currently we are in Delhi, three days away from the sad time that we board that flight back to the US. Since I can neither face, nor believe this fact, I will instead wrie out a journal entry that I wrote in Ladakh when we visited Thiksey monastery and witmessed their early morning prayers. I am excited to be going home; to see my family and friends that I have missed so much. Yet, part of me cannot help asking, "why am I leaving this place and this group." Life is change, neh?

So, without further ado:

There is the smoke of incense in the air. Torquoise drums with dragons crawling up the sides. Young monks with the old. Little red robed Buddhas. Wow.

Silence, the chanting has stopped. So too has the interplay of trumpets and young monks gleefully beating the drums. (Well, I do not know how gleeful. I would have been gleeful to hit the drum. Maybe they treat it with the seriousness that only a child can have, when faced with a responsibility; a task. I did see some smiles though...)

Chanting. One lead voice and then the others. Rows upon rows of the young and old, praying in a hall of brightly painted pillars and tibetan script dimly lit by the light coming through the single door. The light coming through the door illuminates the monk's faces.

Now, the young monks scurry, fetching butter tea and tsampa for the others. Some can barely hold the buckets.

The lights just came on. I can see the golden Buddha statues in the back. One man is standing in a yellow cloak, chanting. Pausing, the monks eat breakfast, and Tiffany, the one among us who has most taken to the salty buttter tea, drinks with them.

We are the spectacle here. I feel too self-conscious to take pictures, even though Namgial said that we could. It is early, and my brain is still too sleepy to think about such things. Part of me thinks that if I take pictures, I will be exploiting the Ladakhi's religion and culture; turning it from sacred to entertainment. Like if when I take a picture without asking the subject, I am turning that person into an object to be viewed for curiousity and entertainment.
At the same time, here I am taking pictures with my eyes and my pen.

How little do I know of this religion and culture. Everyday monks wake up for morning prayers at 6:30 Am. How amazing. I wonder if they are warm with shaved heads and robes? The oldest here looks to be in his 70s, the youngest, 5 years old.

Now, although cannot see what the shift was, the seriousness of the ceremony has passed and the younger monks are playing with each other. They whisper to each other. Across from me, one blows his trumpet out of turn and smiles sheepishly at his neighbor. Yet the chanting continues, as it will for another hour.

This morning I woke up selfish, worrying about my own convienience, my own comfort, my own sleep. It takes seeing a ceremony so different than my own experience, yet so obviously important to remind me that the world that I live in is not just about me. The world is so much more and so much more for it. Even now, after I have left the monastery, there are monks there eating, sleeping, praying, even playing. They too are living their lives and that thought makes life wonderful.

As the dance ended, we shared a few words, and I'd like to share mine with you.

I shared that as a teacher, an educator, this semester has been such a gift. It reminds me of how I really connected with one teacher in particular during high school. He really engaged me, made me think about what we were studying, and also about my own life. It felt like the learning was going both ways, like he was also thinking about and wrestling with the ideas as we worked our way through U.S. History. As time went on, he stayed in my life, as a mentor, and then a friend, and more recently as a colleague...and over the ten years or so that I've known him, I've sometimes wondered how he can go so deep with his students, only to have his classroom emptied and filled with new faces each year.

I don't know where my connections with these current students will go, though I think and hope that they'll continue and grow. What I do know is that we've shared something quite special as a group, and that feels amazing as a teacher and mentor. I hope the experience has something in common with what I described above. It feels like that to me.

OK, now that I've been serious, let me now say that I'm sitting here all alone at an internet shop as the rest of the group is having a salon experience. I don't really know exactly what that means, but I'm expecting some students' and maybe Tracy's hair to be a bit shorter, nails to be smooth and colored, eyebrows to be neatly shaped...stuff like that. The tricky part is when they have their nails done in that clear or minutely colored style, and I think it's supposed to just look nice, but not like there's anything done to them...then I don't know whether I'm supposed to offer a compliment, or pretend like it's so natural looking that I didn't notice. Guys have it so hard!

And then I must wonder what would happen if we had 5 male students along with Tracy and me. Would we be going to lift weights or watch rikshaw engines being fixed while Tracy checked her email? I think not, as she was just talking about doing arm exercises earlier today, and has also recently mentioned her immobile, but much loved car back home. Jokes aside, though, it's been wonderful traveling, learning, and laughing with these 6 women.

Time to go see the results...

Much love,

Harrison

Prom went great and Mika and Lara looked like true queens looking absolutely beautiful. We danced and drank some amazing punch made by Ellie and ate tons of cookies. We stayed up so late that sleepy delirium came over us and led to conversations of metaphorical cows and other silly nonsense. We did last minute shopping and found Namgial a present; a collared shirt with a belt buckle with a cowboy on it. We went to a monastery and saw the morning Puga with all the monks, I especially enjoyed seeing the adorable young monks. I even got to have some butter tea! I <3 butter tea. That was so nice to see and I had know idea people could chant as fast ast that head monk reciting the text. We also saw a huge, epic statue of Matrea. On our last day we hung prayer flags at Leh Palace and were off to the airport after. We got to Delhi and started being sticky in the envelope of high humidity here. We went to the salon yesterday so everyone could get the works, I must say, Lara and Ellie look awesome with their new hair of henna. So today we'll do last minute shopping, a fancy dinner tonight and then tomorrow...we leave :(

..."To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
We did it our way..."

~Tiffany

After I left tiff as I boarded the plane, I cried for three hours all of the way until Houston. This adjustment is going to be hard for me, but it has happened and I have to deal with it one way or another, but it will be hard.

Being back home feels as if I never left. That is such a weird feeling, it is as if you guys aren't around me physically, none if it could have happened. I mean, I know that I did, this is just how I was feeling in the airport today, and a bit right now. Weird weird feeling.

I just wanted to drop a quick note to everybody to let you know that I came in safely. I love you all so much, and I will miss waking up to you all tomorrow :(, here I go again, getting the keyboard all wet.

anyway, please everybody keep posting okay?
Harrison and Tracy, how are you doing? I hope you are doing amazingly well and I hope that your extra time in india is productive and meaningful. I love you both.

Lara

I'm hoping by now you have reached those places you might call home at this point and have had safe and meaningful reconnections with your family and friends... or just a good 36 hours of sleep after so much traveling. You've all been in my thoughts these past hours, of course. I have been running errands to print photos for P Namgial, closing bills at the hotel and connecting with Peter and Amit over future planning, but every place we are at, my eyes look to my wrist and I think, "What time do I need to meet the students?" and then I remember you're all back on the other side of the globe.
Harrison left for Dharamsala, and I keep expecting him to walk through the door of the hotel lobby as I type asking me when we are going to fill our bellies with Butter Paneer Masala at Gulnar.

*Sigh*

So it's been a tough transition so far - HB, Amit and Gaurav, and I (Nescafe in hand) waitied and watched you all as you were working your way through the check-in line at the airport the other night. Harrison asked me when he came back from the Nescafe run, "Is the Global LAB show still on??" as it felt like we were watching you and couldn't do anything but spectate. We left the airport reluctantly the other night after an hour realizing that there was nothing we could do but watch you. We returned to Ramu and the forlorn press van and pushed it around on the road for a while before deciding to leave it there for the night because it still wouldn't turn over. The rains came, and the thunder, and washed away the saddness for a bit until HB and I again realized we didn't have to meet you anywhere.

What I'm really trying to say is how much of an impact you all made on me this semester. Though it happens like this time and time again, this spring was special beyond words. The five of you coming together, different personalities creating our solid dynamic, was magic. I know you all felt it, and will feel the absence of it in the days, weeks, and months to come. I think Allie wisely said it best when she talked about the world continuing to turn... We all have the opportunity to be a significant part of each other's lives for years to come. How I am looking forward to that! I want to thank each of you, and each of your families, for allowing me the opportunity to learn from, travel with, and share with you during our time in India this spring.

I'm wishing you luck and love as you continue to make this transition back to life in the states, and I very much look forward to reflections and thoughts on what it is like to be back - how long it takes you to compare the chai at starbucks to the chai at Kanishka Palace - what it feels like to spend $3.50 on something - if you're already passing around hugs to your friends and family members letting them know how much you care about them.

Congratulations, Global LAB Spring 2008 Alumna. Our celebrations are well deserved - you all learned so much about India, about spirituality, and most importanly, about yourselves. May these experiences together support your future adventures. Keep each other in your hearts and minds. I'm sending you all my good wishes and energy for your health and happiness.

SO MUCH LOVE TO YOU,

Tracy

Here are some reentry resources for you that I've collected over the years. I do have some paper articles back in the states that I can send you about the process of reentering your home culture and how to make that transition back to the states a most productive one. I’ve used the first two before with student groups and found them a while back just by searching “reverse culture shock” or “reentry shock” on any search engine. The third link I just found today, and the last link is from SIT. Feel free to google any of these terms and see what comes up.

Enjoy them… I hope that you’re all happy and healthy these days. I miss you all very much.

Much Love to you,

Tracy

http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/overseas/faq/culture_shock/culture_shock.html

http://international.missouri.edu/studyabroad/after/cominghome.shtml

This is an interesting website I came across while searching… (Seems Jennifer has an interesting perspective on her travels in India. Makes me think about what you all would put on a list like this…)
http://members.tripod.com/~jennifer_polan/india/backtousa.html

Check out this resource, from the School for International Training, written to parents of students who study abroad. Sometimes reading material written for another audience gives you a different perspective on your own experience:
http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/parents/docs/parent_reentry_handbook.pdf

I made it home safe. But I did get jet lag pritty bad. I woke up yesterday very dehidrated, and spent all day drinking water and doing nothing. I am much better today but still not 100%. It is good to be home and see my family and my kitties. But it is weird not being in India, I could go for a tomato utapom right now.

My aunt is flying in today to visit and hear about India. and sometime after she leaves i will head up to Boone to find a job for the summer.

I hope you are all doing ok and did not get sick like i did.

Tootles
Allie

It has been a bunch of interesting days filled with lots of travel and spending time with friends since I last saw you all. I'm here at SECMOL now helping out with their summer camps which is quite similar and quite different from the summer camps I have worked at in the past. There are just about 200 people on the campus here, which is more than they have ever had living here at one time. Ladakhi students from blocks far from Leh are here practicing English, learning about Ladakhi history and culture that isn't taught in school. There are even two or three from Domkhar High School!

I had a wonderful journey through Jammu and Kashmir to get up to Ladakh -- I wanted to do something different than just fly from Delhi, so I spent four days in buses and shared jeeps crossing through Srinagar (look on a map, Ellie) and some amazing passes that are just totally dramatic. As you are driving through, the valleys are greener than you ever thought green could be, and the mountain peaks are reaching up so far you have to wrench your neck to get a good view from the car window... not to mention the glaciers that are just sitting in the small valleys and the cars drive so close to the ends that you can reach out and touch the ice. It was the first time I had ever seen a glacier in real life (my B.A. was studying about the glaciation of the Northeastern U.S.) so all of these concepts fell into place as I passed one and I saw all the sand, rocks, gravel, and random things drip drip dripping away. So, the trip was long, but rewarding and I'm happy to be back in this community and able to contribute again.

Right now, as I'm typing, I can hear Paldan teaching traditional Ladakhi dance to a group of the summer campers -- they are yelling loudly and giggling!

I'm thinking a lot about all of you and your transition back to the states... how's it going? What's new? What things have you noticed now that you've been back for a while? Tiff and Ellie, how's the project going?

Keep us all updated!

love,
T

More specifically, Hello Tracy, Harrison, Al, Allie, Lara, Mika, and Tiff! I miss you guys and now we are truly spread out. I am home safe... from Canada. hehe. Canada was good. It was a little strange to leave houston 5 days after getting back. And now here I am, at 7 pm, sitting upstairs in my PJ's, waiting for my friend, Michelle to come over. (She is bring me cookies, I am more than a little excited!) I am hungry, and soon my big family ( I am at my dad's) will crowd around a table and eat dinner together. This is good. I missed this. I also miss you guys.

Being in the US has been an excercise in memory. I keep getting a little lost, forgetting what I am doing and remembering times past. In some ways it has been easier than getting back from Morocco- Jetlag was not that bad and I did not feel as reverse culture shocked (I did not feel like I had to hide from the world and hang out at my house, readjusting, for as many days as before.) I have been feeling sad. In this semester, I felt more sad during actual leaving part, maybe because we left our lovely leaders behind... (How are you lovely leaders?! hehe)

But, life is good here. busy. It has been nice seeing my friends and family. Two days after I got back, I got a job as a party coordinator for a reception hall. I am working as a coordinator part time in the afternoons and in the mornings, I work for as a personal assistant. (Remember MOL? heh) Right now the coordinator job is slightly stressful/ keeping me busy. The hall is new and I am working on organizing and unifying slightly scattered information. It is kind of like detective work, putting together the pieces of how to run a successful reception hall. I am enjoying it.

So that is that. Mr. F and I will be working on our project soon. She is in Arizona, and I am trying to get a running start on this job. We will start soon. I am still emailing my host mom. I still have one I need to reply to actually...
Also, I will send you guys everyone's addresses soon. (Lara, I found Tracy and Harrison's, oops...)
Aaaand MIKA!!!! I am so excited that you chose American. I tried calling you a few times, I am guessing that you are in Spain. I cant wait to hear all about it! Shoot me an email? On that note, how is everybody else?
I cant wait to hear from you all.

Now, I am going to bed. It is time to catch up on some sleep!

lovelovelove,

ellie

PS Lara! I loved the package. Thank you and I am sorry that your cell is not working!

Anyway, so I just wanted to give a shout out to everybody that is still checking this, I am sending all of my love ever second of the day to all of you, and hope that you are all doing well. I love you soooooooooooooooooo much (all of you :)

love love love love
lara

REquiem for a Dream
Peter Pan(the real people)
Waking LIfe
Dazed and Confused
The Dreamers
Snatch
Orpheus( French with no subtitles, Ellie's doing)
The Science of Sleep
Emperor's New Groove
Cowboy Bebop
ATHF
Team America
Spice Girls
The Last Unicorn
South Park Imagination Land
Factory Girl
You ,Me, and Everyone we know

Tiffany Update
Because I have not blogged no one has known the whereabouts of me. When I first came home from INdia the Texas plans were not clear and ready yet so I got a job at this cool coffee shop where there was live music like jazz and what not, every night. I visited Brendan in June ;) and I also got my wisdom teeth taken out. Just thought everyone should know. Anyways a last minute decision to move to Austin sooner than later came about a couple of weeks ago. I booked a ticket to Austin so I could find an apartment. Everything worked out and I ended up finding one over that weekend. After a week I left home for Houston, Tx to visit Ellie for a week before I went and started my life over in Austin. I'm sad because we only have two more days together. It's been a lot fun and we finally have acheived our goal of having a movie marathon. Now here's Ellie...

Ellie Update,

Hello my lovely friends! Well, I have been good. This summer has been passing by ridiculously quickly. I am working a lot, and leave for college August 15. Mika, I cant wait to see you there! Right now I am a I am little sleepy, but although I will work tommorow, I shall not sleep tonight! Movies call! hehe. Well, I will sleep a little bit.. So, life is busy, and but I shall be mindful of the present moment. :) and the fact that Mr. Frodo is here, and we are "talking" to you guys, our shanti sisters and brother.

So, what is going on RIGHT NOW. Well, I just took out the MONSTER cookies that tiff and I baked and Tiff is wearing her HOBBIT teacher with, (Guess what Tracy!) Gandalf on it!!! Tonight she and my friends and I went to Houston's very own Hobbit Cafe!!!

Well, it is time for our next movie, so we will check out, but we would love for you guys to join in on our marathon, and make it even more amazing! Tell us if you watch one, or if you have other ideas! We love you all! Let us know how your lives are, pleeeaaase!

Love,

Mr. Frodo & Sam!

PS Yes, we are still calling each other that!

But it was an outdoor all day concert and it ended up raining twice that day, so that hurt our turn out, and all the vendors besides the 2 food vendors we had left after the second rain. We were planing of sending all the money we earned to the headquarters of SFT to help send someone to the Olympics to protest but with the rain i don't think we made much of a profit if any. But at least we spread the word some if nothing else.

Besides that my summer has been full. I got a job at the grocery store. And iv been raising Silk worms as well. They are so cute. I could sit and watch them for hours. I just find them fascinating. They are spinning cocoons now and it is awesome watching them do that as well. and in about 3 weeks i will have lots of silk butterflies. Then i will get to spin the silk into strands.

Ill put up pictures of the silk worms at flicker acount alliet03.

Do you guys want me to collect pictures from India from everyone and then send them to all of you so we have each others photos too. The only one of you all that has tries is Laura. I would still like to do that. I could send you memory cards and you could send them back with you India Images. would you do that if i sent you memory cards?

Well it was nice to hear from you Tiff Ellie and Laura. Sounds like your having fun. Good luck in TX Tiff, and have fun at school Ellie, and Mika and Laura too.

Allie

I don't know how much silk i will actually get. It wont be enough to make anything big i know. Right now there are only 3 silk moths still alive. But i have a tone of eggs for next spring and the collection of used cocoons that i will spin.

I found a cool website of free learn Hindi podcasts and it had Hindi music too if anyone is interested.

http://learnhindipodcast.blogspot.com/

The SFT concert did end up making some money and we sent that of to SFT before the Olympics started to help send someone over to protest. But in my speech i gave a brief history and the talked about how kind and the Tibetans were to me. I talked about how they wanted to keep their culture intact.

This semester i am taking Jewelry making 2,fibers and Asian art history. We are currently studying Indian, art Hindu and Buddhists. I have seen a few of the pieces we are studying in person which is always awesome. the class is a good addition to what I learned and saw while in India. Fibers will be interesting as well after seeing different stages of sari making.

I will put some of my photos on Flicker. I just don't know how to get on it. Could you e mail me with the name and password Tracy?

Tracy how are things going with you? looking forwards to the new group? And how was your retreat?

And everyone else how is school going or life?

Tootles
Allie