Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj

  Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Tashi delek! (Tibetan for hello)

The bus ride from Manali to McLeod Ganj was definitely the easiest one thus far. It took 10 hours through the night and I was able to sleep for a lot of it. As I said in the last entry, McLeod Ganj is where the Dalai Lama lives in exile and where the Tibetan government is officially located. It's a beautiful little town in the mountains with incredible views, obviously a huge Tibetan population, and some of the best restaurants I've been to in India.

A ten minute walk downhill from the center of town is where His Holiness Dalai Lama's home is. You can't see it, it's hidden behind a locked and guarded gate.

His Holiness Dalai Lama's home

But I'm sure it doesn't differ that much from where the monks live.

Monk housing

Here there is also what locals call the Dalai Lama's Temple. You can't take pictures inside the temple but the scene outside of the temple was much more interesting anyway. Luckily I arrived at lunchtime where huge pots of rice and dal (lentils) are spooned onto hundreds of plates and bowls held by monks, locals, and anyone else who wishes. It's free for everyone and I would have indulged if I hadn't just eaten breakfast!

Lunchtime in the monastery

Monks eating lunch

More monks eating lunch

View from monastery

Another 20 minutes downhill there's another Buddhist Temple and monastery.

Buddhist Temple

Prayer Wheels

I went to the office of Volunteer Tibet on my first day and filled out an application to teach English. The only openings they had for the two week committment I was willing to make was tutoring a Tibetan refugee one-on-one and running the one hour conversation class they have every night from 5:00-6:00.

I meet Kunga every morning at 9:00 and we talk for awhile then we work on some exersizes in a grammar book that the office gave him. He is 23 years old and left Tibet 3 years ago leaving his entire family behind. His English is pretty good. We're not able to talk in depth about many things, but he can definitely carry on a conversation. He invited me to his house one day, really just a room with a bed and a hot plate, to cook me lunch. He made rice with potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, and onion. It was better than I could have made and my kitchen is bigger than his entire home!!

Kunga

The conversation class is very informal. People come and go and you see different students every night. Usually there are two English speakers there, myself and one girl I've recruited to come help. I'm trying to get more travelers to come so we can have smaller conversation groups. Usually I'll have about 8-10 students in my group and all are at different levels. The conversations range from small talk, to teaching in America, to Buddhism, to American politics. They LOVE talking about the upcoming election. They know about Obama and they think he's already going to be the next president. I'm doing my best to explain the election process, the difference in the Republican and Democratic Parties, what the convention is all about, why Hilary is out of the race and why she now supports Obama, etc. I printed out the letter that Obama wrote to the Dalai Lama back in March after the Chinese had arrested some Tibetans during a peaceful protest. I read it to them, no one wanted to help read it, and then had to explain what he was saying since they didn't understand a lot of the language. I think they gained a lot more respect for Obama after hearing his opinion on the Tibetan situation. If any of you have anything you can email me that I can read to or show my class to help them understand the election or what the US is doing about the situation in Tibet, or anything else for that matter, please feel free to send it to me. Thanks!!

My class had asked one night about basketball and they seemed interested in learning how to play so I bought a ball that I'll leave with Volunteer Tibet when I leave. There was a Tibetan holiday yesterday so there was no scheduled class. I told the students that if they were interested we would meet at the basketball court that's very close to where class is held and we'd play. We only played for about 10 minutes since it started to rain. There was a covered area with two killim tables so they taught me how to play. It's sort of like pool but you shoot with your fingers. I'm actually not too bad. I've won 2 out of 3 games so far!!

Some of my students playing Killim (sp?)

I met a monk one day and he asked if I'd be willing to meet with him each night so he can practice his English. So we meet at 6:30 every night. His name is Jiumei, pronounced Jimmy. Sorry, no pics of him yet. I promise to take more pictures of all of my students to share with you.


Last night I finished my Tibetan Massage Class. It was a five day course, two hours a day. I now have my certificate as a Tibetan Masseuse(sp?)!! The course cost 1500 rupees, or about $38. I will only charge you $40 for a one hour Tibetan massage when I get home!! I had got a massage from the teacher's wife my first day here and it was amazing!! I have some lower back problems and my back definitely improved after the massage. I'm getting a massage from the teacher tomorrow so I'll let you know if my back is cured! When Richard Geere is in Dharamsala he always goes to this guy for Tibetan massages.


I woke up yesterday feeling like shit. I could barely talk, my throat was killing me, and my whole body ached. I hardly ever get sick, so I knew I had to go take care of this. Instead of going to the pharmacy and getting some medicine, I decided to go to the Tibetan doctor in town. He practices amchi, or traditional Tibetan holistic medicine. He prescribed me some herbal medicine that I take three times a day for five days. It tastes absolutely disgusting, but I do feel a bit better today.

My herbal medicine

Hope all is well with everyone. I know school just started for CPS so I'd like to wish everyone luck this year. I know some of you from Harper have not found jobs yet so best of luck to you in your venture! Take care...

peace,
Jen