Group.... not so much.

Weekends in Dharmasala are the best. Friday we have class and then a field trip (last Friday we went to the Tibetan Government in Exile's base and walked around the library, visited its museum, and stopped in its temple, which is the temple of HHDL's Oracle... pretty cool). Friday night we can do whatever we want... Satur-day all of the Tibetan students have class but we don't so again, we can do whatever we want.. So, last Saturday I went up to Mcleod Ganj and hung out with Carrie! I got a phone call earlier that day from her saying "I'm back from Japan... I'm in Mcleod Ganj... I'm at Nirvana cafe on the roof... meet me here." She would.

So.. I went to Mcleod Ganj and i cannot say how brilliant it was seeing her. As i said before, I am here with a group of 14 American students and 3 American leaders/teachers/counselors? I dont know... anyways, all i can say is that i really don't like traveling in a group. I LOVE the idea of this program and i am enjoying all of the courses and i am so grateful for all of the things that i have learned and seen and the experiences i get to have with the group because I know that i would not have been able to figure out Delhi or the Tibetan language, or meet HHDL on my own... BUT that said, I feel like a mere speculator when i am walking around with my buffer of Americans around me... and I also never liked the idea of being in ONE group or HAVING to find friends in a certain ring (those who know me well know that). I also never liked hierarchy in groups... so while the three teachers are brilliant and exciting, well traveled women (one lives half of the time in Kathmandu, one had a Chinese spy following her while she was living in Tibet, and one is fluent in Mandarin... so yes, the stories go on) BUT i don't like that the dynamics of the group make it so that you are lucky if you get to talk to them and that its a bit like sucking up.. I feel like everyone has great thoughts and stories to share and I am excited to hear everyones but I just don't like having to work hard for it... sorry... does that sound rude? It shouldn't and if it does then i am sorry because i did not intend for it to be so... I am just trying to say that I never liked the idea of having to jump bridges to get to know people because everyone should want to meet mid way on the bridge because they too are interested in getting to know a new person... get it?

Ok, so the 14 students in this group are really great people and i enjoy hanging out with them but I have not found anyone that "gets me". That comment is nothing against them... I have always been a bit strange ;) BUT this kind of bothered me before I saw Carrie and then when i saw Carrie i was reminded how lucky i am to have SO MANY wonderful people scattered around the world who do "get me". So, thank you Carrie. When i say "get me" I'm talking about the small moments... for instance, we were doing yoga on the roof and i just stopped and whispered to a friend "Holy shit, we are at the top of the world" and he responded with "um, no we are not we are on one of the lowest hills near the lowest mountains of the Himalayas" yeahhhhhh ok.... thanks man for popping my bubble of sheer bliss.. I'm sorry but i had to laugh because in one way that could be me looking at the glass half full and he looking at it as half empty.. OR it could be me getting one thing out of the experience and him getting another... either way he is great and very interesting but this little moment made me think of all of my amazing friends who do get me in those small moments.

Something quick about Tibetan language... SO... in English we say "I have a pen" but in Tibetan they say "To me this pen exists" which shows the subjective reality of the existence... whereas in English we speak with the understood concept of "reality"... it presupposes the existence of the pen... Whereas in Buddhism the key to ending ignorance is understanding that everyone has their own reality so there is no independent reality... I just love it that that philosophy is entwined in their speech...

I have to go read about the four noble truths and make a list of my many questions so that my brilliant philosophy teacher can answer them tomorrow... BUT i would like to leave you with a funny picture..

So.. your dear Elinor did her laundry this weekend... responsible right? clean right? yeah... i scrubbed and scrubbed and put all of my clothes on the roof and left them out for the day.... JUST so that i could come back to find them ALL covered in bird shit... lovely.

xe

I promise I will add photos or videos soon. The internet connection here is just SO slow and unreliable that I just cant be bothered.. but i will try to make a trip up to the city this week so that I can send you some visuals to go with the stories.

PS. I never finished writing about why the weekends here are so brilliant... so Saturday... fine we can do whatever we want... Sunday too we have the entire day off and this Sunday I spent it redoing my laundry, sitting on the roof tanning and reading... then i got tea with Carrie and we walked to the dried up river and sat on purple stones talking while goats walked around us... and we were just looking at the mountains and spent time "getting each other"... probably the best thing about time here is that I don't have a cell phone and I have limited internet use and i don't wear a watch... so I only know when i have to be somewhere when the bell rings and by the sunrise and sunset... so on the weekends... time just goes... and it is really really amazing.