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Day 110
Rufus arrived home! Very thin and very proud of himself. Of course my biggest fear was that he would now want to re-arrange his life in order to reach the summit, and I was right. He intends to save £40,000 over the next few years to join an expedition. Good for him (although no chance will he find the money) - it's good to have an ambition. He appears to have been spectacularly strong, did it all alone including finding the way and carrying his own stuff and has proved all his critics wrong. He says the lowest point was losing money at the top - there are a distinct lack of ATM's on Everest but he was kindly bailed out by an American couple and two bonkers Spaniards. The American couple went home but of course Rufus turned up in Kathmandu with the bonkers Spaniards who we obviously had to treat to a lavish dinner to thank them for their kindness. The whole evening was centered around looking at a slideshow of 1000 photos which was just as well since the Spaniards spoke no English - and I mean NOT A WORD. The only common ground I could find was singing the theme tune to Dora the Explorer - we all joined in and then sat in awkward silence again. Feeling a bit bored, I spotted two beautiful children sitting with their parents - two blonde boys about Fern and Clover's age. And I mean, the most incredible, breathtakingly beautiful children I had ever seen. So I thought about it for a while and decided I would love it if someone ever said that to me (they wouldn't) so I braved up and went over to the table to tell them their children were beautiful. Unfortunately the mother was an arrogant Swiss French chain-smoker who just looked me up and down and said 'I know'. So another lesson learned - don't be nice to people and don't say what you think!
My English teaching has temporarily finished but I have met some new people who have links to other possibilities. My volunteering opportunity with the Australian couple appears to have dried up for loads of reasons - there isn't anything to do being one of them - so I am looking for other things, as well as do the English teaching part-time. A mad Scotsman called Fergus (am not making this up) approached us the other day, with the immortal words 'Is that a Glasgae accent?' and has now become a firm friend. We immediately hit if off and launched into Glasgow banter and a verbal slagging match that left our other, more polite friends totally baffled. He has lived in Kathmandu for 18 years although is from Byres Road, so we immediately thought 'drop out'. Turns out no - a brilliant published intellectual who writes books on the history of Nepal and the current crises affecting it's inability to create a government. (Am sure I put that apostrophe in the wrong place, god knows what I taught the poor English students). Water Expert Keith is back and continues to be a great support and great fun - even though he has been sacked (ok Keith, 'resigned') and has to leave at Christmas. Our new friends I made when Auntie Kirsty was still here. Another mad travelling family! With a beautiful 2 year old daughter named Bianca (and they accepted the compliment gracefully and correctly), they are called Caspian and Celia (again, am not making this up) and are brilliant fun and very kind. We enjoyed an alcohol free afternoon with them and took all our kids swimming. So some mutual babysitting is on the cards which will relieve a lot of pressure for us all. Girls go back to school tomorrow after a 3 week break - for only 3 weeks and then off again on another 2 week holiday! Nepal sure loves its festivals.
I remembered to send a birthday parcel to my dad (68) and to Daddy (43) - this year I will be mainly sending North Face jackets to anyone who has a birthday. In true good karma style, I was then summoned back to the post office to collect some! A fabulous one from friend, colleague and now boss Kay Campbell (bless you Kay, you did put in a Bounty) with mainly magazines, a parcel full of individually wrapped pressies from Daddy and one from best friend Auntie Paula with 100 back copies of Heat and stuff for Rufus and the girls. Thank you kind and wonderful people.
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