It's time to get out of here for a break. Work is extremely demanding at the moment; I find myself wishing there were 4 extra hours in a day or 2 of me. I need to remind myself that although managing donors' (i.e. other countries' taxpayers' money) is serious business, as is the work we do here in Nepal, none of it is life and death, and there are people who will figure things out while I am away (as I have done for them while they have been away).
Yes, we are getting that needed break! We leave on August 9, have a 10 hour layover in Hong Kong- thank goodness for airport hotels that let you pay by the hour- and arrive in Vancouver in the afternoon on August 10. Toby and Noa know we are going to see Grandma and Grandpa, uncles and aunts, and Ollie and Parker. I think they will miss Didi, Pradeep, Kusi and 'Man Man' but they won't realise it until a few days after we arrive in Canada and Didi still hasn't come to look after them.
I will be happy to leave the office for 5 weeks. By the time we get back, new staff should be managing their own projects, some deadlines will have passed, the new boss will be settled in, and maybe I will be able to slip unnoticed into my chair and work on a few things I want to do. And maybe by the time we return the monsoon will be easing up and our lane won't be a mudpit and the main road won't be a rushing river, which it is during the heavy rains we have been having for the past week or so. And while I'm at it, maybe the government will start following through on the agreements it keeps making with groups that stage bandhas so those same groups don't have to close roads and markets again a few months later. And the general population will have greater faith in the police and stop taking the law into their own hands.
Yes, I started dreaming there for a moment. Nothing wrong with that, as long as I come back to reality. And the reality is that we will be on a plane in 12 days! For a 4.5 hour and then a 13 hour flight by myself with 2 2 year-olds. The truth is I expect to be exhausted by the end of it. Before that point, I hope I can enjoy watching the twins becoming even more aware of the wonders and differences of the world- and not lose any favourite teddy bears or shoes along the way.
Love
C T N
