All I can write is what I know and what I know is this: the world changes everyday and, if you let yourself, you will change with it. I've been thinking a lot since I came to this part of the world, about people and places far away and out of reach, and about the ones staring me right in the face, that I couldn't or maybe wouldn't want to escape from. This phenomena around and inside of me, be it physical and present or conjured up by memory or fantasy, are the tools the world has given me. With [View Full Entry]

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i've spent the last 10 or so days at a tibetan-refugee settlement in the solukhumbu region of nepal, with intentions of researching the way people practice farming there. i got off the plane and started walking, not really knowing how to get there, and having no map or guide. i just kept stopping and pointing ahead, asking "chailsa?" (the name of the settlement) to everyone i passed. i eventually got there, after a 2 hour walk uphill and went in search of a man named norbu to whom my teacher had written a letter. norbu is his friend and this letter [View Full Entry]

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this is one of the harder entries for me to begin. it's hard to know where to start or how to sum up the past few weeks. i guess for personal relfection's sake and for your understanding's sake, i should just start. about a month ago i left kathmandu and took a 10 hour bus ride (3 1/2 of which were spent in stand-still traffic) to the nepali city of pokhara. its a pretty touristy destination, a lot of people hit it on their way up to the annapurna trekking circuit. we spent the night there and took an early flight [View Full Entry]

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i am sitting in the saturday cafe in kathmandu. norah jones is playing in the background and i am surrounded by handmade clothes and shelves filled with books in a language i can read! there are quotes painted on the wall by mark twain and thomas edison. it's hard to believe i'm in nepal. i just ordered some tomato lentil soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, so i will type as i wait for my food to come. it's day three in kathmandu and i am falling more and more in love with this place every moment. i can't exactly explain [View Full Entry]

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back in my favorite coffee shop after a weekend away caroline, becca, leigh, sarah, tenzin and i headed out of dharamsala early friday morning, got in a taxi and took a beautiful 2 hour drive to the tibetan resettlement community of bir (pronounced with a rolled r). it was a really nice drive, other than some of us getting sick. i was really happy to get the chance to see some more of india, to see some more mountains, trees, open fields, animals; that is what i needed. bir as a place is small and quiet. people don't do much there [View Full Entry]

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another week in india this one has seemed to go by rather quickly. the routine of school helps with that, considering we are in class all day five days a week. i am enjoying my monday off, sitting in a cafe watching the rain coming down outside, finishing a cup of gingerlemonhoney tea. i just bought a bunch of techno/electronic music on itunes and am definitely jamming over here in this dimly lit corner. one thing that i have to make note of that i'm noticing in terms of cultural differences is that here it's apparently ok to stand over someone's [View Full Entry]

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i'm sitting in a cafe in india and they just played the backstreet boys i don't know who they are trying to cater to but if they knew anything they'd be playing nsync.... ha. so it's almost week 2 in india. though i am starting to feel more comfortable in my surroundings, it definitely feels like i have been here longer. a week ago i moved in with the lobsang family. my amala (mother), pala (father) and 15 year old brother tenzin are incredibly kind and have made me feel totally at home. days are pretty full. i wake up early, [View Full Entry]

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dharamsala, day...3? after a 12 hour train ride, a four hour jeep ride (one hour spent stalled on the side of the road in an indian village waiting for women protesting against not being paid for 10 months to clear the streets) we arrived in dharamsala a few days ago. our first meal that day was dinner, at the momo cafe across the street from our hotel which is right in the middle of town. in the middle of the meal it started pouring and the electricity went out all over the city (this is a frequent occurance). water was rushing [View Full Entry]

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this place is hot the air is thick drivers move fast beeping horns make presence known they speed in tight spaces weaving in and out of one another creating chaos that somehow makes sense tragedy averted! death by elevator avoided! deep breaths stay calm we'll get through this if we can and learn to laugh about it later transportation fails collectively too heavy we all ate too much [View Full Entry]

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Hello from India to all the people I love so travel blogs are a great thing to get started on when you wake up at 430am after a solid two days of traveling when you're body thinks it's something like 8pm the day before it actually is. main lesson that i've learned so far: time travel is possible. it's real. and now i can say i've done it. after tearful and loving goodbyes i got on the plane in boston and flew to los angeles. i got in around 830pm and wasn't flying out until 145am. after some time on the [View Full Entry]

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