I've left Nepal and am deeply traumatised!! Well Kolkata's still awesome but definitely missing Nepal and everything about it right now-especially the kids!

Managed to escape the mahem of strikes in Pokhara and get back to Kathmandu on a local bus a few days after the latest incident..and boy was it awesome to home- was lovely to see the kids again! Wanted to take the kids out somewhere since they're always stuck in the home or around swoyambunath...even if it wasn't my first choice at all but we ended up going to the zoo for the day (which was suprisingly not as bad in zoo terms as i thought it would be!). We managed to fit all 26 kids and 5 adults into a small van (empty by comparison of Nepali public transport standards-there was no one hanging out of the door!) which the kids loved, especially since for some of them it was the only time they'd been in a vehicle bar the time they'd arrived to Kathmandu. Popcorn went down a hit for tiffin and the animals were a huge success...for some reason though the zoo seemed to think deer were amazing and had about 10different species who all looked the same to me! Was also hilarious trying to teach a bunch Nepali kids how to say hippopotamus... in the end i let them settle for dads technique and call them hippo's..hehe.. Trip to zoo had awesome effect of wearing the unwearable kids out- they were asleep right after dhaal baaht at 7pm-yus!!! (i may have been in bed not long after as well...)

Saying goodbye to the kids and the other volunteer's was really hard..the kids and the tutors gave me a goodbye blessing and i got fully tikka'd! (red paint mixed with rice in a dot (well mountain) on the forhead for good luck etc..) They were also sweet enough to give me a necklace and jade bracelet which il definitely treasure! Managed to keep it together til i left the house but have been touched by them and the country more than anywhere else i've been so i'll be back soon- im already hoping i can fit it in next year somewhere! Its amazing! Will miss hearing 'hello sister' from 200m down the lane, to 'May i goat?' which is meant to say 'May i go out?' and 'Baby sister rocks!' - when i taught them paper, scissors, rock they got the name a bit confused and its more than stuck! I've learnt more in the last two months than i'd ever thought possible- its an incredible country with incredible people- it just a shame that the political situation is not taking the country anywhere and it doesn't look like its going to get better anytime soon. But despite the total crazyness of the place, anyone who's been there will know, i've been hooked and its officially in my blood!

Now its Namaste India! Flew into Kolkata two nights ago and got the shock of my life-i saw motorways, electricity at 11.30pm, tall office like buildings, cars that aren't from the stone age and footpaths! What is this? Its almost like reverse culture shock and i'm in Kolkata! Sure its still filthy, crazy, hectic and asian wonderful but in the first hour i'm already questioning how i'm going to cope once i get to london!
Decided to splash out for the first night and pay $55NZ for a room...i don't think anyone had been in that room for years-the grime and dust was pretty impressive! And when i went to wash my face...i was blessed with flourescent orange water- i'm not kidding! The rust in those taps must have been building up for years...but again...i did get a 1970's aircon unit louder than a boeing 747 to cool me down so maybe it was worth it! hehe... found a new place down a little street with lovely couple for only$5NZ and its ten times better so am very happy. Have spent the last days pottering around and finding time to read my book-yay! even managed to find post office where i sent six kilos home in a cardboard box, which was then sewn with cloth over the top, then wax stamps put on the seams..looks pretty impressive- look out mum and dad although im hoping it actually arives since my package from Thailand 2 months ago still hasn't landed in New Zealand..interesting...

Am now off to different internet cafe where im going to upload some photos and videos from Nepal- so have a good browse- they'll hopefully be up in a couple of hours! Am in total anticipation bouncing in my seat because Rach arrives tonight and the time is passing very slowly! Will go pick her up at the airport and then i can truly say we're about to start our Indian Adventure- bring it on!