So I feel like this second trip to India is really starting soon. I went with Amy to the airport and sent her off with my huge (almost 30 kg) suitcase (sorry Amy). After I got back into London, I wandered around a bit. I tried my luck at the Indian consulate again, managed to find it this time, which is better than last time, but I was told that I’d need five business days to get a new visa, so that wasn’t going to work out, but the man there did tell me that I can probably just get my student visa extended when I get to Delhi. I was glad to hear that, although I’m not too excited about spending more time in Delhi than I have to (Amy and I looked up the weather in Delhi, and it does not look like it’s going to be fun). Anyway, hopefully that works out. I mean, I don’t really have to go back to Dharamsala, but I think it’ll be easier for me to work on things while I’m there rather in a new city, and when I left, I assumed I’d be returning, so I don’t feel like I’ve said proper goodbyes to everyone that I wanted to before I left the first time. Also, maybe this will sound really silly, I don’t think I said a proper goodbye to the place itself, and I often find myself missing it. I think I feel more at home there than I do here, which makes sense in some ways, because I’ve spent a lot of time there, but also seems strange in some ways because here I at least speak the language, but English will get you around there anyway, and I speak with an American accent, so just because I speak English here, doesn’t mean that I don’t sound out of place anyway. I’ll be sad to leave though, or at least I was sad to see Amy go. I’m such a lame person to travel with, so I don’t know if she had fun anyway, but I had a good time. I almost feel like this part of the trip has started already though. I realized that this summer, or at least the first part before I go to Katmandu, I’ll really be traveling alone. It’s probably not a big deal for most people, but (don’t laugh at me too much for admitting this) I won’t even go to the cafeteria at Swarthmore if I don’t think there will be someone there that I can eat with. I feel like this summer is going to push me to be more okay with not having people I know around. At least I’ll still know people in Dharamsala, but not like anyone I can go to dinner with or anything like that. I don’t know if any of that makes any sense, but oh well. So anyway, I feel like that part of the trip is starting, because I’m staying in a hostel alone, and I’ve been wandering around London alone all day (after the consulate, I went to the Museum of London (I found it kind of boring, but there were some interesting things, and it was free, so I’m not going to complain), and I walked around the outside of St Paul’s cathedral (it cost a lot to go inside, so I didn’t go)). So anyway, now I’m here in the hostel, contemplating my impending return to India and contemplating starting all those things I’ve been putting off for two weeks and wondering how I still have so much stuff if I sent so much home with Amy (seriously, the suitcase would barely close, even when it was fully expanded).
I think I may also feel like I’m going back, because for the last few days, I’ve had clothes hanging all over the room drying. I was so excited about finding a laundromat somewhere here, and I did find a few finally, but they were so expensive (at least $7/load), that I just washed my clothes in the sink. Some of my clothes anyway. The bathroom was tiny, so I didn’t really think I could manage to wash my jeans or my fleece, so I guess they’ll just have to wait until I get to India, where everything will probably get so wet that I won’t bother to wash anything, because nothing will ever dry anyway. I should stop with this train of thought though; it just makes me question the decision to go back for the summer. It’ll be fun though, and at least I won’t have to return to Linens-n-Things and my favorite line, ‘thank you for calling Linens-n-Things. This is Katie speaking. How may I help you today?’ Let’s just hope I didn’t underestimate on the grant proposal budget.
I feel like I should go out and do something on my last night in Europe, but I suspect tonight will actually just be internet, trying to repack the suitcase better than I did, and sleep. Tomorrow hopefully I’ll see Lucy though, if I can get any phone around here to work (I tried two payphones. One wouldn’t take my coins, and the other ate my money (I liked the first one better)). I should work on that being productive thing for a little bit though. You’d think it’s like summer or something with the way I’m slacking off.

How quikly things can change. All of a sudden, I'm not in India anymore, and some things seem so different. I feel like I've been all over. I mean I haven't really, but I spent most of the semester in one city, and now since I've left India, I've been to London, Edinburgh, Killarney, Cork, Dublin, and Paris (which is where I currently am). I don't feel like I've felt much reverse culture shock, but maybe that comes later, or maybe just ignored it or something. I admit that I probably got more excited about going in a grocery store than most people do, but I think that's about it. I wonder if I'll feel any culture shock when I go back. It's strange when I think of where everyone is now. That group that was like my surrogate family for a semester is now all over the world. I'm starting to stress out about things that I'd sort of put on hold for a semester (mostly worrying about my last year at Swarthmore and what I'll do after that last year). Traveling with Amy has been really fun though. I think we're a little hampered by our desire not to spend money, but we've found decent cheap food and activities. The sun is finally shining too. It felt like the rain followed us. It would only get to be sunny the day we left a city, but we just got to Paris, and the sun is out, and it's warm (it's been so cold so far. Imagine how shocked I was when I got to London where it was about 50 degrees after leaving Delhi where it was at least 90). I think I finally found a laundromat too. I've been dragging dirty clothes all over in hopes of not needing to hand wash them when I get back to India, but for some reason, I haven't been able to find any laundromats so far, but we passed one today, so maybe I'll get a break from bucket washing my clothes. Although, I'm also tempted to just send my clothes home dirty in the suitcase that I'm sending home with Amy (sorry parents). I've been pretty lazy about taking pictures, so I don't know if I'll have any to post, but maybe I'll take some here in Paris. I should go now though, because we're meeting Monica for dinner, which is so exciting, because I haven't seen Monica in so long. Au revoir.

Last pictures I'll post in India this time around

The first goodbye party:

Teachers and TAs



Will



Geshe-la and Kendell



Pema




Eating at Peace Cafe:

Marissa, Julia, and Will



Justin, Lucy, and me





Trip to Triund:

Dan, Justin, and Marissa



Karen, Will, and Rachael at the second tea stall



leaving the second tea stall



hiking



Justin and Marissa



a goat



a flock of goats



the mules that carried up some of our stuff



Justin, me, and Rachael



Rachael and one of the dogs that followed us up



Amalia and Marissa with the dogs in one of the caves on the way up



after the tiring hike



hanging out at the tea stall at Triund



Lucy and Karen with our bathroom



Rachael, Dan, Steve, and Lucy



Amber doing Lucy's makeup (Eva sent us makeup after she left)



Elise and Kendell



hiking to the snow line the next day



Justin sliding down the snow



Taylor in the snow



me trying to look adventerous



the clouds and the snow



Marissa in a tree



Amalia, Karen, Steve, Julia, Marissa, Will, and Rachael





At Nechung Monastery (waiting to see the Oracle (the Nechung Oracle is the state oracle of Tibet)):

I’m writing from the Imperial Hotel in Delhi again. I don’t know if they still have wireless, so this might not get posted for a while, but I guess this will be the last post I write in India, or at least India part one. Actually, here’s something I wrote about a week ago, and forgot to post:

I’m just now realizing how close this program is to being over. There are eight days left before a bunch of us get on a bus to Delhi, and ten days left before I fly out of India. I guess it especially doesn’t feel like it’s ending soon though, because unhappily I’ll still have my final paper to write, and because happily, I still have all sorts of traveling ahead of me, which I’m really excited about. Hopefully, after I get back to India, I’ll come back here for a week or two, but I can only do that if I get my visa extended or something like that, otherwise, I’ll just cut the India part of the summer short, and only stay until my visa runs out (June 18th, and I get back to India on the 12th), and spend more time in Katmandu. I’m really excited to go to Katmandu, especially because when I get there, Marissa will already be there, and I think that Steve and Karen (our professor and his wife) and Dan and Amber (the program TAs) will all be there too. I don’t know that I’ll hang out with them that much, since I feel like they must be sick of us already, but it will be nice to at least know people there, and I’ll at least get to hang out with Marissa, since we’ll have to be sorting out all the details of going to Tibet (!!!). She got a grant from her school too, so we’re going to travel to Tibet together. I’m really glad that we ended up being roommates, since we’re going to be traveling together, and both of our projects involve researching Tibetan medicine (totally different aspects of it though), and she’s just awesome in general. Also, in the end of July, we’re both flying back on the same flight, which will be nice. (P.S. I’ll be getting into New York on July 28 and most likely flying out of Philly a few days later, so if you’re going to be around those two cities, can I hang out with you?).
It’s really nice here right now. The weather is good for the most part (sometimes it rains for three or four hours at a time, but usually it’s sunny). My research is really interesting. I’m worried, because I don’t think I have much yet that will help me write my final paper, but everything I’ve been observing has been really interesting, and I have a few interviews set up for next week that will hopefully be helpful. For most of research period until now, I had been observing in the Tibetan hospital in the morning and observing in Delek hospital a few times a week in the afternoon. I’ve also been going to a Tibetan tutor, who must be one of the most infinitely patient people to be able to put up with my total lack of ability to learn new languages and talking first to a girl named Dekyi and now to a monk named Tenzin so that they can practice their English. Someone told me about a place called volunteer Tibet, so I wandered in there, told them that I don’t have really any useful skills at all, so they told me to be someone’s English conversation partner.


But anyway, I guess that’s a little out of date, because we caught the bus to Delhi yesterday. Triund was really nice also. I thought maybe I’d die trying to hike up there, but it was actually a really nice hike, and it was nice to see everyone again, or at least almost everyone. We hiked up on May 23, and after dinner, they even had a cake for my birthday. I realized that it was the first birthday I’ve spent away from home, but it was really nice, and it was nice to spend it with a group of people I love so much. The next day we hiked up to the snow line and played in the snow a little. In the evening, Steve gave us our last lecture of the program (it was about reverse culture shock, it wasn’t actually a class lecture or anything), and after dinner, we had a campfire and had our last ECI (emotional check-in). It was actually really emotional, because it was the last time we were all together as a group (I admit, I cried a lot). The next morning, I hiked down at five in the morning with Diana, Emily, and Tom. I spent the rest of the day packing and running errands. Julia, Lucy, and Diana all left that day too. In the evening, IBD had a goodbye party for us. It was nice to see a lot of people again. Our teachers were there and the cooks and a lot of people’s roommates too.
The next morning (my last morning in Dharamsala), we got up early to see the Nechung Oracle. It was pretty cool, except that I couldn’t really see, but it was still an interesting experience. The rest of the day went to packing and running errands. We had one last dinner together at Malabar. Marissa, Dan, Amber, Steve, and Karen all came to see us off. I actually didn’t cry when the bus left, because I think I’ll probably go back, and I’ll see Marissa, Dan, Amber, and Karen again. I realized that Steve will have already left Nepal by the time I get there, so it was really sad saying goodbye to him. He really took on quite a challenge by leading the trip, but I think he did an amazing job, and I think I’ll always be grateful to him for the experience.
The bus was an overnight bus, but this time it was a deluxe bus, so it was so much better than the buses I traveled on during spring break, and I slept almost the whole way down to Delhi. Justin, Tom, Kendell, and I checked into a hotel in Majnu-ka-tilla (I think I spelled that wrong, but it’s the Tibetan settlement in Delhi) and then came to the Imperial, where we met up with everyone else (their flight is leaving earlier, so they don’t need to spend the night anywhere). Now everyone is eating breakfast in the restaurant, and it’s incredibly luxurious (I’m actually not eating, because I know I’ll have to spend so much money in Europe, so I’m holding off on luxurious food for now). So this is the end of the program here I guess. I don’t know what we’ll all do for the rest of the day (maybe hang out in the Imperial for as long as we can), and tomorrow morning I’ll head to the airport for my flight out. I can’t believe that this is it though. I mean, I know I’m coming back, but India won’t be nearly the same without all these people. I really am so lucky to have been able to be part of such an amazing group of people.

Before Will left he got a bunch of pictures from other people (this one is from Karen), which I then stole. Also, that's the Dalai Lama, yup.

These are our language teachers.



Taylor and Christian carrying Eva after the meeting with the Dalai Lama



Eva's goodbye party



Eva's party again



This is where we went to see the Karmapa



Elise, Julia, and me at Norbulingka, where we went to lunch after seeing the Karmapa



TCV



Julia and Marissa at Khana Nirvana



Rose (the baby who's mother is usually at Khana Nirvana) and me at Khana

So I haven’t really posted much lately. Everything is starting to feel routine, like this is really my life. I guess I should try to catch up a little bit though. Since spring break, we met the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa. I think I probably don’t need to explain who the Dalai Lama is, but I’ll explain who the Karmapa is, since he’s not as famous. The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu sect, which is the largest of the Kagyu sects. There are four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug (the Dalai Lama is Gelug). The Karmapa lineage is actually older than the Dalai Lama lineage. The first Karmapa was born in 1110, and now it’s the seventeenth (This Dalai Lama is the fourteenth in his line).
So the day we met the Dalai Lama, we had a meeting in the morning to prepare questions to ask him (we were told that we could ask him three questions). After the meeting we had about an hour before we had to meet again to go down to his residence. We all went our separate ways to run errands, eat lunch, get dressed, etc. Also during that hour Steve got a call saying that the Dalai Lama was sick that day so our meeting was being moved up by a half an hour. Steve ran around town and found most of us. I, however, had made the mistake of going out to run errands before putting on my nice clothes, so I was trying to put my chupa on as quickly as possibly (I can proudly say that I can put on a chupa all by myself, but I can’t do it very quickly). Anyway, eventually most of us had gathered and were ready to go, so we left the Om to head down to His Holiness’s residence. Unfortunately, Steve had not found Will, Josh, or Kyle, so none of them were there. I freaked out a bit, but all three of them arrived while we were still waiting in the security line, so that was good. When we got in, we walked up to his residence. We all got to shake his hand, and he talked to us for a little bit (unfortunately we didn’t get to ask our questions). It was really cool though. Also, he was wearing white flip-flops. I don’t really know why that’s important, but I was amused.
We went to see the Karmapa the next day. He’s actually my age (he was born in 1985 or 1986 I think). He escaped from Tibet when he was around thirteen, I think. He’s kind of under house arrest right now. I’m not really sure what’s going on there, but I know that he’s one of the few incarnations that both the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama agreed on, so I think it doesn’t look good for the government that he decided to escape to India. That’s what I’ve heard anyway (most of my information about anything here usually comes from listening to other people’s conversations). Anyway, it’s kind of intense to realize that we’re around the same age. We got to ask him the questions that we prepared for the Dalai Lama also, so that was pretty cool.
Since those two meetings, classes ended, independent research started, Eva and Will both went home (actually Eva left in the time between the two meeting technically), and Tom, Taylor, Diana, and Alex have all left to go to their independent research. Also, Julia, Lucy, Marissa, and I moved to a new hotel. Marissa and I are on the first floor facing the valley and on the other side of the valley are the mountains. It’s a beautiful view. Also, now we have our own bathroom, a fan, and a tv in the room, and the mattresses are actually pretty nice (amazing compared to all the other mattresses I’ve experienced in this country so far), so I’m quite content. It’s strange to think that the program is going to end so soon though. On May 23, we’re all going to meet again and hike up to Triund for the program wrap-up, on May 26, a bunch of us are taking an overnight bus down to Delhi, and on May 28, I get on a plane to London. It all seems so soon. I’m going to be so sad to say goodbye to everyone though. I’ve already had to say goodbye to two and that was too much. It won’t be the end of India for me though. After two weeks of exploring Europe with Amy, if I can get all the flight stuff sorted out, I’ll come back to Delhi. I got a grant from Swarthmore to continue my research, so I’ll be back in India, and the visa stuff and transportation and all that work out, hopefully I’ll be able to go to Nepal and Tibet also, so cross your fingers for me, and let me know if you want to travel with me. Traveling with other people is always more fun. I guess that’s all I have for now. I have a few more pictures to post, so hopefully I’ll get that to work next time I go online.