Thanksgiving in India

For Thanksgiving the four of us ate at a fancy restaurant that sold good chicken, mashed potatoes, bread and green beans! Marc and I ordered “crispy chicken” that we thought was the fried chicken, but turned out to be a Chinese saucy chicken- quite good, but not quite like Thanksgiving turkey. We realized we were eating Chinese chicken, Indian bread, green beans, and mashed potatoes, topped off with the an American Pepsi. What a Thanksgiving! The group also humored me by watching White Christmas, a tradition I’ve had for three years now. We also played Frisbee! What is Thanksgiving without some kind of sport? Overall, we were pretty pleased with our Thanksgiving in India experience.

While in India I’ve been making a list of things I’m thankful for. I started it back in October and made sure to write at least one thing down from Halloween until Thanksgiving. This is the result:

Thankful List

- Dreams. They can bring relief from stresses, help ease what I’ve missed while in India, make me laugh or smile, and fulfill my "wants" from home when I can’t have them- like restaurants where I can drink the water, food that tastes like what I expect, and of course, my family and friends.

- Christmas and pudding

- Music

- Friendly people who just start talking to you

- Sidewalks

- Drinking fountains and clean water- oh how I miss clean water!

- Clean bathrooms with toilet paper and soap

- Actually, just toilets and not squatters…

- Seemingly minor events- such as candle light vigils

- Just candles in general, especially when the power goes out

- Sunrises and sunsets

- Gorgeous visuals that give us the same promise of a new day no matter where we are

- And the are amazing from my balcony!

- good friends, who send emails just when I seem to need them

- coke, to keep the “beasties” away and calm the unsettled stomach, and bring a smile as we toast “to diabetes” with every drink

- Desserts

- Clean clothe, Just that feeling of putting on clean clothes- esp. after you haven’t for like a week… And fabric softener! I miss that so much…

- American democracy and the American dream

- Laughter, Tibetans love to laugh, and I have laughed a ton w/ my family and friends here. It can break barriers and lighten moods like no other.

- Newspapers, to commemorate big events and keep us informed

- Little things people do, such as giving you their newspaper when they are done.

- Good movies, all good movies that make you feel like a little kid again, or make you laugh, or fall in love, or believe in the good in people, or just allow you to escape for a few hours. The world tends to be much simplier in a movie, and reminds us that life can be so much more.

- Atonement, the peace that believing in another perfect world, and the comfort a Savior can bring to you, the perspective it can bring.

- Christmas songs and movies, those ongs that get stuck in your head and make you happy all day. Movies that make you think of your traditions and your family.

-Beautiful buildings and nature

- Hard work

- Intricate, detailed things

- Exercise!

- Makes me feel so good! And relieves stress so well!

- Good transportation

- Universality of being human, the things we all have in common simply because we are human

- Pictures, the keep sakes of all those moments you hope not to forget.

- Good authentic Indian and Tibetan food

- Ice cream!

- Movie theatres, particularly ones where the power doesn’t go out in the middle… Although it does make things more exciting and create more suspense…

- Alone time, the time to ponder in quiet space, rejuvenate.

- Passions/interests, that make life more exciting. I suppose they aren’t necessary, but make life so much better, worth living.

- Good books!

- Technology; computers, emails, phone calls, DVDs, news on the internet and tv… I have been so spoiled!

- Fall; the colors, cool breeze that zips through, wanting to be tucked under blankets by a fireplace.

- Heaters

- Fireplaces; nostalgic, romantic, cute and cozy, and completely warm. Plus, I really just like watching fire…

- Singing out loud

- Understanding of others

- Stars, gazing at them every night while out here- there is a calmness and sereneness in the skies at night.

- Freedom, gratitude that I’m not confined to a prison with no options, that I can work, go to school, make decisions, move to another place, have a social life and surround myself with those I love… and just the pursuit of happiness

- Classy things; black and white pictures, fancy dining tables, tuxs and dresses

- Babies and children, the awe, the wonder, the trust, the faith, the smiles.

- Difference architecture, art, designs; I really like Asian architecture, fabrics, etc

- Cologne and perfume! Oh how I miss getting wiffs of good smelling people everywhere I go! Its only a rare occurence here

- Holidays/special days, they get us to celebrate, make the most of life for at least one day. We should see every day as a gift and reason to celebrate, but we are forgetful creatures and in the hustle and bustle of the “everydayness” we forget what it means to live to the fullest. We need reminders- and these days provide just that. Reminds us that life is worth living, put the fight and zest back into us. A renewal of energy, faith, excitement, hope, and happiness.

- good food, good traditions, good family and friends, and the holiday season!

Norbulingka, Amritsar

So much to catch up on! The first place to tell you about is Norbulingka. It’s the Tibetan Art Institute. It’s secluded and tucked behind some Indian villages about 30 minutes from Dharamsala. It’s completely quiet and secluded, which almost seems like a novelty in India. We were given a tour of the art studio full of thangka paintings. No mess ups are allowed mind you, and they usually take at least a month to finish one painting. Next we saw the fabric thangkas that Buddhists hang from the walls. The work is done at different stations with groups of people working on individual pieces. Next was the woodwork shop. They draw detailed, intricate designs on the wood, then carve them out.

Last was the cooper molding/statues, some of which can take a year and half to do. As we walked through these different workshops, I realized it had never hit me just how much time it takes to make these beautiful objects. All of these projects are so time consuming, so intricate. I can never look at any of these objects the same again. Last we visited the Doll Museum. It shows the history, culture, traditions, of Tibetans all through these little puppets.

Two weeks ago we went to Amritsar, the famous Sikh site.

First, it was a huge shock to get back into Indian culture. For almost two months we’ve been around Tibetans. Loads of people, rickshaws, lots of noise and horns, people staring and gawking, and lots of pollution! Every Indian state is so different- in language, in looks, in behavior, etc. Punjabis for instance are exptrememly tall. Even some women are above six feet (vs. the south where not even the men are that tall). Punjabis are also much lighter in skin color- many look almost like a tanned Caucasion, while the southern Indians can be almost as dark as Africans. The Punjabis we found to be more friendly as well. They were always asking to shake our hands and introduce themselves, even if that was the only English they knew. They also loved to take pictures of us, and would ask if they could take pictures with us quite frequently.

But the big site there is the Golden Temple. It is the most beautiful building we’ve been to so far. As you walk into the square, you check your shoes in and walk barefoot all around the building. You walk through water on the way in to clean your feet as well because it is holy ground. You also have to have your head covered (as you can see from out pirate looking bandanas. The Golden Temple is in the center of a giant pool/lake. All around the square is tiled floor with a red carpet in the center.The big white buildings surround the square. The only way I can describe the feeling is by comparing it to what I think a big Muslim mosque would feel like. The loudspeakers around the square play prayers being read from their sacred book. Oh, and the kitchen there feeds anyone who comes through, which is an average of 30,000 people a day! I expected the food to be not so great, being made in the mass like that. But it was delicious! Especially the rice pudding… yum!

A little that I learned about the Sikhs, they are like a fusion of Hinduism and Islam. They have 5 symbols they wear on them at all times- a turban/head covering, a dagger, an under garment, a bracelet… and I forgot the last one. They have a long history of war and have been persecuted by many different groups. For those of you that are LDS, an LDS guy who studied Sikhs called them the “Mormons of the Middle East,” for a few of the reasons you can guess from above, but also because of their history being quite similar to the history in the Book of Mormon, particularly some of the war stories.

The Indo-Pakistan border is a little over an hour ride from Amritsar so we went to the changing of the guard ceremony. I have no idea what to say about it because I have no idea what I witnessed and what exactly happened. I’m sure it was full of symbols that were lost on me. But the guards had these amazing peacock looking hats. The march with huge arm swings and big high kicks. There was lots of yelling on both sides, lots of chanting and cheering. It was interesting to see the Sanskrit Indian language and the Arabic Pakistani language, one on each end. I also couldn’t help but realize that the land looked exactly the same on both sides of the fence. No rivers, no mountains, no land differences at all. The only thing that separated “India” from “Pakistan” was the fence and the soldiers.

We also experiences our first Bollywood movie in an Indian movie theatre. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the one I was hoping to see, from all the previews. We saw one called Fashion- which right away we knew probably wasn’t going to be a big it with any of us. But it was playing so we saw it. First I need to fill you in on a few things about Bollywood movies. There is always music, dancing, colorful clothes. There is also never any kissing on the lips- that is not appropriate in Indian culture, although the new trend is to show kissing on the neck, etc, there is still no kissing on the lips. Also, there has never been a movie about extramarital affairs- until last year when one came out. It was a huge controversy and many said such movies should not be made. But it was actually quite successful from what I understand. This new one had an affair in it- of course they don’t show anything in Indian movies, but you know its going on. There was also no dancing and no singing by the characters. It completely baffled us! This was not a normal Bollywood in any sense of the term. I think the only things that were traditional “Bollywood” were that that it was in Hindi (although quite a bit of it was in English), almost 4 hours long and the over dramatic acting. If it weren’t for those three things and for the power going out in the middle of the movie, we wouldn’t have realized it was a Bollywood movie.

The last part of our trip to mention is that I finally got sick! After almost three months of not having more than an occasional upset stomach or diahrria, I finally got sick like almost every student of India. And let me tell you, it was a great joy spending half the night by the toilet. At least it was a real toilet though, and not a sqatter like many places here in India.

Mumbai attacks

I have fallen way behind in writing in here- almost a month behind! ANd although I have much to catch up on, for the moment I just wanted to post a blog about the recent Mumbai attacks. I don't know the mileage to Mumbai, but it is probably at least 1,000 miles away from where I am at. We are just fine where we are now, so no one worry about that.

To give a little bit of information though, although this is a huge terrorist ploy here, it isn't the first one since we've been here. THe biggest and the most damage to be sure. But violence, especially around the time of elections in India, is not rare. There are huge tensions between the Muslim and Hindu groups here and they often turn violent. It's actually ironic because I had just mentioned to someone it had been a few weeks since something happened. I spoke too soon.

I'm sure I'll comment more later as the rest of the story unfolds, but for now know that we are safe in the mountains...

Festival, Celebration, Meeting, and Candle Light

This week I have so much to write about! I don’t know how I’ll get through it, but here we go.

Saturday was a big celebration for the founding of TCV- Tibetan’s Children Village, one of the big schools. There were seriously hundreds of people- maybe thousands, at this ceremony. It started with the marching in of the different houses. There are four houses in this school- and yes, just like Harry Potter. It struck me as funny, watching them march in. Marching is a huge part of every culture. Why is that? But it was quite fun to watch these kids come march in, proud and excited.

The motto of the school is “Come to learn, Go to Serve.” Those of you at BYU, isn’t that quite funny? I thought it was, and if you don’t think its funny, you need to learn BYU’s motto. After the marching in there were speeches, including one by the Dalai Lama. For those of you that follow the China/Tibet thing at all, you may have heard remanants on the news about this speech, because in it he said he’s starting to think nothing will come of these talks with China. He’s starting to think maybe the Middle Way won’t work- which is HUGE. The people here, as mentioned before, adore him and seem to be willing to do whatever he thinks is best. There will be a meeting here in November, where Tibetans will all get together and discuss what they want to do. The Dalai Lama is now trying to get the people to decide, because he is tired of the situation. He is not giving up on Tibet, like many news sources were quoting. He’s simply trying to get the people to decide, not just follow his way. But anyway, I was there when he announced it, and although it was in Tibetan, so I didn’t understand, it’s still fun to say, “I was there!” It may not seem like a big deal, but this was a huge announcement.

After the speeches they did song and dance performances and a kinesthtics performance. As odd as it may sound, it reminded me of the opening ceremonies to the Olympics. Just the sheer numbers of people, all moving and performing as one… It is amazing to see. It’s something that we don’t do often in the west and just I don’t know…. Leaves me in awe. We in the west just don’t’ tend to work like that, so to see a culture where sheer numbers can move as one, it’s quite the site.

On Monday they had a big celebration at the other school, the one my “nephew” goes to. They played all kinds of games- 3 legged race, relays, musical chairs, alaphbet and number races, etc. Many of the same things you’d see at school activities at home! But the funnest one to watch was where they had bread tied to a string and the kids had to eat it without using their hands. Absolutely adorable! Oh, and bragging rights, my “nephew” got second place on the number race.

So those were the two schools celebrations. This week I also attended two political events as well. The first was a Rangzen meeting. Rangzen is the Tibetan word for independence, so this is a group of people who want full independence for Tibet. The meeting was quite interesting: 4 ½ hours of a couple 100 Tibetans speaking about an issue that they all care about. The sheer passion and intensity that was so often displayed in people’s faces and voices as they spoke about what they wanted for Tibet… I could never begin to describe to you, at least not to do it justice. You would have to see if for yourself, hear it straight from their mouth. Even with a translator sitting behind me, and not understanding the words directly from their mouths, I still could not miss the intensity. At one point, the man right in from of us spoke, and as he did he was just shaking with intensity. I have been here over a month now, and it wasn’t until then that I think I even began to grasp just want this means to some of these people.

I still don’t know what I think is best for the Tibetans. I’ve been fighting with myself since I got here. For those of you that know my more recent love of Chinese history and culture, you know it must be hard for me. I still don’t’ know what I tink should happen, what would be best for China and for Tibet. There is no easy answer. But the thought that I had was that when challenges come, people become so much more through those challenges. I’m really beginning to see that it is our challenges, and what we choose to do with them that define us.

Ok, so last experience to add to this everlastingly long blog. The second event was a candle light vigil. I don’t know what it is about these… but I actually really enjoy them. The idea of a group of people coming together, lighting candles and discussing things in a peaceful way… its just really claming and yet endearing. It’s only my second one, and first one in India though, so maybe I’m still romancing with the idea of it. But there were at least twice the number of people at this candle light vigil, in favor of the Middle Way, an autonomous region. And even though it was "calm and peaceful," they still seemed to have a deeper fervor than those at the Rangzen meeting...

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…

Moving in with Families

October 14^th, 2008

We have been back in Dharamsala for a week now and I couldn’t be more content with my life for the time being. I am decidedly not a big fan of Delhi and have sworn to not go back until it is time to leave. I much prefer the Tibetan northern mountains.

With that said there are two quick note to make about Delhi to those of you who are LDS. First, I got to listen to general conference live for an hour. Can I just say how utterly amazing it was that I got to sit on a Saturday night in an internet café and listen to the words of the apostles live, from the other side of the world. Second, that Sunday we got to attend the branch in Delhi. We’ve been told since we were little that the church is the same everywhere, that every member in the world is taught the same lessons every Sunday. But even knowing this does not take away the awe completely when you sit down with a group of Indians and discuss the gospel in the same way you would back home. It was truly a neat, neat experience. And they were of course, completely friendly and just really sweet to us.

The day after we arrived back in Dharamsala we moved in with Tibetan families here. Now I think I’ve made it fairly obvious that I have loved being around the Tibetans. But moving in with a family has only made me respect and love Tibetans even more. It makes my days seem more real too, having people that I interact with twice a day. Even when I don’t want to venture too far that day, I get part of a “cultural experience” every morning and night.

So each of us moved in with a different family. I seriously have like the most ideal set up I could ask for. MY room is actually separate from the family’s- it’s an upstairs room with my own bathroom. They said they like to put the students there so they can study in peace without the young boys around. But, they told me to come down any time I want to talk and watch tv or what ever. I can be with them when I want and then retire to my room to study or just relax alone.

MY family consists of the grandmother who is bed ridden, the parents (Amula and Pala are what they are called here), their three adult children and then the two grandchildren, ages 3 and 4. One boy is the eldest son’s, the other the daughter’s. All of the kids speak English really well, particularly the boys, one of which works for the government so he speaks English frequently, and the other attended an Indian University. They all know Tibetan, Hindi, and English.

I have breakfast and dinner with them. Breakfast I just go down when I’m ready and dinner is around 8. After dinner we hang out and talk and watch tv. Sometimes Hindi or American movies, sometimes tv shows or music stations, some times the news or sports (much to my delight). I had a great experience with one of the sons the other morning. We were watching the Red Soxes play Tampa Bay and flipping between that a a cricket match, with me explaining baseball to him and him explaining cricket to me. I had a ball!

Anyway, that is all for now, but ask whatever questions you want. Now that I am pretty immersed in things and see them every day there are probably a lot of things I forget to mention… so ask whatever you want to know.

A quick note on my research- without boring all of you with the political details I’m reading and finding here, it completely intrigues me to see how different cultures and groups of people choose to handle different problems. Tibetans choose to handle their situation peacefully, while other groups who have lost their homeland have chosen to react violently, such as Palestinians. It is becoming more and more fascinating to me how these Tibetans have chosen to deal with their situation…

Beauty and the beast

I sat on the most comfortable couch I’ve sat on in five weeks- possibly one of the most comfortable couches I’ve sat on ever. The AC was pumping high and I don’t think I could have felt cooler- while outside was devastating hot and completely humid. Light jazz music was playing in the background. People were walking around cleaning and polishing the already clean floors, walls, etc. When the two people got up from the couch across from me, someone came and refluffed the pillows. A waterfall outside with doorman waiting to open the door to all who came up.

I wish I could say that I stayed the night at this place. It was just a temporary waiting area as we waited in Delhi to meet the faculty for the visit. But just being there made my mind flow in so many different directions. I know those of you that are reading this are probably more interested in the things I’ve seeing, hearing, doing, etc. but for this one I can’t help but just right about some of the thoughts I had as I sat in the most luxurious place I’ve been in five weeks. We have been so lucky really- we always have had beds, usually a toilet, decent food, and none of us have been sick, expect minor stomach irritation or headaches. Other groups sleep on concrete floors, get sick so much, don’t always have decent food, rarely have toilets, etc. We really have had it nice. But being in a place like this... it just reminded me what plush and luxurious things are like. The longer I am out here the more I am beginning to realize that in order to really enjoy the good things in life we really do have to see the bad and not so good things. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a nice place like that. Even in the Bellagio and the Venetian and other gorgeous hotels, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at them and felt so much comfort, peace, and tranquility and sheer awe as I did at that hotel- only because I’ve seen so much poverty, so much garbage, and so many just sad and dirty things. The contrast in life is what really allows us to see life for what it is. It really is the only way, at least I think, for us to really understand what is truly in front of us.

I’ll talk a minute about the beggars. I don’t think I’ve said much about them. IN order to try to make those of you in the states understand, we aren’t talking about bums- people who sit on the side of the street with a sign asking for money. Those are bums in my book now, but not beggars. Beggars sometimes sit, but they will always talk to you and try to get your attention. Most of them will walk with you and follow you for a bit. Often they will touch your arm. Many of them will carry babies and children with them and ask you to just buy food. They are not passive in the least. And they are everywhere- all up and down the streets. Today we heard from Marc who was down in the south for a bit, that in the local paper they actually had an article asking people to stop giving money to the beggars. They found out that people would rent their children out to beggars for the day so they could make more money. This seems completely absurd! But things like that happen all the time. It’s so hard to see it, and every day. But like I said before, seeing these things, although not easy, allows me to see the good things in an even better light. I think I’ll come home with quite the purified and grateful heart.