Check out new pics at bottom of this page!!

Alright, i came through... with the pics. So i am not completely and totally negligent as a blogger.
So.
So... what is there to say now?
I am sitting at a place called Moonpeak Espresso. Isn't that a lovely name? Free wi-fi and a real, honest to goodness cappucino on the way. aaaah. the simple things. Dharamsala has a wide range of great cafes and coffee houses. Not sure why. In Rishikesh you can't get a good pull of espresso anywhere that i know of. And, indeed, there are maybe only a small handful of espresso machines there. For some reason Dharamsala is over-run with world class coffee shops. Reminds me that i will be home in....5 days and totally able to get a decent coffee anywhere.
So i figure i have been roughing it for 5 months, i deserve a coffee break today (and a piece of cheesecake.... old habits die hard). And free wi-fi. its always nice to clickety clack away on your own laptop, whilst sipping a fresh espresso drink.

Today we were going to go to the lake nearby, but it turns out the lake is dry. So we just sort of wandered around aimlessly until we ended up back at home. Kinda lazy. I figured i better get these photos up here before i get back to canada or it will kind of defeat the purpose.

Last night India won against Pakistan. cricket. it was a tense game. Now on to face Sri Lanka for the finals on saturday. so exciting.

well, i can't think of anything else to say right now so... i guess i will sign off.
all my love,
ang

dharamsala dreaming

hey there!

How is everyone.
its the countdown until i come home. I am so absorbed in the dream of Dharamsala right now though, I'm not even thinking about home and it seems very far away, even though in only one week i will be touching down in vancouver.

Today we went to see the Dalai Lama. Well, not the Dalai Lama as such. He is not giving any talks at the moment. But we went to his residence.... and knocked on the door and ran away. haha! no. i'm being silly. We did go to his "residence". It is a complex of buildings somewhere within which he stays. We saw the place where he sits and the area the visitors sit when he does give talks. Went to the temple, and to the Tibet museum and learned all about the story of their invasion and exile to India. What a story. What a truly horrible story of violence against a totally innocent people just living their lives and practicing their religion in peace until the Chinese came along. So the museum visit was sobering to say the least.

Dharamsala is this funky quaint little mountain town. I like the vibe here. It is like... Shambhala.

Today is the big cricket game, semi-finals against pakistan. we came out of the gate on fire, but then we cooled off a bit and haven't been batting as well the second half of our turn at bat.
i know, right. Cricket? really? well... you sort of get caught up in the national sport when everyone else around you is so excited about it. it is an interesting game. very civilized. and i get a kick out of the british commentary. they say the funniest things. actually i get a kick out of any sports commentary pretty much, except maybe golf or tennis. but it all depends.

ya, anyway. The food has been mostly Indian since our foray into Tibetan cuisine.

it snowed last night. not right here in the village, but up on the mountain peaks that can be seen from our window. rained down below here. view is spectacular.

well, that is all to report for today.

loving and missing you all back home.
ang

pics

am working on the pictures... .hopefully some will come up soon.
kisses!

dharamsala

well, dharamsala continues to delight and surprise. I awake in wonderment over the sheer beauty of the place. snowy himalayan peaks peek over the foothills to soothe our aching eyes. Eyes that ache for sacred places and pristine natural views.
The weather is soothingly cloudy and stormy. Rainclouds threaten but the air remains comfortably warm. If it rains, it will be cozy.
This morning we moved to a new room. This room is awesome. Truly awesome. It reminds me of staying in a ski resort. There is full glass windows on the whole view side of the room so the room is so full of light and a whole wall that is open to the sky and the mountains. its a treat. didn't cost much more than a cheapy room either. $10cad per night, instead of $7.50. I think its worth the extra $2.50 per night to have the view, private balcony, marble floors and all-pine wood finishing, don't you? There is also a t.v. to watch the big cricket game on wednesday. India could win the world cup! i mean.... India is GOING to win the world cup!
Yesterday's dining adventures led to a version of Delhi Belly we will call Tibetan Tummy. As it turns out, after weeks of eating homecooked authentic north Indian dahl, vegetables and rice, doughy Tibetan momos (vegetable dumplings) and noodles are NOT what the doctor ordered. haha.
nothing as serious as full-blown Delhi belly, but just... a slightly grumpy tummy and indigestion.
Anyhow, digestive woes update aside, all is well. Sab thikkhe, as they say in Hindi.
If the weather clears there will be some hiking to lakes and waterfalls and temples on the agenda, but for now, just enjoying the view.

all my love
home in just over a week!

love and kisses
ang

dharamsala

Dharamsala is absolutely enchanting, and not just because it is where the Dalai Lama chose to set up house after being exiled by the Chinese from Tibet. Or perhaps it IS partially because of that. It is quaint and peaceful.
It is beautiful. My friend and I arrived early this morning at 4. It was dark so we found a guesthouse completely blind. When the sun came up I went outside and it was like a dream. As i stood in my pajamas at the edge of a steep hill, taking in the mountainous scenery, snowy peeks and green trees, a maroon robed monk made her way up from the path below, followed by two dogs in tow.
The scene was like something out of a movie. For sure.
I look forward to exploring more over the next 6 days.

holi

WEll Holi is over. Holi was fun. A very fun holiday. one big party and every one, every single person you meet on the street is covered in bright coloured powder or water from head to toe. no one is safe. it is literally a war zone. it is the one day that you forget yourself, friends and enemies are equal, all grudges wiped clean. a chance to forgive and forget and start over. what a fabulous holiday.
India is full of these opportunities to let go, wipe the slate clean and start over, anew, reborn.
Between my hotel, my hotel's restaurant and my Bengali families house, i got completely doused in colour. it is funny and fabulous. you have to totally give up your ego, give up taking yourself so serious, give up control, basically. it is a very liberating day.
how do i explain?
it was so much fun.
everyone i met on my way, covered me with handfuls of coloured powder and let me do the same to them.
so fun.
we all get to be kids for a day and play.

happy holi!

Holi festival. Festival of colours. today is what is called "small Holi". Tomorrow is "Big" Holi. I suspect that small Holi is a precursor of what's to come tomorrow, probably a result of not being able to wait until the main event tomorrow and wanting to get a jump start on the festivities a day early.
Celebration of colour. Look out! colours literally are flying through the air.
My friend's nephew who is eleven is already died pink on half his face and both his hands. He has scrubbed and scrubbed but it will last a week or more anyways.
Pink, yellow, green, red and blue. No one is safe. Coloured water balloons, coloured water guns and handfuls of bright colour powder. Even though its only small Holi, the streets are already filled with brilliant casualties of the colour war. I was on my way over to the other side of the river to buy my grandma a gift when i ran into the owner of Ramanas orphanage. She was plastered, head to toe, with colour. "Watch out on the other side of the bridge" she warned, "they really got me". "They" being the kids hanging off balconies and streaking through the streets below with colour warfare.
I didn't think i'd have to worry about it until tomorrow. i had been warned but i thought today i'd be safe. i am not dressed for this permanent dye job, nor is my hair or skin sufficiently oiled to withstand the onslaught.
Tomorrow I will plan to wear my old clothes, clothes that i don't mind getting ruined. sesame or apricot oil in my hair and on my skin so that i have a chance of being able to wash off the colours. i know i won't be able to say no to the neice and nephew of my Bengali family. They have been asking me for days if i will play with them on Holi ("play" being a euphamism for "be their target")
I have to admire the Indian people, for their utter ability to revert to children on such occasions. Grown men dance and laugh in the street like kids, ambushing eachother and slathering colour all over eachothers faces and clothes and then collapsing into eachothers' arms in hysterics. I am a little envious of the celebratory and carefree attitude that comes so easily to them.
For a day, they are free. For a day, we are all free.
Happy Holi!

Yesterday i tried to make aloo palak subji for lunch. potato and spinach vegetable dish. it came out ok i guess except waaaay too much salt. eeek! There is a certain knack and art to making Indian food, and somehow, i just can't get it right. There is like... a feeling to it, like something you would just absorb by living here your whole life. you really have to cook the spices well until the flavours fully develop and release, and it never hurts to crisp the bottom of the pan a bit for that extra roasted flavour. i am still working on it. but at least i did it. i cooked Indian for Indians and no one got hurt. Yay!
I have been watching Ritu for weeks. She is the new bride to my friend's brother and has just moved in with the family. She is amazing! i LOVE Ritu. We all do. I have been skulking around her kitchen, watching her kneed chapati dough, sort rice, make dahl and subji (vegetables) and asking dozens of annoying questions. I watch and watch her add the spices, when and how much, but it still baffles me how she decides which ones to add on which day cause its different every time. It always turns out delicious, and when i do it, the spices are grainy and underdeveloped and either there is too much or too little flavour. sigh. back to the drawing board.
She and I have a hoot! She speaks a little English and is teaching me a little Hindi. She is so sweet.
Right now she and Nirmal are in Delhi visiting her family. Her first visit back since they married in November. She was so excited to go, and so beautiful when they left. Decked out in a beautiful sari and glittering slippers, she looked like an Indian Cinderella.
She called yesterday to see how we were and i talked to her. I told her we missed her and to come home soon and then i meant to say to her "hurry hurry" which is "jaldi jaldi" in Hindi, but i forgot and said "haldi, haldi" instead, which means "turmeric, turmeric". So that sent us all into peals of laughter for about 10 minutes. ya, we miss you, please come back soon, turmeric, turmeric!! Everyone keeps bugging me about it every time they see me now. i laugh too, anytime i think of it. so hilarious.

well, its now one week exactly til dharamsala. counting down the days, excited to come home, but know i am going to be so incredibly sad to say goodbye to my family here. i don't even want to think about it now. They have shown me the most unbelievable hospitality, at first as a guest, and now as family. The openness, acceptance, generosity and tolerance they have shown me is unparalleled. i have not experienced anything like it in my whole life. In just a few short weeks they have completely won over my heart. What will i do?

all my love to all at home.
be well, love well
and feel peace.

hi

hi,
got inspired. have stored up enough semi-interesting things to warrant a report on them.
10 days. 10 day until i leave rishikesh and go to dharamsala in the mountains, to spend my last week before coming home.
it is really heating up in rishikesh. the mornings and evenings are so beautiful right now, as the temperature is just perfect. but the afternoons are starting to get such that wearing the long sleeves and head scarf that i usually don is becoming a tad uncomfortable. get ready to sweat.

so i am beginning to tie up some last minute details. getting my gift shopping done, pay my rent, things fixed, things packed off in mail to myself, things i don't want to lug home in my suitcase.

tomorrow i will go with a woman i met whose from Norway up to a temple in the hills here. we will go by car and return on foot. she said it takes 4 hours to walk back down to rishikesh and we will take our breakfast with us because we will leave at 5am so that we can be at the top to watch the sunrise over the Himalayas. Totally sounds like something I'd be interested in and I was sold on the idea the moment she suggested it. So i made a new friend. Her name is Marielle and she is a bit older than me and absolutely delightful. quite looking forward.

though i am truly savouring my last few days here in rishi, i am excited about the return home, as usual. Can't wait to see my mom, my dad, my dog, my friends....even my brother will be a sight for sore eyes (you'd think the 17 years difference between us would eliminate the sibling rivalry but somehow it still exists, haha).

it is just always so fun, that re-entry period, when everything is so new and shiny in canada and fun.
its sort of like that nice feeling i get when my plane touches down in india and i get through the airport and out the doors and take my first breath of indian air....so intoxicating. (or is that burning plastic, hahah). No, i joke.
Something in those first few breaths tastes like i am home again and parts of my body relax that i didn't even know i was holding.

and canada, well canada is like the land of milk and honey. after the austerity of india, the return to canada always brings unexpected luxuries and comforts that i had forgotten all about, like... washing machines and... air conditioning and uninterrupted power and internet.
i wonder if i go back and forth between india and canada enough times if this awe and appreciation will lessen.

hmmm,
so lets see,
what else.
.......mmmmm.....
ya, nothing else.
so not as exciting as i thought.
hahaha.
that's life.
love to all
ang