This morning was very exciting. We woke up and readied hurriedly, not even eating breakfast. I borrowed a marker from Ganesh in order to finish my surprise; a short bracelet glued to a rock covered in writing. It actually took me quite a long time to make because I only had a small bit of superglue, and rocks and string apparently don’t bond very well. Also, a marker that I had tried earlier had run out of ink so I attempted to erase my feeble marks with a wipe. Anyway, I finished my rock and put it in my pocket. We left, but on the way, we saw people climbing and turning around midway on the now cold and windy Kalapathar. The hike to EBC (Everest Base Camp) wasn’t very difficult, but it was chilly because of the early-morning temperature. When we arrived at EBC, we took a lot of photos and then Ganesh gave us each a shirt with a map of our route to EBC and our names on it. Then, I put down my rock next to some Tibetan flags.
We walked to the far end of the camp and saw glaciers and perilous-looking rocks. I remembered that it’s my ex-history teacher, Mrs. Perlick’s, birthday, so I numbed my hand writing her a birthday message on the ice.
We hiked back to the guest house and saw the Israelis, then continued walking for hours on relatively flat, beautiful ground, until we stopped to eat. While we were waiting, we peeked into a hospital and saw Halloween decorations! Oh, by the way, it’s Halloween!!!!!!! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I love making amazing costumes with my dad, Greg, and decorating the house (and pets) with creepy figures with Asher. I feel sorry for Aba because all day I asked him what time it was in Boulder so I could determine how long it was until the Halloween costume contest at school. After the hospital, we ate and got to watch a cute baby with her mother, and then kept walking and talking about superheroes until we got to our next village. The hotel we stayed at in Pangboche was recommended to us by our uncle Moti, and I got to meet a really sweet black dog and saw some little boys galloping on sticks as if they were horses! We played UNO in the dining hall, and then we read a letter written to us by Banu, one of our porters. I forgot to mention that Banu wasn’t able to hike with us to both Kalapathar and EBC because he didn’t feel well. He felt bad about it, and in the letter, he explained that he actually isn’t a proper porter and that he’s only doing this job in order to finance his younger sister’s education. His letter seemed very heartfelt and explained that he is responsible for both his family and himself, and that Ganesh should be free from all blame concerning his actions. One thing led to another, and then Ganesh told us about his own childhood. His father drank a lot, so he had to provide for his family. Every day he would come home from school to take care of his two-year-old sister and then he would ride his bicycle to the forest and chop wood for money. He said that the six orphan kids that he previously told us he raised weren’t actually orphans. He had found them on the street doing drugs, the oldest child only nine-years-old, because their families didn’t love or want them and were almost going to put them in an orphanage. Apparently, Ganesh pretended to be a cop and told the kids to get into his friend’s van. He drove them to his home where they have been educated in a government school and getting over their addictions ever since. We invited Banu inside, and some of the people played UNO while I made a bracelet. There are three days until we get to Lukla, and in that time I am going to attempt to make twelve bracelets, eight at the minimum; six for Ganesh’s orphans, one for his daughter, possibly two for him and his wife, possibly two for the porters, and one for Banu’s sister. I made the bracelets over the next hour or two, then blogged and went to bed. Happy Halloween!!!
24-4-14-14-3-18-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-13!!!!!