The beginning of a new adventure in McLeod

We officially made it back to mountains early Monday (17th) morning. We moved in with families that morning, each with a different family and a different set-up. Last time I was in a well off family- I even had my own room and bathroom upstairs. The family had four generations in the house- a grandmother, the parents, three kids, and two grandkids. This time, I am in a smaller house with only two generations, two brothers, one’s wife, and their five year old son. The family is so welcoming and are constantly saying, “Melissa, this is your house, anything you need, you ask brother or sister.” They are SO quick to laugh and it’s been so much fun. The five year old has so much energy and although he and I can’t communicate verbally he uses his hands, arms, and whole body to make movements and many times I think I understand what he is saying.

It’s been fascinating to me to be in a small house. The front room is used as the entertainment room (with the tv), the reading room, the dining room, the bedroom, the conversation room, and even a classroom. It is a universal room and I never realized just how much use can come from such a small area. It makes sense that so many Tibetans find this easy, as many were nomads who lived in large tents. My family has shown me pictures of their land and village in Amdo (north east region of Tibet). You can see forever! They said it’s nice to be able to look and look and only see nature, not houses and people all over.

Some of my favorite moments so far with my family have been working on their English. One of the brothers speaks English really well and the first day he was translating back and forth for the other two and me. He told me they were learning English. One of the mornings the wife was practicing quietly to herself and I said, “Practicing English? Sounds very good.” She motioned for me to come over and when I did she sat right next to me and we started reading her book together. Her pronunciation was fantastic! I realized that even though they had said their English was not good, it was actually quite good, they were just too shy to speak. We started practicing and now every morning the husband, wife and I practice every morning. It has been so much fun, as even when we can’t understand we just end up laughing.

It has been really fascinating for me to read along in their book, see what phrases and words have been deemed “most important” for Tibetans to learn in English. There are three phrases that one of the brothers has been practicing that I think reveal not only a lot about him, but about Tibetan culture in general. For those of you back home, if you had to learn important phrases in another language, what ones would you find most important, or most useful? What phrases do you use most often in English? Now, I am not saying that these particular phrases are the most important phrases in Tibetan, nor that every Tibetan would find these phrases to be the most important. But I think they do say something about the situation I am currently living in. The three phrases my brother has been practicing: “It’s up to you.” “I don’t mind.” “I’m just kidding.” Very interesting, at least to me with my experiences with Tibetans. Their hospitality, their emphasis on others, and their easiness to laugh are three of the traits that have stuck out the most to me and each is embedded in one of these phrases.

This week I also couldn’t help but think about the simplicity of life. I never have to set an alarm here. I go to bed earlier (around ten) and then as the sun comes up I just wake up on my own. People here live more naturally and by default I think it’s more natural to go to bed earlier and wake up with the sun. No need for alarm clocks. Also, with simpler, smaller houses, there just isn’t much clutter, if any at all. It seems like it is a symbol not only for their material, physical lives, but also for their personal, inside lives. They just don’t seem to let as many things clutter their lives. They do not get as bothered. The idea of a gym has always made me think about how silly this concept would have seemed to our ancestors. “You mean you have to go here to push iron and run in place? Why would you do that?” Hard, manual labor used to be the way things were done. Man sowed and man reaped in the fields. Nowadays, this is not the case, so we have to create seemingly “unnatural” things, such as gyms, in order to stay in shape. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I do not like going to the gym, or that I am not attached to my material possessions, nor am I saying that I have the intention of giving them up. But it just makes sense that the more natural and simple you live, the easier and simpler life can be.

Well, that sums up a few of my thoughts for this week. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures for the next one.