Tashi delek from McLeod Ganj! We may still be in India but it practically feels like another country because the culture, food, and even language here is so different! In fact, Indians are actually the minority here in McLeod Ganj as it is home to thousands of Tibetans in exile who wished to escape the human rights abuses inflicted by the Chinese government. McLeod Ganj is SO COOL and different and beautiful and our group felt like it was definitely a big shift from the craziness that is Delhi. It is a mountain town at the base of the Himalayas with many hills within the town.
Our group is staying with 8 different Tibetan families in town. We have been eating breakfast and dinner with them every day! Most students’ schedules go a little something like this:
6:30: Wake up, meditate, or take a nice walk with your family!
8:30: Have a Tibetan breakfast usually consisting of chapati bread, spread, fried eggs, a pancake, and of course, chai.
10:00-11:30: Hindi class with Nimala, our Hindi teacher/homestay coordinator. Actually though, Nimala is much more than just that! She is sort of the center woman of town. She knows almost everyone who lives here, runs one of the main (and best) cafes in McLeod Ganj, and, of course, knows all of the Tibetan gossip!
11:30-7: Lunch and internships/activities. We have individually gotten a lot of freedom with our choices of internships and activities. While Alexa and Hailey spend afternoons cooking and dishwashing in Nimala’s Tibetan restaurant, “Mama’s Kitchen,” John and Theresa (“Chai”) have been coaching soccer at the elementary school. Nate has been learning Tibetan guitar with Nimala’s son, one of the frontmen of the famous town band, JJI Exile Brothers! Ellen has been learning Tibetan massage and Thanka painting and Stephanie has been learning yoga and Tibetan massage. In addition, the group also goes to yoga classes, Buddhism teachings at the Tibetan library, and meditation sessions. Another thing we have all enjoyed is what we like to call “Monk Tea!”This is an hour session where you talk to Tibetans and Monks who would like to practice their English. Monk tea is cool because sometimes you’ll end up talking to the coolest and most insightful people! Most of them have gone to great lengths to escape Tibet and get to McLeod Ganj where they have freedom and can practice their culture openly.
8: Go home to families, eat dinner, hang out, go to sleep!
Just about everyone in the group has had accommodations that are basic, but very livable. Everyone has been enjoying the family dynamic with their “Amala”, “Pala”, and usually sibling(s). Now that it’s day 9 (WOW!!) of our homestays, we are starting to feel like it’s really home! Sortof…..
Learning Hindi has been a pretty interesting experience for the group! Because we are only here for a short period of time and our goal is to adequately converse with the locals, , we are learning mostly practical phrases, vocabulary words, and numbers.
Oh also……WE SAW THE DALAI LAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s what happened:
On the 23rd our families woke us up early and took us to the main temple, where H.H. the Dalai Lama actually lives! Some of the students actually got within FEET of him! He was making a public appearance to perform Buddhist chants for anyone interested in coming. It was honestly such a cool and once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well, maybe twice in a lifetime…..because our group is actually seeing H.H. the Dalai Lama on October 1st! He is giving a 3-day series of teachings and our group is registered and ready to go on Saturday! He plans to talk about “the emptiness,” which we don’t really understand now….but we will once the teaching is over!
Meditation: Many students in the group have been going to morning meditation at Tuchita Meditation Center, about a 20 minute walk up into the woods from the base of town. It’s been a unique challenge for many of us, who have never meditated before. The concept is clearing your mind and just being present…one tool we use to do that is focusing on our breath. Of course, many thoughts pop into our minds during that hour because our minds are not trained to not jump from thought to thought. One analogy we were given is that you are sitting on the side of the river, and your thoughts are floating by in the river. When a thought comes up, let it come up: observe it, but then let it go along down the river (your stream of consciousness). We will definitely continue to work at this challenge during our week at Deer Park Institute in Bir.
Until then…we are SO excited for the trek we will be taking starting October 2nd! It spans 4 days and 3 nights and we will be gaining almost 14,000 feet in elevation during this time. One of our nights will be spent in a cave! Just to let you know, we will not have access to technology at that time so from October 2nd-5th, we will not be in contact!
Much love and zen, John and Alexa
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
-H.H. The Dalai Lama
