Week Ten & Christmas!

  Merry Christmas! I hope you are all celebrating together! The fact that it is Christmas is making me homesick, but we have quite the little community here, so we managed to pull together some (somewhat different than usual) Christmas festivities. 

  Otherwise, this week has been pretty relaxing. Work is over for the Christmas break, and slowly all the Tibetans are leaving town to go to the Kalachakra in Bodh Gaya. But the Dalai Lama gave teachings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, there was a Tibetan holiday mid-week (everyone put up "Christmas lights" and lit candles... it almost looked like there were all celebrating Christmas!), and we have been celebrating Christmas all weekend!

Fabric Shopping... 

The cow at the top of our street who is HUGE and always in the dumpster. 

Candles along our railings for a Tibetan holiday.

Outside the temple after the teachings ended.

The somewhat grungy "movie theatre" in town.

Cows hanging out at the Temple beside our Guest House. 

Mountains at sunset, from my window!

Sunset on the same night, but in the other direction.

Another Christmas Party! On Christmas Eve. Pot Luck style.

Paul leading us all into some Christmas carols. 

Us at the part (see my new outfit!?!)

Christmas breakfast things morning: French toast, scrambled eggs and fruit salad.  

Breakfast! 

Week Nine

Hello! I've just passed the 64th day since I left home. This past week we didn't go anywhere special, but it was still a busy week! For a few days I thought I lost my camera, but luckily I found it in our "couch" (which is more like a mattress with a carpet on it). Anyways, I miss you all, and I hope you are all having a good holiday! 

Me at work on Monday, just outside the dentists office. 

The graffiti I always mean to take a picture of, but never remember too. 

Me in my chupa (traditional Tibetan dress)! The student I tutor gave it to me as a gift. It's really pretty, but I think it might make me look fat.... hahah. 

The main street, just before dusk, with the mountains in the background. 

The Dalai Lama was arriving back into town, so everyone was out to greet him. 

Another birthday, and this time Rachel got Julie a real cake!

Our early Christmas party! Not quite your traditional Christmas meal, but it was SO good. 

All the girls in our "half" chupas... like a chupa, but for tourists.

Week Seven and Eight

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't post last week. We have been sticking around town recently, so I don't have too many exciting photos for you all. But life here is still really amazing. My Hindi lessons are going well, I work everyday still and we are distributing mountainous amounts of clothing today. It is starting to get colder, so it is also really nice to cuddle up with a hot cup of chai and read a book. I am a little homesick when I think about Christmas, though! 

The view from my window.

The hospital I end up spending a lot of time at (for work!)

A monk at the dentist. 

Sunset from the main road. 

A very typical sight. 

Monkeys taking a bath in someones water barrel. 

English tutoring. 

The little girls I live with, trying on their new outfits.

The view from my window at sunset.

Week Six

Tashi Delek, Namaste, Hello! 

 This past week has been a good one, but nothing much to show in the way of photos! It was Keng's last weekend, so we did some shopping and went on a small walk to a waterfall. I am going to miss her so much!  Other than that, work is going well, and I just starting talking Hindi classes! We also saw a bollywood film (Ra One)!

On our walk we past some monks doing laundry and reading in the stream.

The Bagsu Waterfall.

Morten and the CUTEST PUPPY EVER.

The cafe beyond the waterfall.

Keng and I with our new earrings!

Sunset from the main road.... again.

A monk and his niece having tea.

My laundry.

A HUGE spider that dropped in on my English lesson. 

Week Five

Week Five is over, and I can't believe it. I've been here 38 days, with at most only 41 days left. This past week we had some beautiful sunsets, attended a charity concert, and went on a weekend trip to Relswar Lake and Mandi. I've also started taking Tibetan classes, and started a dental project for refugees (don't worry, I just manage and facilitate, I don't touch anyone's teeth!).

Sunset from the main square.

Our friend Paul preforming at a concert raising funds for one of the local charities. 

A rather confusing building plan.

A monk dozing in the sun.

Keng and Katherine outside a temple at Relswar Lake (It's a sacred lake to Sikhs, Buddhists and Hindus). 

A cow attending Temple at Relswar Lake.

Hanuman. 

The fish at Relswar Lake were DISGUSTING. 

Buddhist Caves with butter candles and Tibetan script.

Outside the Buddhist caves (near Mandi).

Morten crawling through the caves. The guru who brought Buddhism to Tibet meditated here before he left for Tibet.

Julie (and Morten and I) exiting the caves.

We stayed on the old palace grounds in Mandi. Here is the lawn. 

An old British bridge on the Beas River in Mandi. Along the river there were also many old Hindu Temples.