kalachakra is about halfway over. it's been really interesting so far, and i'm realizing that i know a lot more tibetan than i think. i've been talking to monks and arguing with shopkeepers every day, and i'm having lots of fun. yesterday we met s. rinpoche, the former director of CIHTS and current prime minister of the tibetan government in exile. he talked to us about nonviolence and tibet, and we got to ask him some questions afterwards. he's a strange guy with some really bizarre views.

two days ago, we all took a trip to nagarjunakunda, a place where nagarjuna (an important buddhist philosopher from the 2nd century) lived. we left at 3.30am, and spent 5 hours on a bus. after we arrived we had to wait in line for an hour and a half, then take a 30 minute boat ride across a lake.
the hour and a half of waiting in line was by far the most exciting part of the day. we were the only westerners there - everyone else was tibetan. and tibetans seem to have some weird kind of phobia about waiting in line. as we made our way toward the boats, we found ourselves immersed in a mob of people, pushing, shoving, and shouting. this was all made worse by the indian police, who, after standing around watching the mob for a while, decided that they wanted everyone to form a single-file line. they started shouting at people, but nobody understood them. like i said, everyone was tibetan, and these policemen were speaking telugu. so, when the shouting didn't seem to work, the police resorted to pushing and pulling, and hitting people with sticks. luckily i was in the middle of the mob, so i just got pushed around a little. the crowd was so thick that at one point i had completely lifted my feet off the ground and was just carried for a while.

we were all exhausted by the time we got to the island, and we spent 2 hours wandering around the museum and the island, looking at archaeological relics. it was all really fascinating to see. at 1:00, half of our group got onto a boat to head back to the mainland. the other half of the group had to wait for the next boat, but they didn't make it back to our bus for another three hours. apparently another mob formed as soon as we left, and the police were unable to control them all.

so all in all, our day took 19 hours, only two of which were spent seeing the thing that we had intended to see. and we got pushed around by the cops.

long time no update.
Christmas was good. i spent the morning at raj's school, helping out with a christmas party that she threw for all of her students. jojo and i bought them all oranges, and we had a fun time.

the folks from america and australia showed up just after christmas for the annual exchange program. my friend makenna brought me dark chocolate, jay brought me really good coffee, and my friend marnie sent a package for me and jojo complete with american candy and trashy celebrity magazines. it's been good to see some familiar faces.

new year's eve was spent in the hostel. we had a big party and danced to really really bad pop music until 2am. i woke up the next morning at 4.30 (yes, 2 and a half hours of sleep) to see the sunrise on the ganga with the exchange program. we went into varanasi, climbed onto a big boat, and watched the sun rise over the river. it was a great way to spend the new year.

now i'm down in south india for kalachakra, a big teaching that the dalai lama gives every couple of years. people have come from all over to hear it. the town where it's all happening used to be a sleepy little place, but now the streets are so crowded with people that you can barely walk. it's lots of fun though. kind of like a big buddhist carnival. a little like the ohio state fair. with monks.