好吧，我’ve been back in 达兰萨拉 for a couple days now, and have been going to 的Dalai Lama’的教.。这是三个半小时的事情，下午1-4：30，非常有趣…从非常基础的入门到深刻的哲学，他一次都在许多不同的级别任教。 （它’s impossible to tell how deep since 的higher levels are way over my head, but I know enough about, hmm, logical structures to see that he’在很深的层次上思考问题。它’细微差别，顺序和结构完全对齐是非常不寻常的，但是他做到了。）

Structurally, 的teachings start with chanting Tibetan prayers, then an offering, both of thrown rice, and something more complicated that 的Dalai Lama does. (I have no idea what those are about, since 他们 aren’然后翻译：）尊者教了三个半小时，中间有短暂的休息。 FM收音机提供四种或五种不同语言的翻译版本…the English translation is quite 好, but it clearly leaves out a great deal. I wish I understood Tibetan.

(On 的other hand, a Tibetan friend of mine says that she doesn’不了解他一半的事’s saying, either…apparently a lot of 的vocabulary is specialized religious words, which she doesn’t know–so, oddly, it’s easier for her to listen to 的English translation–more accessible.)

Listening to 的Dalai Lama speak is very different from 读ing his books…这些书是一致的，但没有那么复杂。它’看着他直接离开真是太好了“It’s a 好 idea to practice compassion” into a precisely presented discussion of 的philosophical differences, history, and source of 的split between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. (Actually he talked about much more subtle differences than that, but I can’t cite them, because 他们 went right over my head.) So people of pretty much any philosophical depth can get something out of 的teaching, and I’我肯定这是故意的…他有着复杂而自律的心​​态。

(I’ve developed 的odd ability to “read” people’s minds–which is to say, 通过 talking to someone for a couple of hours, I can develop a pretty 好 idea of 的world 他们 live in, their internal “rules”以及他们与世界互动的深度。有些人思维复杂，有些人思维相对简单，有些人深入研究事物，有些’t. The Dalai Lama has one of 的most complex, well-structured, and well-balanced minds I’我看了很久…鉴于他的声誉，当然只有这样。尽管如此’听到他讲话很高兴。一世’d喜欢在晚餐时和他说话–not that I’m likely to get 的chance, of course. But you never know. 😉 )

达赖喇嘛也很有幽默感，’t as obvious in 的books…例如，他在讨论无常，特别是年龄如何破坏青春和美丽。他说，“As 的great sage _____ remarked once, 的only thing to be said for aging is that it comes on gradually…I mean, if you were young and beautiful one day and woke up 的next day wrinkled and ugly, you’d可能死于心脏病。所以’s 好 that it comes on gradually.

“In my case, I used to run up 的mountain back behind 的monastery in my youth, and leave my attendants far behind. This worried them of course, because 的mountain was quite steep, and if I had fallen, I might have died, which would have been bad for them. But now, of course, my knees aren’t so 好…my eyesight is okay, at least right now, but then, my hairline is receding, and you can see 的gray hairs coming in…有时我开玩笑说我的白发正在加速我的后退发际线。但是秃顶也可以，因为那里’s a Tibetan joke that baldness, goiter, and [missed 的third] are 的beauty marks of a monk. This makes some sense, if you’喉咙又瘦又修士…”

那’s a pretty 好 example of his speaking style…funny, memorable, rambling, humble, and deep all at 的same time, plus full of illustrative stories. It’非常好的坐着和听他说话。

那’s not to say that 的teachings are all fun and roses. They’绝对*包装*–the courtyard of 的temple is completely full, you have to arrive an hour or two in advance to get 好 seats–and 的sun can be blazingly hot. It’太拥挤了–我不得不蹲了一个小时，因为没有’甚至没有足够的空间坐着。 （幸运的是，我终于找到了一个足够大的空间–我的腿在“杀死”我。）’三个小时也很难引起注意。但它’太棒了，我’m staying as long as I can before flying back to 曼谷. Next year, I may come back to 达兰萨拉, just for 的teachings.

（请介意，我’m still not a Buddhist. The deeper points of Buddhist philosophy make no sense to me. But there is something very powerful about 的Dalai Lama’超越神学的信息…he very clearly and squarely puts compassion first, and 的rest of 的theology is philosophical window-dressing. (Not to say that 他们 aren’t important, but 他们 take a definite second place to compassion.) This dedication to compassion shows up not just in what he says, but in 的way he teaches, and 的way he presents his arguments…he doesn’只是在思想上相信它，而是在各个层面上实践它。非常漂亮。也真的，真的，真的很酷。 ðŸ™，）

我想在这一点上说他看起来也很酷是不客气的。 ðŸ〜‰但是，事实上，他*确实*看起来确实很酷。 ðŸ〜‰

In other news, I went 通过 的Norbilinga Institute this morning to watch thangka being painted…it was, of course, amazing. The artists paint with incredibly fine brushes, and can spend a month or more just laying out 的outlines. They train for at least six years before 他们 are fully qualified to paint for Norbilinga…and 的detail on some of 的thangkas is absolutely fantastic. I was looking at a thangka of 的Dalai Lama today (Buddha of Compassion with a thousand hands and some large number of heads)–you couldn’t get a computer to print at that resolution, let alone paint it with a brush. And 的thangka at Norbilinga are supposed to be 的best of 的best.

我必须说，我真的很喜欢thangka。 （今晚我花了两个小时通过店主看’s private collection…the “good”他在家的那些…woo. I mean, woo. Woo woo woo. Words cannot describe. 😎 ) Thangkas have incredible detail and elegance in 的artistic lines. They’少谈猖self的自我表达（基本构图是固定的），而谈谈绘画固定主题时的优雅。一世’我很想学画画，如果有的话’s anyone teaching in 的Bay Area. (Not that I’我要花六年的时间学习绘画–that outlasts my attention span 通过 a 好 4.5 years, thank you very much 😉 –但是学习有关这种笔法的知识会很高兴。）

事实证明，唐卡实际上有两种…the non-painted kind are made of fabric, and make 的eighteen months I spent on my wedding dress look simplistic. They’re hard to describe, but basically 他们 cut out pieces of silk along 的basic outlines of a thangka, then border 的edge of each piece with a fine silk-wrapped horsehair cord (about 的same thickness as fine florist’s wire), then embroider 的finer details. It takes an incredibly long time and costs 的earth. I watched them wrapping 的silk around 的horsehair, and carefully couching 的resulting cord with nearly invisible stitches in incredibly fine thread…wow.

It looks like 的Internet cafe is now closing, 所以我’m off…more later, if I get 的chance.

I’ll be in 达兰萨拉 through 的24th…I take 的night bus to 新德里 Monday night, and fly out to 曼谷 Tuesday evening. I fly back to San Francisco March 31.

I look forward to 的hot showers. 🙂

田

好吧，我 spent last night sleeping with a guru…

不，不，我没有’t do anything that would mess up my karma. I spent last night up in 的caves, and since there’s a puja going on, 的place was packed–so 的only place for me to sleep, was 的main cave, with 的shrine to Guru Padmasambhava.

其实很整洁’s a big cave, paved in marble tiles, and has three separate shrines in it. The first one is a shrine to various Tibetan gods (which I can finally recognize! having spent four solid hours looking at thangka), 的second is a shrine with a 10-15 foot statue of Guru Padmasambhava, and 的third is a shrine to an 印度 n princess who was supposed to have been his disciple. I was sleeping in 的outermost area, on a Tibetan carpet, under a rock overhang. Very quiet, very peaceful, 好 for meditation in 的morning, too. I liked it very much.

昨天我也看到藏有西藏的经prayer。这些在Rewalsar和Dharamsala都可用–I had assumed 他们 were printed using standard printing presses, but it turns out a lot of them are hand-printed! using elaborately carved woodcuts. One nun takes a scrub brush (like you’d use to clean your bathtub) and scrubs 印度 ink all over 的woodcut, another lays 的fabric over 的wood and scrubs over it with a wadded-up plastic bag. The print appears as if 通过 magic. 🙂

（我必须承认，我’ve always had a soft spot for hand-printing. One of my fondest childhood memories was printing 的family Christmas cards (actually Chinese New Year cards)…we silkscreened them in two colors, using Chinese papercuts to make 的designs, and we’d run all over 的house, laying 的cards out to dry. Probably 的most fun we had all Christmas.)

我避开明天去达兰萨拉’t decided yet. I have found a friend who has a friend who is close to 的Dalai Lama, who probably can’t get me in (too busy right now, with 的public teachings going on, and anyway there’我没有理由浪费他的圣洁’的时间），但谁能使我的唐卡祝福呢？–所以明天我可以和她回达兰萨拉。我也可能等一两天再走–I haven’还没有决定。一世’d like a few more days of peace in Rewalsar, 但是那里 are some interesting possibilities in 达兰萨拉…Tenzin (the woman I’ve met) has a cousin who paints thangkas at 的Norbilinga Institute, for example. Ooh. 🙂

(The taxi driver who wants to marry me also runs an antique Tibetan musical instruments business on 的side…while I am not up for 的first proposition, 的second one sounds intriguing…更华丽的手工艺品？注册我…. 😉 )

Today, 通过 的way, is Yet Another Religious Festival (!). One of 的wonderful things about 印度 is that there are so many different religions and cultures, that almost every day seems to be a holiday or cultural event of some sort. I’我已经来这里整整一个月了，我们’我曾参加过湿婆节（Losar）（西藏新年），为期十天的湿婆节 ’s wife, Tibetan Uprising Day, 的puja (which is a monthly event commemmorating something that happened on 的10th of 的month, but I forget what), and this festival, which appears to be a spring festival to Krishna. (I’我很难得到一个真正的答案–语言问题。）

This festival is more colorful than many of 的others–它似乎涉及很多舞蹈，印地语音乐游行和击鼓，（最重要的是）用油漆涂抹和飞溅人，尤其是脸上。 （我的脸现在是红色。蓝色。粉红色。黄色。而且，那比大多数人的色彩要少得多。’. 😉 ) I’d拍照，但外出使您处于被喷水，溅水等危险的危险中….which is not 好 for 的camera…so I have been hiding in 的Internet cafe. It’看起来很整洁，但距离很远。

I had a weird moment of culture shock yesterday, mostly around competencies (or lack thereof). Tenzin, 的Tibetan activist woman who’s befriended me, was horrified to find out that 的hotel hadn’t actually done my laundry, as 他们 were supposed to. 她说，“Didn’您告诉他们您立即需要吗？”

我说，“Well, 的kid didn’t speak English.”

她说，“Oh.”

然后我提到我’d dropped my clothes off at 的cleaners, and she said, “hmm, 的weather was bad yesterday, 他们 may not be 读y yet. Do you have their number? We could call them…”

我说，“No, I didn’t get their number.”

她说，“您应该始终获得他们的电话号码！然后你可以打电话给他们找出答案…”

我说，“Well, 的person on 的other end of 的line doesn’我的英语说得不够多…and 我不’无法使用电话…It’仅显示会更容易，如果没有显示则稍后再返回’t 读y.”

The funny thing was, 的world she lives in isn’t all that different from 的world I was in, jut six months ago. I mean, once upon a time, I could do miraculous things like ask for laundry in a hurry, request bus schedules, and so on. I’我已经习惯了无法交流，以至于她（完全合乎逻辑）的建议全都让我震惊了。当然，我的无能也使她感到惊讶。

I was then culturally astonished to discover that many of 的nuns can’t write. (They can all 读, or most of them anyway.) It had never occurred to me that anyone could live without 写作, but of course if one’s spending one’s life meditating…

One of 的most interesting things about traveling has been seeing how required skills shift from culture to culture…例如，阿卡人’t handle a 15″ knife is going to have serious competency problems, whereas being able to 读 and write is considerably less necessary (though still useful). Conversely, in 的U.S., it’s颠倒了：没人知道怎么用砍刀，但是扫盲是必不可少的。不同的上下文。

反正’回家并再次具有文化能力真的很有趣。我怀疑我 ’ll go into massive shock, 的first time I actually have a conversation (!) with a shopkeeper. 😉

Incidentally, someone asked me what things I missed from 的U.S., while traveling…经过两三个星期的思考，我’我想出了两件事：保证热水，快速的互联网访问和我最喜欢的牙膏。 （我*梦想* T-1线。）

说到这，我’米几乎用完我最喜欢的牙膏（我花了六个月的时间），所以’现在肯定该回家了。 ðŸ〜‰

顺便说一下，我已经换了班机。一世’m现在回到3月31日。是的，我’米途经曼谷。是的，我’ve heard about 的killer pneumonia thing. We’ll see what happens.

Good luck with 的war–我希望一切顺利，回到家。 （一世’在达兰萨拉会很安全。）

田

好。一世 hardly know what to say…

我是说’ve joked a lot about selling off 的excess guys who’我在旅行中走近我，但碰巧的是，我’我实际上已经被卖了。任何人都想要一个丈夫吗？他’ll do 的dishes, wash 的laundry, and change 的diapers…and pay you to boot. All you have to do is get him into 的country. 😉

——— So, yesterday, after two frenzied days of shopping and trying to get my thangkas (religious paintings) blessed 通过 various Tibetan personages, I went back to Rewalsar. I missed 的rest of my travel companions through a foulup in communications, so wound up having to get my own taxi, for 的princely sum of 1600 rupees ($34). (To put this in perspective, that would pay a month’在达兰萨拉的公寓租金。）

However, to prevent getting ripped off (a white American friend was quoted 2200 rupees for 的same trip), I trekked back to 的Tibetan handicrafts shop, where I’d与一位慷慨的藏族妇女交了朋友。

(I’ve learned 通过 now that 的best way to avoid being cheated while traveling is to make friends with a local person, and get them to advise you. It is, of course, 好 to give them a gift in exchange–otherwise, you’重用未来的游客’ travel karma. 我不’t like giving cash (it encourages people to see tourists as money cows), 所以我 like to buy small gifts instead–我给了她一个她非常爱的慈悲唐卡。

无论如何，她不是’t there, but one of her friends ran off to bargain with 的taxi union for me. So I wound up with a Tibetan driver at a pretty 好 rate.

The guy was really sweet (and kind of cute), so when, about two or three hours into 的trip, he started in on 的“你有男朋友吗？”例行，我一直坚持下去，只是为了看看他的想法…我以为他在找人，但事实证明他有光荣的意图。有点。

He was, of course, looking for a Western girlfriend to marry him, and get him a visa into 的U.S. or some other country. (Once in, Tibetans get refugee status, but 他们 have to get into 的country first–没有护照，这是一个巧妙的技巧。一世’m a little fuzzy on 的details, though.) So he offered first to pay me for a paper marriage, then (when I politely declined) asked me if I knew anyone who was looking for a househusband. In fact, he insisted on it. So, if you’re in 的market, and planning to go to 达兰萨拉, I can send you a photo and his email… 😉

Being in 达兰萨拉 was actually a bit discomfiting, 通过 的way… it’s made me uncomfortably aware of being rich. Not because my yearly salary is more than most 印度 ns/Tibetans will earn in their lifetimes (this is true for most Americans, 通过 的way), but because I have U.S. citizenship…Tibetans, even if 他们 were born and raised in 印度 , do not. (The U.S. is one of very few nations that grants citizenship to anyone born within its borders. I think it’s one of 的coolest things about 的U.S., actually.)

所以藏人可以’拥有土地，担任敏感职务或自由出行…and 他们 do not have passports, which prevents them from leaving 印度 . The wistful looks on their faces when 他们 ask me if I have citizenship aren’确实令人心碎，但这让我有点抽搐。

Tibetans, you see, consider me a fellow refugee from 的Cultural Revolution–my parents left 中国 during 的Communist takeover, theirs left when 中国 invaded Tibet. My parents got into 的U.S.; theirs walked out of Tibet, into 印度 . I got lucky. ———

除此之外，我’我主要是跑来跑去买礼物–I think I have finally found a route to have my thangkas (religious cloth paintings) blessed 通过 的Dalai Lama, which is wonderful!–尽管这将意味着另一次前往达兰萨拉的旅行。

I’ll be spending 的next four or five days up on 的mountain, so don’t expect to hear from me much. Most of 的lamas/nuns are going to be engaged in a religious retreat (puja) for 的week–I’m not going both because I was sick in 达兰萨拉 (so a week of sporadic fasting is not a 好 idea), and because I’我完全不了解藏传佛教。通常这不会’不能阻止我，但我想静静地思考一下–so I’m going to spend 的week in 的kitchen, spinning and 针织 and helping out 的nuns/caretakers. (Lena, I definitely owe you a favor: everyone has been just wonderful, mostly on your account. Thank you. 🙂 )

Some of my flight details have changed, incidentally; 所以我 will be back in 曼谷 March 25, and returning home on March 31. But don’t pay out on 的pool just yet–你永远不知道会发生什么。 ðŸ〜‰

回到左派马–

田

好。一世’ve now been up on 的mountain for a couple days, coming down sporadically to catch a hot shower and email before heading back up. It’这是一次有趣的经历…I don’t speak a word of Tibetan, and this being Losar all 的translators are busy with their families, but I have been surprisingly included nonetheless…而且我在阅读方面也有了很多进步。

事实证明并不是很困难…毕竟，人类交流的70％是肢体语言和语气。所以虽然我完全不知道在说什么，但我知道’正在进行：讲故事，说闲话，吵架等都与语气，节奏和肢体语言完全区分开。

例如：

“…..”（讲解，用手势）“!!”（惊讶的表情）“… (nods head) …” “…!”（赞叹不已）

显然是讲故事的：

（讲故事，用手势）“No! He didn’t!” “哦，他绝对*尽*…and *I*…” “Wow. I wish I’d thought of that!”

我没有’t 的slightest idea what 的story *is*, but I can follow what’发生得很好…and can insert 的right comments (via tone/facial expression) in 的right tone of voice at 的right time…这让人们赞叹不已，但无论如何，对话实际上是90％的情感交流，而不是字面意义上的讨论，因此很有效。

At any rate: I have been staying up on 的mountain, in 的communal kitchen, with eight or nine cave yoginis/nuns. The kitchen is a brick building near 的main cave (which contains a giant statue of Guru Padmasambhava (I hope I spelled that right) and a secondary shrine to an 印度 n princess). It’我旁边的另一个神社’一无所知 ’装满了精美的黄铜酒杯式油灯，其中约有一半随时点亮。每隔一段时间，就会出现另一组朝圣者，并点亮另外几盏灯。我认为’是某种产品，但不知道是什么…my ten-year-old “translator” hasn’无法解释。

I have mostly been perched in 的kitchen, spinning and 针织 on my shawl, watching 的conversation go on around me…people have been coming in and out, celebrating Losar, bringing gifts and sharing 的ritual pinch of tsampa (roasted barley-flour) mixed with sugar, taken from a bowl with a torma stuck in it.

（一个托玛–and I hope I’ve got 的spelling right–是一种西藏人的祭品，据我所知，是由tsampa和黄油（甚至还有水）混合制成的，形状大致为梨/方字形。基本的托玛通常用黄油装饰–the butter is kneaded in cold water until pliable, then shaped into rayed disks, teardrops, and moons, and attached to 的torma. If I recall correctly, 他们’再用作各种精神的奉献物，但我不’t know anything about 的symbolism.)

无论如何’s great to watch 的people coming and going, and also quite meditative–就像在无声的静修中，除了在公司中。一世’ve been helping out a bit around 的kitchen–切洋葱的语言很普遍–但大部分时候都是坐着看，并经常交换微笑等。我其实不’虽然一点都不觉得–安静一点（我怀疑这可能对我有所帮助’我在我不去的地方度过了几个月’t speak 的language, 所以我’我过去常常错过对话。）

我也花了很多时间和一个10岁的女孩一起玩…很有意思，因为通常我不’就像孩子一样。但是她和我相处得很好 …I’我一直在教她的折纸，并为她叠了几页。一世’我还向她展示了我的小玩意，她发现这些小玩意儿令人着迷–especially 的digital camera and drop spindle.

I’我对这个孩子很好奇…她会说一点英语（所以已经为我翻译了一点），所以我问了她自己的情况。原来她’是印度全家中唯一的一个…她的母亲，父亲和兄弟都还在西藏。她六岁时被送出西藏，去了望多尔喇嘛。–so she’一直住在印度的寄宿学校，并与尼姑们度过了洛萨（Losar）和其他假期。我可以’不知道是什么促使她的家人独自把她送到印度–but there’在我找到翻译之前，根本找不到答案。 （成为聋哑人的好处是，它鼓励您注意并进行思考；缺点是，某些事情确实*将*永远永远是个谜。）

但是那个女孩以为我’m 的coolest thing since sliced bread, and has been hanging around me a lot. I like her–充满热情和活力。 ðŸ™，

I’m not quite sure what everyone makes of me. They obviously like me, and are fascinated 通过 my facility for handcraft: 的drop spindle and shawl are endlessly fascinating.

I gather 他们 can’t quite slot me as a Westerner, since 我不’t behave like a Western traveler; but neither am I Tibetan or other 亚洲 n, 所以我 must be something else. I *suspect* I am rapidly becoming 的God of Small Yet Curiously Useful Objects, however–我的小工具收藏非常令人钦佩。

(I discovered yesterday, 通过 的way, how one opens a tin can without a can opener. Take a medium-sized knife, put it point-down on 的can, and then take a hammer and whack 的knife until 的point goes in. Reposition 的knife, whack again, etc. until 的can is open. It is of course useful (and speeds things up) to have a friendly Westerner turn up with a Swiss Army knife/can opener, but it’并非绝对必要。）

At any rate, top on 的list of interesting items is 的drop spindle–Tibetans also spin, and have a distinctive Tibetan spindle, but only 的older nuns know how to spin on one, and apparently no one spins anymore. But other fascinating objects include contact lenses (I explained to 的kid that 他们 were like little glasses that fit on top of 的eye), my little coin flashlight, and my mini whetstone (which looks like a thin strip of metal on my keychain). I sharpened all their knives yesterday while looking for something to do, which made them all very happy.

My Leatherman (actually Swiss Army Tool) is also much admired, although 我没有’t demoed all 的blades yet…I sawed a bit of bamboo off with 的saw blade yesterday, then carved myself a crochet hook with 的knife, which 他们 thought was pretty cool. (I showed 的10-year-old roughly how to crochet, but couldn’细丝线确实能显示出很多东西。一世’我今天要在镇上买些毛线，如果她愿意，她会教她如何更认真地钩编’感兴趣。）我还炫耀了折纸青蛙–they’re fun to play with, and everyone was passing it around and jumping it around 的table.

So like 我说，despite being deaf-mute, 我没有’根本没有被忽略。它’很有趣。 ðŸ™，

Ah, 的caves. You want to know about 的caves?

I’m not really sure. I’我只看到了几个山洞–尽管主要洞穴是无可争议的洞穴状’s more like a series of largish tunnels/crevices in 的rock, than 的giant 洞穴 I saw in 越南 or 老挝 . The other “caves” don’t really look like 洞穴, exactly–more like small concrete rooms with boulders mysteriously embedded in ceilings and walls. (It *does* look sort of odd.) The 洞穴 are tiny, about five feet 通过 eight, with just enough space for a small bed, table, and meditation platform. The bigger 洞穴 have space for a small cookstove/burner, as well.

Most of 的caves have electricity; I think some might also have running water. The kitchen area where I was staying had a toilet, but I gather some cave areas don’t (go outside). Apparently things have been modernized a great deal in 的last decade or so, though–一两个人提到洞穴生活少了很多“simple”与以往相比，电力和自来水这样的奢侈品，到处都是人们。

For 餐饮 most people still eat tsampa (roasted barley flour), which everyone else ate for breakfast (they fed me onion omelets and chapati, which were quite tasty). Tsampa is traditionally eaten plain, mixed with tea, or kneaded with butter, and is eaten either with fingers, or licked directly out of 的bowl with 的tongue.

（最初的藏族餐桌礼仪有点令人吃惊–舔碗清洗碗是一种非常不西方的方法–但经过一分钟的考虑之后，这才说得通。在没有水的情况下’t 读ily available, it’s simply 的best way to clean a 餐饮 dish (or 的most sanitary way to eat, if you can’洗手）。哈顿’不过，我们以前从来没有住过很多水的地区。）

The 洞穴 are located high up on a mountain ridge, 1-2 hours’ climb up over Rewalsar. One can take a taxi for 100-150 rupees ($2-3), a daily bus, or walk up a series of rough-set stone steps. This path takes you up 的mountain, past a small village with many terraced fields, through 的construction site for a statue of Guru Padmasambhava, and eventually up to 的main cave.

台阶是由粗糙的灰色石头制成的，并且台阶要比固定间隔的一系列平整的岩石少一些：’s rough going, and easy to twist an ankle. In some places, small rockslides have obliterated 的path entirely, and you have to scramble around.

I’ve never climbed *up* 的path (yet), but it takes about an hour to climb down. Small children come hurtling 通过 , rushing over 的stones to school, apparently ignoring 的law of gravity.

该视图是“奇妙的”。它’s not 的most beautiful view I’我在旅行中见过–我认为老挝或越南更令人印象深刻–but there’s a serenity and a human-ness around it that 我没有’t seen before. It’s not at all like looking down a mountain in 的Bay Area, where 的view is either wilderness or smoggy bustling freeway; it’就像俯视村庄/小村庄暨修道院静修所。简单而精神，但绝对是人类，而不是荒野。

At any rate, I spent 的last two days up there, then came down in search of hot shower, vegetables, and email. having acquired all three, I’我回到那里…我和阿妮·邦春（Ani Bumchun）迅速成为好朋友，而我’m thinking I’我会在镇上买些羊毛，然后尝试给她编织一些袜子。 ðŸ〜‰

I’m told 的Dalai Lama may be teaching a week earlier than I thought, 所以我 may leave Rewalsar for 达兰萨拉 sooner than expected–maybe as early as 的end of this week. I’我试图找出确切的内容’s going on…Losar is making things a bit more difficult, though, as most Tibetans have vanished for 的holiday.

田

Well, tomorrow is Losar, 的Tibetan New Year, and it looks like I’ll be spending it up on 的mountain with 的cave yogis, nuns, etc…我昨天去送丽娜’s Losar gifts to 的community, and wound up getting invited to stay over. So I ran down, got my pack, and am headed back up there.

I wrote up a longer description earlier today, but it got axed when 的power went out abruptly (it has a tendency to do that around here), 所以我’我会在回程单上写更多。

莉娜：我和K玛·彭措克安排了事情，但是自从’t have a 译者, I had to just give him 的list–I’我在哑剧方面变得更好，但是“…他认为合适的其他人”超出了我在社交场合的能力。如果有机会，我’ll communicate it.

每个人都说非常感谢，您（通过我的代理人）被带去拜访每个人，并喂饱了西藏奶茶和饼干，直到塞满为止。 ðŸ™，

I also got a fortune for you last night in 的dough balls (I got two, one for me and one for you), but since 的only 译者 was a ten-year-old girl with about eighty words of English, I have no idea what it said. I’m assured it was 好, though. 😉

（这孩子显然画了一个说“你的屁股上有角”（至少，我*认为*’是她说的话）…I’我不确定到底是哪种运气，但每个人都笑了。 )

我必须承认’与不认识的人闲逛很有趣’不会说英语。它’惊人的是你能做到的“read”通过上下文和肢体语言。

once more unto 的caves…

田