Day 14 - Our Day of Shopping
Today was our day for shopping but first we were going to be interviewed by the Editor of the Himalayan Times. Madhav and Jeff left the hotel and were in the market by 6AM. They wanted to arrive early when the shops opened to order some items that will take some time. Cordella and Rick left the hotel at 9AM and went to the market by taxi and met Jeff and Madhav. We picked up some hats and clothes were had ordered a few days earlier. We bought bags, scarves, belts, spices, tea, art, Himalayan coffee, t-shorts, table clothes, carved masks and jewelry we plan to bring back and use for our fundraising so we can continue the project. The market is a croded bazar filled with shops and too many items to look at. There was a small rain shower after we arrived so the streets weren't as crowded. By 11:30AM we headed back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and then went to the headquarters for the Himalayan Times. We spent over an hour 30 minutes speaking with Mr. Rimal. We not only told him our story we feel we made a very positive impression. He was very interested in our project and he shared concerns about the water issues in Nepal. We spent time giving him details on the number of people the project supports, the cost, how the pipe was purchased and delivered and installed and details about our spring box. We told him about how our organization was started and how we exdecute our projects working with the local people to help them rather than us being in charge and dictating how to solve the issues. It was a very good meeting and he said he would like to run a 1,000 word story about our project. It may be published in the paper tomorrow before we leave. He asked to get together when we return so he can do a follow up story.
After the interview we headed back to the market. We only had a few hours to finish our shopping but we were exhausted.
Madhav went on ahead to a special tea shop and to check on the items he and Jeff had ordered earlier in the day. Rick,
Cordella and Jeff continued navigating the maze of streets buying more items until they couldn't carry any more. Jeff wore out
first and caught a cab back to the hotel. Cordella and Rick had a few more items to buy and they returned to the hotel about
one hour later. Back at the hotel we ate dinner and began strategizing how we would fit all the items in our luggage to bring
home. Tomorrow is a Saturday andmost businesses are closed plus it is a holiday. We will spend most of the day at the hotel
packing and resting. We might take a short walk in the streets around the hotel but not much more. We depart at 7:25PM and
we will need to arrive at the airport about 3 hours earlier. This trip went by quickly. We hope the time until our return visit
passes just as quickly.