While the road to Dharamsala proved disappointing, the road from Dharamsala, it turns out, is the road of legend. Yes, it's the same road. But something about speeding down steep mountain roads navigating hairpin turns and narrow lanes in the dark of night in a large bus is both frightening and terrible for those who suffer from motion sickness (which Laura and I apparently both do). I will admit that my cockiness regarding the road up did little to prepare me for the queasiness of the road down. At one point, I was convinced that I was going to throw up, but somewhere someone took pity on my and the driver stopped for a 20 minute break. I was also relieved to see I was not alone judging from the vomit on the other side of the once clean bus (too much?)
Highlight of the trip so far for me: Laura and checked out of our guest house and trudged with our giant backpacks up the steep Dharamsala streets to the bus stand. It happened to coincide with the time the children get out of school. I was walking up the hill when I heard Laura laugh from behind me. As I turned to look at her, I saw a young boy (no more than 4 or 5) walking beside me with his school backpack, clearly imitating me with exaggerated footsteps and a stern look on his face. He smiled up at me and then continued the mine so I did the only thing I could do. I exaggerated my steps in time with his and put a stern look on my face. I also gestured to the boy that my thumbs were under my shoulder straps and he, smiling, proceeded to do the same. So, with thumbs in our straps and stern expressions, we trudged animatedly up the hill side by side, with Laura and a woman we assume to be his mother laughing behind us. Eventually, the woman said something to the boy and I caught the phrase "Bye-bye". Obediently, the boy looked up at me, smiled, said "bye-bye" and followed his mother through a doorway. Needless to say, I still think of that kid and laugh.
Train, apparently, is the way to travel in India. Although it's certainly no faster than a bus, it is far more comfortable. We made it to Varanasi this morning and I met Rinpoche this afternoon. I must admit, even after all I've heard from Laura and her family, I was surprised at how impossible it is to not love him instantly. He is so warm and welcoming and gave me a big hug and smile. He was also clearly so excited to see that Laura was here that I couldn't help but smile the whole time. I'm excited for this week in Bodhgaya and can't wait to tell you how it turns out.
For some reason, though I can't explain it right now, I have a strong desire to end this post the way someone important to me ends all of his e-mails.
Plant Sequoias
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Day 28 - Dharamsala
Dharamsala has a funny way of being peaceful and hectic at the same time. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, lush trees, chanting monks, ornate temples and soaring eagles, it's impossible not to bask in the serenity. But, the steep, narrow streets become filled with tourists, residents, vendors, cows, stray dogs, and cars/motorcycles that honk incesantly as they speed past with little regard to pedestrians or their extremities. The days are hot, but the nights are cold. There's a plethera of little restaurants and cafes that serve amazing Thukpa and Thenthyuk (noodle soups with veggies and tofu).
It's an interesting place. Throughout the day you hear so mnay different languages. You see young ids with dreadlocks and Chaco's just emenating cliche, sitting at the table just next to two upper-middle aged women. There's tourists wearing jeans and tank tops toting there expensive cameras, and others wearing full Tibetan outfits walking barefoot and clearly in need of some thorough bathing. I wonder where I fall on that spectrum in the mind's of passerbys?
This should paint an adaquate picture. The other day, Laura and I went on a hike up the mountainside where we passed secluded meditation centers, were charged by by a young mountain goat, and ran frigthened from angry looking monkeys. Just a short time later we were sitting in a cafe, drinking cappucino, eating chocolate chip cookies and listen to the 20-something Tibetan server sing along poorly to Byran Adams' "Summer of '69". Needless to say, our days are diverse.
We went to the Dalai Lama's techings yesterday. Registration was closed days ago, but we could sit outside the temple and listen. We got to watch him walk in though, which was exciting. He definitely has a presence. His first session was difficult to hear, due mostly to some very loud young Tibetans behind us, but both sessions were packed with Buddhist wisdom. One thing that stuck out for me was his discussion of faith as coming from reason and investigation. Blind faith, while often harmless, is not ideal and we should strive to be critical thinkers. The highlight of the teachings for me, however, did not come from anything the Dalai Lama said, but rather the monk that was sitting next to me. During each session, tea is poured for those who bring their own cups. We had a water bottle, in which Laura received some tea intended for both of us. However, I was tapped on the leg by the monk, who handed me a bowl brimming with tea and some Kashmiri bread. His smile and "don't-worry-about-it" gestures encouraged me to accept. I thanked him and shared the bread with Laura. It was such a nice interaction.
I want to end this long post with a quote about India from The Geography of Bliss, which I just finished the other day:
"Yes, there are cellphones and ATMs and Internet cafes, but none has made a dent in the bedrock of Indian culture. These latest foreign intruders are no different from the Mughals or the British or any other interlopers who over the centuries tried to subdue the subcontinent. India always emerged victorious, not by repelling these invaders but by subsuming them...McDonalds caved to the Indian plate and, for the first time, dropped Big Macs and all hamburgers from its menu, since Hindus don't eat beef. Instead, it serves McAloo Tikki and the McVeggie adn a culinary hybrid, the Paneer Salsa Wrap. McDonalds didn't change India, as some feared. India changed McDonalds!"
It's an interesting place. Throughout the day you hear so mnay different languages. You see young ids with dreadlocks and Chaco's just emenating cliche, sitting at the table just next to two upper-middle aged women. There's tourists wearing jeans and tank tops toting there expensive cameras, and others wearing full Tibetan outfits walking barefoot and clearly in need of some thorough bathing. I wonder where I fall on that spectrum in the mind's of passerbys?
This should paint an adaquate picture. The other day, Laura and I went on a hike up the mountainside where we passed secluded meditation centers, were charged by by a young mountain goat, and ran frigthened from angry looking monkeys. Just a short time later we were sitting in a cafe, drinking cappucino, eating chocolate chip cookies and listen to the 20-something Tibetan server sing along poorly to Byran Adams' "Summer of '69". Needless to say, our days are diverse.
We went to the Dalai Lama's techings yesterday. Registration was closed days ago, but we could sit outside the temple and listen. We got to watch him walk in though, which was exciting. He definitely has a presence. His first session was difficult to hear, due mostly to some very loud young Tibetans behind us, but both sessions were packed with Buddhist wisdom. One thing that stuck out for me was his discussion of faith as coming from reason and investigation. Blind faith, while often harmless, is not ideal and we should strive to be critical thinkers. The highlight of the teachings for me, however, did not come from anything the Dalai Lama said, but rather the monk that was sitting next to me. During each session, tea is poured for those who bring their own cups. We had a water bottle, in which Laura received some tea intended for both of us. However, I was tapped on the leg by the monk, who handed me a bowl brimming with tea and some Kashmiri bread. His smile and "don't-worry-about-it" gestures encouraged me to accept. I thanked him and shared the bread with Laura. It was such a nice interaction.
I want to end this long post with a quote about India from The Geography of Bliss, which I just finished the other day:
"Yes, there are cellphones and ATMs and Internet cafes, but none has made a dent in the bedrock of Indian culture. These latest foreign intruders are no different from the Mughals or the British or any other interlopers who over the centuries tried to subdue the subcontinent. India always emerged victorious, not by repelling these invaders but by subsuming them...McDonalds caved to the Indian plate and, for the first time, dropped Big Macs and all hamburgers from its menu, since Hindus don't eat beef. Instead, it serves McAloo Tikki and the McVeggie adn a culinary hybrid, the Paneer Salsa Wrap. McDonalds didn't change India, as some feared. India changed McDonalds!"
Friday, October 16, 2009
Day 24 - Dharamsala
A lot to recap. First off, Laura and I have made it safely to Dharamsala, a community in the foothills of the Himalayas that has a large Tibetan refugee population. We are situated and excited to explore. On Wednesday we said goodbye to the Grewal family and departed Sirsa for Chandigar. We did this for two reasons. One, the Grewal's said that Chandigar is beautiful and the most well-planned city in India. Two, it cut the trip to Dharamsala into two 6-8 hour bus rides instead of one painfully long stretch.
Chandigar was indeed a very beautifully city and so well planned that even I could figure it out in a day. We arrived late on Wednesday, found or hotel and proceeded to sleep in for the first time in a while. We only had one full day in the city, so Laura and I wandered around and found a market area where we proceeded to eat pizza and veggie burger, drink coke, browse shops and peruse the many street vendors. We decided that we deserved to splurge after the isolation of the farm and that we definitely needed some variety in our diets. Food at the Grewal's was most often delicious, but also most often the same.
Friday morning we packed up, checked out and, with a surprising amount of stress, managed to get on a bus to Dharamsala. The road to Dharamsala is of legend, but I have to admit that it fell short of my expectations. It is steeply uphill with hairpin turns and narrow roads, but it is hardly the cliffs-edge road that I was made to picture. There's only a few moments where you get a really amazing view of the lushly green valley around you. For the most part it's just another mountain road, except for the stretch that was lined with hundreds and hundreds of monkeys. I'm not just toning it down to ease my mother's worried mind. Frankly, I was kind of disappointed that all the horror stories I heard proved false.
We arrived after dark, and without going into detail, getting to our guest house was stressful and tense, but we made it like the pro's we have become. After settling, we headed out in search of food. We found a quaint little cafe where I had the best soup I've ever had, spinach and tofu, and Laura had some amazing veggie momos in soup. I'm excited to explore today. There's a ton of vendors and cafes and tourists. It's the most foreigners we've seen since arriving in India. In Sirsa and Chandigar we were pretty much the only non-Indians (especially in Sirsa). Here, we're among a very diverse community of travelers and residents. The Dalai Lama lives here and is actually here this week doing some teachings, which probably explains the influx of tourists. We're hoping to see him teach at least one day, but we're not holding our breath.
Stay tuned for juicy details of Dharamsala.
Chandigar was indeed a very beautifully city and so well planned that even I could figure it out in a day. We arrived late on Wednesday, found or hotel and proceeded to sleep in for the first time in a while. We only had one full day in the city, so Laura and I wandered around and found a market area where we proceeded to eat pizza and veggie burger, drink coke, browse shops and peruse the many street vendors. We decided that we deserved to splurge after the isolation of the farm and that we definitely needed some variety in our diets. Food at the Grewal's was most often delicious, but also most often the same.
Friday morning we packed up, checked out and, with a surprising amount of stress, managed to get on a bus to Dharamsala. The road to Dharamsala is of legend, but I have to admit that it fell short of my expectations. It is steeply uphill with hairpin turns and narrow roads, but it is hardly the cliffs-edge road that I was made to picture. There's only a few moments where you get a really amazing view of the lushly green valley around you. For the most part it's just another mountain road, except for the stretch that was lined with hundreds and hundreds of monkeys. I'm not just toning it down to ease my mother's worried mind. Frankly, I was kind of disappointed that all the horror stories I heard proved false.
We arrived after dark, and without going into detail, getting to our guest house was stressful and tense, but we made it like the pro's we have become. After settling, we headed out in search of food. We found a quaint little cafe where I had the best soup I've ever had, spinach and tofu, and Laura had some amazing veggie momos in soup. I'm excited to explore today. There's a ton of vendors and cafes and tourists. It's the most foreigners we've seen since arriving in India. In Sirsa and Chandigar we were pretty much the only non-Indians (especially in Sirsa). Here, we're among a very diverse community of travelers and residents. The Dalai Lama lives here and is actually here this week doing some teachings, which probably explains the influx of tourists. We're hoping to see him teach at least one day, but we're not holding our breath.
Stay tuned for juicy details of Dharamsala.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Day 18 - Sirsa
We've been on the Grewal family farm for two weeks now and certainly have done a lot. We planted sunflowers in a section of the garden that surrounds the grass which are beginning to grow. I believe the plan is to plant some other flowers throughout the rest of that garden. We've also created a lot of garden plots around, cleaning up garbage and debris, tilling the soil and marking rectangular plots. It's hard, sweaty work for surre. We've sown spinach, fenugreek, lettuce, broccoli, garlic, leek, parsley, and a ton of carrot. We'll soon be planting tomato on the ridges of the carrot plots because, according to Harpal, tomato helps carrot to grow. He also said we'll be planting some cauliflower, but I also heard we may be planting radish in that same area. Who knows.
Most of the work I've done has been out in the gardens. Some work is in the kitchen, but mostly peeling vegetables. It seems men aren't really trusted in matters of the kitchen. Laura has learned to make chapati (I think) and has made some bread dough as well. I guess, as a man, I'm just expected to eat.
This first stay has already been a test of patience. Communication is often difficult and, withouth going into unneccessary detail, we get different directions and requests from the husband and wife. We're constantly questioning whether we're doing things right and it seems we often please one while disappointing/angering the other. This, plus getting constant stares and jeers from the workers definitely frustrates me. Today I went to the room to grab the journal and one of the women was just coming out, laughing with another woman who was standing outside. It was certainly unnerving. Everything in our room looked to be in order, but why was she in there? What was so amusing to them?
This is not the ideal situation to do other volunteer work. It's just the family and it's rather isolated from the town. That's okay for now. I'm enjoying the garden work and I didn't expect much more than that coming here. The next farm, in Jaipur, will hopefully have other opportunities in addition to farm work. We'll see. I just know that the coordinator of WWOOF Nepal told us we'd be able to work out other opportuniites with the farm in Chitwan. I hesitate to bring up the issue of HIV/AIDS in India with the family. I don't know what kind of reaction to expect. Plus, based on how conversations have gone so far, I don't know how realistic the response would be. Almost every conversation we begin (no matter the topic) turns into a lecture about how much better India is than everywhere else. I'm sure a discussion of HIV/AIDS would yield similar results.
I've been under the weather a bit recently and have been feeling kind of useless. But Laura takes great care of me. I'm hoping that I'll feel better when we leave. It's definitely a tense and stressful atmosphere here. But, we're leaving in a couple of days for Chandigarh and then to Dharamsala, so stayed tuned for those adventures.
Most of the work I've done has been out in the gardens. Some work is in the kitchen, but mostly peeling vegetables. It seems men aren't really trusted in matters of the kitchen. Laura has learned to make chapati (I think) and has made some bread dough as well. I guess, as a man, I'm just expected to eat.
This first stay has already been a test of patience. Communication is often difficult and, withouth going into unneccessary detail, we get different directions and requests from the husband and wife. We're constantly questioning whether we're doing things right and it seems we often please one while disappointing/angering the other. This, plus getting constant stares and jeers from the workers definitely frustrates me. Today I went to the room to grab the journal and one of the women was just coming out, laughing with another woman who was standing outside. It was certainly unnerving. Everything in our room looked to be in order, but why was she in there? What was so amusing to them?
This is not the ideal situation to do other volunteer work. It's just the family and it's rather isolated from the town. That's okay for now. I'm enjoying the garden work and I didn't expect much more than that coming here. The next farm, in Jaipur, will hopefully have other opportunities in addition to farm work. We'll see. I just know that the coordinator of WWOOF Nepal told us we'd be able to work out other opportuniites with the farm in Chitwan. I hesitate to bring up the issue of HIV/AIDS in India with the family. I don't know what kind of reaction to expect. Plus, based on how conversations have gone so far, I don't know how realistic the response would be. Almost every conversation we begin (no matter the topic) turns into a lecture about how much better India is than everywhere else. I'm sure a discussion of HIV/AIDS would yield similar results.
I've been under the weather a bit recently and have been feeling kind of useless. But Laura takes great care of me. I'm hoping that I'll feel better when we leave. It's definitely a tense and stressful atmosphere here. But, we're leaving in a couple of days for Chandigarh and then to Dharamsala, so stayed tuned for those adventures.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sirsa - Day Thirteen
Three moments to share with you all real quick.
1. Sitting on the couch in the living room sipping tea with Laura awkwardly while the family (mother, father, son, father's cousin, father's cousin's wife) proceeded to yell loudly at each other in Punjabi. I couldn't help but laugh into my teacup at just how awkward it was.
2. Being stuck in traffic in town waiting for the train to go by and eating raw sugarcane from a street-vendor on the side of the road while watching people on mopeds and motorbikes going under the barricade and trying to beat the train across the tracks while traffic proceeded to pile up around us with no regard to lanes or direction.
3. Breaking the hoe on what I think was a large rock while trying desperately to uproot a bunch of iris's without cutting the roots in order to successfully transfer them to a plot across the yard.
1. Sitting on the couch in the living room sipping tea with Laura awkwardly while the family (mother, father, son, father's cousin, father's cousin's wife) proceeded to yell loudly at each other in Punjabi. I couldn't help but laugh into my teacup at just how awkward it was.
2. Being stuck in traffic in town waiting for the train to go by and eating raw sugarcane from a street-vendor on the side of the road while watching people on mopeds and motorbikes going under the barricade and trying to beat the train across the tracks while traffic proceeded to pile up around us with no regard to lanes or direction.
3. Breaking the hoe on what I think was a large rock while trying desperately to uproot a bunch of iris's without cutting the roots in order to successfully transfer them to a plot across the yard.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Day 11 - Sirsa (Grewal Organic Agricultural Farm)
Quick update from last post...the family we were meant to stay with came home on Monday and we've since been staying on their farm and working. The mid-days here are generally over 100 degrees, so work is from 6ish-9:30ish and again from 4ish-dark. That leaves ample time during the day to read, sleep, talk and whittle away the time (speaking of which, I should get a piece of wood and learn how to whittle).
So far, Laura and I have done a tone of weeding. Their isn't much farm work to be done until the wheat needs to be sown in a couple days. So, we've doing a lot of work in the yard, creating a garden for the wife to grow more vegetables and such. It's been really good work and I've already learned a lot. Of course, I have experience landscaping and that's the majority of the work I've done so far. But, I'm also reading about building garden plots and perusing books on vegetables. I'm excited to translate this into a garden back home sometime soon.
Let's see if I can paint a picture for you. The grass is probably 30'x30' (roughly) and we've been tilling and churning the dirt around it. We've completed two sides and have begun on the third. The garden is about 3' wide and a couple inches below grass level, with an irrigation trench through the middle. The irrigation needs some work so that the water flows smoothly and quickly, but it actually works quite well so far. We've planted some sunflowers along the back and there's some existing trees that are young and still growing. I think the plan is to plant some for flowers there in the next few days. The wife also has two other areas she wants turned into vegetable plots to grow fenugreek, spinach, carrots and some other vegetables. Laura and I are taking lots of pictures to illustrate the process and hopefully we can accomplish a lot before we move on.
Life here is tough, but certainly not as tough as it could be. It's dirty and hot with no clean water, but there's indoor plumbing and electricity (both of which go out multiple times a day). We sleep on cots that are thick fabric suspended between metal frames, under a mosquito net that doesn't seem to keep out these tiny black bugs which swarm us at night (harmless but annoying). The food is great and though I've helped in preparation, I really want to learn how to cook some of the dishes. There's a really delicious eggplant dish cooked in mustard oil that we've had.
It's been so nice getting to know these people. The men of the family are outspoken, well-educated and love India and Indian culture. They're quick to tell us why it's ideal and criticize Western culture as wrong. They don't mean any offense and I take it in stride, but it's difficult to have your culture attacked, even if you agree with much of what they're saying. If someone says the divorce rate in the US is high, you can't exactly say it's not. It's more difficult for Laura because she has to deal with comments about women, and men speaking to me directly rather than her. She's afraid of doing work that is stereotypically "women's work" here because she's stubborn and refuses to conform. More power to her. It must be hard for her. The grandfather is one of the sweetest old men and he's both of our favorite so far.
It's hard to believe we've only been in India 11 days and it's just the beginning of October. I know that's typical of travel and by the end it will feel so short, but I have to deal with how I feel now. I already miss movies, soft beds, sushi, clean water, clean nails, and clean skin.
So far, Laura and I have done a tone of weeding. Their isn't much farm work to be done until the wheat needs to be sown in a couple days. So, we've doing a lot of work in the yard, creating a garden for the wife to grow more vegetables and such. It's been really good work and I've already learned a lot. Of course, I have experience landscaping and that's the majority of the work I've done so far. But, I'm also reading about building garden plots and perusing books on vegetables. I'm excited to translate this into a garden back home sometime soon.
Let's see if I can paint a picture for you. The grass is probably 30'x30' (roughly) and we've been tilling and churning the dirt around it. We've completed two sides and have begun on the third. The garden is about 3' wide and a couple inches below grass level, with an irrigation trench through the middle. The irrigation needs some work so that the water flows smoothly and quickly, but it actually works quite well so far. We've planted some sunflowers along the back and there's some existing trees that are young and still growing. I think the plan is to plant some for flowers there in the next few days. The wife also has two other areas she wants turned into vegetable plots to grow fenugreek, spinach, carrots and some other vegetables. Laura and I are taking lots of pictures to illustrate the process and hopefully we can accomplish a lot before we move on.
Life here is tough, but certainly not as tough as it could be. It's dirty and hot with no clean water, but there's indoor plumbing and electricity (both of which go out multiple times a day). We sleep on cots that are thick fabric suspended between metal frames, under a mosquito net that doesn't seem to keep out these tiny black bugs which swarm us at night (harmless but annoying). The food is great and though I've helped in preparation, I really want to learn how to cook some of the dishes. There's a really delicious eggplant dish cooked in mustard oil that we've had.
It's been so nice getting to know these people. The men of the family are outspoken, well-educated and love India and Indian culture. They're quick to tell us why it's ideal and criticize Western culture as wrong. They don't mean any offense and I take it in stride, but it's difficult to have your culture attacked, even if you agree with much of what they're saying. If someone says the divorce rate in the US is high, you can't exactly say it's not. It's more difficult for Laura because she has to deal with comments about women, and men speaking to me directly rather than her. She's afraid of doing work that is stereotypically "women's work" here because she's stubborn and refuses to conform. More power to her. It must be hard for her. The grandfather is one of the sweetest old men and he's both of our favorite so far.
It's hard to believe we've only been in India 11 days and it's just the beginning of October. I know that's typical of travel and by the end it will feel so short, but I have to deal with how I feel now. I already miss movies, soft beds, sushi, clean water, clean nails, and clean skin.
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