Spotted Today: Slimy yellow slugs the size of hot dogs... everywhere.
Friday, 27 May 2011
Thursday, 26 May 2011
A Long Overdue Update
Tashi Delek blog readers!
We are nearing the end of our first week in Dharamsala and we've been so busy that we've barely had time to update the blog! So much has happened.
On Monday we heard from our First Speaker, Ama Adhe. Ama Adhe is an 81 year old Tibetan woman who suffered 27 years of imprisonment in China after the occupation. In the beginning she shared a windowless, cramped room with over 300 women, but she watched over almost three decades as the women died of starvation, until only she and three others remained. When the hunger became too much, the women resorted to cutting and sharing small pieces of their leather shoes. After her release, she heard stories that the men in prison had even resorted to cutting bits of their own flesh to sustain each other.
All along, Ama Adhe never lost hope and never lost her faith in the Dalai Lama. The three other women who survived did so by stealing small bits of pig food when it was their job to feed them. Ama Adhe said she survived on prayer and meditation alone. When she was finally released, Ama Adhe was breifly reunited with her daughter, who was only 1 when she was taken away, inside Tibet, and then traveled to Dharamsala where she has remained ever since. After meditating for The Dalai Lama's well being for over 27 years, she was able to finally meet His Holiness and he told her to always tell the truth about her story to anyone who would listen. Ama Adhe's autobiography, The Voice That Remembers, is published in over 25 languages.
What we could not get over as a group, was Ama's graciousness and unbroken spirit. She told Peter, who translated for her during the meeting, that she had waited all morning by the window for us to arrive! She thanked us over and over for listening to her story, when we all felt as though the honor was ours. Afterward we took pictures with her and she smiled and waived from the rooftop as we walked away down the street.
Later that day, we began volunteering at our group and independent service sites! Some of the places we wished to work at, like Rogpa babycare and Gu-Chu-Sum center for political prisoners, did not work out for our schedule, so most of our service opporutinities this year entail english conversation classes with Tibetans who have recently arrived in Dharamsala. On the first day and each since, we have volunteered at LIT (Language and Ideas for Tibet) from 2:00-4:00 and then we split up in groups to go to Volunteer Tibet and LHA for more conversation. Most of the people we've talked with crossed over the Himalayas on foot within the last two years just to come seek education and english language skillls. The conversations for long hours and day after day can be tiring, but it is clear that practicing english is a main objective for many of the monks and refugees, so it has been extremely rewarding.
Monday was also the first night of the homestays! After volunteering each of the eight homestay families came to have tea and biscuits with the group at the trip leader's travel lodge, and then took everyone to their homes for dinner. Hopefully, some people will have time soon to blog about their individual experiences, but so far we've heard great things and everyone seems happy to have the independence of going to and from individual homestays each morning and afternoon.
So thats all I have time for for now, but tonight we will write more about the rest of the week and what we have coming up ahead! We've met some incredible peolple and seen many inspiring things, so stay tuned!! Unfortunately I don't know how to get pictures off my camera at the moment, but hopefully we can get some up soon.
Thanks for reading!!
Taylor
We are nearing the end of our first week in Dharamsala and we've been so busy that we've barely had time to update the blog! So much has happened.
On Monday we heard from our First Speaker, Ama Adhe. Ama Adhe is an 81 year old Tibetan woman who suffered 27 years of imprisonment in China after the occupation. In the beginning she shared a windowless, cramped room with over 300 women, but she watched over almost three decades as the women died of starvation, until only she and three others remained. When the hunger became too much, the women resorted to cutting and sharing small pieces of their leather shoes. After her release, she heard stories that the men in prison had even resorted to cutting bits of their own flesh to sustain each other.
All along, Ama Adhe never lost hope and never lost her faith in the Dalai Lama. The three other women who survived did so by stealing small bits of pig food when it was their job to feed them. Ama Adhe said she survived on prayer and meditation alone. When she was finally released, Ama Adhe was breifly reunited with her daughter, who was only 1 when she was taken away, inside Tibet, and then traveled to Dharamsala where she has remained ever since. After meditating for The Dalai Lama's well being for over 27 years, she was able to finally meet His Holiness and he told her to always tell the truth about her story to anyone who would listen. Ama Adhe's autobiography, The Voice That Remembers, is published in over 25 languages.
What we could not get over as a group, was Ama's graciousness and unbroken spirit. She told Peter, who translated for her during the meeting, that she had waited all morning by the window for us to arrive! She thanked us over and over for listening to her story, when we all felt as though the honor was ours. Afterward we took pictures with her and she smiled and waived from the rooftop as we walked away down the street.
Later that day, we began volunteering at our group and independent service sites! Some of the places we wished to work at, like Rogpa babycare and Gu-Chu-Sum center for political prisoners, did not work out for our schedule, so most of our service opporutinities this year entail english conversation classes with Tibetans who have recently arrived in Dharamsala. On the first day and each since, we have volunteered at LIT (Language and Ideas for Tibet) from 2:00-4:00 and then we split up in groups to go to Volunteer Tibet and LHA for more conversation. Most of the people we've talked with crossed over the Himalayas on foot within the last two years just to come seek education and english language skillls. The conversations for long hours and day after day can be tiring, but it is clear that practicing english is a main objective for many of the monks and refugees, so it has been extremely rewarding.
Monday was also the first night of the homestays! After volunteering each of the eight homestay families came to have tea and biscuits with the group at the trip leader's travel lodge, and then took everyone to their homes for dinner. Hopefully, some people will have time soon to blog about their individual experiences, but so far we've heard great things and everyone seems happy to have the independence of going to and from individual homestays each morning and afternoon.
So thats all I have time for for now, but tonight we will write more about the rest of the week and what we have coming up ahead! We've met some incredible peolple and seen many inspiring things, so stay tuned!! Unfortunately I don't know how to get pictures off my camera at the moment, but hopefully we can get some up soon.
Thanks for reading!!
Taylor
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Safe and Sound!
Hello Family and Friends!
We have arrived safely in Dharamsala after two and a half long days of travel! We landed in Delhi late Friday night where we were met by our guide, Peter. Peter had vans waiting to drive us to our hotel where dinner was waiting. After a solid two hours of sleep we packed up our two vans and slowly slowly made our way up the mountains to Dharamsala. Along the way we stopped in a small Sikh village in Punjab were we had a dance-off with local children. The chicken dance was a big hit!
We have arrived safely in Dharamsala after two and a half long days of travel! We landed in Delhi late Friday night where we were met by our guide, Peter. Peter had vans waiting to drive us to our hotel where dinner was waiting. After a solid two hours of sleep we packed up our two vans and slowly slowly made our way up the mountains to Dharamsala. Along the way we stopped in a small Sikh village in Punjab were we had a dance-off with local children. The chicken dance was a big hit!
Late last night we finally arrived in Mcleod Ganj (Upper Dharamsala) where we watched a documentary about Tibetan political activism over a traditional meal of soup and momos, which are like dumplings, and then finally got a full night's sleep.
This morning we started our first full day in Dharamsala with breakfast at the Peace Cafe, a local landmark. Everyone is in awe of the beautiful views of houses on the mountainsides and prayer flags flying everywhere. We had a brief orientation with Peter, visited the Dalai Lama's monastery, visited the Tibetan Museum where we learned more about the conflict and screened a film called "Undercover in Tibet," about the violent oppression of Tibetans inside Tibet by the Chinese government and military that continues today. The film was quite shocking and really reminded us of why we are here.
Dharamsala is overwhelmingly beautiful and the Tibetan people have been incredibly friendly and hospitable, but we're just starting to really grasp the severity of the situation inside Tibet. We're looking forward to hearing from many speakers in the coming days and working at service sites where will deepen our understanding of the issue. Tomorrow night will be our first night in Tibetan homestays!! Stay tuned for updates and pictures!
This morning we started our first full day in Dharamsala with breakfast at the Peace Cafe, a local landmark. Everyone is in awe of the beautiful views of houses on the mountainsides and prayer flags flying everywhere. We had a brief orientation with Peter, visited the Dalai Lama's monastery, visited the Tibetan Museum where we learned more about the conflict and screened a film called "Undercover in Tibet," about the violent oppression of Tibetans inside Tibet by the Chinese government and military that continues today. The film was quite shocking and really reminded us of why we are here.
Dharamsala is overwhelmingly beautiful and the Tibetan people have been incredibly friendly and hospitable, but we're just starting to really grasp the severity of the situation inside Tibet. We're looking forward to hearing from many speakers in the coming days and working at service sites where will deepen our understanding of the issue. Tomorrow night will be our first night in Tibetan homestays!! Stay tuned for updates and pictures!
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