8
Location: Dharamsala
Another sunny day in Dharamsala! We started the morning with our typical routine; walking up 300 steps and venturing to a common ground for our delish breakfast. We took a quick trip to the Laundromat to wash all our sweaty clothes. Our learning partners met us at common ground, and we each went our separate ways. I went to the Dalai Lama’s temple where I ran into Fiona, while others bought prayer flags in preparation for the holy holiday. Today, I went in depth about the importance of education with my learning partner, Nima. We have discussions about many different topics to help improve her English. I love learning about her outlook on the environment and the importance of Buddhism in everyday life.
We met for lunch at common ground having traditional Tibetan food. The girls who go to the baby house (Ally, Bryn and I) have to leave a bit early while the others do lesson planning. From what I heard about the class, there was lots of Taylor Swift singing and laughs shared. The rest of us spent our hours at the baby house, which is both crazy and adorable. The ages go from eight months to three years, but I spent most of my day with the babies (my favorite!).
After our separate afternoons, we met up for a bit of shopping. The girls bought lots of patterned pants, and we all stopped at the Free Tibet stores, which gives its profits to the free Tibet movement. John, Ally, Fiona and I got the laundry for everyone and started to come down the stairs when we realized a pack of monkeys were following us (these were not cute monkeys you would imagine). We rushed down the stairs and made it back safe. We ate a simple dinner at the monastery and are having a calm night hanging out. Anyways, it is time for us to go to sleep, so I hope you all are excited to hear about tomorrow.