lectures, free days

After our super-intense day of the Dalai Lama and Lhasang Tsering, I think our group was definitely looking for something a bit less overwhelming. Though our Tibetan weekly test certainly wasn’t it; after a hard written section, we had to talk about our families. The problem being we didn’t even know how to say “this is my family” (as we pointed to our pictures). So almost every oral was “this is my dad, he is a teacher (every dad is a teacher because its one of the only professions we know how to say), this is my mom, she is a cook (the other profession we know). This is my sister, she is a student. She is a good student, she is not a bad student. I like to eat momos. They are American. They are in a house. They are not in a monastery.” That was basically it 26 times.

After our Tibetan class, we had lectures. But these were great. First, we had Tenzin Tsundue, who is probably one of the most well known Tibetan activists. He is a writer, filmmaker, poet, songwriter, and organizer of a lot of Tibetan movements. It was very refreshing to hear his optimism about the Tibet cause, and how they gauge success. Just because Tibet isn’t independent doesn’t mean that they aren’t making progress. He is planning a “long walk” from Dharamsala to Lhasa, set to leave March 10, and arrive at the border the day the Olympics begin, where they will hold their own Tibetan Olympics before heading to Lhasa. Every one of the marchers is being trained in non-violent techniques, so that if/when they run into opposition from police, they will under no circumstances react. They are also bringing along media to document the whole thing, hoping that China will react poorly during their time to show themselves to the world.

Yesterday was definitely a homework day. We have so much to do before we leave on Thursday and then even more to do before we leave for Bhutan on the 6^th. Ari’s amala delivered her baby two nights ago and he came home last night. What a cutie. I have forgotten how little newborns are. Ari’s mom didn’t look like she had just delivered a baby, she was doing housework, moving around a ton and generally doing what she always does. The baby won’t have a name for another 7 or 8 months, because Tibetans fear that a newborn with a name is more likely to be noticed by the gods and therefore more likely to get sick or die. After 7 months, they feel the baby has enough life force to battle the gods if need be, so they will go to the Dalai Lama and have him name the baby. It used to be an elaborate process, but now you go to the office of His Holiness, reach into a jar and pull out a name. Last night a few of the girls and I slept in the classroom, which was so nice. Mostly because we got to stack mattresses, so we felt like we were sleeping on a worn down American one instead of sleeping on wood, and we got to stay up past 9. Exciting I know.

This morning I went to the teachings for the morning session, and purposely didn’t bring my radio, because the Tibetan is so much prettier than the English translation, even though the translation is well done. It’s so nice to just be present in the space and your surroundings. And then I went on my hunt, here’s the story: When I was walking down to the Temple this morning, I saw a couple signs that were written in Tibetan and the only English words on them were Asia Society and Jamie Metzl. Those of you reading this from Chip’s office will know Jamie. For those who don’t, Jamie is the Vice-President of the Asia Society and also co-founded Partnership for a Secure America with Chip. A name from home was kinda fun and exciting, so I found Bob the Buddha (his title has changed from Bob the Monk) and had him translate the poster. Evidently, Jamie gave a talk yesterday at the Dept of Information on something (Bob couldn’t quite figure out the translation). I was sad that I had missed him, but thought that no one comes this far for a day and that he might still be around. So I headed down to the Dept of Info (which is in lower-D and about 30 mins away) in hope of finding a way to contact him. Bureaucracy is the same everywhere. I probably talked to 5 people in person and two on the phone, but still couldn’t get a number or location for him. No big surprise there I guess, as being on top of things isn’t a specialty of Indians or Tibetans. So that was the end of that adventure.

After lunch and homework and a follow-up interview with Lasang Tsering concerning my paper (during which I just wanted to hug the man), Emily and I decided that we were tired of our eyebrows looking like we never touch them (which we don’t, as its hard enough to even find a mirror) so Tenzin directed us to a beauty parlor. The beauty parlor is literally 4 chairs in a divided room of no bigger than 200 square feet. Its Indian owned. So we got our eyebrows threaded which is a weird experience. I still can’t figure out how exactly the threading works, but it seems to do the job. It hurts no worse than waxing, but takes a little longer. Mine ended up a little thin for my normal liking, but they look fine and they’ll grow in nice. The best part though is that it was 10 rupees, so 25 cents. Pretty sweet.

Five of us head to Chaun Tara Thursday for 3 days. It’s a Tibetan settlement with a TCV school and the Dzongsar Institute. And then its lots of tests, packing, saying good bye to Dharamsala and off to Bhutan!

teachings

The last two days have been emotionally taxing.

Yesterday was the the telling of some of the Jataka tales by HH the Dalai Lama. We were given the morning off from class so that we could attend. Ari and I went at 6am (though i was awake at 4 but my amala wouldn't let me go without tea and breakfast). We were told that HH would leave his residence at 7 and go to the temple to pray before he began his teachings. When we arrived, we were pointed to the foreigner entrance and patted down for cameras and cells (and i guess weapons as well). When we entered the temple, it was already busy, probably a couple hundred people, which we were soon to find out was nothing. We found a spot right in front on the aisle that HH would walk down. We took our seats on the ground and hung out for awhile, me attempting to hand off the food that my amala had sent with me, in case i was still hungry. When the commotion started around the gate to His residence, everyone got on their knees, as security kept people from standing up. I wasn't expecting to me truly struck by him walking past, i was expecting it to be cool, but cool is far from describing what i felt. When he came out behind some important lamas and surrounded by security, it was indescribable. We locked eyes for maybe a split second and as cliche as it sounds to say that he saw to my soul, its as close as i can get in words to what i felt. There were some tears for sure in the audience, and i didnt feel close to tears, but it was a truly amazing feeling. After he passed by, he went up stairs to pray with the monks. Meanwhile, we filled in to seats. Ari, Kyle and i had great seats right in the middle in direct line with the throne that he would sit on for the teaching. In class we were told to try and avoid sitting with the foreigners and to mix in with the Tibetans, especially if our families were going. None of our families went, but we still didn't want to sit with the foreigners. But evidently we didnt have much of a choice. Security moved us out of the Tibetan section and we ended up in the way back. And then the fun began. The amount of people who filled into the temple complex was unreal, i had guessed that 600-700 people could sit on the ground, but my guess is that there were at least a thousand people there. In a two foot radius from me, I counted 12 people. One grown man in my lap, one with his knees on either side of me, and people on all sides. The worst part was that the family in front of me kept waving people in from the sides (who were standing) to come sit down like there was room there. I cant even tell you how many times i was stepped on. i listened to the translation on the radio for awhile, which was extremely well done. HH told the story about how the Buddha in a previous life had purposely reincarnated as a fish and how he had saved the fish from drought and death through his compassion. The tale was interspersed with HH's comments and interpretations. He even made a joke, which was made obvious by the translator saying "HH makes a joke:..." I ended up taking off the headphones for the last hour, as the teachings are even better in Tibetan even if you dont understand what is being said. The ending procession was mayhem, when at the point that the Dalai Lama is past you, all you can think about is getting out with your body in one piece. Evidently at the end of the teachings, HH passed onto the audience the ability to gain merit. I guess no amount of prayer wheel spinning and repetition of mantras will gain you merit unless HH has given you the ability to receive that extra credit merit. So now i have a better chance of not being reborn as a hungry ghost.

Today we had two lectures, one about the middle-way policy and one about independence for Tibet. Initially i was all about the middle-way, and even at the end of the day, i have my doubts still about independence, but our speaker touched my heart on some level. His name is Lobsang Tsering, and he was the first person to come out against the Dalai Lama's middle-way policy. I wont get into his arguments, but i have never met a man who literally has put his soul on the line for eternity for what he believes. He is truly a broken, saddened man who has given up his Buddhist beliefs for his higher belief and desire for a free Tibet. He is willing to spend eternity in the hell realms of samsara to spend this life time fighting for a free tibet. and to this point, to no avail. It was really moving, again something that is very hard to put into words.

Sorry this is shorter, but the work is piling on here, and the next 2 weeks are going to be super intense, and then we are off to Bhutan. I think posts will be less frequent from now on, ill try to at least get something onto my computer and then when i have a few minutes transfer them at an internet cafe.

Dal Lake, Buddhist Monk Debates

Yesterday and today were are first “weekend,” a chance to catch up on reading, explore outside of McLeod Ganj and have some alone time. Yesterday, six of us went on a trip to Dal Lake, a fill in lake for exiles of the sacred Dal Lake in Tibet. The lake is above the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) and the opposite direction from the waterfall, so for us that meant being able to explore the “third mountain.” The weather was beautiful, 55-60ish degrees and sunny. The walk was very beautiful, all in the trees and on a winding road. Very few cars compared to the town and even to the walk to the waterfall. We got lost a few times, mistaking an Indian military fort with TCV and then heading farther away than before. When we did finally find TCV, it wasn’t what I expected (a theme for the hike). Most of the buildings look like they are on the verge of falling apart and it wasn’t nearly as big as I expected for housing and schooling 500-700 students. We ended up wandering around for a while, and found the handicraft store. Students do not make much of the items in the store, but all funds help the school, so buying still feels like a good deed. On the way out, we happened upon some women doing traditional rug weaving, which was so amazing to watch. The details that go in to them, and how one even knows when to put a black thread instead of yellow to end up with a yak was pretty remarkable. Eventually, we made it to Dal lake, which was really disappointing. The lake is man-made, with about 2 inches of muddy, dirty water in it and about 20 coy, most of which looked dead.

Being disappointed as we were, we decided to continue to head up the mountain and see what else lay ahead. We ended up climbing straight up stairs as steep as the steeper parts of the incline to a small Indian village. By this point we were pretty hungry and it was threatening to rain, so we thought we would find a restaurant in which we could wait out the storm before heading the hour home. No luck there either. There were only two restaurants to be had, one in a hotel, which only had tea, and the other, a roadside shack, the kind we were warned not to eat at, and it only had outdoor seating anyway. So we decided it was a bust and headed home. Again, not that simple. We like to make things into adventures. We ended up taking a different path down which placed us about 4km underneath McLeod Ganj, so that the trip ended up being uphill both ways. And it was raining. But we came upon St. John in the Woods church, a relic from when the British had a military post here. The church is very gothic looking and certainly makes an impression.

After lunch, we as a group attempted to see a movie at the local cinema. Its basically 25 chairs and a projector, but they have American movies, which was certain to be better than all the Hindi stuff that is on TV 24/7. The deal with the theatre is that you can go anytime, choose from their collection and watch for 100 rupees. Well, we thought that since there was 15 of us, we shouldn’t have to each pay 100 rupees if we could come one at a time and watch for the same price. That didn’t go over too well with the owner, and we ended up just giving in since we were arguing over $3. We decided on Michael Clayton, but when the movie started, it was halfway through. We all got up, got our money back and left. So much for our movie attempt.

I spent late Monday afternoon in bed with a fever, which was fun, and ended up in bed by 8:30 (which is only 20 minutes earlier than usual).

I got up this morning, feeling much better after a restless night, and decided to head to the Temple to see if anything was going on. What was going on ended up being a Buddhist monk debate that was so incredible to watch, even though I had no idea what they were debating. A Tibetan tried to explain it to me, but I don’t know if he knew what was going on either. No matter, it was still unreal to watch. The Temple had about 200 monks around, sitting and watching the debate, or circumambulating or praying upstairs. The debate involved two sitting monks and then a series, one at a time, of standing monks. The standing monk uses a lot of hand smacking, stepping, and yelling to get their point across. When a monk feels like the standing monk isn’t doing a very good job, they stand up and basically shove them out of the “ring,” taking their place and continuing the debate. Evidently today’s topic was rather funny, as there was three or four times that the whole crowd erupted in laughter. The older teachers also make the younger monks get up and debate, its pretty obvious that they are getting their butt kicked, but no better way to get better than practice. I am definitely convinced that US presidential debates should be held in the monk style. They would be more interesting for one, two, they wouldn't have the personal attacks, three, there is awesome hand smacking and face touching, four, the audience gets to be involved and take people off stage who don't perform well, and five, we would probably actually learn something about the candidates we didn't already know.

After the debate, i circumambulated with some old Tibetan women. The first 7/8 of the trail was downhill, which was getting me worried, and as i expected, the last 1/8 was basically straight up. And to my surprise, the old women, who had probably been doing this for 40 years, kept right up with me the entire hill, saying prayers and spinning pray beads the entire time.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the snow, the weather, and sitting outside attempting to do homework. I wasn't very successful, but the day was a success nonetheless. The teachings start thursday, so hopefully my next post will involve me seeing the Dalai Lama, and not just hearing him.

Free Day

Yesterday we got the day off, much needed after a pretty intense week. To celebrate not being tied down to chairs all day, Emily, Jess and I got an early start to the day (though sleeping in for us) and headed out to Bhagsu waterfall around 8:30. The walk up to when you can see the waterfall only takes about 20-25 mins, and it takes you out of the center of town, up the foothills, through an Indian-only outcropping of McLeod Ganj. Once past the Hindu temple and the swimming pool (which is right next door to the temple) you turn the corner and, oh there's the waterfall. By the way, though the swimming pool is open to everyone, we were warned by our homestay moms that its not for women, especially young women. Evidently Indian men don't even attempt to hide their stares, and if you get in the pool, you'll be surrounded in 5 secs. The waterfall from afar was a little disappointing, i think i was expecting much more in the way of trees and green, but its in an area thats pretty barren minus slate (lots of it in the river bed) and some small brown things growing. The walk up, for all my Colorado readers, is a bit like walking Barr Trail without the switchbacks; that steep-ness. Its a footpath thats been well built, the falls are a pretty big touristy thing to do when in Dharamsala. The walk was great, it was nice to feel like we were getting some exercise. Once upon the falls, they were definitely better than from far away. The water is crystal clear. There are some currently closed "cafes" around the base of the waterfall for all the tourists who are now parched after the walk. The cafe consists of a metal roof resting on two barely stable walls backed up against the side of the mountain. Im sure when they're open they barely fit some water, maybe a small fire and the one staff member. But they sure had extensive menus with hot and cold drinks, "tost" (toast/technically grilled sandwiches) and eggs. We did a little meditation at the base of the falls, which were so peaceful, and then decided to be adventurous and head up around the top of the falls. Definitely a good decision. Above the falls lives a man and his 2 dogs, they run the Shiva cafe, which is in (or is) his house. Though not open because its off season, he was still working and the dogs were out. It was so nice to see dogs that are well cared for, clean, have healthly looking coats and figures, and are nice. In Dharamsala, wild dogs are numerous, as both tibetans and hindus refuse to kill them. The ones in town are dirty, not people friendly (besides the few befriended by families who feed them and such) and usually are mangled from fights at night. One of the dogs that hangs out by the school has a huge hole in his hind leg, that just festers. So sad. So the dogs by the falls were a welcome sight. They wanted to be pet, rolled on the backs for belly rubs, and showed us the foot path on the other side of the creek that heads up the foothills. It was too snowy to traverse far, but a hike we will certainly go back to.

On the way up to the falls, we had walked for a way with a monk, who stopped soon after being able to see the falls. On the way back, we noticed him and another monk and three families down by the creek. Upon further inspection, we discovered that they were all washing clothes in the creek. We headed down the ravine for a better look. What a great experience. We ended up just sitting on the rocks for an hour, just watching, enjoying the day and the beauty of where we were. It was fun to see the monks being normal (again, a nice reminder that they are people too, who need to wash clothes too) and the family dynamics were also fun. Everyone pitches in. They bring all their clothes in huge duffle bags, stake out a spot and all work. One family had a mother and child washing shoes and laces and socks and underwear while the father, in a horizontal striped t-shirt and vertical striped underwear (with really nice legs) scrubbed and rinsed outerwear. Once things were clean, they were laid out on the rocks to dry and the family sat and had a picnic and played cards. Laundry is definitely an all day affair. We all remarked that this was how things should be, while life in exile is certainly hard, it doesn't mean its bad as well. We think we are going to head back over our weekend and wash our own clothes in the creek. it certainly will beat doing it in the bucket in hotel tibet.

Random things:
Evidently, Indian women have a big desire to have lighter skin, as skin lighteners are a huge advertising market on TV. A white face is a pretty face. Don't know how well that would fly in the states.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama starts his teachings on Friday, with his telling of some of the Jataka tales on Thursday (which start every teaching year). We are going to the thursday story which is usually followed by an analysis/explanation/whatever you want to call it by the Dalai Lama. The event is simulcasted in English on radio, so you can sit at the Temple and hear the english translation on a radio at the same time.
Because of the teachings, the population of McLeod Ganj has doubled in the last days (at least it feels that way). Monks and nuns from all over come and sleep wherever for the 2 weeks of teachings. Its a great sight to walk the streets with monks and nuns definitely outnumbering lay people.
Tibetan class is moving fast. I still can't say a whole lot beyond my name is... and im from... and i like momos and i dont like butter tea. But the reading is awesome: though its not usually clear what things say, we can walk the streets and sound out the text. so at least i feel cool.

oh and best part of my day...

... i got a bucket shower today with HOT water. and i washed some clothes (which might dry by the time we head to Bhutan). Amazing how clean clothes and hot water can make the day.

Meditation, Refugee Reception Center, and random stuff

Yesterday we had our first meditation session with our Tibetan monk. His name is Bob and he is from Chicago. He actually did the program in 1995, and after graduating decided he had to come back. He worked in Australia at a monestary there for the last seven years and is now back studying under his original teacher. It was so helpful to have an actual monk who can explain in a different way the underpinnings of Buddhism and yet be able to use examples that make sense to Americans. He has a great feel about him, he exudes calmness and peace, and yet is very relateable. I think often times we think of monks as these beyond beings, something that we as normal people could relate to, but as my experience over and over is showing me, they are just people like the rest of us. In the hour session, we talked for about 50 mins about the larger goals of mediatation and then did the first step, focusing on a single point, for about 5 mins, which definitely feels like eternity. Next session is sat.

Today we went to the Tibetan refugee reception center here to observe what incoming refugees are experiencing when they first arrive. The center is rather small, with a kitchen, male and female hostel (basically a large room with 40 beds for men and boys, and a smaller room with maybe 20 beds for women and girls), an office and a rooftop drawing room. Unfortunately picture taking is not allowed for political reasons, but its too bad, because to see this kids that have just crossed the Himalayas is enough to make you want to change careers to helping them in any way possible. We met 4 boys who have been here for a week, it took them 3 weeks to cross the border from Tibet into Nepal. Their parents paid a guide to take them across so that they could come to dharamsala to go to the tibetan children's village and become tibetan educated, not chinese. It is very typical for kids to come over basically alone, with only the clothes on their backs. These four were lucky in that they only suffered some face wind burns. Some, especially when crossing during the winter months, come across with horrible frostbite, as they walk through feet of snow for days in just jeans and old tennis shoes. The youngest of the 4 was just six. Once they reach Nepal, they are picked up, processed by the refugee center there and then bused to dharamsala. They will spend anywhere from a few days to a month at the center before being transferred to one of the settlements or schools or monestaries. We also met a few monks and a nun who had just arrived 2 days ago. The kids use drawing and art as therapy at the center, and the pictures they draw often represent what they have seen in Tibet. Much of the pictures involve chinese army pointing guns at tibetans. I do have some photos of those, will try to post soon. The trip was a sobering experience, but the kids are proud to be here and the organization does a great job, so though sobering, its so lucky that a place like that exists.

On a much lighter note, a quick review of the happenings of the last few days:
One of the high Karmapa lamas passed away a few days ago, while meditating, and has yet to fall over out of his meditation pose. Weird to think that this man is just sitting there and has been dead for four days. They cant do a sky burial until the last wind leaves him and he falls over. So there is a general sense of waiting. We are also hoping he moves, which it is assumed he will, in order to give a sense of direction on where to look for his reincarnation. That is how the 14th Dalai Lama was actually found, the 13th's head moved from a south facing position to a northeast facing position, the direction search parties set out.
Yesterday, we ran into Pearson from our group who says "dude, i just ran into someone from my college" which we thought was kind of fun, but he was "pissed." Who comes half way across the world to see someone from your school? Its definitely an illustration of the cosmopolitanism of Dharamsala though. This is a place that people all over the world want to come, for spiritual, political and social reasons. I think we see as many foreigners as Indians.
Today is Valentine's day, another great reason for Kashmiri men to talk to young, western women. I got "come to my shop for your heart's desire" and "come into my shop for your wildest pleasures" today, neither of which i even wanted to think about what they actually meant.
We have the day off tomorrow, which is much needed as language and lectures have been long and intense. We are going to hike up to the waterfall and Dal lake tomorrow for much needed exercise and escape. Should be beautiful, ill take lots of pictures.
I think thats about it for now, the days stay about the same. If you have specific questions for me about my experience, please leave them in the comments. When i sit down to write these, a lot often escapes me from the day to day stuff because its already becoming routine. But questions might focus my thoughts better. Sim-jah nahng-go.

A few thoughts

Life is slowly settling in here, if you can call living in exile and in a closet, in a world where everyone knows you're foreign, settling in. A schedule is really nice to have. We have class from 9-5 everyday, with meditation class starting on wednesday morning. It is being taught by an American monk, so that translations of the Buddhism will come across. So keep an eye out for thoughts on my first meditation experience. I have a hard time even quieting my mind, so i think active silence is going to be extremely difficult.

My homestay mom still feeds me way too much food and the diet of starch and the 4 veggies is getting old. Apparently, all Tibetan food only involves the 4 veggies: potatoes, red onion, cabbage and a tomato-like thing (i'm sure its a tomato, but its kinda hard, not really squishy). For breakfast, an "omelet" with red onion (not cooked) and tomato. For dinner, some starch with the veggies. I'm having massive cravings for an actual salad, but lettuce isn't always safe to eat here, so my chances of one are slim until im back in Delhi. I'm also finding that im slightly addicted to veg momo's, which are a lot like steamed dumplings.

Its getting dark, which means my homestay mom will start calling the entire town in about 1/2 hour if im not home soon, but i'd like to give a few thoughts on life in exile and my initial observations:

Kashmiri men are creepy. You should avoid them at all cost. Especially if they invite you back to their "shop" for tea.
Indian beggers come from all over to McLeod Ganj because of the number of foreigners here. Evidently they make more than most Tibetans. They also have lots of tricks up their sleeves, like asking not for money but for you to buy milk for their baby (they all have babies). Milk is expensive, and if you do buy it, they usually sell it back to the shop, marked up.
There are no Tibetan beggars. As a Tibetan woman said, "we have no sympathy for them, we tell them get a job. because life is hard for all of us, we have all gone through the same things, and therefore no one gets it easy."
Life in exile is definitely hard, which i knew, but its hard to fathom until you're actually here. People come in from Tibet all the time, about 3,000 a year, and really struggle to make a living. They definitely make-do and no one really knows for how long they will have to. They say life in TAR might actually be better in terms of quality of living but being occupied and having your culture destroyed is certainly not worth some material goods.
Young Tibetan men are constantly on the prowl for foreign women to marry.
There is an interesting balance between modern and traditional, which definitely plays out in the monks. Monks generally are the majority in internet cafes, they all have cell phones and they are all way more connected to the outside world than i am.
The tibetan language is really hard, but the written is so cool. Its beautiful to write and has remained the same since the 7th century. Today we "read" (we dont know what they mean, but we can sound them out) texts on walls in monasteries built in 910. pretty sweet. I suck at the oral though, i can't even adequetely pronounce the word for "I" so that tells you where i am :-).

More to come for sure, especially now that the daily life is settling in, ill have much more on observations. His Holiness the Dalai Lama starts his teachings soon, which we are going to the first one. No one knows exactly when yet, as schedules over here are very arbitrary. For example, the bus schedule has things like this: "McLeod Ganj to Delhi: Morning" Morning can mean 7:30 or 11:45. you should just hang out until it comes. Until then, khaleh shub.

Homestay and Losar

Losar-la Tashi Delek! Its the first day of the Tibetan New Year and the second day with my homestay family. I'll start with my homestay and then talk about Losar.

We met our homestay families in an elaborate and fancy, for here, lunch at Hotel Tibet. One at a time we were called forward to meet our aamala (mother) or pala (father) and give them a khata. We then had a huge lunch with us all talking at once doing introductions and trying to keep things as un-awkward as possible. My homestay mother is one of the oldest out of the families and this is her third year doing homestays. She doesn't speak much english and we spent most of lunch pretty quiet. I found out that we live near the school we are using as a lecture room, but i didnt know how close until i got there. We have to walk through the school room to get to my "house". Our home is literally a 9 foot by 12 foot room with two beds, small table and a tv (which is on Indian soaps 24/7). The kitchen is outside on the balcony and consists of a bucket of water, a hot plate and a piece of wood that serves as a cutting board. My pack took up more room than all of their stuff. I have a 10 year old and 14 year old sisters, who both speak better english than aamala. The 10yo, Pema Lhamo, is full of half english, half tibetan jokes that i have to fake a laugh at because i dont understand enough of them to get the actual joke. Since there are only 2 beds, i am actually sleeping in the classroom right now until Tenzin goes back to the Tibetan Children's Village. The family has been super caring and overzealous with the food. For only having 2 burners, aamala makes a ton of food. Last night was a starch lovers dream, rice with potatoes and rice noodles on top. This morning, i was awoken at 5:30 with a alcoholic porridge dried cheese dish (as not so yummy as it sounds) followed by a bowl of sweet rice with nuts, chai, and then an egg omelet and chapatti. Overall, i think the homestay family will be very rewarding but im basically living like a homeless person; bucket showers with cold water, living out of a suitcase, and generally being dirty and feeling pretty gross all the time. 4 weeks will definitely be long enough to get the full homestay experience.

Losar is one of the biggest celebrations in the Tibetan Year. Originally, in Lhasa, it was celebrated for at least 15 days and for up to a month. In exile, Tibetans keep it to 3 days, but they get all they can out of those three days. This means sounding the horns, literally, at 4am, accompanied by rockets that sound like we are being air-bombed. Lots of singing also. My family and Ariana's family went to H.H. the Dalai Lama's temple around 9, dressed in traditional choopas (pictures later when i find a way to load them that doesnt take 30 mins a picture) and circumambulated with the crowds. The temple is beautiful, but we are told it is a very tempered, mellow one that just serves the purpose until they can get back to the huge , elaborate temples of Lhasa. It was fun to see everyone in their different choopas and we were starting to figure out which styles correlated to which regions in Tibet. The Amdo region has very simple, heavy ones for example, while some of the regions originally closer to China have very elaborately decorated and detailed ones. At the temple, i had my first taste of butter tea, which i wouldn't recommend to anyone. It tastes like salty milk thats gone bad. I think ill stick to Chai.

Class starts up again on Sunday, and i just have to roll out of bed. As much i was excited about the homestay and as much as i think it will be a lasting experience, i think its going to be tough. When your water bottle freezes next to you overnight inside, and you have to go to the bathroom outside in the middle of the night because your aamala sleeps with the key, its going to be trying. All part of the reasons im here, i guess.

Dharamsala

In order to get to Dharamsala, we were told that it was a 12 hour train ride followed by a 3 hour jeep ride. Seemed simple enough. It definitely didnt turn out that way. The train car was a second class sleeper car and i had a lower bunk. My big trekking pack on one side and my back pack on the other about halfed the space left to sleep. We talked with an Indian family in the compartment next to us that was heading to a wedding and was very interested in what we were doing as well as who we are. They were most surprised by the fact that i didn't know what i want to do in life yet, im evidently way behind. I tried to sleep, and succeeded for 2 hours, but the train was really, really cold and i couldnt have enough on top of me to stay warm. Tinley woke up my car at 5 am, saying that we needed to get ready pretty quickly as we were about 45 mins out and that we would have one, maybe two, minutes to get off the train. Well 45 mins turned into 3 hours and 1-2 minutes turned into 20. I think Tinley just wanted someone else up to talk to.

Once off the train we jumped into small suv-like cars and headed out. Driving in India is crazy even outside the cities. I think we had about 6 near-death experiences. As we headed up, clouds turned to rain which turned to snow about 7km south of Dharamsala. Since snow is rare for the lower elevations, no one knows how to drive in it and cars are not adequately equipped. To make a long story short, we ended up pushing our van and the van in front of us the last couple kms. Half the group wasn't so lucky, they got stuck 6km below and had to walk , with all their stuff, up the rest of the way. Beautiful walk, but hard nonetheless.

We are staying in Hotel Tibet, one of the nicest hotels in town, which is an experience. There is no central heating anywhere in the town, and electricity outages are common. There is also no hot water in the room, which is better than the rooms that dont have running water. It isnt like the water is tepid, its himalayan cold. Washing my hair in the sink was miserable, and left me with a headache.

Since it hasn't snowed in Dharamsala for 3 years, the snow is pretty exciting around here. The younger men show their excitement by throwing snowballs at the women, especially liking the foreign targets. Even worse, you cant retaliate, since thats what they want, so its a bit frustrating walking through town as a moving target. Overall though, the Tibetans have been very welcoming and warm, are overall extremely nice and helpful, and the monks love to practice their English as much as possible.

We watched the Super bowl this morning (4 am) and ate pizza at H.H. the Dalai Lama's temple this evening, so even though we are in the Himalayas in a small community, you are never far from home in this modern world. The pizza was awesome, the closest i've ever come to homemade.

We meet and move in with our homestay family on wednesday, something i am really looking forward to. I requested a family with kids, the more the merrier.

Arriving and Delhi

Well, after 20 hours of travel, I am finally in India. It is weird how you think about something for so long and then when you finally get here, it doesn’t really hit you that you are in a whole other world. We didn’t get to the airport in New Delhi until midnight and it took us an hour to get through customs and such. Luckily everyone in my group and the other India group had their luggage arrive safely. We were greeted by our academic directors, Pam and Manu, as well as the program assistants, Tenzin and Tinley, and were all draped with Khatas, traditional white Tibetan welcoming scarves (one of many to come, we are told). After a ride to the hotel and a quick introduction, it was off to bed, which wasn’t easy. I was beyond the tired point and my body was telling me that it was mid afternoon and not 2am. Eventually I did get to sleep, only to be awoken by our 7:30 alarm.

Breakfast at the hotel included some traditional Indian items as well as a sad attempt at French toast. Then came our first Delhi experience: navigating Connaught Circle to go from our hotel to the hotel that we were having our morning meeting in. Just try to imagine 26 white students being led by a Tibetan through morning Indian traffic. Now, a note on traffic in India: evidently no one follows any of the traffic laws. Lights and street lanes are only minor suggestions. It is impossible to get all of us across a street at once and we nearly lost 2 to traffic “accidents.” And the whole time, Tinley is up front, talking a mile a minute about who knows what and laughing, a lot.

After some orientation stuff, which I won’t bore you with, we headed to the Adhar Pradesh house. In Delhi, all the states and territories have houses, kind of like consulates. But even better, they have canteens, i.e. Indian fast food, that represents the food of the local state. Since Pradesh is a southern state, it has a vegetarian’s dream. You pay (70 rupees, so a little under $2 US), then sit down where you are given a metal cafeteria tray with rice, yogurt and dessert, along with four cups. Then people just start coming around and dumping food on your plate. Lentils, soup, potatoes, curried veggies, and lots on naan. And you start eating, with your right hand of course, no fork needed, and when it looks like you might be close to finishing off one of the items, a guy magically appears to give you more. It’s a little overwhelming as you constantly feel like you aren’t eating fast enough. But oh-so-good. Tinley sat with my table and I’m sure he ate 30 naan with all the toppings. “The Tibetans have a saying,” he says, “our stomachs

start at our knees and end at our chins.” And the way he ate, I believe him.

After our lunch, we headed to the SIT India Arts and Culture house (the other group) to hear a short lecture on India and have tea. The lecture was fine, we were all tired and so it appeared as though we were bored, but there was some interesting info. Then back to the hotel, to be on our own. We ventured out for a bit, but I think we were all too tired to really have any interest in anything.

Overall, my impressions of Delhi are very mixed. It is extremely polluted, extremely busy, extremely dirty, and way too large for my liking. I can’t wait to get to clean air and mountains. On the other hand, the Indians are extremely nice and always willing to help you out. You rarely have to approach someone to ask for directions, they are usually asking you if you need them. We did see an elephant and camels in one of the markets, which was fun, and the markets are exactly what you think of when you think of India. Bright colors, lots of fruit, saris and scarves. However, wild dogs and monkeys are rampant, almost as much as the begging children. 25% of India lives below the poverty line, but it feels like a lot more when walking the streets constantly being approached by tiny, dirty children.

Anyway, I am very excited to head out to Dharamsala. We take the night train to Pranktoth, then take jeeps up to Dharamsala and Mcleod Ganj, our home for the next 5 weeks. Tibetan New Year is right around the corner, which we will spend with our homestay families. So, much more to come!!