leavin on a jet plane

i LOVE Nepal. i think i may be staying here for my independent study project. i will update you more on that when i have more time. for now, i have 5 minutes before my buddhist teachings. i simply wanted to post to let you all know that in 2 days i will be departing to Tibet for 3 weeks. during that time, i will not open my email or my internet blog -since there are references to His Holiness, Free Tibet, etc. i can not open them while in Chinese territory. i may be creating a new email for use in Tibet, but i have not done so yet. i will post one last time before my departure (if i get the opportunity) and let you know of any alternate form of communication.

did i mention i love nepal?

goodbyes and new adventures ahead

today we depart from Dharamsala. we say goodbye to our homestay families and language teachers and take a bumpy jeep ride to an Indian train station (which i hear will be quite an interesting experience), overnight train to Delhi, Delhi for 2 days, then a flight to Kathmandu Nepal! we will then be in Kathmandu studying Buddhism under a teacher (not an academic professor, but an actual Buddhist master) for just short of a week before flying over mt everest and trekking through Tibet.... so i don't know when i might get another chance to post (maybe in Kathmandu and maybe in Lhasa.... but no guarantees).

i don't know if i stated in any earlier posts, but the Dalai Lama left Dharamsala 2 days after we arrived here (for America), and he returned 2 days before our departure. the timing was too much off to get our group to have an audience with him, but whenever he has travelled somewhere in a car (such as this morning to come to a government event right near my homestay residence) i have been there with the tibetans lining his path to greet him and receive a blessing. this morning his car sat 5 feet from me for a decent minute of time... and it made my day. i am not the type to go gaga like i've just seen a celebrity (even though i suppose i have)... but there is just something about that man that makes being in his presence feel so divine. this has happened twice since he returned from America. when i come back to Dharamsala for my independent study, my family says i will be able to have an audience with him and receive a personal blessing. even if that doesn't happen, i am content just spending this time in this place he calls home for now.

yesterday we went to the Karmapa's temple and received a blessing from him. it was a very wonderful experience. i was very ill before going and almost didn't go because my stomach was feeling so shaky... but decided i did not want to miss out on the opportunity. after receiving a blessing and leaving the temple, i felt like i hadn't been sick at all... and have felt healthy ever since. you can interpret it however you want... i simply embraced it without trying to analyze the possibilities.

thank you to everyone who visits this site and reads my ramblings, and thank you for all of your comments. they help me feel connected to all the people i care for that are so far away from me right now. i am always distracted and discombobulated when i come to an internet cafe to post something... so i hope you'll forgive the lack of depth in some of my entries. the real sharing of the experience will happen when i come home.

be well!

Achalas

i borrowed a digital camera to take photos of my homestay sisters (for a class assignment), and thought i'd post them here for you to see. i like Rinchen a lot (who is displayed in both pics)... she's very easygoing and fun and has a great laugh. the other sister is Thupten (a phenomenal cook!).
i suppose i should get some digital images of the mountains to show you??? what have i been thinking?! ;-)

the unfortunate truth and its fortunate result

about 3 hours after writing my last post my body told me the ugly truth: it had NOT healed. i came down with a sickly fever, nausea, diarhea (just what you wanted to know, huh?).... the works. it lasted for 3 days. i have never felt so sick in all my life. i was miserable, lonely, in pain, scared. restricted to my bed, barely able to move, i could do nothing but think -about how much i wished i were home, about the possibilities of what would happen if i didn't get better or if i had to withdraw from the program. i thought about everything i hate about this place. i wrote a friend a letter venting about how miserable it all was. i cried a lot.
the people here (students, my achalas -sisters, the program directors) took such great care of me and helped nurse me back from zombie mode to functioning human being. the last day i was sick i cried a lot and a couple students and i all sat in a little circle and talked about being here, homesickness, and how to cope with it all. it was a great dialogue and extremely productive for me. from that moment on, my world has flipped here. i am thoroughly allowing this place to flow through me and myself to flow through it -accepting the things that were challenging for me before, embracing life's many important lessons, and soaking in my last days in Dharamsala.
i am so blessed to be given all of these experiences and lessons and growth spurts. it is truly wonderful (all of it, the negativity and challenges such as much as the joys). i have been shown that my mind was somewhat closed, even though i considered myself as one having a very open mind, and i have been humbled and reminded of what is real, true, and of importance.
i'm a slow learner with language still... but am trying to chug along with it. the other academic fields are going pretty well and i am learning a lot. our buddhism studies begin in four days when we leave for Kathmandu, Nepal... so i am quite excited. after that we fly over mt everest and begin our trek in Tibet! (i'll post before we leave for Tibet, because once there i will be very far away from anything that resembles a computer).

hope you all are well! if you are in an area where autumn colors are flourishing, please please enjoy them for me (they are one of my favorite things and i am sad to be missing them)... go for a walk in the woods, roll around in the leaves, or just appreciate that beautiful crunch the colorful leaves make as you walk along to wherever you may be going.

jela jelyong!