July 4th in India consisted of watching Bollywood films in the rain and making falafel with Apurvi and Mariam for dinner. Rakesh and our other Indian men truly enjoyed our Greek feast-Apurvi says she knows when Jeetu and Rakesh like something because they'll take seconds-and huge portions at that.
We then proceeded to throw ourselves a July 4th party on the balcony with makeshift fireworks thanks to the ever-so-magical itunes equalizer. I played the Star Spangled Banner on my guitar and we screamed it from our Indian rooftop. It really was a fantastic, unconventional Independence Day.
We woke up Monday morning to find out the gas prices had raised and all of the drivers in Dharamsala were striking. Nobody went to work. We hiked about an hour up to a beautiful little temple to start the day and came home around lunchtime to find 13 new people (mostly army dudes) in our house. Home-base is very overwhelming. Therefore, we have constantly been escaping.
Indian and Tibetan men swoon over Brittany-therefore..we called her personal driver and the five of us escaped to our favorite places in Mcleod. We went to our favorite vegetarian restaurant, got REAL coffee (a necessity when you drink INSTANT coffee at home), did some shopping, and made a stop in His Holiness's temple. Every Tibetan in Mcleod was in a great mood-The Dalai Lama would be coming tomorrow for his 75th birthday celebration. The temple was decked out in banners, chairs, and roped off sections. There was something in the air-an excitement as if every single Tibetan in this land was turning the grand age of 75.
Brittany is volunteering at an adorable little cafe that is a completely non-profit organization that helps Tibetans in need of work. Their tea is horribly sweet and served in the tall glass mugs that kill your hands (why do they do this in India??) but the people are wonderful, they sell beautiful hand-sewn work, and they have the best baked goods in the Himalayas. They also have some rad speakers and the cute Tibetan boy working with Brittany asked me to put my music on because his ipod had died. Luckily, Anita and Apurvi swoon over my tunes and are begging me to start a music blog when I leave, so this went over well with the crowd. We hardcore jammed in this tiny tiny cafe to Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, and Pretty Lights. So I chowed down on banana crisp crumbs (provided by Brittany after she took a load out of the oven) with 5 of my best friends in India as the sun went down, talking with the enthusiastic Tibetans about the day to come, and thinking that this one of the priceless aspects of Dharamsala.
July 6, 2010
Brittany and I woke up early (despite my late night Mindi session and second half of a Bollywood film). In the pouring rain, we came back to the temple for His Holiness's birthday party. They wouldn't let us bring ANY electronics into the temple (we usually can). All the westerners were running around trying to find places to store their things. We ended up leaving our stuff behind a hotel lobby desk and running to the temple with our umbrellas. IT WAS CRAZY. We were jam packed into the temple with hundreds of Tibetan monks and the occasional white traveler. Somehow, we ran into a friend from California who we watch the world cup games with at our rooftop hot spot. He's here to interview lamas about lucid dreaming, but having very little luck documenting their secretive ways.
Anyways, the temple is packed. Everyone is pushing (even the cute little monks). It's crazy. Everyone is soaking wet, everyone is getting poked in the face with umbrellas, and we are packed like sardines. SOMEHOW, we make it directly across from the Dalai Lama himself. And when I say directly across-I mean that if I had a clear path in front of me, I could have easily made it to him in less than 10 seconds-most definitely less distance than a 50 yard dash. We watched him sit in his chair accepting gifts, listening to speakers, and smiling with his cute face and large, overpowering glasses. It was fantastic.
We've been coffee shop hopping all day and walking from Mcleod to Bhaksu to Dharamkat...it's been beautiful despite the rain. And quiet despite the ruckus of His birthday.
I've been working on some panoramics and will dedicate my next post to photo projects.
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