Religion+Politics: The Tibetan Equation

On February 12 we went as a group again to Mcleod Ganj. This time we were lucky enough to have a meeting arranged with the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, Samdhong Rinpoche. An interesting rhetoric accompanies the Tibetan government’s existence in India because it resides under the Indian government and thus cannot really be a government. Because of this it is technically not referred to as the Tibetan Gov’t in Exile but rather the Central Tibetan Agency (CTA). For the same reason they refer to what would otherwise be ministries as the department of health, education, finance, etc.

Samdhong Rinpoche has been the PM for almost a decade I believe, and his term ends in 2011. The election of the next PM is a very important issue for the Tibetan community because they will be in charge of the Sino-Tibetan “negotiations” that have not been so productive. While it would have been interesting to hear his opinion, we did not discuss the election with Rinpoche and instead he spoke to us about the history of Tibet and China and then we were able to ask him several questions we had decided upon as a group earlier. This has been our general protocol with the important figures we’ve been meeting so that we make the best out of the limited time we have with them.

We spoke to Samdhong Rinpoche for over an hour and his secretary peeked his head in several times to signal that it was time to go. The history of Sino-Tibetan relations is very useful to know when looking at the modern day issue but it’s fairly extensive and wouldn’t be interesting to read on this blog (hopefully this isn't already a problem!)—nor would the mistakes I’d make be fair to any readers. We read Melvyn Goldstein’s The Snow Lion and the Dragon for one class and it’s very useful as a historical source on the issue. However, it must be understood that he tends to be a supporter of China--this is prevalent in his writing if you read it--and because of this and criticism of His Holiness, his writing is almost entirely unavailable in the area as a common "ban" agreement. While there are many Tibetans disheveled by the current unsuccessful approach to China, in general, most Tibetans do not appreciate criticism of the Dalai Lama because of how sacred and important he is to the entire community.

The Tibetan government had their 9^th round of talks with the People's Republic of China (PRC) after the uprisings in Tibet in 2008. We read the general memorandum for Tibetan autonomy generated by the CTA that gets presented to the Chinese government each time, but Rinpoche told us that they had added two points that the public domain had not yet been informed of. They were:

1) Calling for an investigation into the condition of Tibetans inside Tibet. If they are truly happy then the whole issue for autonomy can be dropped. The happiness of the Tibetan people is the main issue of the CTA. It is necessary for a third-party to perform this investigation so that is impartial.

2) Calling for an investigation into the claim of the Chinese government that the Dalai Lama is responsible for the uprisings and unrest in Tibet. If this is not the case then the accusation must be dropped (it is often used as reason to avoid cooperation with the CTA).

Now, the previous 8 talks have achieved no progress in the CTA’s push for autonomy. Both governments have made their conditions clear and has continued in their refusal for compromise (autonomy is of course already a compromise for the CTA but not enough for the PRC). The main point of contention is that the CTA calls for autonomy while the PRC demands total integration into the motherland. The Tibetan strategy translates to the "Middle Way Approach," and has been developing for the past few decades. Tibetan demands changed from total independence to a cooperative autonomy inside of China. However, China is still unwilling to concede, as the Tibetan region is about a third of China’s territory. Interestingly enough, the translation for what the PRC's calls their approach is "time waiting" or "time extending."

Additionally, any talk of a third party becoming involved tends to infuriate the Chinese government because they continue to insist this is only between a country and its territory. Of course, the most likely way for the Tibetan cause to succeed is international support. For many years that hope was focused on the US, but Tibet received only sentimental and congressional backing, and no usable political support. It is clear with China being as economically powerful as they are today and the US economy being so weak, that it’s a conflict of interest to become supporters of Tibet. That is why when Barack Obama was meant to meet with the Dalai Lama several months ago the government cancelled because he was due to go to China shortly after and the Chinese government had warned against it. However, the Dalai Lama is coming to America for about a week starting on the 17^th and Obama intends to meet him this time, despite Chinese discouragement.

-This is the parliament's altar for Losar, which I will explain more in my next post-

After the PM we went to Parliament where we watched a great informational film that apparently we were the first group to see in India as it had just been finished. Tibet is the “smallest democracy in the world,” with a parliament of 46 members. As I recall the breakdown is 10 members from each region of Tibet: Kham, Amdo, and U-Tsang and 2 members from each of the 4 Buddhist schools of Tibet: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Geluk; also 2 from the Bon religion, the religion that preceded Buddhism in Tibet but which has largely transformed into a parallel of Buddhist ideology.

That makes 40—then there are two from Europe, and one from the US, each elected by the Tibetan citizens living abroad. Finally the last three are the three positions I previously mentioned that are meant for the Dalai Lama to nominate into the parliament, but as he has given up this power there are only 43 members of parliament until those 3 are elected by popular vote. Because transparency of government is so important to the CTA and the Dalai Lama, any citizen can sit in on parliament meetings, as well as watch it on TV (Tibetan CSPAN) or just the Internet.

After this we went to the Nechung Monastery, which was mostly empty at the time, but we got to go inside and take a look around while the monks were taking a break from their ceremonies. It is the monastery of the Nechung oracle. If you’ve ever seen Kundun, then you’ve seen a reproduction of the Nechung oracle in action. The spirit is called into them, allowing them to dance around with a hat that could otherwise break their neck (weighs around 20 pounds now but used to be heavier). When the spirit leaves the oracle several men have to hold up the medium and remove the heavy ceremonial garments. I’m getting some of this wrong I’m sure but it’s very interesting anyway. As I'm told there is a chance we will get to see the medium in trance at some point.

-Butter lamp at the altar. Yes, butter.-

-The bell (ghanta) and vajra scepter which all monks have/use during ceremonies like the one that must have been occurring earlier. The bell represents wisdom, specifically an understanding of emptiness, and the vajra has many meanings, but together they represent the perfect union of method and wisdom--the two components of Buddhist practice.--

-These are butter sculptures. Yes, butter. They mold the butter in water and then construct them piece by piece, after which they may paint them. They are often put on altars as well, and because it is so chilly, they don't melt. They are really quite impressive to see.-

(yes, still made of butter)

The detailed ones are really hard to believe.

-Modern monasticism-

-These are prayer bracelets or lanyards. One would be blessed and then given as a gift to a family member or friend who then wears it of course.-

-These are just some of the dogs on campus, the right one is Rex, the one we adopted before he contracted a terrible skin problem. [Photo credit: Gary S.]

Losar, the Tibetan New Year's began on the 14th and ends tomorrow, though it is much more than three days. It requires it's own post and unfortunately there aren't many photos, but there's a lot to tell.

Tibetan Museum, Ama Adhe, and Gu Chu Sum. Here comes a long one...[small revision]

On Friday we had another trip to Mcleod Ganj. We first went to visit the Tibet Museum which holds an exhibit about the 1951 Chinese invasion into Tibet and the military occupation that followed.

Originally entering on the basis of helping the Tibetan people, the Chinese forces assured the people of Tibet that they would leave after they had helped them advance as a society. It quickly became apparent to many Tibetans that the Chinese were only attempting to gain their trust as they gathered lists of the aristocrats of each village and recorded the wealth and property of each citizen. The degradation of religious figures such as rinpoches, recognized incarnations of previous teachers, lamas and the monastic community in general acted as a clear signal to the people that the Chinese presence was not benevolent.

-This is the shirt of one prisoner brought out of a Chinese prison for Tibetan dissidents. The stains, of course, are blood.-

Eventually the military presence was quite large in many regions of Tibet, the foremost being Kham, and any resistance to the Chinese forces began to evoke extreme retribution. People would be thrown into trucks, taken away to prison camps, put into forced labor, interrogated and tortured. Public humiliation sessions called thamzings were held in which those close to the victims, either friends, family, or family servants, were forced to verbally and physically abuse the person in front of the town as an example of what happens to those who resist Mao’s communist regime. If they refused, military officials would take their place, beating the thamzing victims who would be kneeling in a row, arms tied behind their back, facing the crowd. It was not uncommon for people to perish during these sessions, or for a persistent resistor to suffer more than one.

-This is a statue in the museum done by a renowned Tibetan artist, whose name of course I cannot remember. It's an almost cartoonish depiction but is an expression of the deep anguish and terrible suffering of the Tibetan people during the Chinese occupation, but particularly the Cultural Revolution from 1966-1979. During this period the Chinese government attempted to destroy the "4 Olds:" Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas. This meant that Buddhism was especially targeted as it was the strongest force tying many of the Tibetans together and many resistance movements were begun and headed by monastics.-

We met such a woman in Mcleod who now lives in the reception center for Tibetan refugees. Her name is Ama Adhe Tapontsang.

“Ama” means mother and everyone, including the Dalai Lama, calls her by this name out of respect and due to her intense motherly energy. There is a book entitled “The Voice that Remembers: The Heroic Story of a Woman's Fight to Free Tibet,” in which her story, as she remembers it, is translated to English. When we met her we each presented her with a “katak,” the traditional white scarf given in Tibetan culture as a sign of happy greetings, as well as protection. She returned each one to us, placing them around our neck, as is often the custom, and then embraced us in what was the most genuine hug I have ever received from someone who I’ve never met. She is an intensely warm spirited person and happily receives everyone. She speaks no English so we had Pasang-la translate for us as she told us some of her story which we had read before seeing her, and then when we asked questions following. She is now in her seventies, but is still in her heart, an activist for the Tibetan cause. She was one of many people arrested by the Chinese military forces for resistance to the regime because of the help she provided to the men of her village acting as a guerrilla resistance to the Chinese. When the military forces started to confiscate all items of wealth and all weapons from the people, it became painfully clear to all those who did not yet believe, that the Chinese were not there to help the people but to integrate them into the “united motherland.”

When Ama Adhe was arrested, she was one of 300 women who were taken and imprisoned and interrogated. Interrogations were sessions of information withdrawal in which any method of torture was a possibility, the most painful of which for me to read about was the forced insertion of fine bamboo stalk underneath the fingernails--still now it makes me uneasy. Ama-la recounted to us that after a short time in prison and many interrogations, she was one of 3 women remaining alive from the original 300, something they had accomplished only because they were assigned to the duty of feeding the pigs and were able to sneak food at rare occasions. One of the main causes of death was starvation, as they were given only a watery kind of porridge three times a day.

Her story is a very long one, and one better understood through reading her book. She was imprisoned for 27 years, starting at age 27, and went in and out of prison because as soon as she would be released she would continue in her resistance to the Chinese forces. To call her a warrior would seem lacking. However, now she stays in the reception center, helping those Tibetans who are able to get over the border and into India as they recover and deal with integration into a new and foreign society. She plans to travel to Australia soon to seek support for the Tibetan cause. She has been one of the most powerful encounters that we have had and I imagine that will remain the case throughout my experience here, and certainly we hope to see her again when we move up to Mcleod in several weeks.

While this exhaustive account may have you ready to quit reading, our day wasn’t over. We next went to Gu Chu Sum, the organization for ex-political prisoners from Tibet. We met the president of the organization who was once himself a prisoner as well, but he spoke more on the current situation in the Tibetan region inside China. The organization helps those released prisoners find a means for existence in a new and unfamiliar place, especially because many suffer from physical injury or persistent health conditions resulting from their imprisonment. The man we spoke with emanated intensity, in stark contrast to Ama Adhe. He spoke of how monks, protesters, and political dissidents are imprisoned without question. Monks are not allowed to return to their monasteries after imprisonment because the government controls them, and employment, property ownership, or basically anything is inhibited by the government for those released. Because of this, they seek to leave and come to India. Because of the uprising in Tibet in 2008 the Chinese government has tightened its grip on the region and has been issuing many life sentences for those being arrested. They’ve also tightened the borders, and far less refugees have been able to get out in the past two years than previously.

http://www.guchusum.org/

Now in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) if one wants to join a monastery they have to sign a document declaring that they support the communist regime, that Taiwan and Tibet are inseparable parts of China, and that they denounce the Dalai Lama and his followers and they will work against him. For all Tibetans, this is an unimaginable declaration as the Dalai Lama represents for them the most important religious and political figure in existence.

In actuality, the Dalai Lama no longer holds political power, because although he was put in control of the state during the 1950s, and represented the Tibetan government in exile, he has slowly eliminated his control over political matters. He had still control over two seats of parliament, with which he could assign anyone but has recently given that power up as well, finding that it is better if they all be elected by the people. The Tibetan government is now headed by a prime minister, elected by the citizens in exile, and a parliament of sorts exists. For most Tibetans, the Dalai Lama still represents the head of the Tibetan government, but this is now no longer the case. Still of course he remains the most influential figure in their society, and of course has proved influential in many international settings as well.

These last three are just some photos, the last two being from our last trip to Mcleod, including the dogs that populate the streets. They are surprisingly friendly and happy animals.

I found this on a hike.

One from the cora.

That's quite enough for now.

A visit to Mcleod Ganj

Yesterday we went to Mcleod Ganj in Dharamsala, to tour the main Namgyal temple, in which I didn't take photos, and then we did the circumambulation around the temple. In Buddhism circumambulation is always clockwise, keeping your right side to the holy object. This is the case in Hinduism as well, but there are some non-Buddhist traditions which go counterclockwise as well.

It's known as "cora" and it's a beautiful, around 40 minute mountainside walk. Prayer wheels were prevalent along the way. They're filled with mantras on pieces of paper and when you spin them (clockwise also), the prayers are sent outwards on the wind. Depicted here is our philosophy teacher, Ani-la, which by the way is more of a title than her name, turning the wheels. These are the average size...

but some come much bigger, and are filled with many more mantras.

The mantra "Om mane padme hum" is found hundreds of times along the path, carved into rock and on slabs of rock left along the side, often painted to match the prayer flags' colors.

There were thousands, probably tens of thousands of prayer flags along the walk. Each color represents an element. Red=fire, yellow=earth, white=water, green=wind, and blue=space.

The Tibetan word for prayer flag translates to "wind horse," derived from a mystical creature from ancient Indian folklore. The flags are similar to the prayer wheels in that the prayers ride on the wind, moving outwards.

These are the smiling skulls of Tibetan Buddhism. They are laughing at our attempt to avoid mortality, reminding us that sooner or later, we'll look just like them. They're not meant to be grim, hence why they're happy. It's all about remembering the impermanence of life so you don't spend wasted time worrying about death.

The flags were everywhere, and went in all directions. They were especially abundant near the stupas. Stupas are shrines in which relics are often entombed so that people can come and pay homage to their holiness. The most important ones are those with relics of the Buddha, but many can have relics from other important teachers, and often they don't have to have anything inside at all. Several of the ones along the cora are to prevent natural disasters. There was an earthquake around 1984 which damaged the Namgyal monastery, and in the very early 1900s there was one that destroyed most of Dharamsala, after which the British abandoned it as their mountain vacation spot.

the stupa I was speaking of, and a friendly dog.

reminds me of the roads...

The Tibetans live their lives here, always hoping to return home. The community is immensely appreciative to India but never gives up their hope of reclaiming their country. Certainly the Chinese would never willingly give up Tibet, and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has clarified that he does not want to be independent of China but that the Tibetan people can live free from religious and political persecution. Truly something that all Chinese citizens could use.

Here are two photos I think Gary took on top of the roof when we were playing with my telephoto. I really like this first one.

the top of the Sarha temple

and this is the sunset I found when I walked up to my room at the end of the day, but unfortunately it doesn't look as good when uploaded here

That's all for now.

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.

Written 1-25-10 (yesterday) and photos from the trip

Here's a post I wrote yesterday, and pictures below that I've taken along the trip. This one's fairly long, but I have more to say later. Enjoy


Today after a meeting we had tea with the faculty of the Sarha school as well as our roommates. During introductions amongst my table I was humbled by the realization that I had been calling my roommate by the wrong name. He nicely told me that it is Tsonam, not Tsampo, but part of being in this environment is being okay with making mistakes. A lot of them. Without a certain willingness to be corrected and admit your mistakes, it becomes difficult to learn.

Tsonam is 28 years old and has been a monk since 17. He lives here in India now but is originally from Tibet. Many students were born in India from families that left Tibet years ago, but about forty percent left Tibet to come here. He had been studying in southern India and in 2006 returned to Tibet to visit his family. His passport was expired so he was put into a Chinese prison for three months before being released and coming to Sarha. He told me he has diabetes, which was surprising because he looks to be in good shape but his diet and lack of exercise could have brought it on. I’m not sure what type he has, but clearly he’s been diagnosed because he knows he has it, so I intend to ask about it. He told me last year he had his appendix removed and since then he’s been more concerned about health so he exercises regularly, but with the limitations of monastic life and that there is no gym or anything here, he mostly does pushups and stretches.

I was told he had fairly good English skills but he appears to speak better than many of the other roommates of the American students, and he certainly has better English than I Tibetan, so I ask him what certain things are and learn from him. Today I learned the phrase (this is transliteration) “day-ring nam-shi pay-yak-po dook,” which means: “the weather today is very nice,” which it is.

We had some free time Sunday so the male Americans went down the slope to where the river bed is. Right now it’s more of a stream but during monsoon season it will be brimming. During the height of the season Dharamsala can get around 80 inches of rain, but that’s during the summer so I won’t experience that thankfully. Traditionally the monsoon season is when the sangha, or monastic community, stays together and doesn’t travel not only because it is more difficult but the increase in water brings out many bugs and worms from the ground and so in order to avoid harming them it is best not to travel. In the past monks could only have walked to travel but now they can take cars, buses, trains, etc. but still it’s not as common.

Non-harmfulness reminded me of the Jain temple we visited in New Delhi. I’m not as familiar with Jainism but it has many resemblances to Buddhism and Hinduism. Jain monks tend to be more ascetic than Buddhist monks in their nature. Jainism is usually characterized by the abstention of harming all life, taken to the highest degree. One cannot take any leather or fur (or faux leather we found) into a Jain temple because it represents the harming of life. Jain monks wear cloth over their mouths to avoid breathing in small insects and they abstain from farming, allowing the Muslims to do it instead, because to disrupt the earth would harm the creatures living there. They may also walk bent over, with a broom sweeping the ground before them so they don’t crush anything in their path. Water is filtered several times before boiling to protect smaller organisms, they don’t burn incense attached to wood because it may hurt wood dwelling insects, and you can begin to see how intense their devotion to the protection of life is. They understand it is impossible to prevent the harming of all life, but believe it is necessary to make all efforts to do so.

When we visited we were given a tour by a Hindu and spoke to a Muslim artist who was helping with the renovation of the art on the walls, so the sense of inclusion and cooperation with other faiths is there. Jains usually tended to be gem dealers because it was one of the few professions not harming life and the majority of the biggest and most successful gem/diamond dealers today are Jains, as I understand it. In this way one might suggest their faith has treated them well. However the artist told us that in order to apply the gold flake to the walls (the temple is covered in gold) he mixes it with camel’s blood but doesn’t tell them this. If they knew it they would certainly fire him and strip the walls that he had painted.


Here are some photos, with captions:
This is one view of the stepwell we visited in New Delhi


And this view really demonstrates how large it is, and what it actually is of course. It used to be almost filled with water but in the last several decades the construction has drawn the water out of the ground so now it's completely dry. This photo was from very high up...


These next three are from the crafts village we went to.

Stone carving


beautifully hand-painted boxes, eggs, etc.


metal work on a gate


We saw this web of hijacked electricitiy in the alleys of Old Delhi, and is probably indicative of why there are often brown outs.


this was outside of a Hindu temple. Photography isn't allowed in most temples. In Hinduism there is a deity in the likeness of a monkey called Hanuman, so the monkeys are welcome and seen as holy, so we saw a lot there.
These symbols were on the entrance. What most people don't realize is that the svastika belongs to many asian religious traditions, and is of great symbolic importance. This was the case long before Hitler perverted it's meaning. They can be found going in both directions, one symbolizing spiritual strength and the other physical, Hitler chose the physical. If this peaks your interest, look up the origin of Aryan, you'll see that most of his ideas were taken and distorted to meet his aims.

group photo from the crafts village also, the little girl next to Professor Doyle was a student on a fieldtrip


Near the king's palace, but taken while riding in a rickshaw. Moments later after we got out, our driver was pulling a u-turn and got hit by another car, but he seemed to be mostly okay as he drove us for the rest of the day.


the nature of the alleyways...


There's many beggars in New Delhi, and most of them are probably organized and trying to trick you, but many, like this man, suffer from deformities or illness.


The Red Fort mosque, we went to the top of that minaret, but it was so foggy it was hard to see much


taken inside the mosque



Finally we arrived at the Sarha school, to find ourselves surrounded by beautiful scenery.

this is the view from my rooftop, and what I wake up to outside of my window most days (photo is a little dark)


the walk down to the river..


a beautiful view from the river bed. It's mostly dry now because it's not monsoon season. to the right is a small Hindu shrine

some of the landscape when we went down to the river. (forgive me for it being dark, I haven't gotten the chance to fix it)


this is Alex on our walk back from the river.


I was told that I wouldn't touch the bull. I did touch it, but it turned out to be a cow, and this is me running away after touching it. The cow, of course, didn't seem to notice.


prayer flags on the roof


from the roof...