Scottish-isms = everyone slags Ali!!!!

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Namaste

My Hindi is very slowly but surely improving!!!! Though most of the time the kids in my class laugh at me as I don't pronounce the words write!! It's surprisingly difficult!! But hey... they seem to enjoy laughing at me... no idea why!! Probably because I run around like a looney most of the time. The girl I teach with, Mags, finds it hilarious how enthusiatic I get at times but as I spend alot of time lazing around I have lots of energy!!

So lots has gone on since my last update... we left Manali and manageds to get home safely. We survived the utterly grotty hotel (which we ended up having to pay more than we thought for. Wasn't amused... it was only 30p more but still, if you'd had to sleep in that bed eeeeuggh!!!!!!) Manali was fun though... except for some reason on our last day there we kept getting stopped and asked for our photos with random indian men so I proceded to pull extremely unaatrictive faces in them all 😊 I started to get a little ill on the journey home though... the drive was horrendous, I was focussing on the road clinging on for dear life with my arm resting out the window and it wasn't until about 5 hours later that I realised that my left arm was burnt to a crisp so for the past week or so I've been walking around with one bright red arm (though starting to go brown now!!) and the rest of my still milk bottle white!! Attractive!!

I wasn't feeling great all of last week... felt like I had the cold!! All my kids were so sweet though... one girl, Priya, brought me flowers from her garden and always commented on how pretty I looked in my indian clothes!! (She really was talking crap cos I looked as bad as I felt!!) but it was sweet! The kids always cheer me up when I'm in a bad mood or feeling abit low as they have soooooooo much energy and it's always "Ma'am, ma'am..." followed by a million and one questions!!!

I'm feeling much better now though. Today at computer class we had set the girls a task of preparing a presentation on powerpoint on any topic they wanted!! Most of the girls chose movies, their friends & family etc but one group decided to do one on our computer class!! It was so hilarious... they had a slide about "What they look like" Mags was described as nice & funny!!! Rich was described as cute&sweet, I was described as beautiful & naughty whilst Neil was described as "looks like an indian boy!" lol I guess we know who they like least now!! It was hilarious as he doesn't look like an indian at all!!! The girls all think that Rich & ! look like brother and sister which is funny, but we do actually look like each other a little bit!! I am enjoying the work though... it's not too taxing and it's good getting to know the girls and learn about their lives as it's so different!

Last weekend all the folk who are here for 4 weeks went away trekking so the rest f us had the whole camp to ourselves it was magic!! Our room is right next to the tv and I swear to god it's on at 7am in the morning (yes I am up at that time in the morning surprisingly!!!!) and it's blaring away when I fall asleep at night, it's starting to get on my nerves a little bit cos the tv is rubbish!! I was soooo excited at the prospect of a hot shower - my first on Indian soil but alas it wasn't to be! Just my luck there was a bloody power cut so not only did I not get to savour the delights of a hot shower but I had to endure a freezing cold one in the dark!!!! Wouldn't recommend it! I'm also covered in mossie bites... I have 15 only on my knees, not cool!!!!!

On saturday myself, Carly & Keri (my 2 american roomies) decided to brave indian public transport and catch the bus to nearby Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj. For the pricely sum of 25 rupees (30p) we were able to travel the 42km in complete luxury - we got a seat, I had an open window with the wind in my hair, it was perfect!! Until we started to move!! Most of the journey was spent mid air with my head and elbow consistently being whacked off the window frame much to the amusement of the others!! It was a pretty hilarious journey though the locals didn't seem to understand why we were laughing!! The emergency exit on the bus was also quite amusing... it was the smallest window on the bus which absolutely no one (not even the teeny tiny indian men) would be able to get through!! But we got there safely and checked into a nice & clean hotel with fab views over the valley!! At ngihtime it was great too the sky was crystal clear so I was able to share the planetarium love 😉

It was a really beautiful place and didn't really feel like India as a result of the Tibetan refugees there!! It was such a difference to deal with the Tibetans as they were polite, friendly, they didn't stare and they even smiled at us and said Tashi Delek when you walked past them!! I even saw my first act of chivalry in India... albeit it was an indian guy! I guess the day I see an indian guy doing something nice for a girl pigs might fly!!!

We visited the home of the Dalai Lama... it was amazing! The temples so intricate and ornate and the prayers wheels and everything they represented were awesome!! We walked all the way around the complex which was nice.. it was so tranquil and the views were superb! We saw alot of tibetan monks too who were all so sweet!! The best part of the day though was meeting these 2 older american ladies who'd given up everything to come out here to while away the rest of their days! It was like having 2 tour guides... they knew soooo much aboiut Buddhism and the Tibetan politics and taught us alot! They took us to the main courtyard where we were able to see the monks debating it was amazing! One of my highlights so far as I'd really wanted to see that before I came here! I didn't understand a word they were saying but it was very lloud and when making their point they slapped their hands together in a very overdramatic fashion then stamped their right foot on the ground!! It was like a dramatic play in a weird way!!

The shopping too was brilliant... most of the shops were fixed price so the stress (and fun!!) of bargaining was taken away but everything was really cheap!! I didn manage to restrain though as I really don't wanna be carting loads of stuff around but I did buy some cool prayer flags!! The other bought hundreds of cool souvenirs though!! I did buy some crap that I didn't really want out of guilt though... we were in a shop and I was just browsing shawls whilst waiting on the others when the owner pulled them all out (making a HUGE mess!!) to try the hard sell routine!! He was really persistant as was I in saying no!! His price started at 550 rupees and eventually 20minutes later I gave in and paid 150rupees for a shawl!! Bargain... well not really as I didn't really want it but I did feel sorry for the guy as it was gonna take him about 3 days to clear up the mess he'd made!!

It was a great town and as its not too far away I reckon we'll go there a few times! We're hoping to go in september to catch a glimpse of the main man himself... the Dalai Lama. He's holding teaching 3rd-5th september so fingers crossed!!!

Which brings me to the title of this blog... being scottish as I am brings with it lots of local lingo which I unadvertantly sputter out much to the amusement of the others so much so that practically everything I say results in laughter!!! Phrases my american buddies find particularly amusing are : "I reckon", "Fair enough", and "I can't be bothered!!" and I really don't know why as they're not even funny phrases 😞 Oh well!!

Well I better go now as I have class soon... we're planning on having a quiz and playing Jenga this afternoon which should be interesting!!! But before I do I have one question... How many people can you fit on a bus in India??

That is all,
Ali xxxxxxx

Ps - weather wise things up here are fine, I know some of you have been asking!! It rains twice a day but there is no flooding!The sun is shining today 😊 so all is well!

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Comments

[Mark]

Teaching.
Ali, what are you teaching again? Please don't tell me it's English. After all the education you've had I can't believe how bad your spelling and grammar is! LOL Glad you're enjoying it. Get some pics posted on here so we can see you in your Indian dress. When we were in India we took a few pics of people on the digital camera and showed them, they all loved that....

[dad]

how many ?
As many as can hold on ! Glad the weather is ok - news is all about floods take care xx