Weekend Highlights

Happy Easter and thank you to everyone who sent us Easter wishes. Being mainly a Hindu and Buddhist country, we're certainly the minority here. It's 9:00 p.m. Sunday evening as I write and I know that it's only 11:00 a.m. at home so please enjoy some ham and Easter egg hunts for us. We've missed celebrating with our families today but know that there are many holidays and celebrations ahead of us once we get home.

We've had a full weekend. Yesterday we hired a driver for the day who took us far up into the mountains to the town of Nargarkot. It was about a 90 minute drive and a much welcomed escape from the city. Lots of green trees covered enormous mountains and the air was fresh and clean. I don't know the exact elevation but believe me, we were up there. It was really something to see how the Nepali people live in the rural areas. We saw women and children on their hands and knees, pulling potatoes from the ground and other women with huge bushels of freshly cut wheat strapped to their backs carrying it out of the fields and then thrashing it along the side of the road. Come to think of it, I'm not sure where the men were.

First we ate lunch at a nice restaurant high on top of a mountain. Outside was a small playground where Leah and Wynn had fun. (picture included) It was so nice for them to have a place to run around and play. We've decided that we'll most likely go back again because we all enjoyed it. Because of the lack of rain this past week, the sky was not very clear. We also want to go back to get a better view of the Himalayan Mountains. We had planned on stopping at a historical city on the way home but both of the kids fell asleep by the time we got there. We'll save it for another day.

Today we ventured out to the grocery store again, which was much less exhausting than our first visit there. There are rumors of a strike this coming Wednesday (a common occurrence here) which will shut down 'everything,' or so we've heard. Since we didn't have other plans this morning, we thought we would get some shopping done. In so many ways this trip is completely different than when we traveled to bring home Leah. In China, it was very much like being on a guided tour. We traveled with ten other families and a guide was always with us. He arranged everything, from our hotels to when and where we ate dinner, etc. Here, we do have Aruna to take us to our official appointments. But other than that, we're very much on our own. Our cleaning person took two days off to be with her family (she returned today) so we've also been doing laundry and dishes. Just like home, except without a dishwasher or clothes dryer. I'm hanging laundry outside on a clothes line with everyone else in the neighborhood. Not so bad, really.

Late this afternoon we took a taxi to Thamel to walk around, window shop and have dinner. I told Bret that either I'm getting used to the crazy streets of Thamel or I've learned to relax and enjoy it. I think it's a bit of both. We enjoyed the day a lot. It was only a matter of time before Kate and her tourist dollars were separated and today was the day. I had heard from other adoptive families that this was a great place to buy Tibet rugs. We went into a few shops and looked at several rugs. After some bargaining, we walked out with a very pretty runner. It looks like Nepal, which I wanted for Wynn, yet it will also look great in our Spanish style house.

The latest on the kids. . .Leah is a wonderful big sister and is relishing her new role. She's really stepped up to the plate on this trip and has grown up in many ways. It's hard to explain but really neat to watch. She's a great teacher, she's maternal, and the jealousy hasn't been too bad. All of that may change once we're home so for now, it's good that we all have this concentrated time together.

Her brother is B.U.S.Y. The apartment is very nice but there's not a ton of room. We can't wait to get him home and turn him loose outside! (Debbie, I'm reminded of all of those years when you would say, "We have to take Kyle outside so he can get his wiggles out!") We can't take our eyes off of him for very long. After years in a fairly sparse environment, he is intrigued with everything. The phone. . ."Ello?" The buttons on the clothes washer. Really, just about everything. We also can't figure out if he has OCD or is just fascinated with washing his hands and brushing his teeth. But he is certainly charming and smiling as he runs from room to room. The toughest part is that he wants to be outside, or riding in a taxi, all the time. Last night at dinner he continued to repeat the same thing again and again. Finally we asked the security guard downstairs what he was saying and he told us, "I want to go outside." He says it at least 20 times a day. He also shouts, "Mommee!" about 50 times a day and then proceeds to rattle on and on to me in Nepali. Who knows what he's saying? I figure if it's important enough, we'll figure it out. He eats well -- scrambled eggs, rice with lentils, surprisingly pasta, chicken, momos and above all, bananas. We introduced him to pizza and ice cream. He didn't care for the pizza but loved the ice cream. He learns at least one if not two or three new English words each day, and he's teaching us a few Nepali words each day. So we're getting by. He doesn't like to take a bath. . .cries as soon as I run the water. . .and also cries when I pull out his pajamas. He just doesn't want to go to bed. He repeats again and again, "I want to go outside." But because of where he's come from, he's very obedient. I'm sure that not listening wasn't tolerated. (I'm sure he'll get our number quite soon and stop listening.) Finally, I told myself from the beginning that I wasn't going to ask him to hug or kiss me. I wanted that to come on his terms, not mine. Well today when I was holding him (something he's too used to and wants too often -- not used to walking long distances), he just starting kissing me and smiling over and over. That was enough for me. We'll keep him.