Julia Rabbit

Here in India, everything is done between cups of tea.  I’ve taken to sipping hot water all day in addition.  Sometimes it seems like every person, stray dog, or overloaded jeep careening around corners of the narrow streets (ever seen 17 people piled into one before?  It.  Is.  Magnificent) are all part of the chaotic inner-workings of some out-of-this-world machine.  For the time being, I am a part of it, complete with my new nickname: Julia Rabbit.

Some days, I have to run an errand in lower-Dharamshala or conduct an interview in Ganchin where the Tibetan Government in Exile in housed – this entails at least a 35-minute walk down winding dirt roads, shortcuts through the woods and down several ramshackle staircases.  Hiking back from said errands is – aside from sweaty – always a little magical.  Seeing the brightly-colored buildings piled on top of one another like children’s blocks, the trees strewn with prayer flags, and the majestic snow-capped Himalayan peaks towering above it all is a sight to behold.

In McLeod Ganj, six roads converge at a bus stop where, it seems, all the chaos and grime of the village like to collect as well.  Of the three main roads, one leads to Bhagsu where, after a ten minute walk, you can relax at the foot of a little waterfall and soak up the sun on the rocks.  Another leads down to Dharamshala and, incidentally, is how you get to my current residence.  The last leads to the Main Tibetan Temple and is one of the only places in town to get a decent cup of coffee.

McLeod Ganj is littered with cafes, restaurants, and tourist traps, but luckily my roommates know the best places to buy groceries (the street side vegetable vendor we usually buy from knows us well and gives us a head or two of garlic every now and then).  While eating out is very cheap, it’s been a joy cooking at home – you’ll all be looking at an expert Tibetan cook when I get home!

I am no longer teaching at Volunteer Tibet, but have taken on my position at newspaper full time in addition to teaching the boys at home.  Each day is a delightful routine, and having a home to come back to a the end is a sweet, sweet thing.  I think that I will look back on this time not only as a time of love and growth, but a good career move as well – who can say that they were corresponding for a news agency before getting a B.A.?!  I’ve interviewed two ministers in the Tibetan Government in Exile and other very prominent figures both in the exiled and global community, not to mention the fact that I’ve been within inches of His Holiness and Karmapa both (remind me to tell you all about my Karmapa encounter in person when I get home – typing it here would not do it justice; let’s just say that Julia’s awkward streak STRIKES AGAIN).

This town has become home – I eat, sleep, and laugh with six amazing roommates and I am entirely head-over-heels in love with them all.  I don’t think my descriptions or even my photographs could relay to you all my love for this place and my Dharamshala family.  While I have always relished daydreaming about how my life would be in Greece, Cambodia, Ireland &c., I never fully realized that nowhere could possibly be as good as where I am in the present.