First Impressions
Friends, With almost a week behind me since I left home, there is so much to write about I don’t think I could cover it all. When I arrived in Koh Tao, there were a number of expectations I had…
Category Stories
You think you know…
Friends, I have been preparing for this journey for a very long time. From the beginnings of the proposal to the negotiations of the logistics of the trip itself, I feel like I have known this is what I need…
Happy Day!
I wake up bubbling over with joy today. Life is wonderful. I’m happy to be part of such an amazing community where friends are family. I’m thankful for the hour I got to spend on the phone with my mom…
Luptin, and the Sherpa relationship with food
“Shei, shei, shei!” It’s the national cry of the Sherpani: “Eat, eat, eat!!” Sapana just returned from her farewell breakfast with Luptin, the bearded monk who hosted us at saano gumba during the festival. She walks into our room and…
Third World Packing List
Traveling in a developing country is much different from a sightseeing trip to Paris or even a backpacking trip around Europe. Even plans that are “guaranteed” to work will fall through and you’ll learn to depend on no one but…
Dumzi Festival – Part IV
It’s 6:00 AM. Sapana and I kick off our shoes and file into the monastery with the monks. As always, I try to inconspicuously refrain from the three prostrations before the Buddha statues which accompany any Buddhist’s entry into a…
Dumzi Festival – Part III
Dumzi is the most sacred of all festivals at Pema Choling. Two days are spent simply in preparation: The making of thorma is the primary activity during this time. Puja (chanting) will last four days, and the final two days…
Dumzi Festival – Part II
On the stove a dish called dildo bubbles in a wok blackened from what appears to be years of use over an open fire. I saw a menu nailed to a wooden plank in the kitchen yesterday, a hand-written grid…
Dumzi Festival – Part I
I take a seat on one of the wooden benches halfway up the three-tiered stadium-style seating in the auditorium outside of the monastery, watching as monks of all ages scurry around in preparation for the six-day festival which starts tomorrow.…
Buddhism 101
I was able to start asking my first round of questions on Buddhism yesterday when a conversation with the festival sponsor and former monk of 19 years, Ngawang Dorje, turned into a veritable lesson on the basics of Buddhist philosophy.…