My Birthday in India

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  Dharamsala, India
Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Greetings everybody! Ten days in India and all is going well so far. Had a good bout of culture shock at the end of last week. It all just kind of hit me at once: the incessant honking, the beggars, the dogs fighting in the streets, the dirt and the grime and the nastiness of it all. "Holy Crap!" I thought. "I'm in India and what's more I'm going to be here for two months. What have I done? Arrrgggghhhh!"

I spent a few nervous hours in my moldy little room huddled in the fetal position clicking my heels together to no avail. I was still there when I opened my eyes. Outside there was still the noise and the smells and the poverty and the confusion (and I'm only in McLeod Ganj, what could be called "India Lite"). I got up, splashed some water on my face and decided to head out for dinner. There wouldn't be much to tell if I spent two months in a damp yellow room.

It was the best idea I've ever had. A little restaurant down the street was showing a movie in a cozy little upstairs dining room with cushions on the floor and herb tea, cappuccino and veggie sandwiches on the menu (how very Euro-bourgeoisie and I love it). Had a good laugh with an Israeli traveler about the strangeness of India and where we were each planning on going next. By the end of the night I was feeling much better.

Yeah, I think things are going to be OK. Since that night I've just kind of settled in to the rhythms of this town. I must seem more relaxed and myself now because, as I had hoped, I'm starting to meet people and have some great conversations. It's a wonderful thing to get to know people who were complete strangers just a few moments before. Language is not an issue, most people speak English very well.

For those of you who don't know, McLeod Ganj is the home His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile. After the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 the Indian government offered this little hill station as a temporary home for he and his people. This has been a home to thousands of refugees ever since. About three thousand make the dangerous journey over the Himalayas every year. His Holiness has made enormous efforts to turn this into a true refuge for the spiritual and cultural traditions of Tibet. Everywhere are reminders of the tragedy of the Chinese occupation but even more prevalent are the reminders of the tenacity, compassion and capacity for forgiveness of these people.

I had the good fortune to attend four days of lectures by His Holiness last week at the Main Buddhist Temple (Tsug Lakhang). Just amazing. Although security is very present (he is guarded by men with machine guns coming to and from the teachings) we were all able to see him up close. At one point he even made eye contact with me! Another day I was so close to him that I turned to the fellow sitting next to me and we both just laughed. He just radiates so much happiness and compassion that you can't help but smile, laugh and even cry in his presence.

All in all I'm having an amazing time. The weather here is fantastic. Cool nights and days not too much warmer than high 70's. There have been a few torrential rain storms (got caught out in one of them but I had my trusty umbrella and micro-light jacket). I've been spending the past few days just kind of hanging out, spending time at the temple and listening to lamas teach. Pretty darn cool.

Now that I'm an expert on traveling in India I just want to share a couple of insights with anyone who might be thinking about doing something like this. First of all, do your research! Read all you can about where you want to go. Watch any movies you can get your hands on that are even remotely related to the intentions of your trip. Talk to anyone who has ever traveled anywhere and listen well to what advice they have to give (Thank you again Caroline, Matt, Joe and all the rest of you...). Lay awake at night fretting over every little detail: what kind of shoes to bring, should you take those flip-flops or not (you know who you are...), will I really need an MP3 player, etc. Buy gear, try it out and if you don't like it just take it back (I went through five backpacks before settling on the right one).

Do all of this for months and months. Bore your friends and family with incessant talk about your trip. Become obsessed. Believe me, it will all be worth it by the time you get where you're going.

Well that's about it for now. I'm going to be incommunicado for about ten days here. I will be attending a introductory course on Tibetan Buddhism until October 18th. No phones or email or anything like that. Should be wonderful. Here's some more photos. Enjoy!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

My roomate	Green Hotel	$5 a night!	View from the balcony
McLeod Ganj	The Bus Stand	Essentials	Shapes n' colors
Stairways are cool	Fruit	Pizza in India! I'll take it!	Dog heaven
Ain't photoshop great Mr. Longo?	Beads and Malas	Shapes n' colors 2	Me and the Buddha
Shakyamuni Buddha	Dharma texts	Prayer wheels	Butter lamps
Conversation in the afternoon	The residence of His Holiness	Tsug Lakhang	Cows in the street
Reminders of the tradgedy	Entrance to the Temple complex	Commerce	A view of the Temple complex
Holy Cow!	More cows than I can count	The plains of India	The Himalayas are near...
A long way from home	Alley	Wall	Path

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