Michelle C. inspired me to check my blog, and now realise that I haven't written a thing in here for exactly 4 months...THEN I realised that my Nepal visa expires in 3 months & 5 days....OMG!! what to do...
The last 4 months have been full of yet more unforgettable experiences for me and the time has just flown by...
It included a special visit to Ilam by VIP Nat from Adelaide and then to Itahari by bus for a great overnight stay - so she could experience Nepali daily life at least for one day..then Everest build in beautiful Pokhara, meeting up with a huge mob of Adelaide Habitat people..the time went so quickly and was still experiencing negative vibes. The gin & tonics & margaritas helped (thanks to Robyn for that). Then back to Adelaide for a quick slightly hectic but rejuvenating schedule and spent some wonderful time with my grandson and many friends. Back ...(I just typed 'home'???) to Nepal & Itahari again where I ceremoniously adopted a new younger brother during Tihar...it was a fantastic experience and I feel very priveleged to be 'officially' welcomed as part of the family. Ilam again and back to school for the completion of Term 2 and COLD weather... kids just trickled in after their 4 week break but by the end of week 1 most were back in class, followed by school picnic day which was just fantastic.
Lots of visitors from down in the Terai since I got back; a special invitation for Christmas Day; a very special visitor to kick start the New Year wonderfully...and now?
I have to decide what to do with myself after April 13.
The head says return to Adelaide, get a job, save some money and THEN think about returning to Nepal...but the heart's telling me that I'm going to be feeling quite bereft if I go down that path. So I should make serious enquiries with school about continuing for another year and about the difficulties I might encounter with an application to extend my visa. I'm great at procrastination and this is the perfect opportunity to further develop that skill ...
So many questions:
What do/will I miss? What don't/won't I miss? Why should I return to Aust? to Nepal? What can I accomplish for others? for myself? WHY does Nepal keep insisting that I need to be here? What makes me love this country so much? Why does everything here always look and feel so beautiful, when I know the underlying state of things? Why am I able to accept the dust, dirt, litter, power cuts, 20th century style internet speed, low quality goods, women's lack of emancipation, obvious widespread HUGE health & safety issues everywhere I look, government corruption etc etc?
Why don't I miss home as much as I thought? Why did I miss Nepal so much when I was in Aust for only 2 weeks? What will I do with all my 'stuff'? How will I manage my finances? What about my gorgeous little family? my house? my health? my Nepali family/ies? my very special Nepali friends? the students at school? Will I be able to age (dis)gracefully in Nepal? Can I cope with another wet season? or continuing the bucket baths each morning? 3 flights of stairs? 2 burner gas-stove? teaching in what feels like an igloo at the moment? If I return to/stay in Nepal, should I stay in Ilam; continue teaching; look for another job; a different location??
And more....
Major dilemma and major procrastinating....I think a visit to the local temple/astrologer consultation might be in order ....
Glad I am encouraging you to blog! (Unless you are referring to another Michelle C who overshares her life on the internet!!) Big decisions here Anne - good luck mulling things over. Is procrastination an INFJ trait because I suffer from it too ... I sometimes think that denial is not given proper credit as a coping mechanism :-) Anyway, lovely to read you here and look forward to finding out what direction those trade winds are blowing x
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