry so thanks to everyone for reading my blog and have a very merry Christmas!!

With mayaa,

Rupa