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!

Lyon with our friends Diana and Kevin

Here we are at the roman ruins in Lyon! We had such a great visit with our friends Diana and Kevin! Thanks so much guys for showing us the sights. What a beautiful city! We rode bikes everywhere and did lots of walking to see the sights. Lyon was the first city in France to implement a system of renting out bikes all over the city for everyone to use at a very small cost. There are several pick up and drop off stations all over the city. Its a great way to get around!

Lyon has a network of tunnels between buildings that were used when silk was a big commodity. In order to carry the long spools of silk, tunnels were cut through the city. These secret tunnels were also used during WWII, where allied forces and others trying to escape the Nazi troops would hide. We spent some time searching for these tunnels called Traboules in the old part of Lyon. Check out more of our pics on www.kozbath.shutterfly.com to see more of these pictures.

Photos of Northampton Party and France

Go to

www.kozbath.shutterfly.com

to see pictures of our trip.

Ooo la la Paris!!!

Written by Tammi:
Well we made it to Paris! It is so beautiful, especially at night! We have been walking and walking and walking.... We saw Notre Dame, on our first night and just walked around enjoying the sights of Paris. On every block we noticed there are cafes about 3-4 in just one block. They all serve the same thing, but are pretty busy, especially in the evenings. We have come to France at the right time as smoking in public buildings like restaurants is no longer allowed. Instead everyone has to smoke outside. Outdoor seating here is a part of the scenery. Great for people watching! Paris is a high fashion scene. Ladies wear tall boots with everything! Everyone looks very ...fashionable.
Day 2 we did the Fat Tire bike tour of Paris which in my opinion was the highlight of my trip. in 4 hours we saw so much of Paris and learned about the history as we rode along. Our tour guide was from Wisconsin(another land of cheese) A fact which he was so proud of he had a tattoo of Wisconsin on his forearm.
So things we learned in Paris: The Louis: Louis the 14 built stuff. Louis the 15 enjoyed it, and Louis the 16 paid for it (with his head that is). The Nazis used to march up and down the most famous promenade in Paris between the Arc d' Triumph and the Louve (I forget the name). It would be so hot that his troops would pass out. So Hitler ordered that trees be planted on this street. Now Parisians and tourists enjoy the shade on hot summer days! Thanks Hitler! (You don't hear that one often)
Okay enough random facts, you'll just have to go to Paris and learn for yourselves....:) We highly recommend it!!!!!

Bon Voyage

Matt here:

After saying goodbye to friends and family, our friend Alex decided to give us a going away gift...a bike taxi to the bus station!

(SIDE NOTE: On the way we picked up a surge protector that later blew up in our hotel room in Paris. It shut off all the lights, and it scared the %$#! out of me. Tammi was in the shower when the lights cut! I thought we blacked out the whole hotel! However, one click of the switch at the fuse box by the hotel manager got us back in business.)

The bus and plane rides to France were nothing compared to the bike taxi in Noho! A great send off indeed. Next stop, scenes from Paris!

Just woke up!

AND WE'RE OFF! (not really)