What did you do over the holiday?

Oh my goodness... my students are great.

I have them write a reflection after every test, and every time we have any days off from class I have them write about what happens during the holiday. Last week we had the entire week off; HH the Dalai Lama was teaching Monday-Thursday, and so Tibet Charity decided to just close for the whole week since it didn't make much sense to have class only on Friday.

This evening I was procrastinating, whining internally about having to grade so many tests (not that many, really.. it was definitely whining) – I studied Hindi, I graded a little at a time and rewarded myself with other activities like rewinding the yarn I bought or doing push-ups, or making a list of reasons to stay until December and another list of reasons to leave a few weeks early. Eventually I decided to just buckle down and finish grading. After I got through the tests – which wasn't that bad – I remembered I still had to correct the papers on what they'd done last week.

Once I actually started doing it it went so quickly... lol... Their writing is a bit dry and predictable (usually) when they have to write about “your daily routine” or when they are asked to answer specific questions. When I let them write about what they want, though, some of them get really creative. I have a few students who must be getting pretty comfortable with me and/or with the English language, because they express these colorful, lively stories.

As it turns out, a few of my students went out to the Rewalsar/Manali area last week as well. One told me about how he and his friend got sick on the bus and threw up on the way to Rewalsar. He said that when he got there he “saw lake and statue so strong faith, but in the lake lot of fish so a little compassion.” Only Buddhists! He also worked in some of the vocabulary words we'd been using in conversation class. He did not vomit on the way back.

Another student, one of the monks, told me about how he and a friend went down to Lower Dharamsala to shop, and how they stopped for sweets and sweet tea. They met another friend on the way back who suggested they all go get some more sweets – and how they had a fun little discussion about how they couldn't keep eating like that because they'd get sick, and it's a good thing he bought new shoes to exercise!

Part of the test was to answer questions like “What do you always do?” and “What do you sometimes do?” Many of them answered that they always study English, but one said she always dances at home. I gave all of those answers smiley faces. Maybe they'll get stickers, too.

A few of my students begin nearly every writing assignment with “Hi dear teacher, how are you?” or “Dear teacher Magda...” I think it's cute. It's stuff like this that makes me want to stay. Regardless of when I leave, I'm going to miss them. I have a few of their email addresses; I'll have to get more of them. Maybe I can connect with some of them on Google+ (where you can filter who sees what much more easily than you can on Facebook). I have a few who ask if I'm teaching conversation class or if another teacher is; I suspect that they play favorites, and I know at least one of them comes to my class and not the others. I admit it makes me feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.

As far as the coming-home plans, it looks like financially it'll be pretty much a wash between staying until December or coming home a few weeks early. I'll see how I feel after the trip to Rajasthan, I guess. There are plenty of teachers here and I spoke to the boss, who said it would be fine to go whenever I wanted, so that's nice to know.

On an unrelated note, it looks like my room threw up on my bed. I'm an artist, I tell ya... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Organized chaos: it's how I work best. I like having things neat and clean, but somehow I can never keep them that way for long. It just seems to futile to constantly be putting things away when you know they're just going to get taken out again... right? Plus when it's as humid as it is here, you almost have to leave your clothes out in an attempt to let them dry, unless you aren't concerned about that pesky mildew smell.

And now, since I did manage to finish grading all of these tests, I think I am going to reward myself with a bit of knitting before I get back to studying Hindi, or designing some kind of grammar drills for class. I think they need a little more structure in their writing assignments, and it's my job to provide that. Giving them sentences on the board to correct as a class has also gone over well in the past; I should come up with some more of those to give them. Hmmm......

Suggestions?

A lack of beggars

One of the differences we'd noticed in Manali was a lack of beggars roaming the streets. In Dharamsala there are days when you can't walk fifteen feet without having someone call out "Sister, hello! Hello! Namaste!" or a woman with a baby on her hip come up, tap you on the shoulder and say "No money, milk. Hungry baby." You feel bad, but you also can't save everyone. Apparently the ones who ask for things other than money, like milk, take these items and sell them back to the shopkeepers. I've heard stories that the children don't even always belong to the women holding them; one of my students told me the beggars go to daycare centers, borrow the kids, and return them along with a share of the day's profits in the evening.

Anyway, we're back in D'sala and that means our reprieve from the begging has come to an end. Manali was also a lot cleaner. Oh well.

Something else I first noticed in Manali but that has also carried over in other areas of the mountainous Himachal Pradesh is a profusion of sweater vests. This makes me happy. Well, their presence in general makes me happy, being a knitter... the fact that they are all made out of what is obviously cheap acrylic makes me sad. There are sheep and goats around here, you'd think they'd have some woolen goodies to wear. I guess all the good stuff gets exported. I've been working on a pair of fingerless gloves lately, because I forgot to bring some from home and I have a feeling I'll need them before too much longer. I'm a little bummed that I'm missing fall at home, but oh well. You can't have everything. I guess I'll just have to settle for spring when it rolls around.

In English teacher news, my students took their Unit 3 test today. This means that they'll probably get through 6 or 7 chapters total by the end of the semester, out of the 9 in the book. I guess that's not too bad, right? According to the veteran teachers, it's next to impossible to actually finish the book in the amount of time we have, so I'm not worrying too much about it. It looks like I'll be spending the evening grading.......

Oh yeah, don't send me any more stuff please. I am kicking around the idea of cutting my trip a little short and coming home earlier than originally planned... I don't want anything showing up here after I've left, because it'll be a real pain to get back! India's great, but I have things I want to work on at home. We also have had a big influx of teachers at Tibet Charity, so it's not like I'll be leaving them hanging if I take off a little early. I was actually the only teacher who was scheduled to be here the entire semester anyway, which I didn't realize until I got here; everyone else signed up for one to three month stints. I guess I'll see how the next couple of weeks go and go from there. Even if nothing changes, I'll be back in Chi-town on December 6th -- less than 2 months away!

Just because I think this post needs a picture:

This one's for my runner friends.

No, I didn't go. I didn't even bring my running shoes to India, which is probably for the best... the roads are really dirty here and I'd be really sad if I ruined the only comfortable pair of shoes I've ever owned (Reebok RealFlex for the win).

Catch you guys later!

Day trip with the Director

Yawn. It's been a long day.

Every semester one or more trips are organized by Tibet Charity for the volunteer teachers as a thank you for coming all the way to the Himalayas to teach their students. When you volunteer to teach here you definitely don't do it for the pay; we don't get a paycheck, we don't get our flights paid for, we don't get accommodation provided for us. We get free lunch every week day and occasional other perks like today's day trip to a (relatively) nearby Tibetan settlement called Bir (say “beer” and roll the R).

The Director accompanied us. This was an important aspect of the trip, because the first place we stopped was at a school for Tibetan children in Chauntra. He used to be the principal there some ten years ago.

See the egret in the tea field?

This dog ran right up to me once we got out of the taxi. They are so friendly!

A sapling planted in 1998 at the school.

The students assembled! They sang songs.

They had the day off today for a fete. There were stations set up all over the school yard, and someone said each child had been given 180 rupees to spend on games.

Guess how much this bucket weighs! It's kilos, not pounds.. so we Americans had to do some math as well.

We were shown around the campus. The kids at this school learn exclusively in Tibetan until around age 10, when they are taught English. They then learn in these languages until age 15 or 16 or so, when they are then introduced to Hindi. They only take a bit of Hindi, enough to communicate in everyday life around India.

They are also taught a number of handicraft skills. This helps explain the number of Tibetan handicraft shops around McLeod Ganj.

Some of the students' paintings.

More paintings.

Yep, chalkboard.

Flower pot making class! (Seriously, I'm not kidding.)

Traditional stone carving.

Oh look! They have a kniting class!

Check out that intarsia!

Where do I sign up?

In the girls' dormitory we found a group of students having a snack. They told us their typical schedule consisted of waking at 5am, doing yoga, having food, debating, “self-study,” morning prayer... and then some other things they didn't specify... and then they had to be in bed about 9 o'clock in the evening.

Mantra about calming your mind, outside the meditation/prayer room.

Inside the prayer room.

Tsering, Gusti, and Gill looking over the courtyard.

Tsering-la with one of the few students who was at the school when he was principal. She was in kindergarten at the time.

Tsering-la and Verity talking in the dormitory. A friend of his made those stuffed animals for the kids so they wouldn't feel homesick.

We visited a monastery.

Big Buddha.

At lunch we had a really interesting discussion with the Director about some of the finer points of the Tibetan/Chinese “situation,” as most people tend to call it. He told us that Tibetans have “ICs,” or Identity Cards, in lieu of passports because they are legally considered stateless citizens since Tibet is not recognized as a country. Those who live in India, such as himself, must apply for a visa extension every few years even though they may have been born here and/or lived here their entire lives.

He told us how visas are granted to Tibetans in Tibet on the basis of pilgrimage or education. There have been stories of people going to Nepal or other neighboring areas to work for a few months so they could honestly say they had left Tibet for work as opposed to study; if they cannot provide proof of enrollment in an educational institution they risk getting in trouble with the Chinese police, and that is not something you want.

Many Tibetans in exile don't have contact with their relatives in Tibet because it's simply too risky. In Chinese-controlled areas like the capital, Lhasa, you can be arrested for simply carrying a photograph of the Dalai Lama (at least one of my friends here has had this happen). Can you even imagine?

After lunch we visited a noodle factory,

The Director bought a few (kilos of) noodles.

and then another monastery. This one belongs to the sect of Buddhism the Karmapa comes from. There are four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama is the head of one but he also leads them all. Each other sect has its own leader, and the Karmapa is one of them. The Dalai Lama and the Karmapa are both believed to be reincarnations of the original holder of their respective titles. Apparently there is currently some dispute over the identity of the true reincarnation of the Karmapa. The Director told us that the matter has gone to a court for ruling. We discussed how this doesn't make much sense, having a civil institution rule on matters of religion – just as how in the US religious institutions are constantly trying to meddle in civil matters. It just doesn't make sense. Separation of church and state is a glorious thing, and it's important to maintain it. We also discussed how it would be great if less money were spent on religion and more on education.

Painted, carved wood around the doorways.

Lots of intricate detail in the paintings.

Look at these sculptures! They're made of BUTTER AND WAX.

We were able to get an audience with the leader of this particular monastery, Tai Situ Rinpoche. He's a lama and one of the teachers of the man regarded by the majority of Tibetans to be the true reincarnation of the Karmapa. He was very welcoming and spoke excellent English; his knowledge of geography was also better than most Americans I know. The walls of his receiving room were lined with small Buddha statues peeking out from the glass of cabinets on the walls; a quick calculation and I determined that there were 96 of them in all. His chair and the low table in front of him were ornately carved. Gifts and offerings covered every available surface.

We asked if he could give us a brief teaching on the dharma and he offered us this:

Don't do anything harmful or negative.

Do everything positive.

Tame your mind.

Twelve hours later and we're back in McLeod Ganj having some mixed veg and roti for dinner. Oh, and no car sickness! Ha, I told you I'd be prepared the next time! Now I've got a day to pack for our trip to Manali. Hmm, what to take...?