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Dear Dad.
Finally I found a way to tell you how I feel.
It was difficult to talk in person,
and now distance has given us the opportunity to communicate,
with the serenity that every kilometer carries within.
Today was the first day of school for "Sunita".
And as I took her, I remembered the first time
you took me to school back in Iceland.
I remember the shoes I was wearing,
they were very similar to the boots you always wore.
I took her to a school that is ten minutes away from our village.
She told me she was going
to meet her future boyfriend,
whom she would marry eventually.
I was more worried than she was.
I held her hand,
as if it were yours holding mine.
Inside her bag was the family album of our innocence.
I left her with the teacher in the playing ground,
she didn't turn around to say goodbye,
and her little hat disappeared amongst the children
having their first day of lesson.
I took a photograph that in this letter I hope to materialize.
On my first day of school
I saw a giant map of the world,
that made it look huge
but still let my imagination
fly to all the countries that from Iceland felt so far away.
I asked you where words came from.
You told me if I discovered it,
I would win a Nobel prize.
And what is a Nobel prize? I asked.
You said it was an award, and that my mother would be very proud if I won.
Dad, how many countries border Nepal?
Eh, well, I can't remember.
Two?
How did you know?
Really, two?
Nepal has no sea.
- Yep, they are deep in the mountains. - That makes it just like Iceland.
Why?
Think about it.
A third type of schools are run by local people,
enthusiastic towards having a school in their localities.
Just like that?
Yeah, it says:
supported and managed by the local people,
they can be called community schools.
So if you want to go to school you just build one?
People make them.
It takes a lot of people to build a school.
You need kids to use it also.
Well, many adults didn't get a chance to go to school when they were kids.
And what happens if you don't go to school ever?
You never learn how to read and write for example.
And then nothing happens.
Yes. You never learn to make things happen.
I remember what you told me about God.
How I should never believe in him without trying to find him.
I asked you what God meant.
And the answer was kept
between your eyes and my eyes.
Sunita did a drawing of a plant in the school,
a tree that grows in Iceland, being battered by the wind and snow.
I will take everyone to Iceland this summer.
Only if you promise you will come soon to spend a few months with us.
Good morning sir! Where are you from?
Can't you read? I'm from Nepal.
Ok... Wow, this looks delicious!
Dal-baht.
It is lentil soup with cooked rice.
- Would you like to try some? - yes, how much does it cost?
4000.
4000?
OK. How much would you pay for a plate?
Six hundred kronas?
Listen, just because it's you,
I will give it to you for a blue bicycle.
Oh, I see.
Deal.
Now I am free.
Free from the restraints that ignorance builds in our spirits.
I always felt everything was possible,
and that loving someone was a possibility as well.
I always felt everything was possible,
and that loving someone was a possibility as well.
Petur!
Now, we made it all the way above the Himalayas.
And now I hope that my children will play in the snow chasing you,
finding their reflection in the ice,
so that they can see their face, in your face.