Eurgh. Sick and stressed. I am ordered to take 2 days off rehearsal. 2 out of 7 days..we perform in 3....breathe breathe. trying not to stress out. Just going to do a bit of text work today, keep it low key. Take it slow. [View Full Entry]

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It seems to me really appropriate that my first big trip is to India. It seems like a very good place to cut your eye-teeth on. It's definitely both challenging and incredibly incredibly rewarding. I am starting to very much look forward to coming home to Canada, which I have realized that I really do love. It's funny, I never thought I had a shred of nationalism in me except around literature, but...it seems I do. I love our food, I love the cleanliness (something I never thought I would appreciate)...basically I love the things that feel like home. A friend [View Full Entry]

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Several days ago, I attended my first drum class of the young monks.They were doing an African warrior rhythm and as soon as they started playing (there were about 20 of them) I had a moment of absolute joy. Watching these young monks pound their hearts out on these drums as they danced and did the African warrior chant. There were four monks who were playing shakers--these are big metal instruments that look like giant tweezers with little cymbals all over them--pretending that their instruments were spears and doing an African warrior dance in the middle of the circle of drummers. [View Full Entry]

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And now my schedule starts to look a little bit different. I was planning to leave the monastery Nov 1 and to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal, do some yoga, go to Varanasi and Bhodgaya. BUT, I have decided to stay at the monastery as long as possible instead. I have decided to fly to Thailand from Delhi instead of training/busing it to Kolkata over two weeks. I really like it here and I want to stay here as long as possible. I am getting regular meditation teaching from Mingyur Rinpoche (who, if you've never heard of him [View Full Entry]

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Am in monastery with my friend Jo. It's lovely here. I had an audience with Tai Situ Rinpoche today, which is like having an audience with the king. An absolutely amazing opportunity. I have a cold now. The food is delicious here. There are a lot of dogs, very friendly ones. Watched the young monks playing basketball today. Walked through the woods. There are leopards here, but I haven't seen any. There are also parrots and monkeys, those are more common. Ate a packet of cookies. Rinpoche said that I was too skinny. Really missing my exercise. Sevrin, if you're reading [View Full Entry]

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Today: I checked out of my (awful but fantastically cheap: approx.$4 CAD/night) hotel room this morning. Upon return from the hospital the othe day I wasallergic to something in my room, likely the mould. and Everything, everything was damp. So I decided enough is enough and I moved 20 metres down the street to Hotel Tower View where (for approx $7CAD a night) I have a seemingly much dryer room with a balcony. And a view to die for. It looks out over the amazing valley and rolling hills that are below Darjeeling. Lovely. I am hoping to leave for Delhi [View Full Entry]

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So. Just a short one today. On my birthday, October 16, I was checked into the hospital for, you guessed it shuffling around like an old man again. I was diagnosed with amoebic dysentery. It was bad. No, awful. The worst kind of sick, the worst kind of physical pain I have ever experienced in my entire life. I actually said out loud to myself at one point "I want to die." It was that bad. But, after many hours of really really bad 80's action movies on the TV in my room, it started to come to a close. I [View Full Entry]

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So almost all over being sick. Almost. Yesterday, I went out for my prescribed (by the doctor) lunch of Plain rice and plain Dahl at the Lunar Hotel, which has stunning views. Everywhere in Darjeeling has an amazing view. It was the first clear day so far. Beautiful. I saw some Westerners at the next table and I said hello. Their names were Rob and Hannah and they were from Bristol, England. They were taking a year to travel. Lovely. They said they'd been thinking of going to Tiger Hill the next morning and I said I'd been thinking the same. [View Full Entry]

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Hokay, For the past two days. So very very very sick. I had hot chocolate at this reputable restaurant, and right away, I felt stabbing pains to the gut. I'd been good. Almost no street food, never drinking water unless I'd purified it myself, the works. And still. Awful. Like I said, instant stabbing pains to the gut, then I returned home asap. On the way, I decided I was going to make this as fun as possible, so I got 2 bottles of water (I figured I would NOT want to be waiting for it to purify), cookies (little did [View Full Entry]

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Here goes the real attempt. I will be very annoyed if this doesn't work. Today is my first day in Darjeeling, I arrived here yesterday with my two present travel buddies: Sandy and Herbert. Herbert is from Germany and Sandy is from Portage La Prairie, Canada, but he lives in Australia. We were on the bus and in a jeep for nearly 10 hours yesterday. These buses make Greyhound look luxury. Seriously, bathrooms in the bus? insane luxury. Darjeeling is gorgeous. So much better than the insanity that is Kolkata (officially my least favourite city in the world). It's floating in [View Full Entry]

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