so we have been at the ashram for about a week and a half doing yoga and just really taking it easy. it has been really cold and there is no central heating so it def. sucks, but it gets really warm in the middle of the day so we soak it up as we can. we have also met some really awesome people here at the ashram, a girl from Sweden, several people from Canada, and there is this one guy from Monterrey but he grew up in Fiji so but we ar the only girls from SF and so everyone calls us the girls from cali!
we had a very relaxing christmas and new year and the restaurant that we went to eat at for christmas dinner actually had a tiny christmas tree with little balloons on it as ornaments! we have met so many amazing people here from all over as well, and it has been so great getting to know these diff. people and talk to them about all there diff. experiences and be able to relate ur experiences together. there is so much good energy and love here it is so refreshing. it is def. something u can't quite explain so i encourage u all, get to india at some point in ur life! i have also been receiving reiki healing from this amazing woman from texas who has lived here for the past 4 years and is a reiki master. and what it is, is basically energy healing for physical and emotional pain, and for all of u that know about my back it is unreal how much it is helping. i am so excited to learn how to do it myself when i get back and continue the healing and help those who want it!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Back to India!- by tina
so we are back in india in darmasala! nepal was amazing and we had a great time, and although we are all sad to leave we are so excited about what lays ahead for us in india. the bus ride to darmasala was amazing and this is me being sarcastic now! it was a wonderful 15 hour overnite, ass bumping, back squishing, freezing ride! but we made it and it is all part of the experience and we were all totally fine. so here we come india again! so far we have just hung out in darmasala, taking it easy after that bus ride. and today we hiked up to a beautiful waterfall, were we could see the snow caped mountains with 2 new friends we made along the way; a guy from florida and a native. they are totally nice guys and we were very grateful to the indian who took us to the waterfall.
so since my last blog in nepal- which christie has updated y'all in her blog about as well, so this will be short- we went to pokhara after kathmandu. went canoeing and bike riding. we saw a live nepali cover band and went to these fun caves with a waterfall. and...we went paragliding which was amazing! we then went to bardia and went on an elephant ride-so awesome! and on a safari walk in the nepali jungle. didn't see much but it was just so cool to be there and we did some yoga by the river! then from there we went back in to india and here we are!
so since my last blog in nepal- which christie has updated y'all in her blog about as well, so this will be short- we went to pokhara after kathmandu. went canoeing and bike riding. we saw a live nepali cover band and went to these fun caves with a waterfall. and...we went paragliding which was amazing! we then went to bardia and went on an elephant ride-so awesome! and on a safari walk in the nepali jungle. didn't see much but it was just so cool to be there and we did some yoga by the river! then from there we went back in to india and here we are!
Nepali Refugee Camps
I am trying to update you all at once since I have been busy....so after Darjeeling Nepal.
So far the most frustrating moment of the trip and what ended up being one of the most redemptive moments as well came on the day we were planning on leaving Darjeeling. Part of our time spent in Darjeeling was waiting on the director of the non-profit called IOM (International Office of Migration), who assist the refugees in resettling in the States, to inform me about how I can gain access to the camps now that we can not volunteer but merely visit. On our last day in Darjeeling after I had emailed her a few times she tells me that in order to get into the camps I have to ask permission from the government of Nepal or the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Mind you I do NOT have contacts to either one of these entities since I was assuming that she would give us access AND she gladly leaves out any contact information to either one of them and tells me she is leaving the next day for the U.S. I was thinking, "How the hell am I going to get access, do I call the government of Nepal? Do I send an email to the UN headquarters in Switzerland?" ARG! I was hoping for a little more direction!....After failed attempts to contacting both places, and no time to wait around, we all decided to just go for it leave for Nepal and figure things out along the way and trust that it will happen.
We head out a little later than we wanted from Darjeeling which would put us in the border town of Nepal after dark, not our favorite, but at least we would be at the starting point to reach the camps since they are close to the border. It was easy sailing into Nepal and literly crossed the border on foot in the dark. We got our visas and were ready to find a hotel from the many scouts waiting for us to leave the Nepalese immigration. There was only one left afterward and sometimes those scouts do come in handy when you have no idea where you are and it is dark. I go with my gut and trust this guy who leads us to his hotel which ended up being our link to the refugee camps. I was reluctant to tell anyone about our true purpose in Nepal because I could get in trouble if officials found out we visited the camps without permission but these hotel owners I felt comfortable with and told them our goal of entering the camps for visiting. The elder brother was like no problem! I can help you get into the camps I assisted another foreigner who wanted to go and anyone can enter. What! He arranged a taxi for us the next day and came as our guide/translator when we first entered the camp. Fortunately I had contacts in the camp so I was able to ring them and let them know we were coming so we had people waiting for us when we first arrived. I love these redemptive serendipatious moments!
Being in the camps made me feel at home and right back in the office in Oakland. Soooo many people were interested in who we were, what we were doing, and once they found out about my work in the States had a slew of questions for me about resettlement in the US, since most of the people in the camps are applying to relocate. It was our first taste of the Nepalese hospitality. Friends and old clients of mine from back home told their family in the camps that we were coming, and all the family and friends in the camp wanted us to visit their home and feed us. The next thing we know we had visited several different bamboo huts and ate all different kinds of delicacies.....warm goats milk, red bull - yes really, oranges, crunchy noodles, and hot tea....! And this was just the beginning!
The Bhutanese refugees have an unique story. Another history lesson I do apologize, I just can't help it I AM my father's daughter. About 18 years ago the government of Bhutan which really was a monarchy with a king categorized everyone in the country into different ethnic groups, placing the Lhomstapa (spelling is probably wrong) in the last and most hated category meaning they had to leave or else. The ethnic background of these people come from Nepal, speaking Nepali and living a culture close to that of Nepal unlike the very Buddhist nation that speaks Ghongka and who's heritage and ancestors come from Tibet. Therefore, they were forceably removed from the country and set up camp in Nepal and have been waiting for 18 years to either return back to Bhutan (which won't let them back in) or naturalize into the local community and become citizens of Nepal (which the government has refused to grant). The third and final option for these refugees, like many other in the world, is to resettle to a third country permanently, and this is why so many Bhutanese people have been coming to the States. Ok finished!
I have to run...but I will talk more later about the camps later........!!!
So far the most frustrating moment of the trip and what ended up being one of the most redemptive moments as well came on the day we were planning on leaving Darjeeling. Part of our time spent in Darjeeling was waiting on the director of the non-profit called IOM (International Office of Migration), who assist the refugees in resettling in the States, to inform me about how I can gain access to the camps now that we can not volunteer but merely visit. On our last day in Darjeeling after I had emailed her a few times she tells me that in order to get into the camps I have to ask permission from the government of Nepal or the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Mind you I do NOT have contacts to either one of these entities since I was assuming that she would give us access AND she gladly leaves out any contact information to either one of them and tells me she is leaving the next day for the U.S. I was thinking, "How the hell am I going to get access, do I call the government of Nepal? Do I send an email to the UN headquarters in Switzerland?" ARG! I was hoping for a little more direction!....After failed attempts to contacting both places, and no time to wait around, we all decided to just go for it leave for Nepal and figure things out along the way and trust that it will happen.
We head out a little later than we wanted from Darjeeling which would put us in the border town of Nepal after dark, not our favorite, but at least we would be at the starting point to reach the camps since they are close to the border. It was easy sailing into Nepal and literly crossed the border on foot in the dark. We got our visas and were ready to find a hotel from the many scouts waiting for us to leave the Nepalese immigration. There was only one left afterward and sometimes those scouts do come in handy when you have no idea where you are and it is dark. I go with my gut and trust this guy who leads us to his hotel which ended up being our link to the refugee camps. I was reluctant to tell anyone about our true purpose in Nepal because I could get in trouble if officials found out we visited the camps without permission but these hotel owners I felt comfortable with and told them our goal of entering the camps for visiting. The elder brother was like no problem! I can help you get into the camps I assisted another foreigner who wanted to go and anyone can enter. What! He arranged a taxi for us the next day and came as our guide/translator when we first entered the camp. Fortunately I had contacts in the camp so I was able to ring them and let them know we were coming so we had people waiting for us when we first arrived. I love these redemptive serendipatious moments!
Being in the camps made me feel at home and right back in the office in Oakland. Soooo many people were interested in who we were, what we were doing, and once they found out about my work in the States had a slew of questions for me about resettlement in the US, since most of the people in the camps are applying to relocate. It was our first taste of the Nepalese hospitality. Friends and old clients of mine from back home told their family in the camps that we were coming, and all the family and friends in the camp wanted us to visit their home and feed us. The next thing we know we had visited several different bamboo huts and ate all different kinds of delicacies.....warm goats milk, red bull - yes really, oranges, crunchy noodles, and hot tea....! And this was just the beginning!
The Bhutanese refugees have an unique story. Another history lesson I do apologize, I just can't help it I AM my father's daughter. About 18 years ago the government of Bhutan which really was a monarchy with a king categorized everyone in the country into different ethnic groups, placing the Lhomstapa (spelling is probably wrong) in the last and most hated category meaning they had to leave or else. The ethnic background of these people come from Nepal, speaking Nepali and living a culture close to that of Nepal unlike the very Buddhist nation that speaks Ghongka and who's heritage and ancestors come from Tibet. Therefore, they were forceably removed from the country and set up camp in Nepal and have been waiting for 18 years to either return back to Bhutan (which won't let them back in) or naturalize into the local community and become citizens of Nepal (which the government has refused to grant). The third and final option for these refugees, like many other in the world, is to resettle to a third country permanently, and this is why so many Bhutanese people have been coming to the States. Ok finished!
I have to run...but I will talk more later about the camps later........!!!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Darjeeling - And NO Centeral Heating
Now that the three of us have some time since we are not bouncing around from place to place...I am able to update. Being the trip planner means that you don't always get to blog or email since I always seem to be doing something else!!
Where did I leave off? Darjeeling...it has been to long I do apologize.
Our mountain trip was well worth it, no trekking unfortunately, to little time and with Tina's back we were unable to go. But in the future....I do plan on coming back so that I will be able to go trekking...a must if you like backpacking.
Darjeeling, the land of teas and mountains, was freezing of course, and a few strikes thrown in there as well. Remember Ghorkaland? Well here is my opportunity to explain. Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and the surrounding cities are part of West Bengal - one of the many States in India that includes Kolkata. The majority of the people in this area are Ghorka people originally from Nepal which was once a part of it before the new borders of India were drawn on them. Once you enter Darjeeling you see flags everywhere that say Ghorkaland, at first it kinda looks like an Indian flag because of the colors and then when you really look it definitely isn't. So why Ghorkaland? Well, West Bengal hasn't been the most efficient state government to these mountain people while profiting off of the tourist industry up there and the local Ghorka people not reaping the benefits of it. People have been fighting since the mid 80's - through strikes and talks - to create their own State in India separate from West Bengal. Many times the Ghorka fighters will call strikes where all the shops close, cars don't run, and whole cities shut down. It hasn't been working that well, and most people don't think that Delhi (capital government) and West Bengal will give them their own statehood....and there is rumor that things may get violent... I hope not. There is a very charismatic leader - whom I forgot his name - of the Ghorkaland movement who I have heard is a very powerful speaker and persuader...not good if things get violent. Anyway...enough of the history lesson.
I have to say though that after our early morning sunrise in Darjeeling to see Mt. Kanchenjunga (3rd largest peek in the world) at 5am there was a strike the same day and was unable to get a jeep back into town so we walked the 10km 6+ miles or so back into town. It is a good thing that we were already planning on walking otherwise that would have really sucked!!! We had a nice stroll back to the center of town...draggin Tina's limp butt JK! We did carry her stuff for her tho poor poopie.
The other interesting thing when we were in Darjeeling was the 'I love Darj' outreach. One day we noticed all of these people walking around town with these shirts that say 'I love Darj'. We found out that it was a Christian outreach venture where missionaries and local churches put on a day of random acts of kindness to the locals - free tea, flowers, and pony rides? Anyway, they had a evening show outside with music and skits and such and I felt like I was back at Christian camp. All the same songs song in English sometimes in Nepali, and kids running around on stage trying to do break dance moves...entertaining only because it was so bad :) but cute. It felt so wrong to be in a place that has so much spirituality, life, and sense of fullness to be blindsided by a type of Christianity that pushes its way of life on others. Way does Christianity always seem to be the Western way? And what about what the Indians have to offer?
Where did I leave off? Darjeeling...it has been to long I do apologize.
Our mountain trip was well worth it, no trekking unfortunately, to little time and with Tina's back we were unable to go. But in the future....I do plan on coming back so that I will be able to go trekking...a must if you like backpacking.
Darjeeling, the land of teas and mountains, was freezing of course, and a few strikes thrown in there as well. Remember Ghorkaland? Well here is my opportunity to explain. Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and the surrounding cities are part of West Bengal - one of the many States in India that includes Kolkata. The majority of the people in this area are Ghorka people originally from Nepal which was once a part of it before the new borders of India were drawn on them. Once you enter Darjeeling you see flags everywhere that say Ghorkaland, at first it kinda looks like an Indian flag because of the colors and then when you really look it definitely isn't. So why Ghorkaland? Well, West Bengal hasn't been the most efficient state government to these mountain people while profiting off of the tourist industry up there and the local Ghorka people not reaping the benefits of it. People have been fighting since the mid 80's - through strikes and talks - to create their own State in India separate from West Bengal. Many times the Ghorka fighters will call strikes where all the shops close, cars don't run, and whole cities shut down. It hasn't been working that well, and most people don't think that Delhi (capital government) and West Bengal will give them their own statehood....and there is rumor that things may get violent... I hope not. There is a very charismatic leader - whom I forgot his name - of the Ghorkaland movement who I have heard is a very powerful speaker and persuader...not good if things get violent. Anyway...enough of the history lesson.
I have to say though that after our early morning sunrise in Darjeeling to see Mt. Kanchenjunga (3rd largest peek in the world) at 5am there was a strike the same day and was unable to get a jeep back into town so we walked the 10km 6+ miles or so back into town. It is a good thing that we were already planning on walking otherwise that would have really sucked!!! We had a nice stroll back to the center of town...draggin Tina's limp butt JK! We did carry her stuff for her tho poor poopie.
The other interesting thing when we were in Darjeeling was the 'I love Darj' outreach. One day we noticed all of these people walking around town with these shirts that say 'I love Darj'. We found out that it was a Christian outreach venture where missionaries and local churches put on a day of random acts of kindness to the locals - free tea, flowers, and pony rides? Anyway, they had a evening show outside with music and skits and such and I felt like I was back at Christian camp. All the same songs song in English sometimes in Nepali, and kids running around on stage trying to do break dance moves...entertaining only because it was so bad :) but cute. It felt so wrong to be in a place that has so much spirituality, life, and sense of fullness to be blindsided by a type of Christianity that pushes its way of life on others. Way does Christianity always seem to be the Western way? And what about what the Indians have to offer?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
nepal- so far by tina
so we arrived to nepal two jeep rides and a walk pretty much over the boarder later and we found a decent hotel b/c of some very kind help of some nepali native. we have now also visited some of the refugee camps of the people of Bhutan who have been living in nepal for the past 18 years now. the visits were arranged b/c of julia and her connections with her job back in cali., which i am sure u ar all aware of. the people in the camps were unreal with their hospitality and warmth with recieving us. we had such an amazing time chatting and getting to know them (understanding most of what they said:) ) and eating the loads of food that they so generously 'forced' upon us- which is absolutely amazing!
we then traveled on 13 hour bus ride to kathmandu, b/c we were near the border of nepal-this is where the camps are, and are presently in kathmandu. it is very city like and is actually the nicest city we have been to so far. we have had some epic shopping time, visited the many temples that are here, and went to some traditional nepali dance club. the people here are very helpful and have been so awesome since we have been here.
we then traveled on 13 hour bus ride to kathmandu, b/c we were near the border of nepal-this is where the camps are, and are presently in kathmandu. it is very city like and is actually the nicest city we have been to so far. we have had some epic shopping time, visited the many temples that are here, and went to some traditional nepali dance club. the people here are very helpful and have been so awesome since we have been here.
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