September 19th, 2008

I was lazy today! Oh my goodness! I was a total American! I slept till 7 a.m. this morning. If I was Nepali or Tibetan I’m sure I would have been beaten for it! I was just so tired! Oh my goodness so tired!

I showered, dressed and headed down for the last 10 minutes of puja with a guilty grin on my face as everyone turned to look at me. Hehehe. Silly American and her slothful ways! Felt so good! Except for my hips. My hips ache and ache every morning. I sleep on a rock practically and it is amazing that I can move at all when I wake up.

I then headed out for the British café and waited until they turned on the internet. I ordered porridge (oatmeal) cooked in coconut milk with bananas. Oh so yummy! And a premium mocha. These are pretty good and once I add a bunch of sugar it takes like home. Today I noticed some chocolate floating on top of my mocha as I took a sip of it. When I went to take another sip I realized it wasn’t chocolate. It was 2 cockroaches!!! Ooooh yucky!

After returning back at the monastery I told Dechen who translated for everyone else and they all laughed and laughed. Lama-la was actually a bit worried about me so he did some divination and said I would be just fine. I wasn’t too worried about it, hehehe.

Dechen said that they might be leaving. Almost the whole family received a blessing from Lama-la today, I was included. Lama-la smacked us pretty hard with all his tools. Giggling the whole time. Dechen crouched right next to me groaning every time she got hit. Tough love, hehehe.

Next thing I know people had arrived to pick up Lama-la and they left. What do you know?!? So we’ve been partying, hehehe. Not really, but it does feel more relaxed here now. I was thinking of asking if I could go with Lama-la and Dechen and then realized I could use a break!

Tomorrow I will head out early for the café then return to take Anna and Lakpa to lunch at the Hyatt as a thank you. Then the other Dechen, Anna, and I will be heading out to a Hindu temple where I guess there is some greenery and lots of monkeys. Hopefully no Dew stealing monkeys. Oh, by the way, I don’t care for the Dew here. They use a different type of sugar and it doesn’t taste at all the same. Tastes more like really stale Mountain Dew. Maybe it’s best if the monkeys have it, hehehe.

So I did some shopping today. I purchased a water bowl set and a mandala. They are copper covered in fired gold with a beautiful brown wax. It really is beautiful. Was expensive, but altar things I really wanted. Maybe next time I come I will have enough money to upgrade to solid silver. Really expensive though.

On my wish list still: a kangling, thankas, Buddha statue, stupa statue, rug, some extra katas, altar cloths, a bodhi seed mala, and another set of counters. I would love to be able to get a few other statues too. And a gift or two more for Tim. But I do not have enough money for all of it so we’ll see what I get.

Anna today gave me a gift! Oh my goodness!!! She gave me a Medicine Buddha thanka. It does not have the brocade on it so we’ll go and get brocade put around it. She said it was my ‘going away’ present. How thoughtful!!! It is like 10 years old and gorgeous.

In Tamel (don’t know the spelling) there is another small Medicine Buddha thanka that I will purchase. I’m not sure when we will go and purchase it. Hopefully Sunday or Monday as it will need to be set in brocade as well.

I would really like to get a Yeshe Tsogyal statue. Two shops are bringing them in for me to see tomorrow. It really depends on price. Oh and I would like to get a bhumpa, which is a water aspurger tool.

So many things I want. So little money, hehehe. I found a beautiful Tibetan wool and silk rug that I am thinking of purchasing. I have been wanting a rug for a few years now as they are so helpful for Shamanic work and building your own sacred space. Especially in training as it helps to define your space and gives your tools a sacred space to lie on.

I have been doing my best to try not to be a consumer here. Which is very difficult considering the price discrepancy between purchasing things here and in the U.S. I found an old bodhi seed mala today that I am really coveting. But the guy selling it is asking way too much. Like WAY too much. This thing though was a monk’s, probably from old Tibet, and he sold it to him and purchased a new one and used the extra cash he received to live off. I tried my best to get the guy to bring the price down by over half as that is how much it truly is worth, but he got pissy with me. Dang it! I am almost positive that if I wasn’t white the price would be very different. I want it though *insert temper tantrum* hehehe.

I am really beginning to feel the pressure of time. Lama-la will be gone until Monday-ish. Tom and Betsy are supposed to arrive on Monday. I believe they will be here for a week. And then it will almost be time to leave.

It has been nice chatting with Tim for longer than usual. Tomorrow depending on his schedule I will have extra time chatting with him. I purchased a week’s worth of unlimited internet usage at the British café today. Sunday and Monday will be fun as I won’t have too much on my schedule with Lama-la gone.

The other Dechen just stopped by to talk to me. Very awkward as she doesn’t speak any English and I don’t speak any Tibetan. I have a small conversational Tibetan book that helps, but very awkwardly as I’m not sure the correct pronunciation of things. The day I purchased it I tried to tell Dechen that my parcel was full of books. This was coming from another book on Tibetan that is full of phrases. I told her that my bag was full of shit and her and Ani busted up laughing so hard. I have no clue what part I got wrong.

But Tim and I will change that when I get home. We are going to study Tibetan together. One cannot learn all that is possibly unless you know some Tibetan. I’ve missed out on so much, but I guess I have received what I needed and I must have faith in that!

Well, I am not all that tired. That’s what I get for sleeping in so late, but I should pick up my room and then try to get to bed. Or else I will pay for it at 4:30 a.m. Argh! Hehehe.

Night all!