Painful surprises and switchback roadways

People in India, including those here and the Tibetans, are, on average, a good bit shorter than Americans. So, when they build doorways, passageways, stairwells, they take that into consideration just as we take the average height into our measurements into consideration in America. What I'm getting at is that I am about one inch taller than the average door height, meaning the bathroom door, my room door, the balcony door, classroom door, and kitchen door.

Getting the idea? Now I can't totally remember (probably from the recurring head trauma) but I have hit my head at least once a day on metal and/or concrete, sometimes HARD. At this rate I will need a helmet, or medical attention, as I don't seem to have adjusted to it yet, but I hope that I do soon.

We've started classes at Sarha now, but I had to miss my first culture class today to go to the Foreign Registration Office because my visa is for one year instead of 6 months for whatever reason.
Anyway, I have Tibetan 102 every day with Gen-la Penpa Tsering, followed by Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy with Gen-la Ani-la on MWF or Tibetan Culture and Civilization on TTh with Professor Doyle, or Tara-la.

Gen means teacher in Tibetan, and is an appropriate term for both teachers and elderly people whose names you don't know and can't remember. The "la" at the end is an honorific particle also necessary for teachers and elders, so Gen-la means "honorable teacher." I'm sure those who teach in the U.S. would find this appealing but as we all know, teaching is not nearly as revered as it is here, or as it should be.

Penpa Tsering-la is a monk who speaks little English but is very amiable and giggles from time to time. Ani-la is a German nun here who speaks Tibetan fluently and is revered for her debating abilities by the Tibetans. Debating is an essential part of education here at Sarha for all students, but especially for the monastics who could not continue very long in their studies without being proficient at it. Certainly not something that is stressed in American education, so I'm relieved that I won't be doing any while I'm here. I can't understand them yet but it's characterized by clapping your hands together in the direction of your opponent when you make each point. This means it's very fun to watch.

The FRO was an unpleasant introduction to India bureacracy as the office was crowded because Tuesdays and Thursdays are the only days Tibetans can get their visas dealt with and Tuesday was a holiday so EVERYONE was there. I also don't know how things work but luckily I had someone experienced with me so ultimately I got what I needed and Indian officials won't be holding me at the border when I try to leave.

The drive up the mountain is something I haven't mentioned yet. If you've ever been on a mountain road, it's like that, except 10 times more frightening. There's no such thing as guard rails here. The roads not really wide enough for two lanes, and people don't tend to stay on their side. There's innumerable blind curves, the outside of which is occupied by a 400 foot drop-off. Throw in motorcycles, mopeds, pedestrians, road crews, and occassionally spots with gravel that reduce traction, and you've got the idea. The first time I went up we had an expert driver, which means he goes much faster, which means it is even MORE terrifying. You try to reassure yourself that nobody ever goes off the edge so there's no need to worry but I'm somewhat certain I felt the outside rear wheel go partially over the edge on a couple turns that flipped my stomach. Of course I was fine both times going up and going down, but one with heart problems would do best to limit the number of trips up and down the mountain side.

In a small post-scriptum, there are a few things people asked me about before I left, out of mirth or genuine concern. There are western bathrooms, but not in our dorm. Clothes washing is a two bucket, multiple rinse system with drying on the roof. Showers are not worth it because ice water comes out of the shower head, but with a bucket of hot water, one can rinse off properly using a smaller bucket and determination. The dogs don't have rabies, but they did in the past. The Indian government called for a cull of all stray dogs in the area two years ago but the community petitioned to allow the government to let them vaccinate them so they wouldn't be killed, and now there's a volunteer organization in Dharamsala to take care of emergency situations with dogs, but many need minor medical attention. The driving is worse than you think, the pollution in the cities is visible when you blow your nose, but here the air is great. There's no snow here, only on the mountains, and the past couple days it's been t-shirt weather when the sun's out, but cold at night.

That's all for now, hopefully I can post some more pictures soon. We go on a field trip tomorrow to the Tibetan Museum in Mcleod Ganj and walk the cora around His Holiness the Dalai Lama's temple, which should be very nice.