India

Namaste! In my defense, there were about 5 electricity blackouts a day at the place I was last week so it was not very practical for me to try to go online and risk frying my computer. That being said, I am in the doghouse for not writing more. (slaps own wrist.)

So, India! Well, let me tell you about where I was last week. Last week I was in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Mungod, India. The director of our program is married to a old Tibetan man ("Nima") whose friends live at this monastery, so they were super excited to see us. They were even more excited to see 68-year-old Nima, whose Tibetan is apparently much more comprehensible than his English ("now now it is time want to look at rocks" is a typical sentence). But he has become our mascot on this trip and it was fun to see him in his element, with other old Tibetan men who laugh and mumble the exact same way.

Not all the monks were older, however. One monk was about 29 and named Tommy, and he was a Taiwanese-American from--get this-- IRVINE, CA! So he basically sounded like all of my high school friends. He is the antithesis of what I thought a monk would be...young, funny, with So-Cal slang, and a cellphone that plays uncensored versions of top 40 hip hop songs. We got on really well, you can imagine. Basically his mom tricked him when he was a sophomore in high school into spending some time at a monastery, knowing that he would get sucked in and end up being a monk (in a nutshell--that is his explanation). But he really likes it and can't imagine doing anything else....so, all's well that ends well!

The monastery was dusty and under construction, but very beautiful with dirt paths grazed by bouganvillas leading to different buildings. There was a family of cute dogs, the youngest of which would immediately roll onto her back when you approached and wait for a tummy rub. She was young enough to be teething, so she would like to chew on your finger while your other hand rubbed her tummy. She lived quite royally, as we all seemed to be in need of a puppy-petting.

The food was delicious and served by an impossibly skinny Indian man named Suresh, with big glasses and Charlie Chaplin hair. One night we even had spaghetti, which was absolutely DELICIOUS. Oh, I am excited to have American food again....

Sadly we had to leave and go on a four day trek of bus rides and mosque tours...which were beautiful, but when you've been on a bus for 6 hours it's hard to walk around and make sense of your surroundings regardless of where you are. So, luckily we have two days in Delhi to recover!!!

Delhi of course is a madhouse and you can't wait anywhere alone, but fortunately there are usually enough people around to go with you that this hasn't been a problem. We are all excited because we have homestays coming up in Dharamsala, with Tibetan families. Oh, Tibetans! They are so fun. I should have some good stories about that later.

I've been reading the Hobbit, and it is my first time. I love it! To think it took me this long to read it. Better late than never! Can't wait to start on LOTR afterwards.

I hope all is well! I apologize for the brevity, photos will come once I can find Wifi...har har!