Things have been busy around the nunnery. The nun's main spiritual teacher arrived a little over a week ago, and has spent most of her time at the nunnery. I was very nervous to meet her at first, I wasn't sure how she would feel about us being there. But I had absolutely nothing to worry about. She is a worldly woman, gives teachings in Australia and studied at Berkeley in California in the 90s. She's also a very compassionate woman, and it has been a blessing to be around her.
We've been keeping busy with English class and life around the nunnery. I've gone out a few times to help Lauren collect cow dung from the hillside that the nunnery sits on. They use cow dung in the winter for fuel to heat and cook with, so it is essential to gather enough. While picking up the dried (or not-so-dried) droppings, I've had the opportunity to roam the hillside and appreciate the beautiful place that I've found myself in. This is truly a spectacular area, and I've been exploring the beautiful hillsides around it.
There is a cave where a famous monk meditated a few centuries ago that I plan on visiting. It's on the other side of the Zanskar River, which lies at the base of the hill. Lauren and I plan on walking up to it in a few days. She said it takes about 2 hours once we cross the bridge, and we're hoping to catch a ride in a passing jeep to the bridge. It should be a nice walk up the hill to the cave, and we'll bring some food and make tea when we reach it. I'm pretty excited to get out for a long walk in this beautiful area.
Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the founder of the Jamyang Foundation, is coming to the area soon. She arrives in Leh tomorrow, and will be coming here pretty soon afterwards. I'm excited to meet her, see the woman who's the reason why I'm here.
It's hard to believe that I have about a weeks time left here. Mojun and I are taking the bus back to Leh, to save a few rupees. The bus is privately run, and doesn't have a set schedule. It leaves each stop once the seats are all booked up. But it comes pretty frequently, and the locals all know when it is coming. When we know that it'll be here, we'll come into Padum to book our tickets. While it may take a bit longer, it is a lot cheaper.
I can't think of anything else major to report. I'm sure that there are many things that I haven't written about, but I'll tell them later. I've been experiencing more of the village life lately with Lauren here, for she has friends that we stop and visit as we go into town to buy vegetables. It's been fun and interesting to see inside people's homes, see what it's like. This is a pretty amazing place.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Maybe I spoke to soon...
In my last blog, I mentioned that I hadn't gotten sick yet. I think I jinxed myself, for later that week, I fell sick. It was only awful for about 8 hours, and I mostly laid in my bed and curled up in a little ball. But it was poor timing, for that day they were holding a puja in the prayer room, and people from the village were visiting all day long, and when people visit, you must feed them or at least give them tea. Since we sleep in the kitchen, that is where the visitors often come into. Not a good time to be sick. But I just nodded, and I think they understood why I hadn't yet gotten dressed yet. It was interesting hearing them praying all day. Sometimes they would beat against a drum. This was the backdrop to my sick day.
Besides the puja, things a generally pretty quiet around the nunnery. There have been a few exciting events, which I'll try to summarize here.
First of all, I'm not sure if I mentioned Lauren yet. She has been living at the nunnery for the last two and a half years. She came one summer, like me, to teach English, and decided to stay on. She gave up teaching them English, and focused on improving the nunnery in general. When we arrived here, she was at home, for her younger sister's wedding. She came back around July 2nd, and with her came her mom and her youngest sister. They stayed for a week, and then headed back to the U.S. Now Lauren is back, and came to Padum with us today. She's fluent in the local language, and has made friends in both Sani and Padum over the years. It's great having her here, and fun seeing her interact with the locals.
When her mom and sister were here, we went to a monastery called Dzong Khul. A very famous monk flew there and meditated there for a few years back in the 11th century, or something like that. It was very beautiful, and quite remote. We got a tour of the monastery, saw one of the caves within which he meditated, and Lauren translated the story for us. I took a lot of pictures, as well.
July 6th is the Dali Lama's birthday, and there was a big celebration at the monastery in Padum for him. As he could not be there himself, there was a large picture of him placed up front. There were a few speakers, and Lauren told us that they were talking about the Dali Lama's life and teachings. All the schools performed dances in his honor, as offerings. I took videos, and it was really fun to watch the local dancing. Afterwards, Lauren's friend in Sani was having a little welcome party for her mom and sister, and we tagged along. We ate, drank, and had a wonderful time. Towards the end, three local women came out in the local headdress, which is covered in turquoise and very beautiful. They danced a bit for us, and then had us put on the headdresses. They are so heavy! I have a few pictures of me dressed up, it's pretty funny. I had a lot of fun.
In general, people here are very welcoming, and we always feel comfortable with them. They invite us in for tea, give us biscuits. It's what you do when someone comes to visit.
While I said earlier that things are pretty quiet at the nunnery, it does not mean that the nuns are not busy. Sometimes, they go and visit family in the villages near by, or go to buy things in town. Or they are busy doing things around the nunnery. Sometimes we don't have class, or only a few nuns can come. We make do with what we have, and now have taken into reviewing what we're teaching them informally, when they come to cook for us or are hanging out with us. I've reached the conclusion that if they want to learn, then they will make some effort. We're always ready and willing to have class.
The nuns are great. They're always making jokes and having fun in some manner. We've picked up a few words in Ladakhi, which is fun for me too. I've once again found myself in a culture where they are always encouraging you to have more, eat more, have another cup of tea. I love it. The whole culture of telling people to have another biscuit is wonderful, and the interactions between people are great. If I could only fully explain it here. Don't be surprised if I come back and tell you to have more tea. It is expected.
To everyone that has sent me e-mails and messages, it is much appreciated. Even if I don't always have time to respond to everything, it's really nice to hear what's going on in your lives. But we'll all catch up in less than a month!
Besides the puja, things a generally pretty quiet around the nunnery. There have been a few exciting events, which I'll try to summarize here.
First of all, I'm not sure if I mentioned Lauren yet. She has been living at the nunnery for the last two and a half years. She came one summer, like me, to teach English, and decided to stay on. She gave up teaching them English, and focused on improving the nunnery in general. When we arrived here, she was at home, for her younger sister's wedding. She came back around July 2nd, and with her came her mom and her youngest sister. They stayed for a week, and then headed back to the U.S. Now Lauren is back, and came to Padum with us today. She's fluent in the local language, and has made friends in both Sani and Padum over the years. It's great having her here, and fun seeing her interact with the locals.
When her mom and sister were here, we went to a monastery called Dzong Khul. A very famous monk flew there and meditated there for a few years back in the 11th century, or something like that. It was very beautiful, and quite remote. We got a tour of the monastery, saw one of the caves within which he meditated, and Lauren translated the story for us. I took a lot of pictures, as well.
July 6th is the Dali Lama's birthday, and there was a big celebration at the monastery in Padum for him. As he could not be there himself, there was a large picture of him placed up front. There were a few speakers, and Lauren told us that they were talking about the Dali Lama's life and teachings. All the schools performed dances in his honor, as offerings. I took videos, and it was really fun to watch the local dancing. Afterwards, Lauren's friend in Sani was having a little welcome party for her mom and sister, and we tagged along. We ate, drank, and had a wonderful time. Towards the end, three local women came out in the local headdress, which is covered in turquoise and very beautiful. They danced a bit for us, and then had us put on the headdresses. They are so heavy! I have a few pictures of me dressed up, it's pretty funny. I had a lot of fun.
In general, people here are very welcoming, and we always feel comfortable with them. They invite us in for tea, give us biscuits. It's what you do when someone comes to visit.
While I said earlier that things are pretty quiet at the nunnery, it does not mean that the nuns are not busy. Sometimes, they go and visit family in the villages near by, or go to buy things in town. Or they are busy doing things around the nunnery. Sometimes we don't have class, or only a few nuns can come. We make do with what we have, and now have taken into reviewing what we're teaching them informally, when they come to cook for us or are hanging out with us. I've reached the conclusion that if they want to learn, then they will make some effort. We're always ready and willing to have class.
The nuns are great. They're always making jokes and having fun in some manner. We've picked up a few words in Ladakhi, which is fun for me too. I've once again found myself in a culture where they are always encouraging you to have more, eat more, have another cup of tea. I love it. The whole culture of telling people to have another biscuit is wonderful, and the interactions between people are great. If I could only fully explain it here. Don't be surprised if I come back and tell you to have more tea. It is expected.
To everyone that has sent me e-mails and messages, it is much appreciated. Even if I don't always have time to respond to everything, it's really nice to hear what's going on in your lives. But we'll all catch up in less than a month!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
One more thing...
I forgot to mention, they have Skype on the computers here. While I realize that the time difference is monstrous, it is possible to speak to me! When I come, I'll be here from around 1pm-3pm, which is from 12:30am-2:30am west coast time. If anyone happens to be awake during those hours, log on and we can chat if I'm here! They don't have a video camera, but that may be for the best, for I have barely seen a mirror since I've been here and I'm not quite sure how I look.
Just an FYI, if anyone is interested.
Just an FYI, if anyone is interested.
A bit about daily life
I wasn't kidding when I said that I'd only come every two weeks. Actually, that's not true, I ended up coming to Padum the Friday that I last posted, but I only got about10 minutes on a computer before we had to leave to catch the bus. Oh well, I saved a little bit of money.
Actually, now I'm at the government run internet center, which is about half the price of the private center and seems to be about twice as fast. Go figure. The only frustrating part is that it opens up at 1pm, and today the man who runs it actually got here at 2pm. Good thing I'm patient and brought a deck of cards with me. Mojun and I have come to pass a few idle hours playing crazy 8's. Not that we're too idle, though.
I guess it's best to describe now a bit about the daily life at the nunnery. First of all, there are very few things that are regular or consistent, but I don't mind that. We've figured out that we're staying in the kitchen, which they use when they cook group meals. They only cook group meals when all the nuns are busy working on a project that day or there's something special going on. Generally they cook in their rooms, and usually between one and three nuns live in a room. But since we're there to teach the nuns, we're getting slightly special treatment, the nuns cook for us. Each morning, two nuns will come somewhere between 6am and 8am to begin cooking. The only way to latch our door is to lock it, so one of us has to get up to open the door. Usually I'm awake by 7:30, since it gets light around 5am and one window is facing east. Sometimes it's a little tough to get up, though.
I lied, there is one thing that is consistent, and that is tea. We drink lots and lots of tea, before breakfast, lunch, dinner, in the afternoon, if we go visit someone, if someone comes and visits us. Usually it's milk tea, which is black tea with sweetened condensed milk added to it, and sometimes sugar, depending on who's making it. There's also something called butter tea, which is seen as a treat, as butter is a scare commodity here. To make butter tea, the make the black tea very dark, then mix it with butter and powdered milk. I think that they might use different tea leaves for the butter tea, I'm not sure. Once I had white tea, which I think is made with a different kind of tea leaf, and also has milk of some sort added to it. Tea is a big deal here.
Food in general is pretty tasty here. I have yet to get really sick (knock on wood), and I'm enjoying pretty much everything I eat (not that surprising for me). I am eating vegetarian, as they are Buddhist, but they do eat eggs, so every few days we get eggs for breakfast. They grow barley here, so we eat things made from barley flour. Almost every morning we have chapati, which is a flat bread that is cooked in a pan, but without oil. We eat that with either eggs or cooked vegetables. They cook the vegetables in a pressure cooker, and onions and tomatoes seem to be in every mixture, with green beans, eggplant, or potatoes thrown in. They also serve cooked vegetables with rice, which we generally have for lunch, and sometimes for dinner. They also make dal, cooked lentil beans, and one time we had a curry dish. They like there chili sauce here, as well as spices in general. We often have soup for dinner, with a variety of things thrown in. I've found the variations in cooking amongst the nuns, and have learned which nuns make the food really spicy, which nun usually makes us eggs for breakfast, which nun will make us Maggi for dinner. Maggi is basically the India version of Top Ramen.
After the first few days, we began helping out in the kitchen. I've learned the word for stir, and a few of the vegetable names. It's fun helping them out, and it makes me feel less like I'm being waited on, something I can't stand. Maybe I'll even be able to recreate some of the meals that I've had here. I have yet to try and make the dough for the chapati, it looks very labor intensive. I will try before I leave, though.
Helping out in the kitchen also lets us interact with the nuns more. They are lots of fun, and are always making jokes. Even with the language barrier, we seem to be able to communicate. Also, it seems that we usually get one nun who doesn't really speak any English and one who knows a bit. I wonder if they planned that or it just happens. Lately, I've also used that time to give informal English lessons, teaching them words for things in the kitchen, and cooking words.
Our English classes are pretty sporadic. The nuns are sometimes too busy to have class, or they have something else going on that day down in the village. I've come to peace with this, though. I figure if they want to learn English, then they will come to class. If not, then let's not waste both of our energies. I can tell that some of the nuns are very interested in learning, which is encouraging. And some of them are very bright, and pick it up very quickly. But we are working with a large variety of abilities, for some of the nuns have only attended 10 days of school while others completed up to grade 6 or 8. The age range is pretty big, as well. The youngest is 13 years old, and I'm not sure how old the oldest is, but I believe she is in her 40s or so. But they all try in class. Actually, they are all quite shy in class. Whenever it's their turn to speak, they get very quite, even the best students. It's very interesting watching the differences between how they are in class and how they are out of class.
Well, that's a basic overview of some of my day. When I want to take a shower, I heat up water and carry it in a bucket to the shower room, which is down a hill and then up a smaller hill. The toilet is next to it, and I get pretty winded coming up the hill to my room from the toilet. I've learned to hold it longer. To wash my clothes, I go down the hill to where there is a spigot from which water is constantly coming from, and fill a tub with water to soak my clothes in for a while. Then I scrub at them by hand and rinse them in the icy-cold mountain run-off water and hang them to dry along the barbed wire fence which surrounds the nunnery. My clothes are dry within a few hours. We have electricity at the nunnery, but it is only turned on in the evenings, from about 8pm to 11pm. Sometimes it goes out all of the sudden, though, so I'm glad I have my headlamp. Also, we sometimes don't eat dinner until about 10 or 10:30, so we're rushing to finish everything and get ready for bed before the lights go out. And sometimes we're in bed by 10, and we don't have a switch for the light in our room, since it's part of the kitchen.
I think that's all I have time to write about now. We have to go catch the bus back to Sani. Don't really want to walk back, especially since we bought some vegetables to take back to the nunnery. I might come back next week, although it just depends on what else is going on around the nunnery. I'll write about some of the spectacular things I've witnessed these last three weeks. It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost three weeks already, and I only have a month left!
Actually, now I'm at the government run internet center, which is about half the price of the private center and seems to be about twice as fast. Go figure. The only frustrating part is that it opens up at 1pm, and today the man who runs it actually got here at 2pm. Good thing I'm patient and brought a deck of cards with me. Mojun and I have come to pass a few idle hours playing crazy 8's. Not that we're too idle, though.
I guess it's best to describe now a bit about the daily life at the nunnery. First of all, there are very few things that are regular or consistent, but I don't mind that. We've figured out that we're staying in the kitchen, which they use when they cook group meals. They only cook group meals when all the nuns are busy working on a project that day or there's something special going on. Generally they cook in their rooms, and usually between one and three nuns live in a room. But since we're there to teach the nuns, we're getting slightly special treatment, the nuns cook for us. Each morning, two nuns will come somewhere between 6am and 8am to begin cooking. The only way to latch our door is to lock it, so one of us has to get up to open the door. Usually I'm awake by 7:30, since it gets light around 5am and one window is facing east. Sometimes it's a little tough to get up, though.
I lied, there is one thing that is consistent, and that is tea. We drink lots and lots of tea, before breakfast, lunch, dinner, in the afternoon, if we go visit someone, if someone comes and visits us. Usually it's milk tea, which is black tea with sweetened condensed milk added to it, and sometimes sugar, depending on who's making it. There's also something called butter tea, which is seen as a treat, as butter is a scare commodity here. To make butter tea, the make the black tea very dark, then mix it with butter and powdered milk. I think that they might use different tea leaves for the butter tea, I'm not sure. Once I had white tea, which I think is made with a different kind of tea leaf, and also has milk of some sort added to it. Tea is a big deal here.
Food in general is pretty tasty here. I have yet to get really sick (knock on wood), and I'm enjoying pretty much everything I eat (not that surprising for me). I am eating vegetarian, as they are Buddhist, but they do eat eggs, so every few days we get eggs for breakfast. They grow barley here, so we eat things made from barley flour. Almost every morning we have chapati, which is a flat bread that is cooked in a pan, but without oil. We eat that with either eggs or cooked vegetables. They cook the vegetables in a pressure cooker, and onions and tomatoes seem to be in every mixture, with green beans, eggplant, or potatoes thrown in. They also serve cooked vegetables with rice, which we generally have for lunch, and sometimes for dinner. They also make dal, cooked lentil beans, and one time we had a curry dish. They like there chili sauce here, as well as spices in general. We often have soup for dinner, with a variety of things thrown in. I've found the variations in cooking amongst the nuns, and have learned which nuns make the food really spicy, which nun usually makes us eggs for breakfast, which nun will make us Maggi for dinner. Maggi is basically the India version of Top Ramen.
After the first few days, we began helping out in the kitchen. I've learned the word for stir, and a few of the vegetable names. It's fun helping them out, and it makes me feel less like I'm being waited on, something I can't stand. Maybe I'll even be able to recreate some of the meals that I've had here. I have yet to try and make the dough for the chapati, it looks very labor intensive. I will try before I leave, though.
Helping out in the kitchen also lets us interact with the nuns more. They are lots of fun, and are always making jokes. Even with the language barrier, we seem to be able to communicate. Also, it seems that we usually get one nun who doesn't really speak any English and one who knows a bit. I wonder if they planned that or it just happens. Lately, I've also used that time to give informal English lessons, teaching them words for things in the kitchen, and cooking words.
Our English classes are pretty sporadic. The nuns are sometimes too busy to have class, or they have something else going on that day down in the village. I've come to peace with this, though. I figure if they want to learn English, then they will come to class. If not, then let's not waste both of our energies. I can tell that some of the nuns are very interested in learning, which is encouraging. And some of them are very bright, and pick it up very quickly. But we are working with a large variety of abilities, for some of the nuns have only attended 10 days of school while others completed up to grade 6 or 8. The age range is pretty big, as well. The youngest is 13 years old, and I'm not sure how old the oldest is, but I believe she is in her 40s or so. But they all try in class. Actually, they are all quite shy in class. Whenever it's their turn to speak, they get very quite, even the best students. It's very interesting watching the differences between how they are in class and how they are out of class.
Well, that's a basic overview of some of my day. When I want to take a shower, I heat up water and carry it in a bucket to the shower room, which is down a hill and then up a smaller hill. The toilet is next to it, and I get pretty winded coming up the hill to my room from the toilet. I've learned to hold it longer. To wash my clothes, I go down the hill to where there is a spigot from which water is constantly coming from, and fill a tub with water to soak my clothes in for a while. Then I scrub at them by hand and rinse them in the icy-cold mountain run-off water and hang them to dry along the barbed wire fence which surrounds the nunnery. My clothes are dry within a few hours. We have electricity at the nunnery, but it is only turned on in the evenings, from about 8pm to 11pm. Sometimes it goes out all of the sudden, though, so I'm glad I have my headlamp. Also, we sometimes don't eat dinner until about 10 or 10:30, so we're rushing to finish everything and get ready for bed before the lights go out. And sometimes we're in bed by 10, and we don't have a switch for the light in our room, since it's part of the kitchen.
I think that's all I have time to write about now. We have to go catch the bus back to Sani. Don't really want to walk back, especially since we bought some vegetables to take back to the nunnery. I might come back next week, although it just depends on what else is going on around the nunnery. I'll write about some of the spectacular things I've witnessed these last three weeks. It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost three weeks already, and I only have a month left!
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