At home but so far away

Wow! I have been in India over a month now. It feels like home, but a very strange home.

My life has become much more normal in the last three weeks since I wrote last. Week 2 was still pretty hard for me, but since then I have adjusted to life in a new place, alone, and my experience is much less of a roller coaster.



I have a pretty regular routine of teaching, preparing for the next day, talking with my freinds, meditating, eating and doing other random stuff. In a sense, it is anormal life becuase i havea ruitine, but in another sense this makes it even more strange becuase it is like i have a normal life that is comeplty different than i had ever though life could be. I don't nkow if that made sense. I've got my pb and banana for breakfast at 5 AM, my 20 cent lunch at the dirtiest little place in the world (which is so cool, the chai comes from the buffolo they;ve got out back) and dinner meeting with freinds or tourists at the main restrouant.



Here have been some highlights. I met an american named Jason who is staying here for over a year doing research on NGO's. He has been great to talk to and hang out with. I have so many things to think about, we have been talking about what is development. WHat is teaching english doing for these kids? Are these schools giving an education or a schooling? Is education a universal right? It is really interesting stuff. Now he's off to varanasi for a while so i've gotten to use his bike, which is awesome. biking in india islike a video game/ war movie.



Ron is an australian who is my best bud, i havea lot of chai with him and talk about politics. rahul is this crazy indian man who always talks about dharma but is just kindof off most of the time. he read my hands on day and asked if i had an older sister. i said no. he said, oh, your mother is still alive. but he's fun, and a good help with my teaching. numal is the cook at the monestry and he is a classic cook. big, drinks a lot, gives me lots of food and is really loud. i've gotten to learn a little about burmese cooking and end up getting a lot of free food. mangoes fall from the trees in the courtyard, how sweet is that. i just bought a soccer ball and had an intense gave of pickup today with numal and some of the monks and workers. it was pretty good, its a lot more fun when there is an ant hill in teh middle of the goal and there are cows for obstacles.

yogi mike arived about a week ago. he is pretty sweet. i go sit next to him while he burns incense and we talk about the nature of awareness. but, its pretty genuine stuff. he's all about finding a good teacher (a heavy). i am thinking my next step wheni leave the bodh in a month willbe to find a teacher. but, i've found some spirutual guidance here finally. i met this spanish zen monk who i have been meeting with. i really like talking to someone who knows what they are talking about, it is so much better to ask a question and see that someone has actually experienced the answer. the way i met him was prety sweet too: me, him, and a dutchman were all atthe same table and spanish was the only language we all spoke.



a part from the people I have met I climbed the mountain I mentioned last time. I've decided that a trip to the himalaya must happen, i might have to go big. i spent a weekend at the vipassana center, got sick, and decided that vipassana is not for me anymore. i've been doing some volunteering on the side at this other school run by a crazy french lady. THe kids do karate and scuplture but i'm pretty sure they don't get all that much of an education. but, they are really fun to hangout with. we talk about marriage a lot, i get massages, and we play cricket (either i'm good, or they play easy on me). oh yeah, i met this really awesome tibetan monk underneath the bodhi tree. he told me all about how he had been given a dali lama photo, goten arrested and beaten, just escaped from a jail in tibet and made is way across the border six months ago. as we were talking the monsoon just started pouring, but we just kept talking. i'm not sure if he's a total hoax or not, but either way he's the man.

so many things so say, but this is probably already to long. if you remember any good games for elemntry school kids, let me know. teaching is definately the low point of my life here. it is just really hard. i've decided that it is more important to inspire teh kids and theach them compasiiion than to teach them english, but i think this hasmade my job even harder than before. the school is by farthe low point, but i think it will make more sense to me eventually.

its really good here. let me know what your up to and if you've got any connections in the subcontinent, send them on.

om shanti shanti shanti
reid