kireness

Quick update XD Finished placement, headed around Punjab for a week with Elyse (the other egyptian cat) and Dayel (the pirate) and saw Amritsar (golden temple, silver temple, mata temple, border closing ceremony), Anandpur Sahib (stayed at Kesgarh Sahib, met Mother Teresa, Elyse became a guru and Dayel and I were the unhelpful sidekicks with none of the language) and Chandigarh (only there for a day, and saw Nek Chand Fantasy Rock Garden.) Back to Dsala for Dalai Lama's birthday, but all the celebrations were cancelled because of the killings in Tibet a few months ago. Got to visit the nunnery though. This is the point where we lost Dayel (he may or may not be rejoining us) and headed up to Manali after the worst bus trip ever. Manali *is* pretty though. I just got ... read more

I love my nuns. :D Yesterday teaching was off, because it's the Dalai Lama's teachings, but most of my 3:30s were staying at the nunnery and they asked for class, so I obliged. We had a big discussion about what you'd take with you (out of a list of things) if you crash-landed in Antarctica. And I discovered that they really liked the idea of carrying around a bottle of whisky. I've been spending some time in the nuns' rooms. I got a Tibetan lesson from Pema (though I've forgotten most of it. All of it. Whoops.) They show me photos of their family, all in traditional dress, and they look like postcards. Pema walked into the room and declared "my sound is finished!" She'd lost her voice. I went with Pema, Chime and a nun ... read more

We're close enough to Tashijong -- in Palampur. There are traffic lights here. Exciting :D Spent a few days in Kangra during the week because of more puja. Amazing temples (saw the final resting places of Sati's left breast and tongue) and the Kangra fort (beautiful and PEACEFUL, and there were BRIGHT YELLOW flowers :DDD) Teaching again, taught 'kookaburra sits in the old gum tree'. :3... read more

Okay, so I'm not /actually/ in Shimla anymore...but still :3 Lots of fun in Shimla - too many in-jokes to count now (XD beautiful butterfly?) and we did a lot of walking up hills and in markets (Shimla seems so much more real India than Mcleod...I guess it helps that it's more than four streets long and actually full of Indians rather than Tibetans). We visited Dayel's monastery, spents lots of time in cafes, bought things, and spent a very long time chatting. It was so good seeing ALL the Manali girls and Dayel. Elyse's birthday also happened -- she slept through her birthday picnic (which was held in a restaurant XD) but we were literally entertained by one of her presents for an hour -- Oogly Bitch the Incense Holder, given by Dayel. I did ... read more

Jo and I are currently sporting the ever so stylish 'drowned rat' look. I swear there's more water outside than air at the moment. The weekend we spent at Tashijong was amazing. Music and cards and laughter all the night, and spicy chips and chocolate, and watching Tenzin, Tsultrim and Gelek (well, mainly Tenzin) dance (these being Chris and Felix's monks -- Tashijong is where they teach). Played 'Last Card' (Uno with a normal pack of cards) and I watched my first ever section of Robin Hood - Men in Tights on Chris' iPod, sitting on Felix's bed with one of the monks with the other earphone. I've now been covered in chalk dust for 16 hours. I enjoy it. Chalk runs out quickly though. Trying to get to Shimla from the 11th-15th, if we get ... read more

Today is the first day of Holi. Hindu festival, not sure the point of it -- essentially people throw paint at each other. Dais has yellow on her face, the rest of us are paint-less o:. Goes for tomorrow as well. We started teaching yesterday. I did one class. (directions, directed stick-figures around a map, blindfolded nuns and got them to direct each other. So basically just stole Nick's ideas XD). Then I spent the rest of the day asleep with delhi-belly-in-gharoh (o__O). Threw up a couple of times and now feel much better, aside from weakness from not eating for over 24 hours o___O What else? Classes are off today again because of Holi, and because the Speaker of Congress or whoever it is has come from America to give a vague speech and meet ... read more

Riots in Tibet mean that there are protest marches in Mcleodganj. We bumped into one today. Tibetan man out the front in handcuffs without shirt, bandage with red at the front around his head and CHINA painted across his chest. Lots ot Tibetan flags, shouting, monks and lay people. They burnt a Chinese flag, sang what I assume was the Tibetan national anthem. Some of the monks were getting quite into it (I don't blame them.) Shouting 'Free Tibet', 'We want Justice' '"release release!" "Panchen lama!"' '"Long live!" "Dalai Lama"' "'What we want?" "We want freedom!"' Interesting time to be here.... read more

I'm in Yol! o: o: o: Jo, Daisy, Tenzin and I just had a picnic on some rocks next to a river. Thought you all should know. Teaching so far has consisted of a test to determine classes, and nothing else. We start properly tomorrow. 7:30-8:30 for first lot 1-2 second 2-3 senior nuns 3:30-4:30 last lot 6:30-7:30ish Tibetan grammar teacher, if he ever shows up. The computer I'm at is under the table. I'm confused too. Temperature gets warmer (yay!) There's a woman in a green salwar kameez with a bundle of grassy stuff on her head keeps walking through the nunnery, followed by a black lamb with a patch of white on its head.... read more

I start teaching tomorrow! (FINALLY.) ... read more

Silly things the monks and nuns get up to: 1) Our nuns watch comedy car chases and people bashing each other up at lunch and dinner times on the weekend. They giggle. 2) One of our nuns has a Quiksilver Tshirt. Monks have been spotted sporting Converse and Nike shoes. 3) It's rare to see a monk or nun WITHOUT a mobile. Including IPhones. 4) Monks sneak out to play cricket when they're meant to have puja (prayer). 5) A monk was spotted playing a bloody shoot-em-up game in an internet cafe. 6) There's a blackmarket food trade going on in Tenzin's monastery -- the Indian cooks sneak sweets and other banned foods to the monks. 7) Nick taught his monks Uno, and they love it. There's more, but I forget XD Also, I love some ... read more