Five years later and I finally stepped off the plane and into the partly upgraded Kathmandu airport. It felt so surreal to breath the air, and see Rabindra and Megh waiting there for us – it certainly didn’t feel like so long had passed since we last saw each other. It was an incredible reunion. Back onto the streets, even at midnight it’s full of traffic, people, and animals – I was home again.
Being able to go for dinner with the Kathmandu whanau was another surreal moment. The evening was themed on all the traditional singing, dancing, and kai – including of course, dahl bhat (a total staple over there!), and rice wine (one shot was enough, that’s for sure!). The dancing was so much fun. Nanimaya and I were dancing and laughing, Rabindra told us later that it was the first time he’d ever seen Nanimaya dance and be happy like that. That really shocked and upset me. To dance is such a common thing in my life, and that was the first time she’d felt safe and genuinely happy to embrace it. Being able to spend time in comfort with our whanau from another world, whom we hadn’t seen for half a decade, was truly priceless.