The trip is winding down and I feel chatty.

I LOVE winter in India!  The pollen count is finally falling (aiding in my recovery from ear and sinus issues) practically all creepy bugs are hibernating or have gone to warmer areas leaving the occasional wayward fuzzy caterpillar, some ants in the loo, some bees the size of my thumb (not an exaggeration) and hungry gekkos.  The spiders have all but disappeared (just the ones living in the showers are left) and the mosquitoes are dwindling.  The days are somewhat cooler and give good reason to take more hot showers (still can’t waste water tho!).  The nights are cool (58F in my bedroom with one small window open) and it’s been fun snuggling up in my long underwear, big, pink fuzzy angora sweater and my comforter (this place has no heat) BUT I find myself washing my warm clothes more often.  I brought JUST enough smartwool socks to prevent me from having to go barefoot one day a week and the hand made sweaters and shawls I have purchased in McLeod Ganj from the Tibetan Hand Craft center are gorgeous, heavy and wash cold, hang dry in the sun.  Woooo hooo!  I picked up my Traditional Tibetan Chuba Dress on Sunday afternoon!  It’s gorgeous and fits like a glove!  Dark violet heavy fabric, floor-length, fitted, hand-made dress with 2 matching silk blouses.  To DIE for.  And all told the material, measuring and seamstress stitching cost $37.00.  I know I was floored when I got the bill.  I am flirting with having a winter coat made out of Chinese silk with angora-fur lining but because I bought new glasses and assorted presents for people, I’m a little short on cash so we’ll see.  I have become fond of wearing long, wrap-around skirts and will just have to wait until I have money when I get home and make some.  Hopefully mom’s sewing machine is in working order.

I noticed something interesting.  These Smartwool socks are like armor (well worth the $15/pair)!  I walk literally MILES every day in these things with nothing else on my feet but a pair of Keen sandals every stinkin day.  Those socks can be filthy dirty and when I take them off, my feet are spotless!  Clean as when they came out of the shower and after I wash the socks, they look brand new.  I will forever purchase these socks if the ones I have ever wear out.  My keens are holding up okay, I just don’t think they’ll be suitable for the Cleveland winter and I imagine I’ll buy a new pair of sneaks before leaving McLeod Ganj.  I just hope mom can tolerate me waxing nostalgic over this stupid pair of Marona quick-dry pants I bought at Target for $25.99.  They have been what I have worn on the lower half of my body for 60% of this trip and every time I wash them I thank them.  They have a small hole in them from unloading grain from the jeep but the hole has not changed size in the month that it has been in existence, so I might just sew it up and keep wearing them.  They are a tad too big so I can wear long underwear with them, and I love them so.  Comfy and never wet for more than an hour.  What do I do with the clothes from my trip?  My t-shirts (one for each day of the week) will all go home with me and I’ll probably get sad when I wear them in America.  I don’t know if I will ever be able to put my Keens back on my feet as I’m DYING for my Danskos!  I purchased some nice shirts, which I’ve never worn here because there’s no such thing as dress up.  I still have to get pictures of me in the StoutStreet and Envie t-shirts too!  I figure I’ll do that in a group shot with the nuns by the temple with the snowy Himalayas in the background?  The girls have started taking pictures of me surrounded by nuns hugging the crap out of me.  Funny pictures!  Once I get some with the Stout Street T-shirt and the Envie T-shirt, I’ll be sure to post them and send them to the respective parties.  My Buzz-off shirts will be retired for the season since they are mosquito-repelling shirts and there are no mosquitoes in Ohio in December and January.  My Columbia long-underwear look like the day I bought them in my favorite farm store in Longmont.  Go figure.  The Levi’s denim work shirt that dad bought me for landscaping, 2.5 years ago, is FINALLY starting to show some wear and tear and I got a little upset about it.  It’s been through the wringer!  The plaid flannel pajama pants that I brought were purchased at the Bass outlet store in Lodi in 2000 and finally bit the dust about a month ago.  They will be buried here.  The black sweats I brought are in great shape and I’m wearing them right now.  I wash everything in cold and hang dry in the scorching Indian sun just about weekly and everything looks pretty okay, I think.  My purse and backpack look like brand new still.  My laptop looks like it has been used….it has. Any of the books I purchased here are going to be donated to the Jamyang Choling Library because I AIN’T PAYING TO SHIP BOOKS TO AMERICA!  I entertained it for about 5 minutes and realized that they have books there too.  Duh.

I will be donating my big fuzzy blanket to the nunnery, as I can’t see paying $50 to ship a $7 blanket with the books that aren’t coming with me.  I will donate my floor mat, bath towel, laundry bucket, dinner bowl, tea glass and spoon to the nunnery as well.  I think that’s it.  I purchased a large duffle bag that I will check into baggage for the flight home because I refuse to pay to ship presents and clothing that I might want until the very end of my stay.

Speaking of books!  I am going to add one more link in the right-hand margin of the blog>>>>>> it’s my entire reading list for my trip.  All books list title, author, and a little blurb on what I thought if anyone cares.  I will be re-collecting the list in its entirety when I get a job and have some extra cash (I know, I know like that ever happens).

I suspect the Christmas Crazies are in full swing in great old America.  I am glad I’m here (giggle).   

I have to preface this posting with two messages:  Number 1:  My ear infection is now completely gone thanks to Dr. Thokme and he’s given me a clean bill of health!  Number 2:  If anyone is not getting email from me, not to worry, I’m not getting email from some of y’all either.  I’m guessing cyber space in India isn’t quite as reliable as the one in America?  To make sure I get your emails, contact me through this website.  I have been getting those emails!

All I know is that I’m T minus 30 days and the girls have made a tremendous turn in their behavior.  I was warned that I’d probably hit my stride about the time I had to leave.  Computer classes have turned into “Teacher!  What’s THIS?” “Genla?  HELP!”  My favorite is “UH OH!”  Crazy trips down Microsoft Paint Road and experiments in how to break the typing software.  They seem to go between MS Paint and Typing.  They draw horribly funny pictures of each other and send each other cryptic messages in really bad English.  I don’t think I’ve been this happy in a long time.  Talk about laughing and giggling!  Ganden is my happiest one.  She is about my age and is in her 15 and ½ year of her 17-year Philosophy Ph.D (I’m so jealous).  She LOVES laptops and literally takes mine out of my hands and starts playing when I get to class.  The Gekko has access to the extra key to the computer lab so she lets the other girls in early and they are all in class before I arrive.  They are typing away and Ganden is sitting there, antsie to get her hands on my laptop.  She is good to it so I don’t mind.  She gets some music playing and is currently working on a power point presentation on NOTHING.  She just has fun messing around and she won’t let me do anything.  When she gets stuck she yells, “You don’t touch!  Just tell me!  I do it!”  She’s great.  She remembers everything I tell her.  She follows direction to a T and never writes any of it down.  Days can go by and she’ll still remember.  I would love for her to have a laptop of her own some day.  Maybe for graduation? 

One of the girls offered to take me to get new glasses and it’s turned into an all-day shopping trip.  Good lord.  What is happening?  I spent a whopping $25 for lenses and frames.  They don’t care how old the prescription is and my current prescription is just fine so why not?  The Australian Nun verified that they are quite good quality so I’m there!  I was thinking that I also needed to go to McLeod Ganj real fast to get toner for the printer in the lab (Yes, I’m still the toner fairy to some extent) and the eye glasses place is in Lower Dharamsala so I was going to offer to buy her lunch if she’d go with me. Before I could even ask her if she wanted to go with me, she finds me and asks me if I’d like to go to McLeod Ganj with her!  She’s one of the nuns that is in her 15^th year and as much as typing provides a nice distraction for her, she’d rather have English conversation with me and I think that’s fine because there are girls coming out of the woodwork wanting to type now.  I’ve shown enough of them how to turn the machine on and find different things that all I have to do is leave them a small instruction guide and they should be good to go for the long-term.  She and I had English conversation all day and I got a new pair of glasses!

The two instructors I am teaching in the evening has just turned into 1.  The grammar teacher had to go to Nepal so I am teaching one of the Philosophy teachers solo.  He speaks oohhhhh, about NO English but we still manage to stumble and snicker through class.  We have to hunt down someone to translate when we actually need to communicate.  It’s interesting to say the least.  But he wants to learn English and he studies and works hard so I’ll keep teaching him as long as I’m here. 

Some sad news.  I got on the internet the other day and just out of curiosity I checked the website of the horse farm I used to live on only to see that Steph lost Zoe and her unborn foal, about a month ago, to colic.  Zoe was a sweet, bay mare with pinto markings and she threw the most AMAZING filly (Taz) this past spring.  That very instant I was transported back to the farm and missed every single ornery and squirrelly horse at Roan Oake Farm.  Oh well.  Some day I will make it back to Denver and I hope to stop in to see them all.  I especially miss Chaisy, Panda and Venice, my girls.

Happy news?  I got an unexpected email of support from….a complete stranger!  He wanted to send me well wishes and such and is seeking advice for his own long-term trip to Dharamsala for spiritual reasons.  I have a new email pal!  Yay!  His name is Dan so of course I call him Dharma Dan.  He’s from Tennessee and was also in the Navy so we will more than likely have plenty to email about.  Everyone wish Dharma Dan a warm welcome into my crazy life!    

What fun things do you find when a Himalayan nun gets hold of your laptop and you leave both unattended…..if anyone is interested in world music, Ganden found some samples from what sounds to be a great group called Habib Koite & Bamada.  The album title appears to be Muso Ko.  From the 2 songs that I have on my computer I am going to venture to say it’s African.  It’s got a great sound to it.  I will be buying the full CD when I get back to America (and get a job).  Nope, I cannot deny that African inspired music still pulls my ear unfailingly back to that great vast, continent.  Who knows, I might just make it there some day.  But I have become quite enchanted with the idea of returning to the North Indian Himalayas to see the girls and taking a run over to Ladhakh, Spiti and Sikkim.  The centuries old monasteries and nunneries and the pure Buddhist history call my name.  I looked into an elderly Tibetan woman’s eyes the other day and could swear I saw Lhasa and I cried for her lost life.  I just wanted to hug her and tell her how much I wished she could go home and that I’d personally drive her there myself if I could.  In my lifetime maybe.  Hers?  Not a chance.    

The lovely nun that sporadically brings me momos in the morning has officially named me.  I am GenLa.  Tibetan for Teacher.  She’s a sweetie and fried momos in the morning are to die for with butter tea.  The girls have also started asserting themselves with me by telling me what they really want to do with their class time with me.  Better late than never?  I’ve just added 4 more girls to the class roster/rotation and they are actually being honest and some are telling me exactly how bored they are with typing.  Funny, when I announced the typing software had arrived, they got in line for class but then class dwindled and I wondered why.  Why?  Why?  Because that’s not really what they WANTED to do.  They are accustomed to doing what they are told and when I give options, they nod and smile and give me a headache.  I’ve been giving them options and asking them for answers for two months.  NOW, 5 weeks before I depart, they tell me what they really want to do.  Some girls are choosing English conversation instead of typing.  Some want to come in the morning and in the afternoon for typing AND for computer lessons.  Alright, now we’re cookin.  They’re coming out of the woodwork via mystery messages delivered by the nun I have started having mid-morning tea with.  She is nice, relaxed, about my age and has a great laugh and smile.  She will graduate in a couple years and is thinking about her next move.  I’ve started giving her computer lessons.  Right now she’s making a powerpoint presentation.  What a hoot.  She gets a kick out of creating files and it’s fun to watch her face light up when she goes to a folder and sees her documents and presentation waiting for her there. 

Another English-speaking nun has appeared out of nowhere.  I had just gone and gotten my dinner and was on my way back to my room and as usual, I walked past the “prep cook nuns” as they’re cutting up peppers for tomorrow morning’s chili.  The one Nepalese nun I KNOW can speak good English and she’s darn funny.  The other one, I was unsuspecting.  She said hi and started asking me questions with what sounded like an American accent!  She said of, course, that she would like to come to my room and see pictures of the Colorado mountains that I have on my laptop.  I also have pictures of my big blue house, on 3^rd avenue in Longmont that they all marvel over.  I was a little awestruck by her English!  Australian nun came over and we were discussing the different names for aubergines.  The girls call them by their Hindi name, the Tibetan name kind of escaped everyone, Australian nun referred to them as eggplants and I called them Aubergines.  The girls immediately wanted the spelling of Aubergine so that they could use it later to impress their friends.  Giggle.

 I’ve started reading yet another book on women in Buddhism across cultures and now I am REALLY feeling the pull to do something gender/spiritual related upon my return to America.  Wish me luck.  Can’t wait to see what the Universe has in store for me when I get back!  Funny enough I should mention that before I left for India, Ken (my dad), sent me a newspaper clipping on an organization in Akron that I’m going to check out, the week I get back.  I was intrigued by it before I left and I’m now ever more intrigued by it.  Oh Universe! 

AND I just found out that it’s an 8-10-hour (round trip) taxi ride to Taj Mahal.  Don’t think I’ll be going THERE on Christmas Eve.  If said taxi breaks down or he decides to give me the scenic tour, I’m screwed and miss my plane.  Not to mention the COST of taking a taxi that far.  Even taking the train would probably be more than I’ll be up for on my last day in India.  I have no idea if I’m ever returning to India but I get the distinct feeling that I should probably lay low my last day here.  Not to mention I REALLY don’t want to temp fate and get “Delhi Belly” for the plane trip home and the holidays.  Australian nun gave me the name of a nice hotel to spend my last day at.  I can have the room all day (24-hour check-in/check-out) and seeing as my plane doesn’t leave Delhi until 11:30 p.m., I’ll have AAAALLLLL day to kill.  Lots of westerners in the area, cyber café close by; restaurants close by, bookstore close by.  I’m there.  I really don’t feel like wandering around Delhi looking to be assaulted or robbed either.  So a hotel room to lounge around and take unlimited showers in!  YEAY!  Can’t beat that with a stick.  I’ll also be able to wander around a little without dragging all of my crap with me all day and then realizing at some point that I forgot something somewhere.  That’s always fun.  Nope.  Sitting still and staring out the window my last day here.  I might go to some hugely famous Hindu temple which is like a 1.5 hour taxi ride.  I could do that.  

Now I’m sure most of you are wondering why I don’t just take the 8:00 a.m. day bus to Delhi and get there at 8:00 p.m., in time to check in to the airport.  Well, let me explain.  I’ll have to post a picture of a bus to get the point across, I’m sure BUT.  NUMBER 1:  Busses break down here.  When a bus breaks down, typical protocol is to sit around and wait for the next bus on the schedule to come rolling down the street anywhere from 1-2 hours later and all cram on board a bus that might or might not have room for you and/or your luggage.  NUMBER 2:  The phrase “Bus Schedule” is open to interpretation here in my lovely India.  The 8:30 bus?  Could show up anytime between oohhhh 8:15 and 10:00 and the chance that said bus would actually stop to pick you up?  A Crap Shoot.  Yes, bus travel in India is a fun adventure but at least I’m guaranteed to never have to see it from the TOP of the bus, from which women are strictly forbidden, THANK BUDDHA.  It can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours to travel the 30 kilometers between my home and His Holiness’s house.  There’s always an adventure waiting to happen.  I will miss my curious love/hate relationship with the bus.  At first it was exhausting but now thought only makes me cringe a little.  Usually the busses are full of men.  Sometimes I win the jackpot and manage to jump a bus that is 90% girls.  Oh the giggling and staring.  We’re all smashed together and groaning in unison around the hairpin turns.  Comparing jewelry, hair and clothing.  The girls here have the most amazing earrings!  They are all shapes and sparkly colors.  My inner magpie is talking…..

See you next Sunday!       

My partner in crime, Isabel, is headed for Nepal for 3 weeks and then back to England.  I will miss her dearly.  I am sad to see her go, yet glad she is leaving so that I can hunker down in Gharoh and concentrate on the girls since I only have 5 weeks left here.  The good part of today is that I got the news from dad that he was able to make my student loan payment for me and all is well.

YAY KEN!  Saved the day!

I take the sleeper bus to Delhi on the evening of December 23rd, arriving in Delhi the morning of the 24th. I am going to try schedule a tour at the Taj Mahal to kill the day and my plane for America takes off at 11:30 that evening. I have one plane change in Newark then I should land in Cleveland at 11:38 .m. on the 25th!

Ear is better but not 100%. Dr. Thokme is very nice and very thorough. Tibetan medicine takes time.

Before I return to America I am having a traditional Tibetan dress made, so my Tibetan home-stay mother, Amela, and Isabel are going to help me pick out material today. Yay! I’m also having some other things made but they are everyday whatever clothes and I can’t pronounce let alone spell what they’re called.

The pictures I am posting today are of my Tibetan family that takes VERY good care of me when I come to McLeod Ganj.

Gotta go. Isabel is waiting for me.

Dear Universe-

I had a dream, so I’ve written a letter to Oprah Winfrey.  I know I’m going to be subject to some light joking from people that read this blog but I believe in my heart of hearts that Oprah needs to know about the girls in Gharoh and how hard they work for world peace.  Cheeseball?  I’ve evolved from thinking that it IS cheeseball to “oh my gawd!  Oprah would care!  Oprah is the voice of the American Woman.  Oprah supports girl power!  Oprah would help me tell the world about the girls in Gharoh, India that believe in peace, respect, heart and compassion!”  I’ve been called worse and I’ve been looked at funnier.  This is the beginning of my big test of faith.  I have to take what I’ve learned from some of the purest-hearted people on the planet and try to take it back to America with me without fear of ridicule.  Those that chose not to support me, well, I respect their decision because everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I don’t look down on people that chose to stay in unhappy jobs and relationships because I once did the same.  I also, in my younger years, have looked at someone that was living outside the box and thought they were fruity.  I AM JENNIFER MOONBAT AND I WROTE A LETTER TO OPRAH.  I’m hoping my support system will once again smile at another funny but not completely crazy idea as I am once again following my dreams.  Following my dreams got me to India…..this makes sense.  I believe.

All I’m going to say is that this past week or so has been a little out of the norm. I’ve only had a couple hours to myself everyday for reading and study. My ear issue came back in full force last Thursday so it was suggested by my neighbor that I go to her Tibetan doctor. I’m not convinced that western medicine will help me at this point, so off to the Tibetan doctor I went this past Sunday. He’s a funny little man with a warm smile and quiet yet comfortable presence. He took a GOOD hard look at me. Didn’t even tell me to take off my glasses. I told him some symptoms and he interrupted me to finish the list. He touched me twice, to hold each wrist and take separate pulse readings from each arm. I showed him the probiotics that I’m taking. He approved. He gave me horrible little tasting pellets to chew and swallow before breakfast and after lunch and after dinner. They are varying sizes and colors but all taste equally bad when sitting in one’s mouth. I take them religiously with my probiotics (with B complex and C) and my anti-malarials. I LOATH taking pills of any kind and I suddenly find myself inundated with pills! What gives? I can’t complain because my ear pain is gone once again and I can hear. His diet advice was “less sweet, less hot, no pickle.” I kid you not. So I quit eating the lovely chocolate biscuits the girls keep giving me as their prayer offering and I now give them to the Universe. I hope they appreciate them! The only thing I eat daily with any kind of processed anything in it is my afternoon tea. I always drink butter tea with breakfast anyway so that wasn’t much of a stretch to do. No more chocolate! No more biscuits! I’m a GIRL what am I supposed to do now? Something must be working, no? My daily routine now consists of:

5:00: wake up, run to the bathroom and run back to warm bed, appreciate the quiet till.

6:00: the prayer bell and then more laying in bed and listen to the neighbor kids start the daily screaming, squalling and loud music playing.

6:30: pranayama then chewing nasty pills that actually help me, go brush my teeth and hair and dress warmly for the walk to the dining room for my Chipati and tea.

7:00: walk down to get breakfast, walk back to my room and sit on the veranda to eat, watch the birds play, listen to the dogs fight.

7:00 – 9:00: wash tea glass, write, read, think about what I have to get done that day. Try to block out the horrific noise of the neighbor kids till they go to school. Get some laundry started in my bucket. Hang my blanket and sheet out on the railing to air out. If I am going to town, I have to start walking to the bus stop at 8:10 to make the 8:30 bus.

9:00: walk to the senior nun dorms for a HOT shower while they’re in class

9:30-10:30: teach typing to one senior nun.

10:30- 12:30: read, write, watch the girls practice debate.

12:30 – 1:00: walk down to the dining hall to get lunch; bring lunch back to eat on my veranda. Wash bowl and spoon.

1:00 – 3:00: teach typing, computers and English classes.

3:00 TEA!!!!!!!!!! Wash tea glass

3:30 – 5:30: read, talk with Lobsang Chodon, go for a walk, prepare a lesson for the two instructor monks I’m teaching English to.

5:30: Walk down to dining hall and get dinner; bring dinner back to eat on my veranda. Wash bowl and spoon.

6:15 – 7:30: Teach English to the two instructor monks

7:30: finish laundry, hang to dry over-night.

8:00: read and write; asleep by 9-ish.

So there. Someone asked for the schedule of a typical day for me and that is pretty much it. Also, my days off are Thursday and Sunday. On those days I usually eat breakfast and head up to town to run errands and such. If I can’t make it back by dinner/dark, I make arrangements to stay the night with my Tibetan family and Isabel in McLeod Ganj.

Speaking of McLeod Ganj, His Holiness came home this past Saturday! The entire mountain came to welcome him home by lining the streets with flags, music, street paintings and US! It was a great time and I was in the middle of it all. Of course I forgot my camera in the excitement but I was so busy having fun just being there I sometimes forget that I’m a tourist and have a special responsibility to my readers in America. Sorry.

Well, since H.H. is back, he’s giving teachings today and Saturday on the 3 fundamentals of the Buddhist Path, Bodhisattva, Emptiness and Renunciation. Another great teaching that I get to be present for! YAY!

That’s it for now. I’m still struggling with getting some time to get some pictures together. I am trying to take advantage of any quiet time I may have to get my serious reading done. Sadly enough, once I’m back in the states, I doubt I’ll have hours of alone time each day to dedicate to my studies. That means my postings might suffer a bit, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about what to post! I’m trying to keep up, I swear!

I’m officially on day 5 of my Tibetan medicine and while my ear is getting way better, my face is still partially covered with some indescribable red inflammation/rash type thing. It gets better for a day or two and then gets worse again. Today it’s the worst it’s been in a long time and I haven’t eaten any chocolate or biscuits in 4 days! What gives? So for those of you that are wondering why I haven’t been in any photos as of yet, that is one of the main reasons. The other reason is that I’m usually the one taking the pictures and when the girls are taking pictures with my camera, they take them of each other, not me, thank Buddha.

The Weather:

The weather is exactly the same every day. Sunny and warm but cool in the shade with gentle breezes. No rain, not many clouds. The girls have started watering the trees at 6:00 every morning. The humidity has bumped up to 54% and the temperature has been gradually dropping a little every day. It averages 68F in my room during the day. 66F at night. Of course my windows are always open.

Coming home!

My last bit of final news is that my Magical Indian Mystery Tour is ending on December 2^5th when a plane lands at Cleveland Hopkins Airport at 11:38 a.m. with me in it. But the adventure ISN”T OVER! Sallie Mae is being not nice but that doesn’t mean I can’t get into some mischief in America. I have tons of irons in the fire and tons of business to attend to in Akron, Cleveland and else where. Can’t wait to get to Seattle and see my BABIES! And of course give one of my biggest supporters, Patrick, a big hug of thanks. It’s gonna be a good Christmas. Too bad I’m not Christian (giggle).

Still struggling with finding time to post pictures. I’m starting to feel guilty about it.

Alright, I’m off to see His Holiness for some learnin and stuff.

Yes, once again, I’m bailing on having a full-fledged official post because I’ve been dreadfully busy.  I’ve been dealing with life here in Gharoh and life with the nuns and coming home and…..too much going on.  Life is good tho.  And of course, I keep forgetting to buy batteries so I have no pictures.  Don’t even ask what happened to my damn battery recharger.  Long story.  And life goes on…..

J