Tomorrow’s a New Day

It has become custom now to get up in the morning and look out the window and hope that it has rained to help clear the haze from the skies and be able to see the beautiful mountain scape of  the Annapurna range. I don’t think I have ever wished for rain so much in my life, but it wasn’t to be.

Today was Mother’s Day in Nepal. Krishna’s mother, who we all call Amma (Nepalese for mother) gave me a Tika blessing as part of the celebration.

Tika is given by the elders to youngsters to bless for good luck.

I decided I would take my chances with Google maps and walk to school today, with the plan of finding a laundry to do my washing for me. I love this service when I travel as it is such a great feeling to walk in with a bag of washing and return to a bag of clean, neatly pressed clothes.

The thing with Google maps is that it will simply take you on the quickest route, so I was able to walk down streets away from the main road and through the local neighbourhood.

Google maps came through though, and I was able to drop my bag off at the laundry and make my way to the school, with only a slight bit of concern when I didn’t recognise the part of the bazaar it had sent me to.

Knowing how bad I am with names, to help me, and incorporate a bit of English work, I had some of the children write ‘My name is… and I like…’ so I could have them help me pronounce and remember their names and learn a little about them.

It was the last day for Robert, a volunteer who has been here for a month, so there was a small celebration for him and we all received another Tika blessing.

We spent the afternoon doing a variety of games that helped to challenge the children, before we finished the afternoon with a number of dances.

With the help of Google maps again, I made my way to the laundry and back home, but it was dark by the time I arrived. I’m sure the 40min walk took me close to an hour as it was hot and I was tired and hungry.

Because it was Mother’s Day, Ambika, Krishna’s wife had the day off and Pramilla and Jill were in the process of ordering momos, a Nepalese dumpling for the household. When they arrived, it was discovered that the vegetarian momos hadn’t been included and I nearly cried out of tiredness and hunger.

We learnt that because Ambika’s mother had passed away, she could not eat meat on Mother’s Day, whereas Krishna could because his mother, Amma was still alive.

After our momo party, a cake was brought out and it is a tradition for everyone in the household to cut a piece of cake and feed half of it to the mother and she feeds the other half to you.

As I watched Ambika’s daughters feed her cake and provide presents, I felt the ache in my heart grow more and more.

Mother’s Day is always a difficult day for bereaved mothers as they grieve a child who is not here to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day and be a part of a family celebration and be present for other children they might have.

I stayed as long as I could, but I could feel my heart splintering, so excused myself from a visit to the neighbours and went to my room and cried.

I longed to have the time with Bree and found myself missing Riley, and wishing I’d been able to get that hug before I left. I cursed the time difference that meant I couldn’t call him just to say hello.

As with all difficult days, tomorrow is a new day and hopefully brings with it a fresh start.