okay, i lied about the weather being beautiful. the weather is now only beautiful between sunrise and 9am. after that it starts to turn into that uncomfortable kind of hot if you're out in the sun.

i'm in the process of wrapping things up here. today was my last hindi class, and i'm almost finished with the things that i had planned to accomplish in my philosophy and tibetan classes. in early april (or as soon as i decide on where to go to graduate school), i'm escaping from the heat of sarnath (it's uncomfortable, but tolerable now - i'm worried about what it'll be like in another month). i'll be heading up to tabri, kinnaur, in himachal pradesh to teach at a nunnery. i'll be volunteering for The Jamyang Foundation, an organization that works to provide education for Himalayan women. Two of my Smith pals worked at schools in Spiti a couple of summers ago, and had a great time. Even though I'll be sad to leave the friends that I've made here, I'm excited to get out of the girls' hostel and go somewhere new. And after visiting Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Dolanji throughout this year, I'm anxious to go back up to the Himalayas. This time I'll be in the mountains, as opposed to just being able to see them from the foothills. From what I hear, I can still have some email contact up there, and there's a phone, although I don't think that my mobile phone will work.

That's still a couple of weeks away, though. In the meantime, I'm still living the hostel life. Last night Yangri and I watched 'Kal Ho Naa Ho', a sappy Indian love-story set in New York City. If you're in the U.S., and I haven't made you sit through a Bollywood film yet, you can rest assured that I will force this movie on you when I get back.

Speaking of coming back, I'm pretty sure I'll be home in late-May. I just need to change my return-flight.