Tashi Delek!
Today is sunday, and a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. For one, I have moved in with my homestay family! We met them yesterday and moved our things in. My Ama-la (Tib: mother) has a stand at the main market where she sells shawls. My Pa-la (Tib: father) works at the Tibetan cooperative handicraft shop where he makes carpets. In addition I have several brothers younger and older than me, and one younger sister. And in addition to that, we share three rooms. A kitchen, and two bedrooms. My bedroom I share with my Pa-la, it also is the shrine room. That means it is filled with pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, statues of the Buddha and Guru Rinpoche, and Thangkhas of the Buddha and other deities. A thangkha is a sacred painting, essentially.
Dharamsala is still fun, theres lots to explore and new neighborhoods that I have only just discovered. Still lots of tourists. I don't like the tourists. Yesterday I had breakfast at an Indian restaurant for 10 rupees. In case you were wondering, thats 25 cents.
I have gone to the Nyingma monastery ( I think thats what it is called, I'll look it up) several times. It is the monastery of His Holiness. In the temple there is a huge statue of the Buddha. In the courtyard one time there were monks debating. Essentially one monk sits on the ground and the other stands. The seated monk makes a statement about a Buddhist text, and the standing monk then tries to refute it using specific examples from that or other texts, all from memory. Whenever the standing monk makes a point they clap their hands very loud. It is quite animated! Debating is an incredibly difficult aspect of monastic education.
We have continued with our Tibetan classes, learning more phrases and beginning to learn how to read Tibetan script. Tomorrow we begin with our formal language teachers, as orientation is now over. Its really fun but still very difficult. I am trying to practice with my family, but if I don't have a pad to write down what they teach me, then I forget...
I'm off to go exploring, keep on rocking,
Sam
learn Tibetan:
Thu je che = thank you
Thu je see = please
Nga sha sa-gi me = I don't eat meat!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
So good to hear from you! i think it's fitting that you live with a creative family with lots of brothers! Sharing a room with Pa-la puts you at a place of honor and respect in their home. Funny that one of your first new Tibetan phrases is "I don't eat meat"!!
It's a good one to know.
Can't wait for the next installment.
love mom
Post a Comment