Dec 16 Varanasi

This morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and walked down to Assi Ghat to watch the sunrise over the Ganges. At sunrise is when most people, especially women, come down to the river to bathe and to perform pujas--prayer rituals.

As the sun rose, so did the noise along the bank. One man sitting on a platform was belting laughter so loud I could hear him from upstream long before I could see him. To raise his arms high and let out this laughter is part of his daily spiritual routine--an exercise in spreading joy and happiness.

This city intrigues me. People come to a city rotting in its own bile for enlightenment. The men's mouths are so stuffed with this chewing tobacco called paan that they can't speak but just drool on themselves. And the walls of the ghats serve as a public toilet that stretchs the entire length of the river's run through the city. The pilgrims lay their prayers and their plastic wastes on these waters simultaneously. As much as this city intrigues me, it fails to strike me as a holy city at any time other than sunrise. It's a wasteland freak show. But it's still one of the most fascinating places I've ever been.

The combination of filth and elegance in Varanasi somehow comes together in a homogenous concoction of humanity.

Yes Madame? A boat for you?

Taking a few steps back...

Dec 15 Varanasi

I left Dharamsala on Friday night for Delhi. Phoebe and I were supposed to travel together to Varanasi, but Friday morning she got sick and was too nauseous to get on the bus. Since my time in India is running up, I opted to travel on alone.

I arrived in Delhi early Saturday morning just as the sun was coming up. The full moon was still out in the smoggy sky. I was really nervous about traveling by myself, but so far it has gone quite smoothly and I've felt rather safe the whole way through. The train makes me a bit stressed. The tickets are so poorly marked and there are no signs on the platforms telling which trains are coming and going. And in the words of the boy who sat across from me, "Indian Railway--always late. If not late, then it wouldn't be Indian Railway." This morning the train was supposed to arrive at 7:30am. 7:30 came and went, then 8:30, then 9:30 and I was panicked I had somehow missed the stop. But I was reassured the train was "only" 2 hours late--apparently that's not so bad.

And I made it.

I was walking along the ghats of the Ganges this afternoon when a little girl selling prayer candles ran up beside me. I had already shook off about five of these kids selling candles, but this one made me cave. She popped up beside me and said, "Hi! What's your name? I'm Anita. Would you like a prayer candle for a blessing for your family? It will give everyone good health and karma."

I told her that Anita was my grandmother's name, and now I have a cousin named Anita who is the same age as her.

"Where is your cousin?" She asked.

"In America."

"There's an Anita who lives in America?!" She was so excited that there was an Anita in India and in America. I bought a prayer candle surrounded by marigolds from her, and she lit it and placed it in the Ganges, softly splashing water at it to float it away from the bank. And off it drifted down the river carrying its prayers for the health and good karma of the family.

For each candle she sets adrift for Western tourists, I hope Anita places her own prayers.

Finally

I'm home!!! But it's too cold here. So I'm going to turn around and go right back. Maybe not right back. I think I'll have to work off the debt from this trip first. And by then it'll be warm again. Oh well. It was fun.

On the move again

I'm leaving Dharamsala tonight for Varanasi with a friend. I'll stay there until the 17th, then will take the train back to Delhi and go straight to the airport to fly home.

I'm all packed up and excited for Varanasi, but I'm dreading the 12hr bus ride down the mountain. I have mixed feelings about leaving Dharamsala, too. This morning I walked the Kora that circles the temple and spent about an hour sitting in the sun under the prayer flags watching the eagles. I figured it's the best way to feel a good bye, like in Catcher in the Rye.

Now it's on to Varanasi to get the shit kicked out of my senses one last time to draw my travels to a close.

International Human Rights Day

Lama Dances

Lama...not Llama...just to get things straight right off the bat.

The Sherabling Monastery in Bir hosted the Lama Dances yesterday. It's a day-long performance that celebrates the eight manifestations of Buddha (the Lamas). The performance ran from 9am until around 6pm, with occasional recesses for chai.

It was on par with any broadway musical as far as elaborate costuming goes. The Lama dances are a 300 year old tradition that ended when China invaded Tibet in 1959. This is the third year since the tradition was reestablished in exile.

Bir is another Tibetan refugee community down in the valley about 2 hours from Dharamsala. I hired a cab to get to the monastery where I met up with my friend Khenrab, who had been in Bir since Thursday filming a documentary about the dances. He actually grew up in Bir, and everyone he introduced me to was either a brother, sister, cousin, in-law, or something familial.

Last night after the dances I stayed in a guest house then rode back up to McLeod with Khenrab on his bike. Turns out extended rides on motorcycles aren't very comfortable, especially with camera gear strapped to your back. And to make the ride more enjoyable, I got stung by a bee on my hand. If you blow up a latex glove like a balloon--that's what my hand looks like now. Maybe in the end it was fortunate, though. Khenrab pulled off the road to make sure I was ok, and right below us there were two brown bears sleeping.

Changing the subject: I booked my bus ticket for Delhi. I'm leaving McLeod Friday night, getting in to Delhi Saturday morning, and hopefully leaving the same day by train for Varanasi for the remainder of my stay. I'm traveling with my friend Phoebe, and will be meeting up with some other volunteers in Varanasi. I'll take the train from Varanasi back to Delhi to arrive the morning of Dec 18, get all my luggage, then head to the airport to catch my flight that takes off at 1:00a.m. 19 Dec.

It was bound to happen at some point

I suppose it wouldn't have been a complete experience in India without getting sick at least once. Since this morning I've been exploding vile wastes from my body. The timing is just perfect, really. The Special Meetings end, during which I got to meet the Dalai Lama, and work starts to slow up a bit.

My neighbors in Victoria House took such good care of me. Azay made me tea, and Guruji gave me papaya, which really is a miracle fruit for the stomach. I'm a sworn believer now. I watched Tom and Jerry cartoons with Khenrab, who still laughs at them like he's six years old on a Saturday morning. There was also a lot of REALLY great movies playing. Like Rambo and The Terminator!. That kept me occupied for about five minutes.

And word travels fast in a small town. Especially a one-bar town. I get a call from one friend to go out, but said no, I was sick. Within ten minutes, about ten people had called me to say they heard I was ill and could they do anything for me. Fortunately, it turned out to be only food poisoning and within about 12 hours was feeling better.

Thank goodness for good friends, cartoons, and Indian biscuits.

I'm safe

In case you were watching the news, I'm no where near Mumbai and am safe up in Dharamsala, almost as far from Mumbai as you can get. Dharamsala is a small mountain village that's highly protected by police.

Always an opportunity to teach, and always to learn

This evening at the cafe I gave Dorjee an impromptu English lesson: how to pronounce "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Lacking an iPod to play the song for him, I had to settle for printing off the lyrics. He absolutely mastered the word but got a little too ambitious in trying in the same night to take on "antidisestablishmentarianism." But he asked for the longest word I knew.

In turn, I tried to learn the traditional Tibetan greeting for the new year: I got as far as "Tashi Delek" (good wishes), which is kind of cheating anyway, because I already knew that much. It's how to say 'hello.' But the entire greeting goes on for about four breaths. If you say it fast.

Just when you think you've grown up a bit Part II

On my way back from the Dalai Lama Temple:

-"Hello! Hey! Hey!" someone from behind me is calling, so naturally I make the mistake of turning around. "Hey, you know my friend? Kelsong?" It's the same guy that was at the Diwali party on my roof.

-"Yeah, I remember you two. Your friend who's soooo afraid to talk to girls?"

"Yeah. He really wants to talk to you. And I will translate. When I saw you walk by earlier, I called him and told him you were on your way to the temple. So I was waiting for you to come out. Because he wants to talk to you."

-"So you're stalking me?"

-"Yeeaah!"

Maybe, hopefully, 'stalking' is just one of those words that just doesn't quite translate. If I give it a few days, it'll all just go away. There's a big group of American students fresh out of high school just arrived in town. And it'll take about 5 minutes for my two little friends to latch on to them. Is it bad to be thinking 'Hey, it's not my problem!'? I'm sure they have chaperons anyway.

A small list of firsts

It was a long day...

-first press pass
-first international press conference where I sat in between the reporters from Newsweek and London Financial Times
-first cup of Tibetan butter tea (gross!)
-first time wearing a chupa (traditional Tibetan dress and official uniform of the Central Tibetan Administration employees)
-heard a guru play sitar

And...(don't read this one, Mom)

-first time riding sidesaddle on the back of a motorcycle.Almost ran over a monkey.

Taking a deep breath...

It's a big week coming up for Tibetan people and Tibetan news, and I'm already two weeks in without a full day off. On Sunday the Tibetan delegation will hold their first press conference following their return from Beijing over a week ago. China's already released their statements, so it's well known by now that the talks failed to gain any ground.

Starting Monday, Tibetan officials and invited guests will begin a series of meetings and discussions with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the future approach to dealing with China. It's suspected that among the topics for discussion will be who will take the place of His Holiness as political Head of State for the Tibetan government in exile, and whether or not to maintain the efforts for autonomy in place of complete independence.

To catch up on exactly what is the conflict over Tibet, I would recommend Thomas Laird's "The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama." It really is the least-boring history book you'll ever read. I read it this summer before leaving for India.

Follow the news this upcoming week. And as always, pray for peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press

The Tibet Post

My first articles:
"Barack Obama Wins 2008 US Presidential Election"
"China Arrests Tibetan Monk Jigme"

and more pictures uploaded.

Tibetan Delegates Travel to Beijing

Six Tibetan delegates travelled to Beijing on Thursday, October 30, 2008 to present the Chinese government with a detailed description of the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) demand for autonomy within the People’s Republic of China (PRC).


The CTA is asking for an autonomy in which a democratic Tibetan administration be allowed to form and to regulate all domestic issues of the Tibetan people, leaving control of foreign policy and relations in the hands of the Chinese government. The delegates representing His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the CTA are senior envoy Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, junior envoy Gelsang Gyaltsen, and three senior assistants Sonam Norbu Dhepo, Bhuchung Tsering, and Kelsang Tsering.


Secretary of the CTA Department of Information and International Relations Mr. Thubten Samphel said that in Beijing the delegates will spell out in detail to the Chinese exactly what is meant by autonomy. “What we want is on the table and there is nothing hidden behind our proposal. His Holiness is a Buddhist monk—he cannot, he does not play this sort of cat-and-mouse game,” he said. Since the 1980s His Holiness and the CTA have conceded demands for complete independence, taking up instead a middle-ground approach for autonomy within the PRC. “What we have and what we consider precious is our culture. Because of this, political things like independence do not matter to the extent that we gain enough freedom to protect and promote this culture. Then we can live with the Chinese government,” Samphel said. Still, Chinese accusations that the Dalai Lama is separatist have inhibited previous talks between the Tibetan delegation and China. “Right now what China is doing is indulging in this blame game saying His Holiness is the cause of all the problems in Tibet. And our position is that these problems are there because of the implementation of wrong and shortsighted policies,” Samphel continued.


The Tibetan delegation will also petition the Chinese government to let Tibet be open to international media, to send an international delegation to investigate who is behind the unrest in Lhasa instead of placing accusations on His Holiness, and to provide free medical care to those injured in the uprisings back in March of this year.


In a series of recent public appearances, His Holiness has lashed out at the Chinese accusations and their unwillingness to cooperate through dialogue, and is considering retiring from his responsibilities of dealing with the Chinese central government, to be discussed in a meeting on November 17 in Dharamsala. In a speech delivered at the 48th anniversary of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) His Holiness said, “I have reached a decision that I can no longer bear this responsibility. I see no useful purpose being served by my continuing to take up this responsibility.” After his statement received worldwide attention, the CTA maintains that the media misrepresented him.


“His Holiness said he is impatient. He said his faith and trust in the Chinese leadership is growing weaker. But at the same time he qualified his statement [at the TCV] by saying if there is a positive response from the Chinese then he will bear the burden of trying to resolve the issue,” Samphel clarified. “If there is this will then he is willing to carry forward, push forward the dialogue process,” he said.


This week’s meetings are the eighth round of talks between Beijing and the Tibetan delegation since the first meeting in September of 2002, and are the first face-to-face exchange since the closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic games and the March political unrest that preceded the games with a series of protests and demonstrations staged in Lhasa. “If there is one thing that is very clear, it is that there is this widespread, deep support and sympathy for the concerns of the Tibetan people. This is something good that came out of the Olympic games and the protests that followed the torch,” said Samphel.

(article running in "Compassion in Action" Newsletter, November 2008)

Because you can

"On 20 Nov 2007 three teenage monks were brutally beaten by police. One of the monks, Tsering Gyaltsen, was beaten particularly severely after police found him wearing a photo of the Dalai Lama around his neck. China is a State Party to the UN Convention against Torture and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In both these conventions, torture has been absolutely prohibited under any circumstances but in reality it occurs unabated in Tibet with impunity.

In Tibet, it is commonplace for Tibetans to be detained, arrested, imprisoned and tortured for exercising their right to freedom of expression and opinion, and other rights intrinsic to the freedom of thought and religion. Security forces routinely resort to arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and torture in response to non-violent protests, including displaying the Tibetan flag or any other innocuous symbols of cultural identity, staging peaceful demonstrations, possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama, and pasting and distributing political leaflets."--from the Human Rights Situation in Tibet Annual Report 2007 by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

Because in Tibet it could cost them their lives, where anywhere else it costs us nothing, fly the flag. Carry a picture of the Dalai Lama, stick it to your cubicle wall, to a notebook, to your car window. Not because you are Buddhist, or Tibetan, but because you are human. And because you have rights as a human that your government will acknowledge and protect. That cross that's hanging around your neck? Touch it. Be grateful. And fly the flag for a Free Tibet.

Just when you think you've grown up a bit

Here's a little anecdote.

So it's Diwali, and we're hosting a party on our rooftop. I'm enjoying the fireworks and my rum when someone comes up to me and says, "Hi. My friend thinks you're cute. But he's really shy." His friend is one of the servers who works at the Tibetan coffee shop First Cup where I have breakfast every morning. Until now, I thought it was just for the sake of asthetics that my cappuchino was served with a heart drawn in the foam of the steamed milk every morning.

"He's really shy huh? Doesn't like talking to girls?" I reply, thinking this is too close to middle school for comfort, and need to find an escape pretty soon.

"Well, it's not really that he's shy. He just doesn't speak any English."

Yeah...I see this really going somewhere.

A list of the extraordinary

Part I: Mountaineering

-conveniently inconvenienced by a flight delay that left me stuck in Paris for a day
-waking up my first morning in India early enough (jet lag) to see the sun come up on my first view of the Kumaon Region of the Himalayas
-learning to say hello (namaste) thank you (danyabar) what is your name (apka naam ka hai) and other vital and civil Hindi phrases
-observing (not participating, I swear) in hash production during harvest season in the village of Khati
-learned to wipe my ass with my hand (extraordinary experience, but not pleasant)
-each and every cup of masala chai I drank
-trying to sit in a tent for five days patiently waiting for the rain to stop
-Attending a puja: Hindu prayer ceremony. Baba Ji blessed us and marked our foreheads with a Tikka for a safe expedition leaving Zero Point.
-Waking up every morning to a sunrise view of Nanda Devi
-Counting ten shooting stars in one night.
-Standing at 18,500 ft
-sleeping in straw hut chai shops as we hiked out the Milam Valley
-First shower in thirty days, a pillow, a bed, and a phone call when we reached Mansyiuri
-Jeep ride of death down and out of the foothills
-looking in the mirror and realizing I lost about 15 pounds and two cup sizes
-getting stuck in rickshaw in a traffic jam with an elephant in downtown Delhi
-The Taj Mahal
-drinking cocktails at a five-star hotel with a view of the Taj under the full moon to celebrate my 22nd birthday

Learning Patience in internet cafes

I've posted more photos at http://himalayamountaineering.shutterfly.com of my time in McLeod Ganj thus far. I've been slacking on the blog posts because I can never seem to remember to grab my journal as I'm heading out the apartment. And if you saw the stairs I walk up every day to get into town...well, I'm not going to turn around for it. But they're coming. Eventually.

So chill out. Mom. :)

Home sweet home

I found an apartment today, beautiful view, nice landlord, nice neighbors. I don't think I've ever met so many people in so short a time. Everyone here is displaced from somewhere else in the world, and so everyone is compassionate and understanding about what it feels like to be a stranger in a new place.

The Dalai Lama returned to McLeod Ganj today from Delhi, where he was undergoing surgery. Banners were hung above the road entering the village, lotus flowers were painted on the pavement,and all the Tibetan men and women dressed up in their finest traditional dress to welcome him home. We got a quick glimpse as he drove by on his way to the monastery. He is staying here in McLeod for quite awhile to rest and recover, which is fortunate for me because normally he spends more time away than home. I'm hoping to hear him speak on Oct. 25th, his next scheduled public appearance to celebrate the anniversary of the TCV, the orphanage and school for Tibetan refugee children.

PS: My address is
Melissa Queen (Rm#405)
Victoria House
Jogibara Rd
McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala
Himachal Pradesh, India

Email me your address and I'll send a postcard!

The good stuff

Here are some of the highlights: http://himalayamountaineering.shutterfly.com

Namaste!

In case you were wondering, I made it out of the field alive. I've never had anything in my life go as smoothly as this expedition (unless you count being rained into a tent for 5 days). But on the bright side, while we were trapped in by the rain in the Pindari valley, it was dumping fresh snow on the glacier which made for PERFECT conditions for the traverse. So the moral of the story: we made it up and over the Dhanadura Pass at 18,500 with nothing but minor set backs.

After the NOLS course ended, I spent a few days in Delhi, a two days in Agra at the Taj Mahal (and at the full moon) and now I am in Dharamsala. I haven't started my job writing just yet, I'm hoping to work out all the details tomorrow. But hopefully I will have access to a computer, but in the meantime I'm paying for time at a cafe. Which translates into very brief posts, my apologies.

But most importantly, I wanted to let everyone know I am alive and well, and having the time of my life despite missing everyone :)

And, just so you know: when I get back to the states, if anyone mentions the words 'dhal' or 'rice'--I'll, well, I dunno what I would do. But I think I've already eaten enough to last the lifetime of at least 5 people.

And I'm out!

Everything is packed and loaded, and I'm off to the NOLS branch in Conway, WA. We'll spend all day Friday packing gear and rations, then fly out on Saturday.

Wish me luck!

But before I go, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me both emotionally and fiscally. I'll miss you all, but I know that the time will just fly by and before I know it I'll be home just in time for Christmas.

...entering radio silence: one month...

A little preview

This is what the next three and a half months of my life looks like, all piled into an incredibly large hockey bag. That's right. A hockey bag. Turns out that instead of paying $300 for department store luggage you can buy an 8,000+ cubic centimeter goalie bag for $40. Eat that, Macy's. And it even passed the official test: I can zip my entire self up in this bag (it was also a test of how much I trusted my roommate to unzip the bag and let me back out).

It's getting so very down to the wire and it's funny because I find myself deliberating over the silliest of decisions as if I were really deciding between cutting the blue or the red wire. I'm sure that in the scheme of things it really doesn't matter whether I buy the lavender or the apricot scented all-natural hippy deodorant (I'm going to end up smelling awful either way), or if I should choose the Ziploc or the Rubbermaid brand of plastic bowl. But something about my high expectations and apprehensions that makes even the most basic choices seem life-altering, as if my choice in sunblock brands will make or break this trip.

Whatever. I'm going. So I'll just figure it out along the way.

The rewards of doing your research

So last night I fell asleep while reading "The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama" by Thomas Laird. I was right in the middle of a chapter on Genghis Khan and the Mongol invasion of Tibet and China when I fell asleep...

[insert blurry dream-sequence transition here]

So, in a hybrid of Buddhist-style reincarnation and western pop culture, I dreamt the spirit of Genghis Khan became reincarnated in human form and to preemptively stop him from once again committing his horrible atrocities en-route of taking over the world, the Ghostbusters--I being one of them--were commissioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to exorcize his spirit from the human form he inhabited and trap him in a lower life form such as one of the fruit flies currently swarming my kitchen (that, unfortunately, is more than just a dream).

Regretfully, I woke up right before the exorcism was about to begin.

This dream, as incredibly bizarre as it was, was actually a nice change of pace from the recurring dream I've been having over the course of the summer where it is the night before I leave for India and my state of preparedness is quite lacking. One night I dreamed I was already on the plane in the air but without my passport, any money, or even any of my luggage.

So instead of waking up in a sweat, stressed out about everything I still need to do before I leave, I woke up laughing at myself: a ghostbuster serving at the pleasure of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

As my departure approaches

I'm coming up on about three weeks until I leave for India. I'm starting this blog so that all my friends and family can follow along with where I am and what I'm up to over the next three and a half months. YIKES. Just typing it..."three and a half months"...it seems so long!

So to catch everyone up:

On September 5th I will begin my National Outdoor Leadership School Mountaineering course in Conway, Washington. On September 6th I will fly out with the group of climbing students and our instructors from Seatac airport in Seattle to Delhi, India. From Delhi, we will bus to Ranikhet in the northeastern state of Uttarakhand. There we will begin trekking into the Himalayas. The course lasts 40 days in which we will learn everything from basic backpacking skills, to basic conversational Hindi, to technical glacier travel. I will "graduate" the NOLS course on October 15th and be reinstated back into civilization in Delhi.

After completion of the NOLS course I will spend a few days traveling in Agra (home of theTaj Mahal) and Delhi with a few of the other NOLS students, then travel north again to the village of Dharamsala, where I will volunteer as a contributing English writer for their village newspaper. Dharamsala, while not a grandiose village, has become home to Tibetan refugees fleeing China's persecution. It is now the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Parliament-in Exile. As I hope everyone is aware, this is a very important time for the Tibetan people both those in refuge and those still under oppression as the world watches China through the lens of the Olympic games.

While Tibet is a hotbed for political turmoil, the village of Dharamsala is protected by the Indian government and the near impenetrable wall of the Himalayan mountains. It is a safe and peaceful village that thrives on tourism, both secular and religious. I will reside there until I return to Delhi to fly home on December 19th.

Getting in touch:

I will not have access to telephones or internet during the NOLS course except in the event of an emergency. Once I am back in civilization I will utilize internet cafes to send out emails and if time allows, update this blog. I will be keeping a journal during my travels which I will post here in detail once I return to the states, allowing everyone to follow up on their own time instead of flooding your inboxes with lengthy emails.