Tired of waiting

Monday we wait by the phone….hoping to hear news from the embassy that Shanti’s visa is ready and can be picked up. Around 11 AM we get the call, but not the one we’re hoping for. They say they will call again Tuesday morning. Are there any problems? I ask. “No, we just want to be sure we’re thorough”.

We’ve seen most of the major sites of Kathmandu and the Kathmandu Valley. Both J and I are “templed out”. We’re both a little tired of the traffic, noise, and the constant barrage of people trying to sell us thankas and pashima shawls. We don’t leave until Friday, but we would so love to have Shanti’s visa in order so we could get out into the countryside at Nagarkot, where the air is clear, the temperature is less muggy, and there is no traffic jams.

I can tell I need a little break. I’m beginning to focus on the seamier aspects of Kathmandu….The boy laying on the sidewalk huffing gasoline from a plastic bag, the raw sewage running down the street, the dead rat I step over, the beggerwoman and her skinny baby I try not to make eye contact with. I don’t want these to be the things that I focus on. They’re part of Kathmandu, but they’re not all of it. The people are generous and kind. No one here yells in traffic jams that would be sure to bring out road rage in people in the US. Hindi get along side by side with Buddhists, everyone we come in contact with has been warm and helpful, people share whatever they have even when they have so little. The land and the people are so beautiful. These are the lasting memories, the memories I will teach Shanti about her country of birth as she grows.