So i have been in Dharmsala for awhile now..I am not quite sure how long exactly the days have kinda blended together. if it wasn't for my watch i wouldn't even know that it was march already! Today is the first day that we don't have any classes or guest speakers. It is a nice break from all of the activity..and a much needed one haha! Hindi has been really hard. I am actually supposed to be studying for a test that I have tomorrow on the alphabet. I thought French was hard at Greeley but Hindi is unreal. it is a derivative of sanscript if that helps you guys get the idea...i am kinda bummed that skidmore doesn't offer it as a language because it would be cool if i could have continued it next year.

my homestay family has been really wonderful. they always go out of there way to make sure that i am taken care of. it is still a little awkward because of the communication barrier but i have learned to embrace that awkwardness. for example every morning after breakfast i will go sit on the porch with momo (grandma)who doesnt speak any english and just look outside. (i can't even begin to explain how beautiful it is here...i think that i sit on that porch for hours day and night and never get sick of the view) sometimes we sit in silence, sometimes we smile at each other, and sometimes i will talk in english and she will talk to me in tibetan and even though we cant actually understand each other it is really nice...

so i am still adjusting to the food here (and still craving the pleasentville diner every hour of the day). Tibetan food is 40056 times better then Indian food...but it is still eh. every morning my family gives me these raw pancake like things for breakfast with um interesting pb and jelly to put on them. i tried to enjoy them for the first couple of days but i just couldnt get used to them so i started to hide them in my cargo pants and feed them to stray dogs on the way to hindi class...i am starting to run out of my granola bars though so i realized that i had to do something. i went to the store and got nuetella and honey and started to put it on the bread...it still isnt a bagel from the bagel emporium..but buying those may just be the best decision that i have made in india so far hahah

so our group has had yet another embarrassing travelers moment in india! all of us girls saw these baggy pants at a store in bright ridiculous colors (think mc hammer mixed with Aladdin) we bought them for yoga and just because they were the most comfortable things ever. we were wearing them around for a bought a week before a fellow american that has been living in india for a while told us that wearing them without a dress like shirt to cover them was like walking around in your underwear. none of our homestay families had told us directly because in their culture it is rude to bluntly point out if someone besides a family member is doing something wrong (its called saving face i think). Sarah went back to her homestay sister and said "Oh! Why didn't you tell me that I was just wearing underwear!" and her homestay sister said "I did! I asked you if you were cold!!" ahahah so yeah...we all went home and changed after that haha...

Last night we went to a Candle light ceremony at the temple. Over Losare (the tibetan new year) a monk tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire in tibet as a protest to not being allowed to celebrate the holiday. chinese police shot him 3 times and took his body to an unknown location. the ceremony was in his honor to remember him as well as everyone else that has died for the tibetan struggle. we started in the center of town and marched to the temple. at the temple a monk said some prayers and some words in the mans honor. during the ceremony we met this guy who had just crossed over the mountains into nepal then into india 3 years ago he told us about his life in tibet...it was the first night that i have gotten emotional about the tibetan struggle. it is amazing to see all of the raw passion and love these people have for their culture. they have been struggling for freedom for 50 years now and they have yet to give up...when have i ever been that passionate about anything? the ceremony reminded me alot of a ceremony that i went to after the 9/11 attacks...its amazing though that this ceremony was for one man (even though they talked about the tibetan struggle in general)... the value of life over here is so much more...i think we could really learn something from that.

i have become very interested in tibetan buddhism since i arrived in dharmsala. i find the philosophy very stimulating...it is all based around the idea of compassion and the importance of caring for others.

i have been doing yoga for 2 hours a day since i got here and i have been walking up crazy hills. i dont think i have ever gotten this much exercise...ever haha
i start my other independent studies jewelry making and buddhist philosophy tomorrow i am so excited!