From Brahma to Buddha, Spring 2008

So we're back and there is quite a bit to tell. Dormkar was amazing, the lifestyle there was like nothing I have experienced. I stayed with a lovely Ladakhi family. They had cows and other cute animals and grew apricot trees. There was a little two year old in the house which was sometimes not so lovely since she locked me in my room the first night so the next morning I couldn't get out and was not awarded the relief of emptying ones blatter as a result of the locked door. I eventually opened the window and yelled joule out to my Ama-le and she opened the door for me. We went to the high school and got a chance to interact with the shy Ladakhi students. I got a chance to teach a lesson; mine was a picture word poem using adj. to help them with their english vocabulary. We exchanged dances which was fun since we made up our own dance to the velvet underground song Afterhours. One day I was randomly invited to pick weeds with some Ladakhi women in the field. It was a delightful experience and I found some broken pieces of a bowl. I loved being in this farming society where everyone lives simply and fully. It was definitely an experience that I will stand out in my mind and one that i feel so lucky to have had. We then went to SECMOL where we got to hang out with a different environment of students. I even got to teach an art class there. The kids there were so nice and open to getting to know us. We played volleyball with them and did work when they did work. Like peeling trees and picking leaves from the vegetables. Lara and I watched the stars one night and I saw five shooting stars!!! I had never even seen one before in my life. After our days sadly ended at SECMOL we went off on our trek for six days. It gave us a chance to hang out with eachother and the ponies and take in the beautiful scenery of the Himalayas. A definite highlight was riding the pulley across the river, in a box, which on my turn had three of us in the box hovering over the indus river. We are off to our student led tomorrow and I am starting to get sad with the realization of leaving in 2 weeks.

~Tiffany