Year one complete!

Hello everyone, yes we know! We are very bad at keeping up with this blog thing! We have completed a year in India and we are surprised at how fast the time is flying by. Matt passed his final exam (we all knew he would, right!) and now he begins year 2 of actually interpreting Buddhist teachings from Tibetan into English. Its been a crazy year! Here are some of the highlights in case you missed them: Matt studied a lot, Tammi traveled to South India with Megan and Ali; Tammi went home for 3 months and missed monsoon season, Matt got wet and moldy, Matt missed Tammi, Tammi missed Matt, Tammi came back to India. Ok so now you are all caught up:)

I am leaving for Kathmandu, Nepal on November 13th to take part in a meditation course at Kopan Monastery. I'll be meditating and taking classes on the Lam Rim, a famous text in Tibetan Buddhism that teaches the path to Enlightenment. I'm not expecting to come out enlightened, but I am looking forward to a daily schedule of meditation.

Then after one month I will meet up with Matt in Delhi, where we will fly to Goa to hang out on the beach over Christmas and New Years. If anyone has the urge to join us we would be happy to see you! Matt will have one month off to relax and soak up some rays before going back to the rigors of school.

I'll post more about what's going on when I return from Nepal and Goa, till then check us out on facebook or drop us a line!

Tammi and Matt

After Tammi returned from her travels in South India, Matt decided he wanted a taste of the Indian adventure too! So off we went to Amritsar to see the famous Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is the most famous religious spot for Sihks. After a long 8 hour bus ride we arrived there in the evening, just in time to see the Temple at the most beautiful time. Oh how gold shines!

The next day we went to the Pakistan/India border to witness the flag lowering performance. India's stands were packed with cheering countrymen cheering Hindustan!!!!! Pakistan with slightly less people but more gusto in my opinion cheered just as load! We felt like we were at a football game.

Dreaming of coconuts and warm breezes

My trip began in Arambol, Goa. Goa is a small state on the west coast of India. The Portuguese once controlled this area and you can see the influence of them all over Goa. Catholic churches instead of temples line the streets and people have last names that sound Spanish instead of Indian. The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand is white. The beaches are filled with hippies of all ages here for the weather, ocean, or parties that happen with some frequency here.

The beginning of my trip was not as fun. I spent the first few days recovering from some bad food. I made it by in one piece and managed to complete a one week Iyengar yoga course. By the end of the week I had enough of the scene and we made our way to Kerala for more yoga at a renowned Ashram called Sivananda Ashram. For one week I made lots of good friends, did yoga twice a day, and chanted Jaya Ganesha until the cows came home.

We had enough of that experience and with some new friends in tow made our way to Allepey for a backwater adventure on a houseboat. Lonely Planet describes this as a "must do before you die experience". It is also one of the most expensive things you can do in India. For 7000 Rupees a night or $140, you and some of your closest friends can slowly wane your way on a large houseboat through some of the most beautiful areas of India. We saw some village life as well as some wildlife on these quiet waters. Kerala is also known as the Venice of India for this reason.

India was starting to get a little warm for us so we decided to take a little rest from the heat and headed to a nearby hill station called Ooty. We took a toy train up the mountain which was painfully slow, but the views that we saw going up the mountains made it worth it. Ooty is filled with Tea plantations and they are known for their famous Nilgiri Hill tea as well as their chocolates. Both of which we frequently imbibed in. We said goodbye to our new friends Meera and Abi in Ooty and the four remaining travelers myself, Megan, Ali, and Jim made our way to Mysore to try out some Ashtanga yoga with Ajay Kumar.

Mysore is the birthplace of Ashtanga yoga. You may be wondering what Ashtanga is. It’s a sequence of poses done in a warm room. The classes we participated in were not lead by a teacher. Instead we became experienced Mysore practitioners. We had to memorize the poses and the teachers adjusted us through most of the poses. We were able to deepen into the poses much more quickly this way. I was in poses that I've never been in before!

Two weeks of Ashtanga was not enough for me, but my time in the south was coming to an end. I needed to make my way back north. We made our way to Chennai, where I was to fly out to Delhi and Megan could pick up her passport that she lost on the way down to the south. We had time for one more day trip to Mallipuranam just south of Chennai. This World-Heritage town is renowned for his ancient Hindu rock sculptures carved right into the massive boulders strewn about this town.

After 1 ½ months of travel and yoga I was ready to go home to Dharamsala escape the heat of the south and reconnect with Matt. Now that I am back I miss a few things from the South: Fresh coconut juice, dai puri, Ashtanga yoga, sugar cane juice with masala, thali, beaches, ok I miss a lot, but I'm happy to be home. I can't wait till next winter when I will return to the south to enjoy these things once again.

Tammi's travels while Matt stays home to study

Downloading pics is such a pain in the ass! Please forgive me for not downloading some latest pics but I will when I can find some band-width that can handle it! I promise soon!

Ok so for the latest news, I am traveling in South India with my friend Megan from Northampton. Search for Oh Sweet Mama's to check out her blog. We are currently in Goa and both of us had a bad bout of Delhi Belly! Mine lasted one night and Megsy is still battling the demons of India!!!

I am currently enrolled in the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga School with a great teacher! Megan hasn't left our little beach hut much but I have great hopes for her full recovery soon! I spend my days lying on the beach and taking in the dreadlocks entertainment that takes place spontaneously every night before sunset on the beach. Quite a sight!!!

Swimming in the Arabian Sea is quite delightful I must say! Its like bathwater, but refreshing! Every day about every 5 minutes while sitting on the beach you are approached by an Indian women who speak perfect english. They are touting their wares and are desperate for your business. They complain that its slow this year. Due to the attacks in Mumbai, and Goa's proximity to it, many cancelled their trips. Tough times!

We are planning some visits to Ashrams in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and I"ll try to keep you updated as much as I can!

Dolma the DOG!

This is Dolma. You can't take her for a walk in India without a big stick to chase the other dogs away. This dog lacks "street cred". We had the oppotunity to dog sit for 10 days and those 10 days were busy with playing ball, and befriending a small white dog named Pema who wants to be Dolma's boyfriend, but she is too young and too tall. Anyway our time as parents came to an end and we are relaxing back at home. I miss her only a little:)

One month in Dharamsala

It's been a long time since we blogged so I hope I don't miss anything! It has been a good first month in India for us. We haven't gotten ill (knock on wood)! I have been cooking Indian and Tibetan food for Matt's school everyday and then I bring my skills home and cook for the two of us. That way we have been able to control the germs. We don't have a fridge so we only cook what we can eat. Surprisingly we have been eating quite well. I learned to make chapatis from my Tibetan teacher Ani La. If you haven't checked it out you should see her video on You Tube. Search for Tibetan Class Dharamsala. Her video is the first to come up. That way you can see where we live and see my teacher!

Also I learned to make momo's from my friend Jenny Natapow's host family. They are so nice and have treated us like family! Thanks Jenny!!!

Many days a week we hike up to Mcleod Gange to do the Kora around the Dalai Lama's Monastery. Mcleod is the touristy section so there are lots of good restaurants, coffee shops and shopping there.

Matt is doing quite well in his Tibetan course. On the last two tests he scored 100%! What a smarty pants! My Tibetan on the other hand seems to be crawling along. I now have a conversation partner so I hope that helps me out.

I have also begun teaching English at the Tibetan School of Medicine. My students are Tibetan doctors who are teaching the medical students. I currently have five students and they are beginner/intermediate students. I am trying to do some creative teaching and have found that I really enjoy it! One thing that I am trying out is teaching them some songs and having them sing along. They are lots of fun and very good humored and so patient with the learning process. It’s a good lesson for me. I need to be more patient with myself as I learn Tibetan.

I will also begin volunteering for an organization called Tong Len. It’s a Tibetan run program that provides a health clinic every other week in the slum village in lower Dharamsala. I haven't started yet, but will next week. I am sure I will see many interesting things. This is one of the reasons I went into nursing so I could provide this kind of help, so I am very excited to get started.

It is now the beginning of winter here and I have to admit that I love it! The sun is out everyday and it is warm enough to go with just a sweater. If you are in the sun though it is quite warm and you will get burned! I really like this kind of winter and feel for everyone where it is cold and snowy! I can see myself spending the winters here!!!

Keep in touch!!

Tammi and Matt

We Made it to India!

Well here we are in one piece! After a 14 hour bus ride up the mountains we are here in Dharamsala! It is considered to be Fall here but it feels more like summer to us. The sun is quite intense and we are enjoying it immensely! We know it will get cold soon we can already feel a change in the air. It has taken about a week to get our kitchen settled. We had to buy everything including a gas stove which leaked for a few days until we got a new part for it. Yikes! We are boiling and filtering all of our water so we don't have to keep buying water bottles. India doesn' t have a great garbage system and there is a lot of packaging a plastic waste scarring the beautiful scenery. We don't want to add to that so we are trying to be as efficient as possible.

Matt has started his Tibetan class and I have started a Tibetan classes well through the library. Only mine is 1 hour a day. For the rest of my day I am working in the kitchen making lunch for Matt and his 20 or so other classmates. I'm learning to cook Indian and Tibetan food.

We are hiking almost every day at the foothills of the Himalaya's. You can see snow at the top, which in the next few weeks we'll likely see more! We are about a mile above sea level but neither of us have experienced altitude sickness.

We are living in a small town called Gangchen (pronounced Gongkee) between Dharamsala and Mcleod Gange. This small town is the home of the Tibetan government in exhile and other government buildings. It is also home to the Nechung Monastary. At night we hear them chanting and bells ringing. It is a quite a change for us! But we both enjoy it.

One night there must have been some kind of event going on close by. There was devotional chanting or Kirtans until 4:30 in the morning! It was over a loud speaker so we slept on and off all night! Also, every night we are serenaded by many of the stray dogs in our neighborhood. One in particular likes to howl like a wolf which is a little unsettling to hear. He also happens to like sleeping by our door step during the day time. He seems so tired, I wonder why?!

We are very happy to hear the news that Barak Obama is the next President of the US. This is big all over the world and everyone we have met from other countries is very pleased. Matt is also very excited that the Phillies won the world series too! Check out the pic on shutterfly of the old Tibetan guy wearing the Phillies cap.

More to come!! Stay tuned!