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.