Here is a picture of
Darjeeling - Dali Gonpa
Sikkim - Tashiding
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Alive and Well, Back in Darjeeling
Not too much to say. I had an excellent winter travelling around Nepal and India
Darjeeling - Dali Gonpa
Darjeeling - Dali Gonpa
Sunday, December 20, 2009
3 reflections on Delhi
a steel grey bird
lands on the cylinder
pipe
dripping water
14:19 pm
New Delhi railway
a shoe shine
tells of lost love
and gives tips on sandle care
wearing broken, dirty sandles
13:48 pm
Para Ganj Bazar
chana and fried paratha
is greasy and filling;
but they don't understand
when I ask for seconds
7:18 am
across from railway.
lands on the cylinder
pipe
dripping water
14:19 pm
New Delhi railway
a shoe shine
tells of lost love
and gives tips on sandle care
wearing broken, dirty sandles
13:48 pm
Para Ganj Bazar
chana and fried paratha
is greasy and filling;
but they don't understand
when I ask for seconds
7:18 am
across from railway.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Been a while, but all is well.
Hello all,
Everything is nice and quite here in Darjeeling, not a lot going on, which is good to report.
We had strikes here for a week or so last month and it looked like they might start again, but the news from the meetings held last week was good, and it looks like we are fairly safe from any more strikes. The strikes went across the whole city and closed all the shops and some schools for short periods.
The issue at hand mainly has to do with Darjeeling and the surrounding areas status in India. They want their own state within India. The population here is largely Nepali and so they have a different cultural identity and language from the Indian population below. This is an issue which has gone on for almost a hundred years, so it is nothing new nor particularly dangerous; and I am glad to report it looks like it is not an issue for quite a few months to come.
Generally, darjeeling is quite nice. It was an old English vacation spot, from when England was in control of India, and the influence is still very present. A lot of the houses are old English homes, and there are many old pretty English style buildings. Many of the people here joke that they wish the English never left :).
Actually there are still many tourists, and they are largely India, all though there is also a lot of foreigners. It is very much a tourist town, although unemployment is a huge problem. It is quite an odd situation, in that you see many fairly wealthy looking males my age or so who live with their family and can't find work. Because there is a fair amount of wealth about, you don't see the sort of abject poverty you see in Delhi, it is a more modern problem they have here. Young people with cell phones and mp3 players who can't find any thing to do for cash. Strange eh?
The family I am staying with is nice, very Tibetan, they say "Choe! Choe!" a lot (that means is eat, eat.) The food is excellent, very fresh and simple, mostly filling, although I usually need a few nuts in the morning, vegetarian food is not a Tibetan specialty.
Classes are going well. I think last time I wrote I wasn't sure if I would be taking the more advanced or the beginner class. I stuck with the advanced class and while I'm still behind, it's getting easier with time and I am definitely learning a lot. The classes hear are a lot of reading Tibetan texts and discussing them, a bit of grammar, and a bit of talking. They last about 4 hours a day, and for a hour or two additionally I have tutoring each day. In tutoring I am working hard at building fluency in grammar and at my accent. These two things are really tricky for me. I definitely sound very American when i speak Tibetan! :)
In class right now we are reading The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (A book of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy), His Holiness the Dali Lama's Biography (mostly focusing on his section on philosophy) and a Tibetan kids textbook (with lots of stories and pictures!) So there is a good bit of variety.
The other students in the classes are nice. We are quite small right now, only 5. We will fill up another 3 or so in the next couple weeks here, there are people traveling to different places. They are all really nice people, mostly my age, only a few Americans. Actually, in my class right now (which is in Tibetan and English) I am the only native English speaker. The rest of Europeans for whom English is their second language.
Not too much else to report. Still very rainy, lots of nice Hindu chanting in the morning when I wake up (I live next to a temple) and of course lots of excellent tea.
Ryan
Everything is nice and quite here in Darjeeling, not a lot going on, which is good to report.
We had strikes here for a week or so last month and it looked like they might start again, but the news from the meetings held last week was good, and it looks like we are fairly safe from any more strikes. The strikes went across the whole city and closed all the shops and some schools for short periods.
The issue at hand mainly has to do with Darjeeling and the surrounding areas status in India. They want their own state within India. The population here is largely Nepali and so they have a different cultural identity and language from the Indian population below. This is an issue which has gone on for almost a hundred years, so it is nothing new nor particularly dangerous; and I am glad to report it looks like it is not an issue for quite a few months to come.
Generally, darjeeling is quite nice. It was an old English vacation spot, from when England was in control of India, and the influence is still very present. A lot of the houses are old English homes, and there are many old pretty English style buildings. Many of the people here joke that they wish the English never left :).
Actually there are still many tourists, and they are largely India, all though there is also a lot of foreigners. It is very much a tourist town, although unemployment is a huge problem. It is quite an odd situation, in that you see many fairly wealthy looking males my age or so who live with their family and can't find work. Because there is a fair amount of wealth about, you don't see the sort of abject poverty you see in Delhi, it is a more modern problem they have here. Young people with cell phones and mp3 players who can't find any thing to do for cash. Strange eh?
The family I am staying with is nice, very Tibetan, they say "Choe! Choe!" a lot (that means is eat, eat.) The food is excellent, very fresh and simple, mostly filling, although I usually need a few nuts in the morning, vegetarian food is not a Tibetan specialty.
Classes are going well. I think last time I wrote I wasn't sure if I would be taking the more advanced or the beginner class. I stuck with the advanced class and while I'm still behind, it's getting easier with time and I am definitely learning a lot. The classes hear are a lot of reading Tibetan texts and discussing them, a bit of grammar, and a bit of talking. They last about 4 hours a day, and for a hour or two additionally I have tutoring each day. In tutoring I am working hard at building fluency in grammar and at my accent. These two things are really tricky for me. I definitely sound very American when i speak Tibetan! :)
In class right now we are reading The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (A book of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy), His Holiness the Dali Lama's Biography (mostly focusing on his section on philosophy) and a Tibetan kids textbook (with lots of stories and pictures!) So there is a good bit of variety.
The other students in the classes are nice. We are quite small right now, only 5. We will fill up another 3 or so in the next couple weeks here, there are people traveling to different places. They are all really nice people, mostly my age, only a few Americans. Actually, in my class right now (which is in Tibetan and English) I am the only native English speaker. The rest of Europeans for whom English is their second language.
Not too much else to report. Still very rainy, lots of nice Hindu chanting in the morning when I wake up (I live next to a temple) and of course lots of excellent tea.
Ryan
Friday, June 26, 2009
Uneventful and Pleasant Arrival
So I have arrived in Darjeeling, and I am happy to say I have little to report.
Classes are good, I may actually fall into the beginner catagory. I going to give the intermediate another shot monday with some preparation, because the subjects they are studying are much more in intresting. Well see, the begginer class is not bad, there is only one other student there and he has been living and studing in Darjeeling for about 4 months, which is quite alot of immersion. The other students are nice and the teachers are quite able.
I found a nice house with a Tibetan family above the center of town (they have a fantastic veiw from the porch) and they are very nice as well. They have been very kind overall and they are careful to speak mostly or almost only in Tibetan, which is really good.
Delhi was not bad, the area I stayed in Manjukatila is much nicer than Paragange where I stayed before. I did almost miss my train due to many mix ups (taxi drivers taking me to the wrong train stations, etc.) but it true India magic I hopped on my train as it was moving ;). Although later it stopped just a little down the tracks to load supplies, so I think I might not have missed it if I was a few minutes later, but it had a great dramatic effect. The train ride was really nice, they served me so much food I had to start refusing things, which the people riding with me thought was quite strange.
Other than that not much to report. I did also was like 5 kilometers to the Tibetan district of Darjeeling, only to find out that the center was in the center of town, that was kinda funny.
Take care everyone,
Ryan
Classes are good, I may actually fall into the beginner catagory. I going to give the intermediate another shot monday with some preparation, because the subjects they are studying are much more in intresting. Well see, the begginer class is not bad, there is only one other student there and he has been living and studing in Darjeeling for about 4 months, which is quite alot of immersion. The other students are nice and the teachers are quite able.
I found a nice house with a Tibetan family above the center of town (they have a fantastic veiw from the porch) and they are very nice as well. They have been very kind overall and they are careful to speak mostly or almost only in Tibetan, which is really good.
Delhi was not bad, the area I stayed in Manjukatila is much nicer than Paragange where I stayed before. I did almost miss my train due to many mix ups (taxi drivers taking me to the wrong train stations, etc.) but it true India magic I hopped on my train as it was moving ;). Although later it stopped just a little down the tracks to load supplies, so I think I might not have missed it if I was a few minutes later, but it had a great dramatic effect. The train ride was really nice, they served me so much food I had to start refusing things, which the people riding with me thought was quite strange.
Other than that not much to report. I did also was like 5 kilometers to the Tibetan district of Darjeeling, only to find out that the center was in the center of town, that was kinda funny.
Take care everyone,
Ryan
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
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