St. John's in the Wilderness
People like taking pictures with us. We are pretty white.
Beautiful stained glass windows.
The crowd as the Dalai Lama approached
"The Lama-mobile is a Toyota!!"
Music video!
Ashley & Katie in India!
Heyo e’rybody. Sorry to keep you waiting. We’ve been having so much fun we haven’t had time to update! <-- truth.
So last Wednesday! We went to the Tibetan History Library (or something like that) to go to a Monk teaching. The monk that talked to us didn’t speak English though, he spoke in Tibetan (I’m assuming) so he had a translator. He started off with his story. He escaped from Tibet in 1985. And in 2002 he earned his Doctorate in Buddhist Philosophy (much more to his story but that’s all I remember). Anyways, he said the meaning of Buddhism is “the means and methods to bring inner peace.” He went on and said in order to achieve everlasting happiness and pleasure, we must understand selflessness (a Buddhist doctrine) and let go of the 3 negative emotions: desire, anger, and ignorance. He got talking about karma a lot too. He said to understand our past, we must look at our present form , and to understand our future, we must look at our present actions. So he talked about reincarnation a lot too. It was very interesting. The talk really got me thinking if I can buy into the ideas. I feel like things like karma happen naturally. But reincarnation… that’s a tougher one to accept. I guess I just don’t feel like I’ve had any past lives. And it’s all about what you feel. After the teaching, we went into Mcloed for a bit. I ended up going back into the Dalai Lama’s temple and just exploring around with John while Ashley did a bit more shopping with Robin. I talked out more of the Buddhist stuff with him because he has studied it quite a bit – he’s really into it – so I’ve learned a lot more about not so much religions, but so many peoples’ reactions to different religions. Very interesting stuff… That night we went down to the river right behind our backyard – who knew it was there! Well, John did, the explorer he is. So after dinner I went down with him, Apurvi and Estelle. It was very cool. Huge boulders and tons of fun rocks to climb. It’s definitely a place I’ll be visiting frequently! Ok, Ashley’s taking over for Thursday now. So Thursday was a Buddhist holiday for the full moon and no one had to work. We decided to take a trip to St. John’s in the Wilderness, which is one of the few buildings that are left from the British Regime in India. Robin (the Lutheran pastor) really wanted to see it, so we came with her. It has gorgeous stained glass windows that were imported from Denmark in the 1850’s. When the earthquake struck Dharamsala in 1905, this church was one of the few buildings left relatively unharmed. Anyway, we took a taxi up to the church, and Robin went absolutely bonkers when she saw the church—it was adorable. The church and the ground were very peaceful; it was a nice break from all the temples we’ve seen to actually be at a church. Right when we got there, a big family starting posing for pictures with us. They didn’t really speak English well, so when we said things like “Aap kaise ho?” and “Aap ka naam kya hai?” they were totally surprised. We got to go into the church and look around; we signed the guest register, too. After we were done poking around the church, we all walked up a bit to McLeod to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama! So Luisa, Apurvi, and John had already staked out a spot near the temple to see the Dalai Lama. We had heard that he was going to be driving through town around 3 which meant that EVERYBODY knew as well. So it was completely packed with people on the streets and there were a lot of police officers on crowd control duty. We sat up on a staircase, and we had a pretty sweet view. It was unbelievably hot, though, and we were right in the sun. There were so many people crowded into the street; it was fun to people watch while we were waiting. We waited roughly 30 minutes before the Dalai Lama drove through. We only got a glimpse of him, but he was smiling and bowing and maybe waved? But everyone around us had their hands in the prayer stance and were bowing to him. It was so exciting to actually see him in McLeod on the way to his temple. Hiya folks, this is Katie again. So I headed back into Mcloed Square with Apurvi, Robin, John, Christina, Sarah, and Lynn to catch our taxis back while Ashley shopped more with the others. There was this music video being shot that day (we ran into them earlier too) in Mcloed and the square – in front of the restaurant where we always eat (Mc‘llo) – was the latest shot. Anyways, all of a sudden this snazzy-dressed dude comes up to me and the other volunteers. He opens with, “Hey guys, would you like to be in the music video?” We let him go on. He was really trying to sell it to us (not that he needed to… I mean… a music video! Hah). So he explained we’d chill on the stairs with the other people in the video (they weren’t randomly chosen… they were dressed super hip and chosen for the video I guess) and we’d just like ... groove to the music. We’d be right above the singer – which was the guy that came up to us! He explained that he’d be lipsyncing for the video, but he really does sing the song! It was funny. We were like yeah, we get it. Anyways, he wanted us because we looked like hippies, I guess. But really, it’s because we were some of the few white people around the square at that time. After he talked to us for about 5 minutes (and he decided he wanted Sarah, Apurvi, Christina and I [no offense to the oldies that were with us . . . and John) and we were about to do it, we realized that taxi was on its way and the shot would take too long. So we didn’t do it. But being asked was pretty sweet! We watched the beginning of the filming for it. It was a love song in Hindi (don’t know the artist’s name though…bummer!) and they never found other people to sit on the steps hah. So it was just the hip Indian dudes up there, groovin’ away. They looked kind of silly though. So it would have been fun but I’m alright we didn’t end up doing it. Plus, white women are already looked at negatively here (the media has basically made Indians think we’re all quite risqué) so the video probably wouldn’t have done too much for our street cred in India. And then that night, we planned our trip to Amritsar! Ashley, myself, Estelle, Jenna, and John were the ones that decided to go! We ended up having SUCH a fun time. But it’s late here, so I’m gonna end on that note, and we’ll update about Amritsar very soon! Oh! And thanks for reading everybody! I hear we have followers, which is neato! So comment or post questions you have about what we’re doing or India – we love any comments we get :) Hi y’all! Today was super fun. I (Ashley) actually went back to work today! Which isn’t saying much, since when I got to my group and the women noticed I was sick, they MADE me “take rest.” They are very insistent women! They wouldn’t let me teach, and tried to force me to lay down on the couch. It was hilarious. But today, we got to go up into McLeod and shop a bit and have a nice dinner. We checked out some crazzzzzy Buddha statues; John is going to buy a statue that is 10,000 Rupees! It’s like 200 bucks, but still. I bought some hand-carved elephants, and I’m going back to buy a bronze Buddha head. I absolutely love shopping here. Except no one would bargain with us today! Katie and I could NOT get a deal, while this shop owner gave John a discount because he (the shop owner) said John was George Bush. Katie tried to get the Hillary discount, and when that failed, she tried the Michelle Obama discount. But no budge! Ridiculous.
Oh, and we got some REDICULOUS shoes. It was so embarrassing, I (Ashley) kept having to ask for bigger and bigger shoes. Ahhh. But they’re pretty unique, so of course we had to buy them! 100 rupees well spent (Just over 2 dollars). So after shopping, we met up with some other volunteers at the restaurant that everyone goes to. So. Much. Food. Oh, gosh. There are these things “mo-mos” that we are just OBSSESSED with. They’re like little fried pockets or dumplings or something. Delicious! As a table, we ate like 30 or 40 mo-mos. We also ordered Chow Mein, three pizzas, lassis, milkshakes, and bottled water (of course). It was really fun, and the food was really, really good. And we ended up paying only 400 rupees each! So it was less than 10 dollars for each person—not bad, if you ask me! After dinner, there was a bit of….confusion. We had ordered 3 taxis to take us back home, but Katie, John and I wanted to check out this store really quickly before the taxis came. Katie got some sweeeeeeet pillowcases for the UN house and I got really awesome ninja pants. But when we came back from the shop, two of the taxis were just pulling away, and the volunteers in them said that our taxi was just coming. So we’re all like, okay we’ll just find the taxi. But we never found it! And there’s only one main square, so it’s not like they missed us. Oh, side note: there are so many beggar children in McLeod. They’ll just run up to you, poke you, and hold out their hands and say “money” or motion to their mouths to indicate that they want food. It’s so heartbreaking, especially because many children will carry babies with them to beg. It’s hard to say no, but we just do. Anyway, our taxi never found us. So we just decided to grab one from the cab stand, but we realized we didn’t know our address. And we’re such smart people! So we just told the driver to take us to Kotwali Bazaar, and we figured we’d walk the rest of the way to house. MISTAKE. Well not really, because we made it. But it was dark, and it was just us two girls and John walking together, so I didn’t exactly feel invincible. And oh my gosh, once we started walking back, this man started walking a LITTLE too close to us. I honestly thought he was following us. And he walked behind us for a quite a while, so I was freaking out. Also, because it was so dark, I (Ashley) almost tripped over a group of Indian men sitting on the road in the dark. I mean, they have dark skin AND IT WAS REALLY DARK. So I didn’t even see them, so I kind of yelped and jumped, and they totally laughed. And then there were dogs out, so every time I saw one, I would kind of freeze and freak out in my mind. I just grabbed Katie’s hand like a wimp and we hustled on home. We made it though! What an adventure. We’ll definitely be keeping a copy of the address in the future for taxi drivers! Anyway, it’s nice to end the day talking under the full moon and the stars. We just sit out on the balcony with whoever feels like talking and we just chill. There’s always a breeze, and it’s very quiet here. We’re starting to realize that people are leaving soon. It’s sad. The three-week people are leaving next week, which is more than half the group here! Some people (the Canadians) are looking into extending their program by a week, which would be sweet. Everyone gets along here so well, and we’re such a good group. We’re already making plans to visit everyone; Katie and I are totally hitting up London with Estelle and then visiting Luisa in Rome. And I hear Canada is pretty close, eh? Going to bed. By the way, the Dalai Lama is coming back to Dharamsala this Friday. !!!!!!! We’re going to register with the Tibetan office to be able to attend a teaching. !!! We hope we can, anyway. That would be such an amazing experience. Peace out, Ashley and Katie Hello internets! This is Katie. It's about 2 in the afternoon, and I'm burning some time before we go into town to go shopping . . . again. :)
Well I haven't really talked much about my placement since I've started so I'll go for that. It's great. It's kind of exactly what I wanted to do - and just figured it wasn't possible. I'm working on non-governmental organization (NGO) empowerment / capacity building. So I go to a community center office every day. It's very close! Not even a 5 minute walk. I usually walk it by myself because it's so close, and really simple. Everyone I pass on the street is very nice, we exchange "Namaste"s and they often ask if I'm from CCS. The locals are great folk. Then the people I work with at the center are great as well. I work with Yamini most; she's the project coordinator. Then Pretibha is an outreach worker, she's 19 like me!, and helps out when she's there. Yamini is an English major in college here, so she's very easy to talk to. Pretibha knows less english, but can still hold a conversation. They're still teaching me Hindi, though, which is fun! The guys at the office, like the accountant Aju, know less english so I usually ask "Aap kaise ho?" to practice my Hindi. So yeah, throughout the day Yamini and I work on training materials for organizations to set up de-addiction centers in communities all around the state of Himachel Pradesh. So we work out staff requirements, training session activitites, what kind of infrastructure a de-addiction center should have, and more. It's really interesting learning about the problem of addiction in a culture so different (yet, stilll similar) to my own. That, along with not having addiction center experience, has made this placement challenging... but also incredibly interesting. Plus Yamini, Pretibha and I get distracted and talk quite a bit! Mainly about our cultures. It's such a great time. Plus we get Chai Tea everyday. And Yamini and Pretibha are always interested in my "suit" (Indian cloths) for the day - what color, what kind of fit, etc. Today, they all agreed that the maroon was "my color." Even Aju told me (in a broken English sentence) - it was so nice! Then Pretibha told me I should marry an Indian boy so I can wear Indian clothes every day. Yamini said I would get fed up too quickly though, haha. The office is pretty nice, too. It stays cool throughout the day from fans, and they have their own little "UN library" filled with books on development published by various United Nations organizations (which I can rent out whenever I want!). So yeah - it's great. Really such a unique opportunity to help out NGOs in a developing country. So that's my placement! Good stuff. I'm going to get going now - going into the Kotwali Bazaar then Mcloed Ganj for dinner and a little more shopping! Oh and we're going to hopefully register to see the Dalai Lama speak this weekend - he comes in on Friday! P.S. Ashley is all better :)  Made a friend in McLeod!  Prayer at the temple had just let out--soooo many monks!! It was like a never-ending stream of monks passing through.  At the Dalai Lama's temple :)  Sunset at dinner  Out to dinner in McLeod  Nighttime in McLeod! More pictures to come! Everyone is at a picnic right now and they're going to a temple, which is super cool! I (Ashley) have been laying in bed for the past 3 days, so I'm missing out on all the fun! But I'd like to get well, so I'm taking it easy. I'm sure Katie will update about the picnic when she comes back later!
Peace out, Ashley and Katie Well hi. It's about 10:30pm here, and I (Katie) just got back from a fun night! Ashley had to head home early because she didn't feel good :(
Here's the tale of today. . . Volunteering in the morning. Ashley had her women, I had my community center. We were both a bit tired but oh well. Then when Ashley got back she didn't feel good. It was really hot today..and she had been coming down with something (don't worry Ashley's fam, she'll be totally fine, I don't think it's from food or water). Well she napped while we had Hindi lessons and felt better so she came into Mcloed Ganj with us (most of the volunteers). Ashley, John and I went down this road with tons of sweet shops... jewelry, tapestries, clothes, and tons more. Then we went into the Dalai Lama's Temple. It was really cool, so many monks! And an amazing view. It was beautiful outside today! After that, Ashley grabbed a taxi back with another volunteer to rest at the house. We went on and shopped some more. So let me elaborate on Mcloed Ganj some more. It's Upper Dharamsala where the Tibeten culture is. Soo... lots of hippies come there with their dreads, peace signs, and backpacks. And it was a touristy area. Oh, so yeah! That means we got to wear our western clothes. Tank top and skirt, wow that was nice. But yeah it was super awesome, lots of cool religious stuff. Anyways, after a bit more shopping we met up with the rest of the group for dinner. We went to a great restaurant (with non-Indian food!) and went up to the roof to eat. From there we got to watch the sun set over the Himalayas. It was gorgous. Dinner was lots of fun, and a bit after that we headed back to the house (15 minute taxi ride and 200 rupees [400 roundtrip, and split between 4 people], if you were curious). Chilled a bit here and now everyone is heading off to bed. It was an amazing and fun night! Similar night ahead for us tomorrow, heading to Mcloed Ganj again! But before that, we volunteer in the morning. So I'm heading off to bed! :) Good night guys. Enjoy your Friday which has barely begun and has already finished for us!  Buying clothes! Hey all! Just a quick post today. After work, lunch, and a Hindi lesson, we played a game of musical chairs with the staff! Ashley lost pretty early, but Katie and made it to the top three! She also got a wicked bruise from toppling over in her chair; I think she busted a vein in her palm. She's okay though :)
Afterwards, we all walked up to Kotwali to get some suits (the three piece garments we wear) made for us. As you can see in the picture, they just roll out as many fabric as you want--there was so many to choose from! I (Ashley) bought two suits, one was burgandy and the other was a very light yellow, while Katie bought a BRIGHT yellow suit that is just gorgeous. It was a fun shopping trip with all the girls!! (Plus John) We will pick the suits up Sunday--hope they turn out like we wanted! We'll look sooooo good. :) Oh, and Hindi is a cool language. Some phrases we learned, if you want to ever use them: What is your name? Aap ka naam kya hai? (Hai is pronounced "hey") My name is Ashley: Mera naam Ashley hai. How are you? Aap kaise ho? (Kaise is pronounced ke-say) Do you speak English: Aap kya angrezi bolte hai? I am good: Main theek hoon! Good/Great: Atcha Good job! Shabash! Hello (with respect): Namaste ji! Thank you: Danyavat Peace out, Ashley and Katie Yea, so Katie wrote that lovely last post. Wasn't it a breeze, folks?? I won't put you through the ringer, either, but I thought I should mention my new placement! So I was honestly really excited about the daycare; however, when I was actually there, I realized there was no way that I was going to work there for 4 weeks and not go mad. The simplest explanation for why I didn't want to stay is this: some people have a "thing" for teaching with and working with very young children, but I don't. My mom does, my sister does, so many women in my family are teachers, but I don't get that enjoyment or thrill that they do. And I can't play duck duck goose for four weeks, I just can't. And that's okay. I felt like my skills and abilities would be better suited at a different placement instead of the daycare--and I really think that another volunteer's skills with children will benefit them more. I told the CCS staff how I felt, and they gave me a couple options. They were super, super nice about it too! The first was that I could go to a Women's Group to teach conversational English and computer skills. I knew I wanted it! As some of you may know, I love learning about women's issues and their status in society. I had originally marked Women's Group as my first pick for my placement, but didn't get it. But now I do!
Today was the first day I went to the Women's Team, and I loved it. It's a woman's house--her name is Inder--and there were around 7 or 8 women present. I'm so excited. Obviously, it's still a little intimidating, but most of these women speak English very well. It will definitely be a learning experience from both sides. I can't wait to get started! We're uploading pictures to Facebook ASAP. It's just so gorgeous here, we have to share!! Oh, and the hike. Story. After we had visited the temple, John asked us if we wanted to walk to this cafe that was nearby. Someone asked how far it was, and he said not far, and when we all said we wanted to go there, Katie pretty much exclaimed, "We're here, man!!!" It just made me think that THAT should be our philosophy about life. We're here, man, so lets do everything we can and don't let experiences (and life) pass us by. We'll hike over two hours in the heat to a temple because we're here, man, and we can do it! I just really liked the idea. Ohhhhh my gosh. Dinner today. Amazing!! It was chicken tandoori, GARLIC NAAN and dal, as well as the usual veggies and rice and yogurt and fruit, etc. We all pigged out. Twas delicious!! Peace out, Ashley Hey guys! I know that short blog from yesterday left you wanting more, so we are here to deliver.
So yesterday afternoon, we went for a hike in the Himalayas! It was amazing. Ashley and I went with John, Robin, and Luisa. It was tough! Pretty steep hike. But there was a beautiful view the entire time. Plus we kept passing locals along the way, who are all so friendly! The kiddies are so cute, saying "hi! hi! hi!" whenever they'd run into us. The older locals and us would exchange "Namaste" and "Namaste ji," meaning Hello and Hello with respect. So we finally got up to the top where the temple was and took off our shoes to go in! It was serene. Once again, with the view. But the artwork and spirituality of it was also so moving. We all put dots on eachothers' foreheads. :) After that, we went to a cafe up there and got some pops and butter cookies. Just chilled and talked. We had a great time! And the hike down was so much easier! Today we went into the market! Lower Kotwali Market. We split into teams to find certain things on our list. Nona, Luisa, Ashley and I had to find a small post office to figure out prices and stuff, make 10 copies of some papers somewhere, and figure out prices of fabrics. All of it made me excited to go shopping to get stuff to bring home! Everything is beautiful here. Each store in the market is so small, and SO shabby by American standards, but it's really unique and cool. It was really crowded there, but don't worry, we didn't get hit by any cars! Oh we ran into some more monkeys, too. I don't think I'll ever get used to that. Besides that we've just been hanging out with the other volunteers. Everyone is super awesome and fun! We're already a little family. Cute, huh? This trip has worked out incredibly well between the place, the people and the volunteering experience we're gaining. Well it's about 9pm now, which is around the time we start going to bed. We start early! Yoga at 7, but we usually wake up around 5am because of the bright sun.. plus we go to bed so early. We just went outside to stare at the stars, moon, mountains, and town lights up in the mountains. We could stare endlessly, so beautiful. It's like nothing any of us have ever seen before. Ok, hope you guys made it through well enough! I know a few paragraphs can be pretty grueling. :) -Katie There are monkeys EVERYWHERE! But mostly we saw them on our drive from the airport into Dharamsala. We saw baby monkeys too, the cutest things ever!  |
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