Well, it’s our last night in the states! What do I have done? Well I got the trip insurance… and that’s it. I also started packing but I’m far from done. (Packing with M around has turned out to be akin to Sisyphus pushing his boulder. Shit goes in the suitcase and ends up outside of it again as soon as I turn my back.) Thankfully we have all day tomorrow, because our flight is at 8pm. Therefore I’m drinking wine and watching the presidential debate… because I want to truly appreciate the hilarious tweets and memes that will follow.
Just found out that my family in Nepal has wi-fi in their house. This is a total game-changer, folks. The other four times I’ve been to Nepal I had to wait for these small internet shops to open, and then sit forever on slow dial-up just to send some emails. Now I’m going to have internet on my phone as usual, which means I can follow the US election on election night and stay in contact by phone, email, facebook, and instagram. That’s pretty cool, but I’m also a little wistful already for the days when going to Nepal meant a forced separation from technology!
I met up with my dad, who is in town from Tennessee. He is, of course, terrified of me traveling to Nepal, and made me promise to “keep my eye” on M over and over, as if I’m some kind of half-negligent parent taking my child into a crowd of terrorists. He thinks that traveling with a child makes me a perfect candidate for becoming a hostage. He also thinks that if anyone overseas finds out I’m gay, I’ll be murdered where I stand. (I think he’s confusing Asia with Tennessee.) Of course I’ve traveled the world and the most dangerous situations I’ve ever been in were in the US: a bank robbery in my own home town, and a creepy guy who followed me to my car but scurried away when I confronted him in a parking lot in Dallas. Also, he’s somewhat correct in that Nepali society is not as accepting of gay relationships as the area in which I live, but the Nepali people I know, the ones I call my friends and family, totally support LGBT rights. I’m not in a relationship, seeking a relationship, or traveling with a partner so really it’s not even going to come up. But in general, I do not advertise my sexuality when I travel anywhere, because my priority is avoiding conflict when I’m in an unfamiliar place.
So over and out! I’m so excited to do this, but also know it’s going to be exhausting and there’s going to be times that I wish I could just go home for the night and sleep in my own bed. M is going to cry at night that she wants her Da Da (grandma) and her home, and one or both of us will likely get sick in some way at some point. But it’s so worth it to get out there and see the world!!!
Mother of All Things 