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.