A few experiences

Yet another week has flown by here in Dharamsala. I am spending my days eating delicious Tibetan food and watching the news and Hindi and American movies with my family; interviewing different people organizations; talking with other young adults; helping some learn English; attending Buddhist teachings and discussions; and of course, the one guarantee for any college student- reading loads!

There are so many things I could talk about… so I’ll just pick a few experiences from this last week. Spencer came across this place that serves fabulous falafal- an Israeli food. There are Israelis all over here! I have no idea why, but they are seriously like half the tourist population here. So anyway, I enjoyed it so much when we ate it as a group that I went back a few days later to get some more. While there I began chatting with this guy from Israel. It was quite entertaining as I realized what an interesting “cultural” experience I was having: eating Israeli food in a Tibetan community in India. But despite the oddity of the situation, he found it fascinating that an American was eating falafal and we had a nice chat about Israel, the US, traveling, and taxes. You never know who you will meet right?

Monday the Dalai Lama was coming back into town after being at the hospital for a few days. The sister in my family had gone the day before to help clean the street. She and a big group were out there cleaning from 9-4:30. The street was lined with gorgeous flags. Monday afternoon pretty much all of town shut down and everyone flocked to the street. Marc and I were later at getting on the street and we still waited over an hour, just chatting and waiting. Probably one in 10 were waving Tibetan flags. Many were burning incense. When the time finally arrived, everyone was silent. As the cars drove by most bowed forward, in what can only be described as a deep reverence. It was an incredible thing to witness. The street was seriously packed like it would be for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, all to see the Dalai Lama drive by, and pretty quickly too. The cars didn’t really slow down, he didn’t get out and wave. The whole thing lasted about 30 seconds as he drove by. Many didn’t even see him in the car. Yet they all lined up, some waiting hours. It shows something about the awe and reverence Tibetans hold for their leader. They weren’t there to see his face so they could brag about it to their friends. Many didn’t even see his face. They were there for him- to welcome him home and show their love and support to him.

Another funny moment occurred the other day while I was reading in the park. I was writing in my journal some of my thoughts about nonviolence in political struggles. As I’m writing my thoughts about nonviolence, some of the monkeys wanted to show me that violence will never disappear- half the pack started yelling and jumping all over each other! Can you say ironic? Seriously though, monkeys are all over the place. And don’t be fooled by their cuteness. They wake me up running across my roof at 5 am, or steal food and clothes off the line, fight with each other, and charge humans like they are the defensive tackle on a football team. They are not as cute and cuddle as they appear.

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I definitely had to include some photos of my fabulous balcony view. Yes, I get to see this view every time I step outside of my room.

The weather is gorgeous- only slightly chilly at night and in the mornings, but bright and sunny throughout the day.With all of these experiences and with all the information I’m collecting for my project, I am quite content here in Dharamsala. Lol now that’s not to say that at least once a day I don’t miss something from home. Because I sure do! But this experience is great and all these other things outweigh those thoughts in the end.

Hope everyone back home is doing well!

Oh, and P.S. it’s funny how many people here know about the U.S. Presidential elections. It seems like most people watch the news here, and it is certainly on BBC and CNN here. Sometimes I almost wonder if more people here don’t know more about the candidates than people at home…