Rock me Lama with a Dharma wheel

So remember when I told you that we were at a Tibetan Monastery? Well we were there during Losar, the Tibetan New Year, and consequently living in Dharmsala at a really exciting time.  The first full moon of the Tibetan year (which happened to be March 8) is a really auspicious day so that day we went to a teaching by the DALAI LAMA at the temple. YEAH. I saw him. heard him. sat down for 3 hours (brutal). did an avaolkiteshvara initiation. It was awesome. Hes so kind and funny too. I just couldnt believe that I saw his holiness.  Even though he is coming to LA in April, it was really incredible hearing his teaching in his (new) home town.
I really didn't know anything about Tibet before this year and its been really great learning about the history, Buddhism, and the Tibetan lifestyle.  I sometimes feel like a poser... but I guess thats what happens when you're a tourist. Its just funny thinking about why all the foreigners are here. are they studying? are they studying buddhism? do they want to learn tibetan? Everyone has their owns stories and man, its quite an experience.
Another really interesting day that I was fortunate enough to experience was March 10, Uprising day. This is the day that Tibetans protest all day and walk all the way down to lower Dharmsala.  People had face paint, held up flags, and crowded the temple.  I was walking down to check it out until I saw Lisa( our business coordinator) and Nima (the man) and found out that we were going to have a PRIVATE AUDIENCE with his holiness. SO I ran back showered, dressed up in my ammala's chupa (women's traditional dress) and went to the temple with the group. On March 10, I met the Dalai Lama, shook his hand (wouldn't let go) and took a picture with him. I was so flustered! It's difficult not to feel compassion and an overwhelming feeling of joy in his presence. Wow. Incredible. I still can't believe that I ended up seeing him and meeting his holiness. Highlight of life

I've been so fortunate and being on this trip is seriously unreal.  I am really loving Dharmsala and maybe its because of the change in environment or reading religious texts but I'm really learning to let things go and go with the flow. Even if you feel horrible for one minute, you might have a chance to turn that around.  Reflective. I know. 

Dharmsala

Hey guys! So I'm currently in Dharmsala, India and it's been the bees knees. I know I shouldl write about the North India tour that I went on after Rato Monastery but ask me in person and I'll tell you later. I will also tell you this in person too because I freaking love Dharmsala. Dharmsala is located in north India at the Himalayas.  It is a huge Tibetan community (atleast upper Dharmsala is) and it is the dwelling of his holiness the Dalai Lama. Yeah thaz right, the Dalai Lama. DL! Living in Dharmsala has been really different because I'm living with a host family and it is a different demographic( lots of Tibetans and tourists). So my family owns a small 3 table momo and thentuk (noodles) restaurant but its really cozy and lots of people eat there. My mothers (ammala) works at a bead shop. They have 2 daughters but only the younger 6 year old lives with us. Her name is Tenzin Tchela but I renamed her Pew, which means monkey in Tibetan.  Its really nice to live with a hose family because it totally gives you a different experience.  Their house consists of 3 room and a bathroom. Its really small and I (and another pacrimmer) live in the shrine room which serves multiple purposes including the living room, dining room, and the bed room.  My family doesn't speak much English so theres a lot of smiling involved but its alll goood!

Soooo Dharmsala has a lot of tourists which means that theres tons of shopping and eating to do. Lots of cute cafes. Lots of jewellery stores. On a clear day, the view is to die for and so beautiful.  You can see the white peaks of the Himalayas, the  forests, and a view of lower Dharmsala.  Its chilly thought! Cold cold air. I swear, i'm turning old because I get cold so easily...

My legs hurt too... which is weird cuz I dont exercise anymore. Okay tangent!

Hmmm.... theres sooo much to say about this place. Heres some random things
Tibetans are super cute
The breakfast consists of bread and more bread. Lots of bread and carbs in Tibetan diet
I go to sleep between 9:30 and 10 every night
Theres a lot of stray dogs. They're much bigger than other locations in India
I almost get run over by cars. There are crazy ass drivers here
All the cars are white oddly enough.

Dharmsala is really small (basically 2 streets) but i'm sad that i'm only here for 2 weeks! then spring break! unrealll

It's getting hot in hurr

It's so hot that my butt sweats. like every day

also its also so hot that my glasses steam up. mainly because they sit on my cheeks and not my nose.

I'd disrobe you...

So. I am now leaving the Rato Tibetan Monastery in the state of Karnataka, South India. We are heading off to our next destination in t- whenever hours. This is sad.

I've loved my stay at this monastery. It's been hot as balls and I've been eaten up alive from the huge ass mosquitos. BUTTT. i wouldn't trade my experience here anything else. So far, this has been one of my favorite locations. Its been really peaceful and we've done a lot of homework. But its just isolated and a change in the pace of India, espesh since India is so loud and crazy.

Its located in a refugee camp and there are 2 monastery camps and 7 lay persons camps.  The population is a mix of Indian, Tibetan, Ladaki, and other persons. It's really neat.

The monks here are so awesome, nice, always smile, and are really effing cute. Ha, hence the title. Seriously though, if they ever disrobe, I hope they call me! just kidding. But its really cool. They're all really downt o play cards and ALWAYS smile. There are lots of baby monks (monkies) who are learning Tibetan. They're super cute. I sound like a creep. But its just a really cool community where you have all ages of i guess men... Not intimidating men like in Mysore and other places. Maybe I'm not as intimidated by Eastern and Central Asian looking men... i hope I dont sound racist, hosnetly i'm not trying to be. But yeah, the monks are cute. so off limits.

they also taught me some things in Tibetan. And I have learned that I suck at learning languages. Some things I learned were

1. My name is Connie

2. Yu are a pretty lady

3. You make me blush

4. Kiss me please

5. Lets eat food together

6. bread

These will be of use soon enough.

The food was also really great. In Mysore, we had Indian food which is kinda soupy and not really solid and here its been the opposite. Which also means that my poop schedule is different and not as often but still. Best food ever. Which also means that my butt is getting bigger. Honestly I am literally a fat ass. Total bummer dude.

Speaking of sad sad things. Its that time of year when I and many other Pac Rimmers are getting home sick. Its an amazing adventure but we've been gone for a long time and it would be realllllly nice to have an In n Out chocolate milk shake. And a great trail to run on. EVERY DAY

But then again its CRAY CRAY how we only have 2.5 months left. OH SHIT. that also means that i have to finish my independent project. wish me luck

Holey Moley!

I have had nightmares about macaques attacking me. ever since malaysia, i've been scared shitless about macaque monkeys. i've been scarred by malaysia. So once in my dream (about a week ago) i was on  a  boat and we were too close to the shore so then we got stuck at the shoreline. anyways i was eating a peach lollipop and a macaque saw and started to charge at me. I didn't dispose of my lollipop fast enough and it just jumped me. then i got attacked by another one. It was freaking scary.

My dreams have all had Pac Rimmers too. Pac Reezy dreams galore. like last night. I had a dream that pac rim was over and i was really emotional but at the same time there was all this other stuff going on. it was really odd.

Anyways, back to nightmares- I'm just WAITING for my nightmare about mustaches to come up.  Sometimes i imagine mustaches just floating around and doing their thang. it scares me. never did i think that i would be intimiadated by mustaches or so many men in my life. Its weird.

So there you have it. Your fearless/ crazy friend is now afraid of monkeys and mustaches. mmhmm.

Flying mustaches

our travel day to india was probably the worst travel day of my life. it was practically 20 hours of traveling. shit. but the things that kept me going (kinda) were the fabrics and textiles in india.  Women wewar beautifully vibrant punjabi suits, tunics, and saris. So MUCH COLOR! i'm actually gonna buy one today, fuck yeah!

However i have a list of things im afraid of. i never thought id be afraid of this but i am actually intimidated by mustaches.  Men here love the staches. and theres a shit ton of dudes which means theres a shit ton of staches. sometimes i just imagine them flying around on their own. about to attack me. it really scares me. dah;gahdglandglafg.

i guess im afraid of the water. but i mean we've all accepted that its gonna happen so hha like the other day some of us drank water from a restaurant and cheered to not getting sick. and when we found out that we werent supposed to drink the water, we cheered that we didnt even drink the water with our new lime sodas.  I think we talk about poop way too much. But its a seriously applicable topic of conversation that never loses any interest.  i mean, we're in india. we eat curry. the water is no bueno. pooping is great. but not when you have the runs.

Whenever I visit ancient ruins...

You know its wierd when you can say "whenever i visit ancient ruins" and say it with a straight face.  even an academic face. its weird because we're seeing all these incredible sights and have processed this feeling of awe so many times that its become normal.  The incredible has become mundane.  Of course im in awe when i see the Gobi desert or Angkor Wat but its so normal now.  Its a weird feeling to know that sometimes you are given these opportunities and you accept them without a blink.

I don't know but i just felt like writing that.  i think its because i wrote some postcards and i didnt know what to write. (so if you get a shitty postcard, dont be offended). I just suck at writing about these experiences. It's all kind internalized.

Well 4 more months to go! We'll see. And if you've asked me if i have any cool stories, i'll work to remember them, considering that everything blends together.