Athiti Hotel Dharamsala

... detectors and frisking before you were allowed in, no camera's or mobiles either. Found a spot in the shade and wrote up my journal. With about 15 minutes to go until the teaching started we were told to move. Found another spot nearer the front - luckily in the shade as the sun was still pretty strong. After listening to a conversation I realised why we had to move, the Dali Lama would be walking by where I was sat and security didnt want anyone there.<br>Ten minutes later, people ...

... in my entire life. I usually picked him up when he was in my room, trying to eat my dirty laundry, or, when he would try to join me for my yoga sessions in the yard. Whatever the reasons, I did manage to overcome my fear of dogs a little bit!<br><br>After my first night in my lovely guesthouse, (which is the cleanest place I have stayed in India!) I woke up with what I thought were bed bug bites. However, they spread all over me throughout the day. By the time I went to bed ...

... got a cell phone sim card and the number is 9805717379. Feel free to call whenever, just remember I'm 12 1/2 hours ahead of you. I will try to call when I get some free time. I love you guys so much! Quick update: Today ( Thursday) after placement and Hindi lessons we went up to McLeod Ganj and we were given a tour of the Tibetan Buddhist Temple by a monk . It was so beautiful. We were there just when the sun was setting down. I have never been to such a beautiful place in my life. :)

... the border. It was great! I took pictures and will post them as soon as I get home. The next day we went to the Golden Temple, which is one of the most holiest pilgrimage sites for Sikhism. It was beautiful. Inside an outer facility there is a...well...a golden temple. So the name is pretty self explanitory. There was singing going on in the temple and it was very peaceful. The people were terribly nice as well. That night me, Abby and Clare took ...

... and weary. What to do with myself? My whole purpose here was to sit and serve, but it was obvious that I needed to take a step back from vipassana centers for a while. I decided to make my way to Dharmasala and try to find a farm to work at. I spent about two days in Dehli, hanging out with a guy named Ari, who I met through Couchsurfing. Ari was really nice, he was really open, and despite just having met me listened quite ...

... along a secluded valley, with terraced farm plots cut into the mountainside. I passed schoolchildren in blue uniforms (the boys with blue ties and white shirts and snotty noses) and jogged jerkily down a stone path, worrying about tripping and busting my teeth on a rock. A few weeks ago, Leah met a Canadian who'd spent a year in Mongolia. He tripped in an isolated village and broke off the bottom half of his two front teeth. His chest and ...

... which they rented separately but no one else was there. There was an attached kitchen, and the only downside was that the bathroom wasn't attached and was not western (ie squat). However the difference in price was immense, going from 450 to 100 rupees a night! So we took it. We did however get quite ill very soon after settling down at our place (i'll spare u the details), and were forced to go to the nearby town of Bhagsu where we got a room with attached western ...

... we should walk up a path that led to the school.<br><br>Before we got there, in my mind's eye, I had a vision of how the TCV would look. I imagined a few classrooms situated around a dusty courtyard with perhaps a hundred or maybe two hundred children playing within it. We passed a few neat shacks and a large green shed with 'recycling shed' painted on it and then the school became visible. Even before it came into view there was a kind of muffled howl in the clear mountain air that sounded ...