So tired today...

September 10th, 2008 8:10 p.m.

Oh my! Where do I begin? Baby, I tried to call you this morning. Yesterday was all day puja so I had let you know that I wouldn’t be chatting with you. What I didn’t know was that we were going to do the same puja today. This morning I double checked that we were going. Then after asking a few people, I found out that we were leaving at 8 a.m.

So I left morning puja at 7 a.m. to run to the nearest pay phone and call you so that you wouldn’t worry, but they weren’t open. Most places around here don’t open up till somewhere between 8 and 11 and sometimes only when they want to open.

As far as I know, there isn’t going to be anything standing in the way of my chatting with you tomorrow! As far as I know.

For everyone else, Tim asks me every day what I’m up to. Every day I have no clue. I knew I would have all day puja on Tuesday as it was Guru Rinpoche Day and had been forewarned of the all day puja. “Oh, this is nothing. What till all day puja!” hehehe.

Monday was very interesting. I’ve told you how I’m the princess here. That may be true, but there are definitely many Kings and Queens who take higher positions. We had just sat down for lunch and Lama-la had just laid his head down for a nap when the doorbell rang. I have never seen people move so fast. The monastery’s sponsors dropped in unexpectedly. I was quickly moved out of my throne (off my position near Lama-la’s chair). And the fine cups came out. I don’t know they even had these cups.

The sponsors are from Hong Kong. I don’t know that they contribute a whole lot financially, but definitely enough to dethrone me, hehehe. Then that evening some one arrived that made me feel completely out of my league. A lama. Yeah, lots of lamas come here. But this is the monk and lama to ever be a Nepalese Member of Parliament. Oy vey! I was wearing jeans. The first time since arriving that I had worn jeans. I was sooooo overclassed by this man!

He spoke very good English as well. He has spent some time around the world touring as well as time in Washington teaching for Microsoft. He is in Nepal for a while to build his monastery. He talked to me quite a bit. Then as I was leaving for the evening puja he chastised me. He told me that if I ever truly want to be a student of Tibetan Buddhism I must learn the language. And that I should not speak English here anymore.

I gave a quick answer of something like ‘yes sir’ and ‘I will sir’ and then Lama-la waved me off to puja. Thankfully. I didn’t tell him that I only became interested in learning anything about Tibetan Buddhism until May when I met Lama-la, that I had been seriously considering studying the language some before coming, but by the time I had my plane tickets I didn’t have a whole lot of time to study. Try like a month and a half with a hell-a lot to do before leaving. Pssht!

Oooh, how the old Tibetan ladies and all the monks LOVED my puja clothing yesterday. Lakpa said through Anna that I should never wear pants again. That I should only wear Tibetan clothing. He was sooo disappointed that I changed as SOON as puja was done. He was hoping to do Kora with me all dressed up because I guess all of the Tibetans love it when you wear their traditional clothing. I told Anna that someday I would do Kora with him in the clothes and she said he would really like that.

Today I wore my other set of puja clothing which isn’t so traditional, but all the little monks said they loved my shirt and loved it when I didn’t wear pants. What’s up with that? Must be a world wide guy thing.

So much happened I can’t remember it all and that fact that I’m exhausted doesn’t help. We did puja from 5:30-7:30 a.m. and then 9 a.m.-5p.m. yesterday. It was after 6 by the time we were done eating. Today we did puja from 5:30-7:30 a.m. and then left for puja at 8 a.m. and I returned back to the monastery less than an hour ago. Wooo!

A new meeting hall has opened up about 20 minutes walking distance from here and they asked Lama-la to have the inauguration ceremony there today. So we did the same Chod puja that we did yesterday. Their cushions are like sitting on the floor with a ¼” foam under your butt. Everyone in my line was move all puja long. All though I was like a top, spinning every which way to keep from hurting bad.

We received a wang(I think that is what it is called, it is an empowerment) for long life. I got an empowerment cord which is way awesome! I will put it on in the morning. I will find out tomorrow if there is a practice that I should be doing daily with that.

Then day after tomorrow I will receive a lung for the chod we just did. Way cool! Super charge me baby!

So yesterday, Anna, Lakpa, and I went out to pick up her pictures she had ordered and to go and see Lakpa’s flat that he keeps outside the monastery. I think it was to show off his brother’s thankas. His brother is a thanka painter. As Anna and I walked back, this was late mind you since we got out of puja so late and I pretty much am not allowed out after dark as they are all so super protective of me… um anyway, back to the story. We see a group of Nepali police men standing very near to the monastery gate. They are stopping motorcyclists. Then all of a sudden a motorcyclist chooses not to stop and go screaming by to get away while the policemen are chasing him and beating him. He got away. Anna and I started clinging to each other not knowing what’s going on or if we are going to get hit by a motorcycle or what. When we get to the monastery gate the policemen have gone as Anna asked one of the monks what was going on. I guess the policemen were stopping all the motorcyclists and saying “give me money or I take your bike.”

The monks go out regularly to protest against the invasion of Tibet. They get beaten, taken to jail, and then released. One of the youngest older monks (that’s how we classify them around here) came back the other day with a pretty nasty elbow. I would go out and protest with them, but it would be very dangerous for a foreigner.

So, why no apples? I can have apples I found out if I prepare them myself. The problem is I cannot have the water here unless it is boiled. What the locals like to do is wash the fruit and hand it to you dripping wet. Can’t eat. Their next favorite thing to do is peel it for you (ya!) and then wash it in the water (no ya!). So Anna said that I can quarter it to make it easier to peel without getting a whole bunch of dirt in it, then peel and eat. No water added.

Can’t eat anything here raw unless it can be peeled and the peelings thrown away. Or unless it has been soaked in iodine. I bought myself a small pomegranate though that I may enjoy tomorrow.

Ok so on Monday. I didn’t even talk about Monday. It was super busy with prep work for guru rinpoche day. I got to make small tormas, but I didn’t get to decorate them. But soooooo cool. Yeah! Tormas are made with flour, butter, and a little water and shaped (the ones we did were mountain or breast shaped ones). Then older and more experienced monks decorated them when I was around. Dang it! Lakpa, another monk, and I were sent off on a mission to buy food. I think Lama-la sent me along just to see the sights. We got apples, asian pears, and meat. Oy, a lot of each one and a lot of walking.

Heya baby, remember how I said that monsoon season was over. Wrong. It rained on Monday. You know the flash flood types of rain. I got to try out my new jacket. I bought this beautiful Columbia jacket just for this trip. Trim, thin, and waterproof. Ha ha ha, very freakin funny. Ok, so you take really hot and really humid and you put on a waterproof jacket. The jacket doesn’t breath. So I was probably just as wet inside my jacket as I would have been without it. And I wouldn’t have been soaked with my own sweat. Duh! Hehehe.

Hopefully I can put this blog up tomorrow with lots of photos and hopefully my baby will forgive me for not checking in with him. I tried! I’m very tired. I hit the ground running when I got here and haven’t stopped since. One third of the way through my visit here. Man, I feel like I’ve always lived here and it’s only been 9 days.

Oh and just in case anyone is wondering about Lakpa and I… Lakpa has been charged by Lama Wangdu to be my ‘bodyguard’ and he takes it very seriously. Like I would feel sorry for anyone who tried anything. Monday a beggar kind of moved fast towards me and Lakpa smacked him down so fast I barely saw anything. Anna is supposed to be my social guide, but she is so busy that we don’t really get to do anything together. But don’t tell Lama-la. He thinks Anna goes into Boudha with me every morning. I go by myself. She helped me around the day I arrived and the day after, otherwise she’s so busy I only get a chance to ask her questions here and there. But we are going to the Monkey Temple soon and to the book store.

Oh, oh, and I found something out. In the current book I’m reading, and it is a book this time, it says that ‘Kunzang (my name) means “everywhere perfect” or “always perfect. It is the abbreviated form of Kuntuzangpo (in Sanskrit, Samantabhadra), the primordial Buddha, source of all lineages.” Pretty cool huh?