july 13, 2009

Well, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I last wrote anything, so I'll try my best to muster up all my memory of the past couple weeks. It's amusing to read the part about Om namah shivaya in my last entry because now I have it permanently on my body (sorry mom). We were driving back from Mcloud Ganj the night after I wrote that entry and an awesome reggae song started playing in the taxi, -except it was like a mix of reggae and India-sounding music - and in it they were chanting om namah shivaya. And I realized that I wanted those words to become a part of me in a physically sanctified way. I always knew that I wanted a tattoo but nothing ever spoke to me in quite the way that this mantra does. Because it is a mantra for self realization, I felt that it would be most conducive to my own self realization if tattooed onto the back of my neck on my throat chakra - so that it's a constant reminder of how my own journey of self realization is focused around creativity and communication (throat chakra qualities). My friend wanted a tattoo of the tibetan om symbol, so we both went to get them done in Mcloud Ganj last monday. A really nice man named Ashok gave us the tattoos, and it actually barely hurt and instead gave me this intense body high and meditative feeling like I could just lift out of my body if I really wanted to... I liked it a little too much. I must be wary of becoming addicted to getting tattoos. Or else I could end up with mantras all over my body.

Anyways. It was a really awesome experience to get a sanskrit mantra that resonates with me on such an intense level in the land from which it originated. Last weekend we went on our first weekend excursion to Amritsar and spent the Fourth of July at the Pakistani border - a situation I was a bit amused by. They have this ceremony every night in which huge crowds gather on either side of the gated border in stadium style seating and cheer in response to a sort of MC who leads the whole thing, while a few soldiers go through this whole process of marching the flags to the gate and greeting the Pakistani soldiers. It's a pretty big deal and people got quite riled up. They also have this "VIP" section, for which you show your passport, and if you're a westerner you get put in the best seats. I'm not exactly sure why they do this, but it amused me. The BEST part though was right before the actual ceremony - during which a huge dance party took place. Girls only. I'm sure we made the guys jealous. Because it was awesome. All the Indian women and girls started dancing to Punjabi music and I knew that I could not pass up such an opportunity, so I got my friend to go down with me and we were immediately welcomed and taught some Bollywood style dance moves. They were also doing that thing where you hold hands and lean back and spin. I had all these women coming up to me asking to do it with me and then have pictures take of us doing it, so I ended up spinning like that with at least ten women in a row. A very dizzying experience. While walking back to the taxi after the ceremony I had four different guys come up to me to tell me they liked my dancing. A certain indication that I am meant to be in a Bollywood film.

I kind of jumped ahead to the second part of the day first, but the first part of the day was so very awesome as well. We went to the Golden Temple, which is I think the most sacred temple for the Sikhs. I know very little about Sikhs still - but I can confidently say that I think they are an awesome religion. They sort of try to combine Hinduism and Islam, while abolishing the caste system. Everyone is seen in equal terms. I ALSO found out that kirtan is a huge part of their religion. In the temple, there are men singing kirtan from the holy books, and the music is played throughout the whole area on speakers. I bought a CD of tracks recorded in the Golden Temple - ohhh yeah. I was really inspired by the whole experience because I could poignantly feel the devotional energy from the people around me. One woman even drank the water where everyone washes off their feet. A very unsanitary form of devotion, but devotion nonetheless ...

And also, now I know what it feels like to be a celebrity. EVERYONE wants to take pictures with us! It's soooo insane and funny. I don't mind because if it makes them happy, then sure I'll take a picture with them. We got many picture requests at the Golden Temple, and then also at the border ceremony. It was actually borderline irritating at the border because we were just trying to leave but getting held up for an extra ten minutes by the incessant picture requests. I don't really understand how they develop this sort of reverence for people from the West. It's not like foreigners come to America and we're so in awe of them that we want to take pictures. We seem as though we're more jaded to the experience of visitors from the "outside" because we already regard ourselves as a sort of amalgam of outsiders anyways. Or that could just be my take on it, I don't really know what it is that makes the two so different.

This past weekend we went to Vishish near Minali. My favorite place thus far. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful. So beautiful. Even the drive up was delectable eye candy for me. Pine forests and a stellar view of the snowy Himalayas and waterfalls. Tis my kind of place. We went on an incredible hike up to a waterfall that ended up taking six hours because we took a rather unbeaten path up the side of the mountain, then chilled by the waterfall for awhile, then sat on a rock in the forest for another while, then randomly trekked around through the forest. It was very difficult for me to leave the forest. I'm pretty sure I could have just decided right then and there to live in it as a hermit forever. We celebrated my birthday that night at a place called Blue Heaven on a roof, where drunk Indian men sang me happy birthday and I was entirely amused. On my actual birthday, the staff tried to have a cake made for me without eggs and butter, but they accidently put icing on anyways. I did forego my veganism for a bit and had a piece. Oh, the crazy things I do in this country ... :)

We shall be going back to Vashish this coming weekend for white water rafting and/or rock climbing!!!! My friend and I also got randomly invited to have chai tea with a man who owns a little book store, and he asked for us to come over and have his wife give us henna and his friend teach us Indian dance. Sounds like quite a night, so I think we'll try to see him again when we go back. We weren't able to fit that all in last weekend. It was really challenging to spend only a couple days there. I could see myself spending a good month in Vashish. On the drive back we stopped at a temple in Old Manali where we gave an offering, and then had a man put a dot of red ink on our forehead and give us blessed puffed rice. I realized that that's been the third bit of blessed food I've eaten since coming here - and that's a lot of blessed food to consume in the mere time span of three weeks. They had bungee jumping nearby, which my friend and I almost did. Until we decided it'd be better to settle with getting a picture on a yak. So we paid 100 rupees to sit on a yak together and have them take countless pictures of us. It felt like a photo shoot, they got us from all sorts of angles. And I decided I really like yaks. Maybe more than bison? I could modify my dream of having a pet bison to that of having a pet yak.

Placement's going quite well. I feel like I'm really bonding with the kids and I know I'll miss them terribly when I leave, so I just try to keep it within my awareness to appreciate the time I'm spending with them as much as I possibly can. It's so rewarding to get smiles and laughs from them, or when they come to sit in my lap or hold my hand, or when we all dance together. There's been a lot more dancing going on lately - it's great. I still have that pestering feeling that I could be doing more and helping more, but I think it's really unproductive when I let it get a hold of me. I also try to focus on the realization that I'm not only giving something to them, but they're giving a lot to me, and I'm there to learn my own lessons as well. The whole experience requires a great deal of patience and an easy-going attitude towards whatever comes up. And that's sort of metaphorical for life in general I suppose.