I didn’t find out until last minute, but His Holiness is here in McLeod Ganj giving teachings all week.  The girls invited me to come along, of course since they wouldn’t be home for english lessons anyway.  I also found out that I have to register with the Tibetan in Exile government to sit in the same area as H.H. and the girls so I didn’t get to go today.  I spent the morning registering and now I’m perusing the internet for computer/learning games.  Tomorrow I officially start going to see His Holiness in the flesh giving teachings.  I’ll have headphones on that translate everything into English for me!

I had quite an eventful first week at the nunnery!  I learned that all of their food is REALLY good but all kind of revolves around the same things (but it’s only been one week so I’m sure there’s more to come), the wild dog population is sad and troublesome, even though I’m in the middle of NOWHERE in Gharoh there is still a lot of noise, the REALLY big and colorful spiders that are big enough to wrap around a tennis ball pay no attention to humans though hang about a foot above our heads, the snakes that live in the yard (big enough to EAT a tennis ball) don’t bother anyone if you don’t bother them, and the last big lesson……I need to calm the hell down and go with THE FLOW.  I know I’m staying here a while because I’ve unconsciously tied my room key to my necklace.  I’ve also started accumulating things and kind of “setting up shop” as it were.

I got away from the nunnery yesterday and spent the day in Bhagsu, hiking the waterfall and eating crap with Isabel, the English girl that I’m friends with.  I’ve definitely gained a little perspective while I’ve been gone and am looking forward to returning to the nunnery and being with the girls.

On my trips up and down the mountain I’ve started really looking at what is around me.  I’m surrounded by Indian men (they’re really quite small in build!) and the hindu religion.  The Hindu Temples on the side of the road are incredible and everywhere!  They are well taken care of and used daily.  I saw my first water buffalo on my early morning walk to the bus stop.  They are quite impressive creatures and look as though they are carved out of wet slate.  I wanted to reach out and touch them so badly but was being stared at and didn’t want to alarm anyone.  When I’ve been there a while, I’ll go back and talk to the farm owner about them I’m sure.  I also notice on every bus and car dashboard is a little hindi shrine with flashing lights and the whole nine yards.  I LOVE THEM!  This country is oozing with religion and I have to say I appreciate it.  I admire them for their actual belief and life that is Hindu.  I wanted to talk to one girl the other morning.  She was doing some ritual thing in the road as I walked by.  It consisted of bits of a daisy, two cones of incense and water from a holy bowl of some sort.  She chanted something…..it was so amazing to watch.  I imagine when I’m there a little longer and they get used to seeing me they will be receptive to talking to me about it.  I’ve also started talking to the nuns about their personal life journey to Buddhism.   The stories are great.

While having a chai up in McLeod Ganj, I ran into a group of students from a Quaker college in south central Indiana.  They came for the teachings.  I wanted so badly to talk to them about their religion!  I am so curious!

Gotta go.  More later.

P.S. I haven’t forgotten about the poverty pictures, I’m just so busy with everything else, they’ve kind of taken a back burner AND I’ve been adding to them.

It was brought to my attention that my last post on Sunday was a bit rough. Yes, indeed, it was. I was having a difficult time getting out of McLeod Ganj and honestly was just tired of the person and situation that was making things difficult for me.

SO, onward and upward…..or downward really. McLeod Ganj is around 5500 ft. It just dawned on me the other day that I live in Gharoh…elevation 1,000 ft. I am in the Malaria zone at this altitude! I’ve started wearing my one bug-off shirt more often over t-shirts and such. I picked up some Chloroquine (anti-malarial) and it’s making me quite sick. If the illness doesn’t let up I think I might have to scrap this and think of yet another plan.

Lets talk nuns. They are sweet and shy and bald. Some speak fairly okay English, some, not so much. In the living quarters, as you can see by the photo album, is a building that borders a road that we share with a very loud Indian village. All I wanted was some peace and quiet. I don’t think so, my friend! The children are loud and unruly and make me want to leave quickly. The Nuns got me set up in the room by the bathrooms. I say bathrooms because there is one room that is tiled from floor to ceiling, it has 4 knobs and a showerhead (that doesn’t work) coming out of the wall and there is a sink in the corner. The room next to it is the WC. It’s the squat kind, thank Buddha! Less to touch and when it’s dirty you hose it down. No worries. The only trouble with my bathrooms is that there are no screens on the windows. Now, not only does the shower room window face the roof where I’ve seen our Indian cow tender hang out (ugh), but the rooms are both TEEEEMING with mosquitoes. There is one spider in the WC and he lives behind the water tank that doesn’t work. The toilet is flushed by bucket that is filled by a faucet that comes out of the wall. Sounds terribly complicated, no? Well, not really. You just have to figure out how not to pee on your feet and keep your bum from being attacked by mosquitoes. Fun stuff.

My room is QUITE large 2 single camp beds, a night stand between them, built-ins for storage and a high ceiling with ceiling fan because it’s VERY hot here in the summer. The very large window hosts very cute spiders that live in my curtains and one that was terribly fond on playing in bed with me. He has been freed from his spider body and has moved on to another incarnation, hopefully better than spider level. At night I am visited by LARGE moths that my “room gecko” loves to eat. I have named my gecko Big Fat Bob II, in honor of the gecko that lived with me in Hawaii. Fortunately, this one doesn’t like to take naps with humans. Yes, I have a plethora of bugs and spiders in my room, in my bathrooms, in my bed and in my classroom. I teach English 1-2 (Advanced) and 2-2:50) beginner. At 2:50 the bell is wrung for tea. This entire country comes to a screeching halt for chai in the afternoons and I have become a big fan! It’s better than candy bar time at work. Janene, Larry, Tim and I used to struggle with candy bar time quite frequently at Sopris. Mr. Hoover never struggled with it he just went and got his M&Ms, guilt-free.

Meals are all homemade and all of the ingredients are in the kitchen pantry. HUGE bags of high-protein brown and red flour are used for making Large Pita for breakfast, and momos and such for the other meals. We usually have rice for lunch and dinner. Lunch always has dahl included. Breakfast pita also has what is referred to as “Chili” put on it. Chili is onions, peppers, tomatoes and some kind of mild chili pepper all fried together in oil till it’s almost caramelized. It’s quite spicy and about ¼ cup is served on the giant pita. Also with breakfast there is tea. And I don’t mean chai, I mean butter tea! Butter tea is exactly what it sounds like. It tastes like a glass of 75% hot butter with 25% chai. Yummy stuff but if it gets cold, forget it! Pour it out before it coagulates in your glass.

Lunch time dahl. Dahl is a 3-5 bean soup that is very high in protein and is quite yummy. Every meal seems to consist of the same thing but in different variations. The onion, pepper, tomato thing is the base of every vegetable dish. At lunch and dinner they add other vegetables to it with some spices to make it yummy and is always served over rice. The most common spice is turmeric, I think. All meals are traditional Tibetan meals cooked in a HUGE marble-countered kitchen with very old and scary, giant cauldrons and steamers.

Classes are fun. There are two other volunteers coming soon to teach English so I have to figure out how to get the girls to have time for computer classes. Honestly, there is no time in their schedule for computer classes. I was thinking of setting up a computer lab. Buying/downloading some learning games off the Internet and setting them all up. I really don’t see the need or time for computer classes but I’m going to stick around and see what happens. I can always help them with gardening and landscaping.

The cows are pretty fun to just sit and watch. They have 6 cows that they get milk from. They don’t use all six, they actually have a couple calves. The guy that tends them forgets to tie them in place and they like to wander over to the window while I’m giving class and say hi. They are the nunnery lawn mowers.

Some kid in the Indian village next door got hold of a whistle today at school. My quality of life has officially bottomed out.

One last subject on this post. The wild dog population is out of control and troublesome. If I knew of a vet that would come over and neuter some of these dogs, I’d help arrange the trip. This is scary. Lots of dogs are just weak and have open sores and mange too. Yuck. It’s just so sad to watch.

That’s it for now. My days off are Thursday and Sunday. I manged to sneak away today and get out for a bit of wandering. I have to be back at the nunnery by 1 to teach class. If there are some other volunteers that actually show up these next few days like planned, I may very well be back on the road again anyway. We shall see. See you Thursday!

I forgot to mention one rather important bit of info.  There is no internet at the nunnery (as well as no hot shower water) so I will be journaling on my laptop during the week and hitting the cyber cafe one day a week to upload pictures and the week’s journals.  I am looking forward to having my life contained on the compound and not having to go anywhere for anything besides the occasional coffee and INTARWEBS.  SO, you freaks following my sordid adventure have all week to crap up the website with unsavory comments and send me unwholesome insults.  Sound fair?  I think so.

As far as the no hot showers thing goes, I did it before in the Navy, I can do it again.  Actually, I did it in Denver on occasion too when I was the last to take a shower in the morning on Logan Street.  Hard lessons, my friends.  I am leaving it up to the grande public to start shelling out some money to get me some solar panels for the nunnery so I can have a damn hot shower.  Gaiam/Real Goods better bring their “A GAME”!  I’m gonna email Jeff Blamey and Andrea Mather and see how far I get.   I can always go to South India for the cold months (there being only 2 anyway).  Shoot, I was thinking about going to a meditation retreat….the coldest month might be the ideal time to do just that.

I’m going to miss my Monks!  I have been tutoring English from 6-7 in the evening for the past week and they’re sad that I’m leaving!  Heck, I’m sad too.  I was thinking about coming up on Sundays for Temple and to teach one of them computer skills, so maybe I can put together a little English/computer class on Sundays for them?

I”M OFF!

I’ve been hearing that line since I started this little adventure of mine and I have yet to be able to use it…..UNTIL NOW.

My new home as of Sunday September 22ned at 4:00.

http://www.jamchoebuddhistdialectics.org/

I will be allowed to get as involved with the daily prayer and study routine as I wish.  The  nun that interviewed me said that I can sit in the Tibetan classes too.  My main responsibility will be to teach the 7-13 year olds basic computer skills and harass them with forced English conversation.  I’m allowed to help in the garden or sleep with the cows.  I was invited to go to Southern India for a month or so in winter or stay at home and focus on intense study with the 7&8 year olds.  They’re so CUTE!  And Squirrelly.

I will have my own room and share a bathroom in a separate building, on the grounds, with the other lay people and teachers.   I work there “full time” and I get room and board for free or whatever small donation I feel is suitable (maybe $30/month?), and I can stay as long as I’m contributing to the nunnery.  It’s grounds are surrounded by a nice tall wall and I can do cartwheels in the front yard all night if I feel like it.  Check out their wish list!  They need SOLAR HELP!!!

SO SO HAPPY.

Maybe this has to do with the fact that my daily offerings to the Universe have been switched to chocolate?

Gotta go pack.  More later.

I’ve gotten some emails in reference to the pictures of poverty and have given it some thought.  Once I get them all together, I will put them in their own album labeled Poverty and people will have the choice of looking or not looking at it.  Sounds fair, I guess.

I start helping with the round-table english conversation practice tonight.  This should be interesting!  Wish me luck.

I’ve been kind of MIA for the past few days.  In my last post (Thursday?) I was feeling pretty bad.  I had a chest full of gunk and I couldn’t even breath through my nose…also had a fever.  Well, I took a chance and went to the drug store or what they call here, the chemical shop.  They are all tiny, tiny storefronts with walls of pills and lotions and some guy watching TV in a dirty t-shirt and jeans.  I was apprehensive but thought, what the hell.  I told the shop owner/doctor what my symptoms where by way of charades.  He gives me 6 each of two different kinds of pills.  Tells me to take one each every 12 hours till they’re gone.  I was convinced I was buying sugar pills, but paid the 160Rps he charged and left.  I didn’t even get through them all the way and as of today (Monday) all I have is the tiniest bit of chest congestion left!  WOW!  Go to the Indian doctor for the Indian crud!  And thanks to the old guy that coughed on me I learned that I am not always being ripped of as a whitey in a foreign land! 

I decided to stop at the bookstore somewhere in there.  Bookstores here are also tiny, tiny storefronts with so many books stacked to the ceiling, you walk to the middle of the shop, stand in one spot and spin on your heel to find your book.  I wasn’t expecting it so when I walked in, I literally barreled through the door and almost crashed into a guy.  I said “holy crap!” under my breath and he replied, “I know, crazy eh?”  He’s from AUSTIN TEXAS.  I can’t remember his name but we got to talkin and he’s on his way to Oxford for grad school and took the long way to stop and do some research on a book he’s doing.  It was nice to talk to a random American. 

Friday consisted of 4 guys from the US stopping in Volunteer Tibet to do some volunteer work while they’re here.  One has been in South Korea, teaching, so I need to pick his brain, of course.  The other three are just your typical American guys in their late 20’s that are English teachers.  I assume they figured out exactly how much American teachers DON’T make.  I also met a girl from the UK that is a photojournalist that is just lovely to be around!  She and I hung out Saturday night and went to the Temple together.

While at the Temple, I ran into a nun that is formerly from the US (all I can think about is The artist formerly known as prince) and after talking with her, I am convinced that I need to get “the nun train” back on track and go stay at a nunnery and teach.  Yesterday (Sunday) I just hung out at the temple all day and read and journaled.

That’s all for now!  Working on the next set of pictures!

A couple of the pictures are from New Delhi and frankly I weeded out the sad ones.  It dawned on me that the majority of the pictures I took ended up being upsetting in the fact that they were all of poverty and very sad.  I know most people that are following along don’t exactly want the down and dirty version of third world countries so I’ve only posted pictures that are relatively humorous, but if you take a close look at some of the settings surrounding the humor or beauty, you’ll realize exactly how poverty stricken these areas of the world really are.   If anyone would like to request pictures of the REALITY that I see every day, I can send them personally.

Remember 1 US dollar is equal to 40 Indian Rupees.  Everything I buy is around 40 rupees.  An hour at this internet cafe today is 30 rupees.  A GOOD coffee or Chai is 50 rupees.  And I’ve also noticed something else quite interesting.  They don’t serve HUGE portions of food or drink here.  Only as much as a normal person can eat.  People don’t feel the need to gorge themselves on tons of food.   My favorite is our 1 hour leisurely lunch at home with a short 30 minute nap before walking back up the hill.  Breakfast is a loaf of sweet bread for 3 Rupees and with a 40 Rupee Chai, that makes a mighty nice meal, in my opinion.

Maybe that’s why everyone here is tiny?  More than likely that’s genetics or the fact that they all have to work very hard to make a living.  So the next obvious question is why don’t they move???????  Well.  The majority of the people in McLeod Ganj CAN’T go home unless they want to be killed or imprisoned and tortured.  They don’t really have anywhere else to go.  They have no country and trying to emigrate to another country while in Refugee status is a little less than EASY.  That’s why I’m helping Lobsang with the channels that are involved in getting to Naropa.  Could he do it himself?  Sure.  But he’s unsure.  Unsure that the US would take him and he has no clue who to ask.  So I hit up my good friend Kris Baker (former Religious Studies guru at Naropa) and asked some very pointed questions.  Voila, Lobsang has a plan of attack to get to the US for school.  Education is something that should never be denied of any human being, as far as I’m concerned

Well, my screaming sore throat has left in it’s wake a nice heavy cough with the beginnings of a stuffy nose.  I think I remember some old guy coughing on me while I was walking up the street.  Guh.   I’ve been O.D.ing on Vitamin C and my mega vitamins.  I would love to be able to boast that I kicked some 3rd world bug grossness with Puritans Pride Vitamins!

More later.

Didn’t put a lot up because I didn’t know if it would work or not. The problem appears to be between formatting and internet speed. But since it’s working, I’ll go ahead and go nuts taking more. I just don’t want to seem too much of an obvious tourist since I kinda live here? Oh well. The pictures that are up are a few from the first few days of the trip. Will mess with the rest and get them posted asap.

I’ve started my volunteer stint by cleaning up the computers in the Volunteer Tibet home office here in McLeod Ganj. It’s going to take a while, to say the least. Lobsang, the Volunteer Tibet coordinator, is good friends with Rapsel, the guy that runs the house I’m staying in. BTW, my bedroom window is right below the puppies in the picture I posted.

Lobsang has a dream of going to Naropa in Boulder to get his Masters and I’m going to try to help get him there. He’s a Tibetan Refugee so there are some tricks to getting him over there, I believe. In return, he’s going to teach me Tibetan, take me to the Temple to show me around and we’re going to discuss Buddhist Philosophy. He has an MA from an Indian University in Sanskrit and Buddhist Philosophy and I believe he’d make a good addition to Naropa. Everyone cross your fingers!

More later.

So, at 2:30 this morning, I was awakened by the lovely feral dogs barking up a storm.  The neighbor dogs decided to join in for a good 1.5 hours of music and then right at 4:30, somebody’s clock radio decides to go off and is left going at full blast for an HOUR.  At 5:30 the Nuns and Monks of McLeod Ganj (where I live) start chanting up the sun.  I run out to take a picture of the sun rising through the clouds in every shade of pink imaginable and am met by the stupid neighbor dog, she has come to take the magic out of the moment by peeing on the terrace right next to my foot and then growling and barking at me as she runs away.  Thanks a lot.  And there’s nothing like the magical smell of the sub-par sewer to accompany the sunrise chanting and almost alarming, tuba-like sounds coming from the Monastery right behind the house.  GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!  I gotta figure out what they’re using to make the tuba sounds, for sure.  I know what they look like, just don’t know what they’re called.

I can’t get tooo snotty about the alarm clock thing because that’s what time all the street vendors get up to start making breakfast.   A breakfast that I venture out to get at 6:30.  Tibetan sweet bread.  I love momos too, but the momo lady wasn’t out there and Rapsel told me to NEVER eat anywhere without his specific approval so I don’t end up sick.  I haven’t gotten sick yet, so I’m going to  walk a straight line for this one.

Went and had a meeting with the Volunteer Tibet coordinator this morning.  Tseyang is lovely and patient.  She has talked me into going DOWN the mountain, below Dharamsala, to take a look at an English teaching job in Kangra Valley.  I think the incessant noise every night from 2:30 a.m. until 6:30 are telling me that I’m not to get toooo comfy at Karuna House.  I came here for some peace and quiet.

Teaching 15 little Tibetan kids how to speak English and getting housing and a stipend in a rural Tibetan community is right up my alley just about now.  I have to be at the volunteer office at 2:00 this afternoon for a ride down the mountain to check out the school.  It’s 17 KM away and I’ll be going by Motor bike.  A Royal Enfield!  They’re everywhere here.  Delhi was full of them too.

Pictures have been delayed for now.  I am having trouble uploading them and think it has something to do with the LAN speed here.  Teh tubes are down!  teh tubes are down!  That was for you Janene, Larry, Michael, Glenn and Karl.  Going to give the picture thing one more try here in a sec.

Almost lunch time!

I’m not returning to the US if I can help it!

On the bus ride from New Delhi to D’msala, I was sharing a seat with a kid and I could tell he was a little unhappy with my HUGE back pack, so I commandeered an empty pair of seats.  In front of me was a woman that was born in France, moved to and subsequently married an Aussie then got dual France/Aussie citizenship.  She’s got her PhD in Applied Electrical Engineering and has been coming to the Kangra valley to teach finance to Tibetan Buddhist nuns for about 5 years.  She warned me that the Nuns aren’t interested in what I have to offer and I’d be better off just tutoring them in English and letting that be that.  The people asking for computer training are THE MANAGEMENT.  Once again, the management is not communicating with the “underlings” and is causing a bit of an unhappy situation.  My inner self says “don’t go there”.  Also, the woman said that I will be living VERY separately from the nuns and won’t be allowed to associate with them much on a social level let alone a religious one.

SO….scrap the nun thing!  Living with them won’t get me any closer to Buddhism than if I were to stay in the US so I’m planning on staying at the Tibet for Animal Rights house, tutor english at one of the nunneries and town and possibly work with the animal rights people on their upcoming publication.  Notice I said Plan again.  I really am just letting things happen at this point.  No need in trying to idealize something I know nothing about and trying to make it happen!

I was picked up at the bus station by Rapsel, a Tibetan guy that runs an animal rights non-profit that is affiliated with Volunteer Tibet.  I’m going to be staying in his boarding house indefinitely.
The Animal Rights house is situated on a cliff overlooking the Kangra Valley and has eagles and ravens EVERYWHERE.  It’s surrounded by pine and deciduous trees and since it’s the end of monsoon season, there are low clouds everywhere making things seem cozy yet mysterious.  I’m exactly 1 house down from the Dalai Lama and down the hill from the Tibetan library and about 6 monasteries and nunneries.  I can go to The Palace for Buddhism and language classes or my two new buddies Rapsel and Lobsang offered to teach me language classes.  Yesterday I touched the chair that that Dalai Lama gives his talks and teachings from.  No pictures allowed!

Staying at the Animal Rights house is going to cost me $120.00 USD per month.  That includes my own room with two single beds, a desk and a nice lock on the inside and outside of the door.  I share a bathroom with a 28 year old guy from Sugar land, Texas.  He just finished his Photography degree and spent this past summer at Red Feather and whaddaya know, he’s here for 2 months.  He’s tutoring english at one of the Monasteries here in town and is sweet as pie.  No accent that I can hear.  The monthly fee also includes lunch cooked by Rapsel every day.  This surely cuts down on my time here, but it also opens up other opportunities.  There are tons of teaching positions down in the valley that offer housing and stipend!  I’m getting my tail in gear to start studying the Eagles and the Ravens and their relationship here on the mountain.  The balcony on the house faces south east so it was nice to wake up, go sit on the balcony, watch the wildlife and write in THE JOURNAL that everyone wrote in for me, my last Saturday in the US.  I’ve been writing EVERYTHING in it.  That was the best present EVAR.  Except, of course, the home made cards made by Lily and Barbara Page.  I kept them as souvenirs of a time long gone.  Janene?  Did you give me a card?  I barely remember you giving me one but thought you did.  I think it’s lost in Pamela’s guest closet….hahahhhahaha.  Sorry.

The Animal Rights group I’m living with is working on getting the feral dogs sterilized and I’m helping them come up with a fund raising campaign ideas.  If we could raise enough money to pay a vet, we could pass out have-a heart traps (not really needed, the dogs are all very friendly) and pay locals $X to bring dogs in for sterilization.  We’d be getting the community involved and get the word out as to why having stray dogs everywhere is a bad idea (disease and such from scat).  I told Rapsel that it might be good to start with neutering the male dogs first because it’s a cheaper and less invasive procedure than spaying the girl dogs.  More chance for success if the cost is less.  Also the sacred cattle everywhere….good lord the sacred cattle.  I just want to pet them all but not sure about the disease factor so I keep my hands to myself for now.

The monkey shows on the road sides during the bus ride in were hilarious.  Haven’t seen any monkeys in town and I’m not about to traipse around looking for them because I’d get lost….

Also met my lovely bathroom-mate BIG BROWN FURRY SPIDER.  Managed to NOT kill her.  First time I saw her was this morning.  I now know why I had spider problems in Longmont.  It was preparation for this morning.  Scared the crap out of me.  She is bigger than anything I found in my apartment….good buddha!

Found a cyber cafe with USB ports on the front of the machines so I’ll be downloading pictures probably later today.  I have to go buy some clothes and clothes washing soap.  Clothes are washed in a bucket and hung dry…go figure.

Today its 70F with 70% humidity.  So much more to write but need to get moving.  Will post more later.