Week 7: 20-26 February

Most of the students have gone away for some time but there are a handful who are at the school as of Monday night. Last night I was talking to the youngest who is 18 and asked her what her story is of being here. She hadn't been to school in Tibet and left there with her parents when she was 13. They went to Nepal by bus and got in safely after paying bribes to the border guards. This is the safer but expensive way of crossing the border. Her parents stayed with her for two months while they got her to a school 4 hours from here. It is very big and had 3500 students who all live there as well. It must be like a village on its own. She liked being there and wearing the school uniform. She was able to advance through the school years well and came to this school last September on her own. She wasn't very comfortable as everyone else is older than her but she made a good friend soon, who is 20. This means that she hasn't seen her parents since she was 13 but she speaks to them regularly. She has a brother who is in Luxembourg and other siblings in other places.

She sometimes wants to go back to Tibet but knows how important it is to get her education over here. Despite being under the forced rule of the Chinese, she understands it is important to be able to speak Chinese for her job prospects. It is interesting to hear about such stories, especially to then compare them to own western lives.

I had thought of making a stand for my Kindle as, because you don't need to hold the pages open, you could sit and read it resting on a table. With me also needing to keep my hands warm, I decided to make one. I had a biscuit box that I cut into shape so that the Kindle rests on it. Additionally, to warm my hands, I used an old coffee jar filled with warm water to hold onto as I read so I managed to find answers to these two issues from just recycling things I already had.

The week has been pretty quiet. I gave two tuition classes on one day to three students who were around and wanted an extra class. This week was Tibetan new year, Losar. There weren't going to be any big celebrations of it this year, I think because of wanting to focus on protesting against China. The few students who were here prepared lots of food for Wednesday, including lots of bread sticks, pancakes and so on. It was very nice to join them with eating, even though we didn't do much else. I did play darts with a couple of them and explained how the points are scored on it as they didn't know how the board worked, and how the normal game is played.

On Thursday, all the teachers went to Rewalsar, which is about 6 hours away from here, still in the mountains though not in the Himalayas. We took three buses to get there but as soon as we arived we knew it was worth it. This is another largely Tibetan town, which is situated around a lake and between mountains. It is very picturesque with many colourful monasteries dotted around, including a Sikh temple.

We found a hotel with two cheap, basic rooms available. We later thought it was good that they were so cheap as the stray dogs certainly tried their best to prevent us from sleeping all night. We could very clearly hear about ten dogs barking continuously through most of the night, which was very annoying. If one starts barking, others feel that they need to respond and it sets off an almost never-ending cacophony. Ultimately, they are barking at nothing but they will continue it until they get tired.

Anyway, before that, we had a quick walk around the lake and got our bearings a bit but as it was already lateish, we would do everything the next day. We ate dinner early in the Kora café, which was good and did little else that evening.

In the morning, after we had managed to snatch some sleep, we started off by visiting the main temple on a hill where a 12 metre statue of Padmasambhava looks over the lake and the town. He was the Indian scholar who took Buddhism to Tibet in the 8^th century. 

The temple on which he sat was beautifully decorated and I took loads of photos. From there we hiked up a steep hill to visit caves where Padmasambhava meditated. 

Apparently, the proof is in his footprints in the rock, which are highly dubious, especially the one which is 2 metres off the ground and curiously carved into the cave wall. The funniest sight of the day was the secret cave, which was a brick house with a metal sign on, saying “The secret cave of...” and a padlock on the metal door. At least use a natural cave if you're going to claim that....

On the way down the hill (which was certainly good exercise), Kendall asked a woman if there was a wedding going on. We'd head music an seen a congregation on the way up. From this, she got dragged away to the party an we all followed. We sat there also with some Tibetans who had been invited (apparently it is good luck to invite more people to a wedding) and they even gave us lunch. We sat down with the Indians, on the floor, and had rice and various dishes served to us. We ate in the traditional way, which was using our fingers – not easy with rice. It was a nice surprise for us and good to do some real Indian things instead of just being tourists.

We went back down after that and visited some more temples and I went for a coffee while the others visited one last monastery. As we'd eaten a lot, we didn't have dinner but bought some wine to try and help us sleep better through the canine choir. It didn't do much for me but it wasnt quite so noisy the second night. We had breakfast and got the buses back. The journeys wouldn't be so bad if there was enough leg room but I found it uncomfortable on each bus and I had to sit in a twisted position every time which is not fun after so many hours.

We got back on Saturday afternoon, hoping it would be as warm as it was in Rewalsar, which was noticeably better. It also helped my hands recover more and the swelling has gone now. They just look ugly as they are growing new skin, which is taking a long time.

Not many students are around still but some will come back on Sunday and we will try to give some more classes next week, which will be the last one for the Americans.

Week 6: 13-19 February

Living in such a basic setting as this makes you appreciate many little things. Just to get the simplest things accomplished can often depend on various factors. Some examples include there being enough hot water to make a cup of coffee to have while I read in my room, wrapped up in a blanket and with my gloves on feels like something has been accomplished. Finding that the rain has stopped and I have a free hour to hand-wash a few clothes, again, with just enough hot water to prevent my hands becoming more damaged while I have chilblains. I had to wash some in a bucket in the garden and although they wouldn't be as clean as scrubbing them with a brush, I was getting low on clean clothes so getting them hung on the line while it remains dry can bring a feeling of satisfaction.

There are other small chores or activities that make me feel in a similar way – getting up to the shop to buy some biscuits, finishing an enjoyable story by Turgenev before the next lesson that makes me a lot more aware of what I do. It's not that I feel like I need such things to fill my time – I have plenty to keep me occupied, like I said before but maybe it's the complete lack of urgency that you get when living in a busy city that leaves you with the time to reflect on the small details.

My hands haven't made any big improvements over the week. With no other source of heat except for your own body, it's difficult to overcome something like chilblains. It has meant that I chose to stay at the school again for the weekend, just so I know I can keep my gloves on and put my blanket over me when I need to. The cream and tablets I got don't seem to be having any effect so I'll just have to be extra careful. For example, I needed to wash some clothes so carefully mixed hot drinking water with the cold but sometimes it was still cold and it only takes the slightest thing to make it worse again. Full credit goes to the manager who offered to wash my duvet cover for me as I couldn't face washing anything else for a while. That meant a lot to me. The temperatures here are around 8ºC in the day and 0 at night which is due to continue, according to the forecast.

Another reason to not go away is from hearing about Maggie and Kendall's trips. They went to Palampur, about 2 hours away, and said it was like the other places – plenty of shops and stalls but not much else to see. I don't think there is anything very exciting relatively near here. They have gone to Amritsar this weekend, where I will go after I finish teaching as it is 6 or 7 hours away but a big city that has a lot more to see.

This also illustrates that, unlike in the west, there is very little to do socially; there is nothing more than the odd café or restaurant around here and nothing worth making an effort to go to. Having said that, I did go to Norbulingka again in the week, mainly to use the wi-fi there. It's half an hour's walk away and the café is fine, except that it's outside and not the best unless it is sunny at this time of the year. We have an internet stick here but this week, it has been so painfully slow that it's worth taking the walk just to get a decent speed again.

I thought the weather earlier in the week was the cause of the slow connection – it was windy and rainy, but then it cleared up but the connection remained the same; we're talking download speeds akin to those of the old dial-up days, often 10 times slower than that...

I didn't take many photos this week as I mainly wanted to stay inside. Over the next two weeks, we will give some extra help to those students who will be around here. Right now, there are only about 8 so we'll have to see from day to day.

Week 5: 6-12 February

I should start with giving an update on the condition of my hands. Over the week, the swelling had been spreading to my other fingers and although they weren't hurting, I could feel the tightness in the joints. I went back to the doctor's on Wednesday and he gave me some tablets and cream. I used them as he said but didn't notice any improvement. In fact, quite the opposite and by Friday, I went in again and explained that it had just got worse. He said I should go to a medical centre in Tanda, 20km down the road as they have skin specialists there. I asked Choephel to go with me and we went after breakfast on Saturday. With it spreading, I feared the worst. What if it was an infection and it was going to lead to amputation? It may sound far-fetched but these things go through your head when you don't know what the problem is.

The taxi-driver even helped us find our way around what was actually a big hospital. Fortunately, there were very few patients there so I went straight on to see the doctor. She told me that I had chilblains and prescribed me some medicine and cream and told me to keep warm. I guessed that meant it wasn't serious so I bought the things and joked that at 140 Rupees (£2), I couldn't even claim for that on my health insurance.

We went back and I put the cream on and sat in the sun reading. Fortunately, the weather had got a bit warmer again so I wanted top make use of it. I stayed at the school for the weekend to make sure I wouldn't go anywhere colder and wore my gloves as much as possible. On Sunday morning, I could tell as soon as I woke up that my fingers felt better and were more mobile but of course, I will follow the advice and stay warm, etc. In fact, I am typing this while wearing my thermal gloves and I keep having to go back to correct my typos! But it's a small price to pay for having healthy hands again.

Regarding the events of this week, there has been a lot going on. We got that bombshell on Monday that there would be no school for 2 weeks because of Tibetan new year but the Americans had an idea to give tutoring to those students who would be around. It got the thumbs up so we will all do that, rather than have to spend a lot of money on travelling for that much time.

We didn't have lessons on Wednesday afternoon as we went to the Dalai Lama's temple in McLeod to join a peaceful demonstration of solidarity for Tibetan freedom. We sat with hundreds of monks and Tibetans around the outside of the temple as they prayed. 

It was a cold day and I wanted to go and have a coffee so left after a couple of hours. There was going to be a procession in the town at sunset with candles but we decided to go back before everyone was trying to get the buses. It was a shame to miss that; I would have liked to see that and get some photos.

On Thursday, it was the momo party. This is a Tibetan food that I mentioned before – small pastries filled with vegetables or meat. All the students helped to make them and us teachers also wanted to learn it. I chopped some onions and when the filling and pastry was ready, the students showed us how to fill them and close them. It was essentially simple to do but takes practice. However, it is a good community event and something I would like to take back with me.

We ate them in the TV room and they were really good. We played a game where everyone sings, someone shouts stop and everyone has to freeze. The first person to laugh has to eat another momo. It was a fun evening and during it, Choephel got a phone call saying that the Archbishop Desmond Tutu was going to have a public meeting with the Dalai Lama tomorrow morning. Lessons got cancelled again so we could attend. Wow, that was something out of the blue! Not only could I finally see the Dalai Lama, but also with another great spiritual leader.

We got up early, had some more momos for breakfast and got the bus to Dharamsala. ^From there, we walked up the hill to McLeod as the others got car-sick from going up in the jeeps. I joined them to get warmed up and to get some exercise. It took about 40 minutes and was very steep in places but I was certainly warm when we got there. We went straight to the temple and I managed to smuggle my camera in as the woman in a shop wouldn't take anyone else's (but I didn't use it in there). We thought it would start at 10am but it wasn't until about 11.30. Fortunately, it wasn't cold and when they finally came out, it was really nice to see and hear. Both leaders were so laid-back and they joked with each other in a very informal way. I kept thinking 'China – how can you say he is a terrorist???' Tutu gave a speech saying how much he thought everyone here was beautiful and that he begged China to let Tibet have autonomy. I wonder what Chinese politicians could really think about this. It was so friendly and peaceful; there's no way they could say anything about it was wrong. Unless they want the entire world to know they are liars, of course.

(This is an official photo from the Dalai Lama's facebook page)

With me wanting to let my hands recover, I stayed around at school and read and played games and got the chores done. Next week is the last week before the 'sort-of' holidays so I'll see what we can organise for that time.

This is one of my classes, so you can see how we have to study. There are only 2 proper classrooms so we have to make do with studying in a bedroom. I've censored the students' faces because Chinese officials use photos from Tibetan organisations in India as evidence that Tibetans have been invloved in something anti-Communist. Tibetans can even face imprisonment for possessing a photo of the Dalai Lama...

On that bombshell...

At our Monday meetings, we usually have some big issue thrown at us that takes us by surprise (last week it was to say that one group would do a mock test the next day without informing us and therefore disrupting our plans) and today, we were told that, due to the Tibetan new year this month, the school will be on holiday for 2 weeks!!! That's the last 2 weeks of February, meaning the students will lose 50 lessons, with exams coming up in March, and that our two American colleagues will have no teaching to do in their final 2 weeks here, which is not what they came here for.
I don't know yet what I/ we'll do but some travelling will have to come into it somehow...

Week 4: 30 Jan - 5 Feb

During this week, I've continued to have a cold. This is most unusual for me as I am rarely ill but it's difficult to get rid of it with the conditions we have. I also got an allergic reaction to an insect bite when I went for a walk in the nearby valley last Sunday. The skin in an area of only about 1cm2 became tender and red. I wasn't sure if I had had got eggs laid under my skin so on Wednesday, went up to a local doctor. Interestingly enough, you just go in and ask their advice with needing t show a passport of pay anything. He confirmed it was a reaction and although I can still see it, it doesn't hurt now.

Other than that, I've had a kind of swelling in my left index finger on the main joint, making it hard to bend it. I had this before about a year ago and it just went away. This time, it keeps recurring in the mornings and I now have the same thing in my right index finger, on the main joint! What's that all about? To be honest, I'm getting fed up of all these little things coming up...

On Monday, I went up to the village to buy a couple of things and went to a shop where I'd been before. The man had said he had recently opened and needed the customers, so I've decided to always go to him when I need basic things. I think it's good to help out when you know someone needs it. I told him of my intention when I went in again at the weekend and he was happy to hear that.

One of the teachers, Janet, left this week. She's been a good person to know and I wish her all the best, as well as her partner, who has liked speaking Spanish with me and hopes to get involved in making solar panels back in Spain. We went out for dinner at a small Tibetan restaurant and saw these men playing a kind of flick-pool.

It looks really good and I hope to learn how to play it (maybe even introduce it in England).

This also meant the rest of us have more lessons but it's generally four a day and like I said before, it feels so easy that it's hardly like work.

I got the top group to tell me about schools in Tibet in the conversation lesson as I plan to write a book about their journeys. Over the weeks, I will try to get more stories from other students, too.

I gave the lesson on Leonardo on Friday, which was interesting as they had never heard of him. They recognised the Mona Lisa but knew nothing else so it was nice to be able to educate them on more than just the English language.

After seeing so many beautiful birds in Ecuador, it is also good to see different species here; and there are quite a few. We get mynah birds around the school a lot and a few others, including this little fellow, which bobs its tail up and down a lot.

In my free time, I've been reading a lot and have just finished Charles Dicken's 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Quite good as a story but the first 100 pages are far too wordy and a real trial to get through. I've also been playing some old ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 games on my computer to pass the time. To be honest, there's not much to do around here so I need to fill my time with something. I'm playing strategy games so they take more time to solve.

The weather has been a little warmer but it's still winter here. The snow has started melting in the mountains but I'm not expecting it to get warm just yet.

I went into Dharamsala on Saturday morning to get to know the place. I was planning to stay over night there but it's little more than a shopping village on 4 or 5 streets with few cafés and restaurants. It rained while I was walking around so I decided to go into McLeod again. I found a hotel which was cheap enough and had wi-fi and hot water so that was like a luxury as here, we wash in the springs which can be pretty cold most of the time.

I went to a few cafés to read and use the internet and managed to spend a pleasant day there. I bumped into Maggie and Kendall in a restaurant later, who were staying in the same hotel as me, too. It wasn't too cold in the hotel room and I slept well.

The hot shower in the morning was good – the first I've had in three weeks. I went back to the Four Seasons café for breakfast then went back to wash my clothes, plan my lessons and of course, write this.