From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2008

Jullay!

We spent a wonderful day exploring connections with the youth of Domkhar at the local government high school (High school means classes 1 - 10 and government means public). We engaged in conversations about cultural differences, played local games, and performed our best accapella rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" including a thrilling representation of actual lions by Wade and Justin that playfully frightened the school children into giggles.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon on Namgial's fields harvesting buckwheat, then carrying the bundles of stalks up to the shucking place on the rooftop of his brother's house. The harvesting was accompanied by lots of laughter, breaks for tea and biscuts, and crop circles in the shape of hearts which reminded me of Harrison's beard-art from last spring.

Everyone seems to be settling in with their homestay families - enjoying learning more Ladakhi language, song and dance, and fending off small children who like to climb all over you. We're all taking this opportunity to connect more deeply with Ladakhi village culture, and sharpen our backgammon skills. We love Domkhar!

Tomorrow, we spend the day with our families and meet up in the afternoon for our second Hindi language class of many. Justin and I are looking forward to a walk up to the high pasture of Domkhar where we can test our skills at breathing air even LESS full of oxygen than at this 9,000ft above sea level. We'll get some good views of the surrounding peaks and hopefully have some images to share when we get back to Leh and have fast internet connections.

Hope all is well stateside!

Tracy and Justin