Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I LOVE McLeod Ganj, D-Shala

I love it here, I love it, I love it, I love it. I feel like a little bouncy girl that had just received a pretty pony with pink ribbons all over. *squeel*

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Okay I'll stop that, anyways I had a long Gmail Chat with my brother and I told him about Mcleod Ganj, it's not far from Dharamsala, and it's the home of The Dalai Lama (but I already saw him in Leh so I'm not here for that). Anyways, I arrived around 5:30 am from Manali -not Manila you Filipinos- and it was barely sunrise. I was walking around the narrow streets and I had a glimpse of the infamous landscape. It was beautiful. More beautiful than Manali, but of course...I've seen places similar to this; Taormina-Sicily, Switzlerland, and maybe a little bit of Nepal. But the FEELING that this place gave me, is rare, and difficult to explain. I feel comfortable here. I could stay here for a long time and not be bored. I also like the fact that there are MORE Tibetans than Indians and Kashmiri.

Recently, I sent my parents an email that I won't be coming home next year. Pretty hard, for them mostly. They're going to be in China end of this year and asked if I could visit. I checked flights and it would cost less than $800 for a week trip. I can live at least 3 months here in India spending that much! It would be best if I was in Southeast Asia, then it would be cheaper to visit if they were in China. It's hurting them pretty bad, mainly my father, knowing that their daughter is crazy. But they should know that they're not losing me to Asia. I will come home, only when I'm ready, but it won't be soon. I'm happy here, let me be in my happy place!

Currently I am tutoring a Tibetan girl -Pema- English, I meet with her every morning. Then I have 2 conversation classes in the afternoon. I think that's good enough. The past 6 months was just teaching-teaching-teaching, that's all my mind was about. In Dharamsala, I feel that I can 'let go.' Not be so adamant in finding a teaching job. Doing small work here and there and just ENJOY where I am. I learned a lot in my conversation classes and heard many horror stories about refugees fleeing from Tibet. Most of them WALKED to Nepal from Tibet in the freezing snow, they say it takes a month to reach Nepal. The hardest while traveling was climbing the icy mountains without ice picks or proper shoes. One monk told me that he had to pull his jacket sleeves over his hands, breathe hot air onto the end of his sleeve, and that will immediately freeze when he rests his hand on the icy ground, to pull himself up. Also, sometimes they would walk and walk without food for at least 4 days, and a few of them lost a lot of people on the way. So sad. They all want to go home and visit their families.

I trashed my sneakers -not my chucks- I stepped in a major soft pile of cow shit...quite normal in India. I will finish my post...here.

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