Here are some older pictures. It's taken me a while to get them all online, but here they are...


As promised, pictures of me washing my clothes. I seem to be in the process of washing my socks. Also that’s Will behind me


My clothes drying


My friends the explorers. That’s Will, Julia, and Lucy. We went for a walk one afternoon and just kind of wandered around.


This picture is from the same walk. This man was walking his goats, and when we walked past, one of them came up to Julia and nuzzled her leg. It was maybe the cutest thing ever


Will playing with a cow (I think this picture is from when we were walking up to Lower Dharamsala)


This is from the lake and bird preserve, the name of which I have forgotten. He’s bailing water out of our boat. I admit it made me a little nervous


Some of the other boats


Passing food between the boats. In the boat I’m in you can sort of see Palkyi on the left. She’s Marissa’s roommate, and she’s teaching Julia and me how to play the dranyen (I don’t know how to spell that). On the right is Jampa, Julia’s roommate. In the other boat, there’s Eva in blue.


Marissa and Julia riding a bike with Sherab Dawa and Taylor chasing behind


Will and me on one of the bikes. This picture is deceptive in that it kind of looks like I could actually make the bike move. I didn’t have the leg strength or length to actually peddle the bike. We spent most of the time falling over


Pictures from the party. Here’s one of the groups playing human knot. On the far left in the green jacket is Taylor. In the middle in the green skirt is Kendell. On the right are Will and Taylor’s roommates.


The girls getting dressed up in chubas.


The gate to a Mahadevi temple that we visited on the way to Bir. From left to right, that’s Hanuman, Krishna, and Siva


On the left is Kali standing on Siva (I think), and on the right is Ganesha


At the temple, this monkey came right up and stole this bag out of Dan’s hand, and then proceeded to eat the contents.


Kali and Durga


This river ran through the middle of the temple area. While we were there, they were setting up for a funeral (two separate funerals actually). This picture is from before the funeral had come, but later it was taking place here.


This is the front of the Sherabling temple at Bir. Sherabling is a Kagyu temple (there are four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug). While in Bir, we actually saw a Nyingma temple, a Sakya temple, and a Kagya temple. Also, while we were in Bir, we stayed at the Sherabling guesthouse


We went to see Ani Tenzin Palmo while we were in Bir. She’s starting a nunnery there, and they took us on a tour of it. Some of the boys found a shortcut back by climbing this wall. Up at the top is Geshe-la (not the same Geshe-la as one of the other earlier pictures. Geshe-la is an honorific title. A geshe degree is a degree a monk can receive; it’s kind of like a Ph.D.), and you can also see Taylor and Tom.


This is Ani Tenzin Palmo. Also, that’s Justin’s back and Amber is the one filming.


Prayer flags at Tashi Jong, another monastery that we visited. It was really windy while we were there.


A stupa at Tashi Jong. It’s actually really cool, because you can see a tree growing out of the top of it. After they put someone important’s (I don’t remember who) ashes inside, the tree started growing. They kept trying to cut it back, but it kept growing, so now there it is. I think I may have overheard someone saying that that’s the kind of tree that the historical Buddha was enlightened under, but I’m not sure if I heard that correctly.


Monks on motorcycles (enough said)


This is Bubu, a dog from Sherabling that followed us all the way to Bir (it was like an hour walk). Some of the students later brought her in the car with us to bring her back to Sherabling.

So it’s been a while since I’ve had internet access. The party I said that we were planning went pretty well I think. During the party, it seemed like people were having fun, and afterward people told us they thought it went well. It didn’t go quite as planned, but it still seemed fun. We split into four groups and played different games. The two games that my group played were human knot and capture the flag. We had it planned that each group would play four games but we ran out of time. Human knot was kind of a short game, so afterwards we played a name game and some of the students showed Rachel and me a few Tibetan dance steps, which was really fun. Capture the flag went well too. After that all the groups got back together. There was a competition in which all the girls in our group (minus Amalia and I, because Amalia was already wearing a chuba, and neither my roommate nor I wanted to actually have to get up in front of everyone) were dressed up in chubas (traditional Tibetan dresses) by their roommates. After this there was a talent show, which actually only consisted of Amalia playing a Tibetan song on mandolin, Julia and I singing ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane,’ Eva and Diana singing the song from Titanic (which for some reason is still popular here), Taylor playing ‘Redemption Song’ on mandolin, and Julia, Justin, and Will playing air guitar (Justin actually played air drums I guess) to ‘Take Me Out.’ It went well, and I’m really proud of myself for actually singing in front of people. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I really do have pretty bad stage fright, and actually before the song I got so nervous that I ran off the stage and only came back because I felt really bad about leaving Julia alone up there. After the talent show we played a game where everyone has a balloon tied to his or her ankle and the point is to pop other people’s balloons without having your own popped. I’m pretty sure that I was like the first person out, mostly because someone was talking to me about what game would be next when the game started, so I wasn’t actually paying attention, but I probably would have gotten out pretty quickly anyway, because a lot of people were taking the game really seriously. After that we played a game called fruit salad, which was silly and amusing because it involved people trying to make themselves look like various pieces of fruit. Anyway, it was quite amusing to watch. But it really did seem like the party went well, and now I feel like I know more of the students here, and some of them even stop to talk to me sometimes now so yay.
Earlier that day, we went to a lake and a bird preserve (I forgot the name though). We went out on boats first, and then we had lunch by the lake. After lunch we took turns riding bikes that were there. It was really fun, and I took a lot of pictures there.
Last weekend (I guess the party was the weekend before last), our group went on a trip to Bir. On the way we stopped at Mahadevi Temple. It was pretty cool to see some of the things I learned about in Love and Religion last semester. Also, while we were there, there were two funerals going on. We were leaving right as they were starting, but we did see them preparing and starting the fires for the funeral pyres. I’m told it’s auspicious to see a funeral, so I guess two is double the auspiciousness. As with all sorts of other things here, death is much more out in the open than it is at home. It seems like in the US death is kept in hospitals out of the way, and funerals are kept out of the way in funeral homes too, and bodies are preserved to look weirdly life-like. Here it’s not so sanitized. A lot of things feel that way here, just sort of less tidy and more out in the open.
We stayed at the guesthouse of the Sherabling monastery, which had hot showers (I think that alone may have made the trip worth it). We went to see Ani Tenzin Palmo. She’s a nun, who came from England originally, and she spent twelve years in retreat meditating in a cave in the mountains. She’s written a book, and I know there’s been a book written about her too, so she’s pretty well-known, and we were really lucky to be able to talk to her. She’s very direct in everything she says, and she says a lot of things that are pretty controversial. She’s also totally a feminist which is really cool. She’s starting a nunnery now, and when one of the students asked her about the idea that being born a woman is a result of lower karma, she said that she flat out disagreed. She said that maybe at one point in time it was, but now there are opportunities open to woman than there were before. She even said that she thought maybe it was better to be a woman because there are fewer distractions in the monastic life (interpret as you will). Amber recorded the whole interview and said that we can all see her tapes, so I’ll try to pick out the quotes that I really liked if I get a chance.
Then we went to Tashi Jong, a monastery nearby. While we were there, we were able to go into a room where the preserved body of an old yogi is preserved in salt. Some of the group meditated there, and I know a lot people said it was a good experience (I was as usual at the back of the group, so I didn’t really know what was going on until after but anyway). We also saw where they make incense.
The next day we walked to the Bir settlement. Along the way we walked through the Suja School, which is one of the TCV schools, and it’s the school that my roommate went to before she came here. That day we saw a Nyingma temple and later a Sakya temple too. Also, we had an audience with a Rinpoche who also happens to be a movie director. He directed the movie ‘The Cup,’ which now I think I need watch. When someone asked if it was true that he wanted to be reincarnated as a rockstar in his next life (rinpoches are Dharma teachers who can control their rebirths, I think), he said that now he actually wants to be reincarnated as the president of the US. He even specified that he wants to be a Republican president, because he said that he thinks that Republican presidents are dangerous. He also made some interesting metaphors about the Dharma that I wish I could remember now.
The day after that we spent at Sherabling. They were doing a puja (a purification ritual) before Losar (Tibetan new year, which is this weekend and seems like it’ll be lots of fun), and we got to sit in the back of the temple for that. It was the way one imagines Tibetan chanting. There was some sort of horn type instrument, huge drums, and of course the low pitch chanting of the monks. They took us to see some of the other rooms around the temple. It was really cool, but it had gotten really cold the day before, and it rained all day, so I was quite happy to just get back to the guesthouse, put on dry clothes, and read.
On the way back from Bir, we stopped at a Siva temple also, and now here we are back in the swing of things with classes and all.
On one more cool thing…Palkyi, one of the students here, is teaching Julia, (maybe) Lucy, and me to play the dranyen, which I’m sure I’ve spelled wrong. It’s a Tibetan instrument, which is played kind of like a guitar. We had our first lesson with her yesterday.
I noticed how much my expectations have changed but also ways they haven’t. Yesterday I was in a good mood mentally and emotionally, but it was so cold and I really wanted to shower and I could feel my physical mood bringing the rest of me down. But I did manage to shower today, so I feel much better. When it’s cold and cloudy out, there isn’t really any hot water (yesterday there wasn’t any at all). Today the rain let up and the sun came out for a little, and I managed to get a kind of lukewarm shower. I was willing to be half an hour late to class for it too, because it started raining again, and I was afraid that by the time I got out of class the hot water would be totally gone. I was just so desperate to shower though, so it felt totally worth it, and now I feel much cleaner. So that’s where I am now, and I suppose I should stop writing this entry, since I won’t be able to post it until tomorrow at the earliest, and I do have other work I should be doing. I also have another batch of pictures that I plan to post too, so hopefully I’ll be able to get on the internet soon.

We’re finished with our first two weeks of class now. It’s strange to think both that I’ve only been here that long and also that I have been here that long. Weekdays are starting to feel pretty routine now, but weekends are still different. This morning I went to morning prayers as usual. Then I went for a walk down across the stream that runs next to the campus. I saw a girl walking three goats, which amused me because at first I thought they were dogs. After breakfast we talked about the party tomorrow. So about the party tomorrow…some of us in the group wanted to have some sort of get together for our group and the students here, because we (well I feel this way anyway) felt like we weren’t really meeting that many students here. I talk to my roommate some, and I sit with students here at lunch, but aside from that I don’t think I really interact with many of the students here, which I think is really sad, because I didn’t come to India to just hang out with the American students. I know I could just try harder, but I’m afraid of committing all sort of faux pas or something. So anyway, we’re having a party, but it’s going to be totally different than any college party at home. Dancing isn’t allowed on campus, so we’re going to play games. They’re mostly the kind of games I think of as playing at orientation or maybe camp. I hope it’s fun though. If all else fails, at least there will be tea and biscuits.
After we talked about the party, I went to talk to my roommate, because one of our assignments is to write a life history about our roommates. She’s pretty amazing. I can’t imagine being away from my whole family for as long as she’s been, but she came here to get an education, because she couldn’t get one back in Tibet.
In the afternoon, I walked up to lower Dharamsala with Will. It took us about three hours, it was uphill, and we got slightly lost a few times, but we made it, and it was actually kind of fun. All in all, I’d say it was worth it. There were some pretty nice views along the way, we both bought what we needed, and Will got to play with a cow along the way. We didn’t walk back though (we wouldn’t have been back in time for dinner if we had). We made it back in time for dinner, and now here I am in the computer lab.