making contact

well, ive been prompted to write owing to the earthquake here. i'm not too far from the epicentre relative to earthquake distance. the walls of my room were like jello when it hit, but luckily my building is fine except for some plaster falling down. of course a fat woman could sneeze and the same reslt would happen. beautiful here in my little mountain retreat. winter is coming soon and there is already snow on the mountains in the first range. Indi is still India and i love it somehow. on the bus from Delhi to Mcleod Ganj (hill station of major Tibetan settlement) i mused over the things that were shocking to me the first time here, but are now rather familiar and sometimes comical. at 3:00 am we stopped for a break. it was on the side of the road beside a little tea stand. on the other side a metal factory was booming. there was lots of huge trucks. no toilets, of course, so there i was peeing beside the tire of one of the trucks. i couldn't help but laugh. my region has had more rain this monsoon that usual. some of the roads were washed away and only partially 'fixed', which makes me a little nervous sometimes. but when you live here everyone fully believes (unless your muslim) in continous rebirth (unless also of course you become enlightened) so death isn't that big of a problem. since i've been back i've been studying with my teacher mostly. speaking Tibetan, reading etc. My teacher is completely wonderful. he is teaching me spoken Tibetan, Buddhist Dhama, history etc, and explains as much of Tibetan cultre to me as possible. Has been great to see my friends again. i'm ever learning so much from them and they never seem to tire of teasing me so i guess fair is fair. i moved into a new room 4 days ago and i'm thrilled because it has water and a toilet! it's not what you would expect in the Western sense, but for here it's luxury. i can't say that i miss canada at all, except for you parents if your reading. i enjoy my work enormously, and this is my bit of quiet and peace. i went to see a tibetn doctor, who put me on regiment of diet, Tibetan herbal pills three times day, mantra recitation and meditation. we'll see if i come back a ray of luminous light. i'll try to log on more frequently now on. i've gotten over my can't wait to forget about canada phase. i guess some were concerned about the earthquake. i do urge people to donate to the relief fund, although i'm not sure how the money would be spent etc. unfortunately for those in the mountain regions, such as where i live myself, if your cut off your cut off. and when winter comes your only more screwed than you were before the earthquake came. These are poor people who live in shitty circumstances to begin with (although i can't argue they're any happier or sadder then your average canadaian) ... the quake, like the situation in New Orleans only highlights their normal existence.
toodle pip