Last day in Nepal/ Bangkok bound!

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I woke up this morning and it is the day I leave Kathmandu and head back to Bangkok.

Last night Sos showed up at my hotel, in the middle of the night. It was around 2am and she is banging on my door. I had left Hooters, her restaurant, about midnight , on foot and ended up getting lost. When the shops are closed and the metal doors rolled down it is hard to recognize where you are ! The streets here are not in blocks! They go every which way and it is very easy to get lost! I went back to the restaurant and Sos, Sagar, and Depok walked me to my hotel. The gates on the hotel were locked and we had to get securities attention to come and unlock them. They left when I gained entrance and I went to bed. Apparently the owner of the building her restaurant is in, is now locking the metal roll up doors, that are at the entrance into the square, and she got locked out. With no place to sleep she came to me. I let her stay with me but was very skeptical about it because it was my last day there and I am not sure I trust her anymore. I know I lost a lot of respect for her after her selfish behavior and lets face it, the normal survival behavior of these people is taking advantage of other people to get by until the next day. Besides where did Sagar and Depok go and why didn't she go with them. I stashed my purse next to the head of my side of the bed and went to sleep.

I met Sos 7 year old boy, when I was there, and I brought him a California T-shirt. He was very curious and helpful. He followed me around when I was working on the bar and tried to help hammer nails, etc... So unlike Sos. The entire time I was there Sos just widdled away at me. Often I would just ignore her but she was not embarrassed to ask me to pay for something and she had no expectations that any bill would not be picked up by me, when we went anywhere. She asked me to buy her clothes and I did. Today, before we left for the airport she was talking about bringing the boys from the bar to America and all of them staying with me. She asked if I could help to get them all there. Before I came here I had told her I would write a letter to the embassy and help her get a visa if she wanted to come to America, but now that I know her I don't want to set myself up like that. She is always wanting to carry my purse around for me which I find strange. She does it like she is helping to assist me or something but it is so not cool! I caught her with her hand deep in to it when we were leaving the disco, one night. She was walking towards me and talking at the same time she was digging. I didn't say anything about it, I just took my purse from her.

In the morning when I woke up, Sos was still asleep and I am pretty sure she was there all night. I quietly took my bags down to the front desk and had breakfast then went down the street to pick up some pants that I bought, that were getting sized. Then I went to the restaurant and I said goodbye to my friends and took a taxi to the airport where I am sitting now, writing this. I hate to say this but I am ready to get out of Nepal. I like the town, although it takes some getting used to, and there were endearing moments. There is a lot of sadness with the animals and the people and the poverty and struggle. There is also a lot of frustration in everyone trying to get the best of your pocketbook. That is really not their fault either...most of them have never left their country and foolish Americans, when they ask a price and are told a dollar, they blurt out, "Oh? That is so cheap! I can't believe it! I will take 5 then and give them to my family!" I have caught so many of them in lies, including Sos and once again, I think it is because of the thought process and critical thinking. They can't think through a problem if it is not single solutioned. For example:

I can't take the car it has a flat tire. Of course, the tire has been flat for a year! When I ask why has it been that way for so long, the answer is, "where can I get the money to get it fixed?" The end. Instead of thinking, how can I get this tire fixed for free or for trade or on loan or something!

I will miss Sagar the most. He is so different then the others and his mind seems to work more like an Americans. When he helped me do the construction on the bar, he came up with solutions quickly and sometimes ones I had not thought of. He is very sweet and we seemed to have made a connection. Unfortunately I am so much older than him that I felt silly following through any feelings like that. I kept thinking of that movie..."How Stella Got her Groove Back" about an older woman on vacation, that meets a young man and has a short encounter with him and it brings her back to life for a short while! But nothing happened, even though I am sure, by the way he looked at me, that he wanted to, as well. Not to mention, when I left, he sent me a text the following day, telling me he loves me...

My final thought on Nepal are ...the country is struggling just to get to the next day. There are people that are going to try and get money out of you . They will charge you more than they would charge a Nepalese. You know that and you let them, at times, because you can afford it, the item is worth that much to you and it will help those people. I just have to remember that it is up to me whether or not I allow it to happen.

Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting Kelli and Dameon's (friends of mine) Uncle and his girlfriend, John and Da. They are suppose to meet me at the airport in Bangkok and spend the last couple of days with me there before I fly back to America.

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I am on the plane now and there is a family from England that is surrounding my seat! The mother and daughter are across the isle from me and the father and 2 sons are in the row behind me. They are VERY LOUD and aggressive in their behavior and almost to the point of being rude. They are arguing about the seating arrangement and have been for almost 10 minutes now. The kids were not happy with which seats they had to sit in and the boy got his way so the girl is angry now. I looked over at her and she glared at me with eyes that could slice you open. Heavens! Talk about spoiled kids! The parents don't seem to notice anything going on and are ignorant to the fact that I am annoyed and probably everyone else that is in earshot is too. It is going to be a long trip!

We were late boarding the plane by an hour and now we are sitting on the runway and it has been 45 minutes! They are saying we will land in Bangkok 2 hours late and then there is still customs to go through. I am feeling bad that John and Da will be waiting. I am also feeling a bit leery about the guy sitting next to me. When I sat down next to him I smiled and said hi and he just looked away. He is in his 20's and probably Thai. He is holding a backpack in his lap and has not put it aside since he boarded the plane. He looks extremely nervous and keeps looking away avoiding eye contact with anyone. I finally got up and went to the back to tell the airline attendants. One of them went up to him and asked if she could put his backpack in the over head bin. He shook his head no and then she told him he was not allowed to hold the luggage. He reluctantly handed it to her and she closed it up in the bin. The whole way there I never saw him speak. They asked him if he wanted lunch and he just waved his hand in dismissal. I tried not to think about it to much and let my imagination get carried away. He didn't get anything to drink and he just stared out the window while everyone else was watching a movie or listening to music. When we landed and got ready to leave he stood and turned to look for someone. Then he spotted his friend a few rows back and smiled.

I looked at him and said ,"Well, well! You do know how to smile! AND you look so good doing it, you ought to try doing it more often!"

He shyly smiled at me then looked away, CONCLUSION: I believe he was deaf or not able to speak and where ever he was headed he was not happy that he did not get to sit with his friend. Better ending than a bomb!

Nepalese is a difficult language to learn and often , to pronounce. I only learned Donde Vat, which is thank you and namesta which is hello or goodbye. When I got on the plane and the stewardess said Swatika, I almost felt like it was familiar, and I liked that. Swatika is hello in Thai. (Of course all spelling is wrong and only a phonetic way to pronounce it in English.) I also learned in Thai, my pen rye, which means no worries, it's alright. I learned Sabi Sabi, which is take it easy, relax. Then there is Chi which means truth and is often said in place of yes. Be careful not to pronounce it Che because that means pee. Then chong is elephant. Plor is please, sow wow is shut up, salop salop salie is whatever you want to do, I don't care. Lay o lay o is quickly , bah is lets go, ma mow is big fat. I laughed when I was talking to Da about Johns efforts to speak Thai and she said, "A big fat little bit".

I am watching the TV on the plane, and the show is about the King of Thailand. They are talking about how he loves sports and how he brought sports to the country. I think this is funny because when I first arrived in Bangkok, I asked the taxi driver why the King is everywhere! He is on huge buildings and overpasses and even a small picture of him in the taxi. The cab driver said it is because he is so loved by the Thai people. I said," Why? What things has he done to gain such love and respect from everyone?"

He said,"He brought sports to Thailand and he plays in the sports sometimes. "

I could not believe that was the answer! Now I am seeing it on the TV documentary! There doesn't seem to be anything else that is a landmark on his reign.

I asked the cab driver, " Why does this man get to be the King? What makes him so special? He is just a man! Why could you not be the King? You are a man!"

He looked at me and laughed loudly. He blushed and shook his head no while looking at me with a look that said that was the craziest idea he had ever heard. That is the critical thinking of this culture. They can not imagine any one being in charge except the powers that be and they look at the King and the Princess as if they were Gods. I see only greedy people living in wealth while their country is full of poverty, struggle, and survival. There is little access to clean water, the electric is frequently not working and goes out unexpectedly all the time. All this is just expected and normal to them and they can't see past that!

If anyone offers to walk you into a business because it is owned by their friend and they are going to get you set up there for cheap...don't believe it. In both Thailand and in Nepal, they get kick downs for bringing in customers and you will probably pay more in order to cover the charges for bringing you there. I actually feel better being back in Thailand. Minus the unbearable heat I would rather be here.

I arrived at the airport and got through customs 3 hours late. I was not sure where I would find Da and John and was anxious to see them. I was so late getting there, that I was concerned they might have given up on me. I waited at the turn style for my luggage and pulled my suitcase off while walking away from my carry on luggage. I took off leaving one of the bags on the ground next to the turn-stlye. I only went around one corner and through the exit when I realized it was not with me. I turned to go back in and get it and a guard stopped me. He said I could not enter there. I explained to him about the bag and asked if he would go with me around the corner so I could get it. He said no and here we go again with the nonsensical behavior of these people! A few steps and one minute away from correcting the problem and they won't do it because it is not the normal thing to do! They sent me to the lost luggage department for the airport, and they sent me to the lost luggage for the airline who sent me to the lost luggage for the airport! In the meantime, John and Da saw me and came over to introduce them selves. I apologized profusely for my delays and having them wait 3 hours already and now this! I went in circles in-between each lost and found and the security desk, the police department etc... The police finally located it and sent me to a different desk to claim it. They had gone through it and found something with my name on it. They had me write down the contents of the suitcase, and then took a picture of me holding the thing before I could leave with it! I finally walked out of the airport 5 1/2 hours later than expected and went to the hotel that Da and John were staying at.

It was located in the downtown area of Bangkok and the streets were hopping! It was about 10 at night but you could not tell that it was not 6 except that the sun was down. The night market lined the streets and there were people everywhere. The bars and restaurants were full and the lights were all on bright. It was so different than the part of town I stayed in before, a couple weeks ago! There were prostitutes everywhere! They are all over in the streets, in the businesses, walking around the street market and I didn't really notice them at first. John pointed it out and as I watched it was obvious! Young beautiful girls talking to old white American men and some young men too and everyone was having a great time! Then there was the block that had all the boys dressed like girls and most of them looking prettier than most of the girls! They said hi to us as we walked by. They are not frowned upon here in Thailand, and very much accepted. There are those tourists that don't realize what is going on until too late and many fights have occurred because of it and I imagine deaths as well. They have a name for these cross dressed men but I can't remember now what they call them. Anyway, here homosexuality is ok and in the country next to here people get hanged for it! !

We went to an outdoor bar to sit and had Da go to the street vendor to buy food. This is because if she went the price would be a third of what they would charge John or I since we are American. She bought chicken on a stick and corn on the cob that was cut off the cob in an unfamiliar way. It was delicious! The best food I have had since I left home! There was also sticky rice involved in there somewhere. Then they went back to the hotel and I wondered around the night market for a while then went back and to bed about an hour after they did. The hotel is nice and actually advertises outside as a hostile.

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