Here and Now.

A sigh of relief.

I reached my destination (Bir, Himachal Pradesh) yesterday just after the sun rose. I spent 12 hours on a train "sleeping" (barely) and the 5 hours in a taxi. I am SO glad to be out of New Delhi and in the beautiful mountains.

I met an Israeli girl at the train station yesterday (when I arrived in Chakki Bank) who was very scared and traveling alone. It was 3:15 am and she had been sitting at the station for an hour getting harassed and didn't want to catch a cab in the dark. I invited her to ride with me for 3 hours of the taxi ride, we dropped her off in Dharmasala. It was an hour out of my way, but my taxi driver, Monu, was really cool and we stopped and had chai (an India staple) on our way from Dharmasala to Bir. He was hired by Deer Park Institute (where I'm staying) and drove the 4 hours to pick me up from the train. I think he was pretty stoked to drive 2 western girls, he's a 24 year old guy from Bir who has never left India.

There is an Australian couple staying at Deer Park who are starting and English class for the local people (Indian & Tibetan) and I think after I'm settled in I might teach, too. We're going to see how many students come and what their levels of comprehension are. If there is a huge gap between beginners and advanced we can split them into 2 classes. I really need to focus on my own studies while I'm here, but it would be nice to give back to the community while I'm here.

The Deer Park Institute is wonderful. The facilities are great and so clean. The food is awesome! It's really fresh (Indian) and I hear it's the best in town. My room is small and simple, but I really like it. I'm in a "dorm" room with 3 beds, but I'm the only person for now so I'm using one bed as my closet.

I am also really impressed with how eco-conscious Deer Park is. There are 6 different recycling bins (no trash cans) and anything non-recycable is taken to a storage area they have. There is no landfill in Bir (they're fighting to get one) so trash is dumped into the river and Deer Park doesn't want to contribute. Also, when you run the shower to get hot water, you fill up a bucket as you wait and then use that to either flush a toilet or hand wash clothes...as to not waste water! I'm really aware of how wasteful I've been...

The main temple is just outside of my front door and there are 2 meditation sessions every day, one in the morning (6:30-7:30am) and one in the evening (7:30-8pm). I did the evening session yesterday and it was so beautiful to sit in the temple in the dark, with only the candle light from the alter....the sound of rain and chirping frogs and crickets. I did the morning session today and it was a great way to start my day. I rode with the Australian couple to "Upper Bir" where more of the Indians live (I'm in the Tibetan part with all the monasteries). It's coolish and rainy today and just beautiful. We drove above the cloud line and everything is so green.

There is a coffee shop in town called "Buckstars," (hehe) owned by an American, but employed with Tibetans. Bir's main agricultural crop is tea, so there is no shortage of wonderful teas to choose from!

I'm off to explore more of the local businesses and meet with my new Australian friends (Michael & Linda) to help them with English class lesson plans. We may go to a bigger town (about an hour away) tomorrow to visit. I'm taking the next few days to rest and relax and then buckle down with studies on Monday.

I'm also excited because HH Dalai Lama is doing 2 public teachings, one Sept 25-27 and one Sept 30-Oct 4th. That will be in Dharmasala, so I may take the bus up (way cheaper than a taxi, but twice as long to get there), and visit my new Israeli friend while I'm there.

They say you're never really alone in India...I'm beginning to see why!