Day 10

Today I took the day off.  And so the entire family did also (minus brother). I told them that I would take them shopping and so we all took a trip into the city to the Thamel district (tourist town).  This is somewhere they don't go to very often.  Everyone got very dressed up and were so excited to go.  We all took a long bus ride together out of the village.  So much traffic.  And it wasn't even because it was what we would call "rushhour" it was because there was a GIANT cow just standing in the middle of the busy road! And I've actually seen this on other occasions but it never usually causes that long of a jam.  It was pretty humorous, but probably only to me.  


I finally found an ATM that would work with my card, I was starting to worry I wouldn't.
And I saw the first and only western chain restaurants! good ole baskin robins, kfc and pizza hut. i thought of you agatha (pizza hut)! I'm surprised i haven't run into a mcdonals yet.  After we finished shopping I met with Manoj and we went to a travel agency and got my ticket to bangkok which ended up
being around the same price that i found on cheapoair.com but without the international tax.  so only like $214 total after local tax. they were trying to get me to buy a Nepal Airlines ticket which luckily Manoj previously informed me they have ONE plan for everywhere and were pretty unreliable.  so instead i am leaving a day later on a different airline which i've used before. better safe than sorry.  kathmandu's airport is no where i want to be stranded. 

Afterward we had some food at Northfield cafe (where i went my first day) because they also had free wifi.  i had chicken for the first time since i've been in the home stay and it was pretty awesome.  i also had coffee, bottled water, and used a toilet.  i think i was most excited about the toilet.  haha.  well, maybe the coffee too.  i haven't been craving meat as much as i thought i would be. probably because the meat that i see around here (dead or alive) kind of freaks me out.  today i saw something that was hairless and a cross between a dog, goat, and a water buffalo. and the other day i saw a goat slaughtered on the side of the road when i was walking to work.  well actually i saw someone holding something that was spewing blood into a bowl and it took me a second to realize that it was an animals neck/body, and that someone else was standing by it holding a goat head. mmmmmm...meat.
oh yea! remember the jolly guy who asked to keep my old chewed gum? he was there again at the cafe and he ran after me (in a non-threatening but creepy way) in the street as i was leaving asking why the (fake) email
address i gave him wasn't working. i just slapped a taxi as it was passing by me and jumped in.  i really liked that cafe
but something tells me i should try somewhere new...