Thunderstorms, Tibet, and Terrible Transportation…but a marvelous trip.

SO this past week was a LONG festival, holiday celebration for India. It was basically a NINE day holiday that ended with the burning of HUGE statue of the Ram god. Because of this holiday we were given 6 days of travel time. I chose to head up north (with a group that I have been traveling with to all the other places) to a place called Dharmsala where the exiled Tibetan government resides, including the Dalai-lama.

Lets just say that the train ride was the WORST train ride that I have been on. In the past it has been REALLY easy for us to get train tickets and this time we had to get a SPECIAL ticket (pay extra) because the train was booked…and IT WAS DFEFINITELY BOOKED. One berth on the train is meant for six people and then across from the berth on the other side of the isle way are 2 beds…meant for two people. At one point (WHEN WE WANTED TO GO TO BED) there were 18 people in our berth…18!!!...a place meant for 8 people. Then we finally got the point across to these Indians that we were going to put the beds down…and we ended up with two men sleeping on the floor, one man on MY bed while I slept, and 3-4 more men sitting on the bottom beds…it was SOOO hot…and our fans for out berth DID NOT work…but by now THAT did not surprise us. Along with MANY other things, it worked out to being the WORST train ride….but we survived nonetheless. From our train station we took a public bus to Dharmsala…which was ALSO a hot, and crowded and rough ride, but we made it to Dharmsala nonetheless.

Once we arrived it started POURING…mind you this city is at the base of the Himalayas and we have been living in DESERT weather the past two months…so basically it was cold and we were wet and NOT prepared for rain…ALL of us looked like a dirty mess by the time we found a guesthouse to stay in. While we were in Dharmsala, we SHOPPED, ate MARVELOUS food…I had a chocolate pancake, hot chocolate, PESTO PASTA!, Tibetan food, omelets, toast that was NOT white!...it was like heaven….we walked the Tibetan prayer walk, went to the place where the actual Exiled Tibetan government resides (I think that place was the highlight of my trip), went to a Tibetan museum, saw a dog with RABIS, took a short hike to a waterfall, met TONS of Muslim shopkeepers that were from the North (I just say Muslim, because we did not meet a single Hindu and that is pretty unusual but I guess its not in the North). It was gorgeous up there and the weather was a WONDERFUL treat…NONE of us wanted to leave. It felt like we had been on some kind of retreat…people were not trying to make us take their rickshaw (in fact people said NO to us when we asked for a rickshaw ride…which is UNHEARD of here in Jaipur)…shopkeepers were not walking the streets and PULLING us into our shop…it was just wonderful.

THENNNN we had to leave….and the craziness began…we had to wake up at 3:30 AM!!!!...in order to catch a bus…when we walked outside it started to THUNDER, and LIGHTNING and POUR!!!!...then we get on a bus and it is still DARK outside and we are driving down a narrow, windy, steep road…and OUR BUS DRIVER IS BRUSHING HIS TEETH!!!!!!!! From Dharmsala we headed to Amritsar, which is known for its Sikh temple, known as the Golden temple.

Once we arrived in Amritsar, we immediately realized that we had returned to REALITY…men got on the bus while we were stopped in traffic and started to BUUUUG us about taking their rickshaws and hotels and blah blah blah….we ignored them and said NAHI! (no!) Our first adventure in Amritsar was a trip to the Pakistani boarder crossing!!!...I WENT TO THE PAKISTANI boarder crossing…this is a HUGE attraction to Indians and foreigners alike because the soldiers of both countries perform a ceremony EVERY night at sunset and open the gates and take their flags down…this ceremony is actually REALLY funny because it consists of soldiers doing high kicks and grunts…and funky outfits…I don’t even know how to explain it. (Tammy if you are reading this you should ask David if he has ever been to this ceremony in Pakistan.) Then we ventured back to the Golden Temple….which is gorgeous at night!...and rather impressive. The next day we headed back to Jaipur…OF COURSE our train was late so we arrived at 9:30 am and went STRAIGHT to school. The trip was FABULOUS!!!

SOO a lot of things have changed lately…. I have a new homestay that I have been living in the last few days. It is REALLy nice…we have internet sometimes, our own rooms, hot water, two bathrooms, and a little couch room all to ourselves (Molly and I)…it’s a lovely set up. Our new mom eats everything including meats and onions and garlic…and she STUFFS US!!!!!...i can not even lay on my stomach when I go to bed because she piles SOOOO much on our plate!!! (I actually REALLY miss our old food, it was so simply Indian, healthy, and just enough…but this food is pretty good too. Just know that I have YET to feel an ounce of hunger since I have arrived in this house. In addition to the new homestay…. I leave for my internship on MONDAY…this coming MONDAY!!!...baaaaaaaah. I will be heading to a village to work with a non-profit called Gravis in a village that is 1-2 hours outside of Jodhpur. I have NO idea what it will be like, but I am supposed to be working with some micro-finance women’s groups in the surrounding villages. There are two other girls from the program that will be working in the agriculture sector of the same non-profit so I will be with them. In addition, one of the boys from our group, Jesse, will be working in the city of Jodhpur…so I will have a few people around me.

I can not believe that I am already moving onto my internship phase….i have less than TWO months left!!!!...that is sooooo crazy to me. I am looking forward to coming home, especially for the holidays!!!…but I am excited about this new phase. I think that I am ready to get out of the city…I hope that I can build some more relationships with people and HOPEFULLY play some soccer with kids….something I have yet to do here. I will miss seeing all of my fellow programmers every day…but I think that I can manage. Anyhow I am missing you guys…don’t worry there are NO Indian people replacing your spots in my heart…