How can you summarize two amazing days?

January 24

It was an early start for our group, we got on the road at 8 and headed to Dhulikhel. It is a small town with a view the Himalayas added to our schedule because we asked to go to the base of Everest before we left. In Dhulikhel, we visited an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, the Namo Boudha stupa, as well as the Thrangu Tashi Monastery. The story behind the Namo Boudha was fascinating to us all and it is worth sharing. A prince and his brothers came across a tiger nursing her baby tigers but she was almost dead. The prince felt an enormous amount of compassion for the tiger because if she died so would her nursing baby tigers.  He told his brothers to go on without him and that he would catch up but instead he sharpened a branch to cut himself. When he cut himself, he fed the tiger his blood and sacrificed himself for the family. The tiger ate him and only left his bones for his brothers to later find. The stupa is built where his bones were found and there is a slab in commemoration of him.

We were lucky enough to visit this place after driving on skinny and curvy dirt roads and hiking up seemingly endless stairs. 

After getting to the top our group split up to take in the view of the Himalayas, take pictures, shop, and pay their respects to the stupa. Next, we visited the monastery and temple. We first saw a huge statue of buddha and witnessed people offering money and people paying their respects. It was a beautiful room with tons of things going on, it took our class 15 minutes to soak it in. 

The second temple we visited was eye catching because of the vibrant colors, intricate artwork, and statues. 

Larry showed us around the room, sharing his knowledge about different people and stories represented. He said he could spend a month telling us about everything in the room but settled for 30 minutes because we were all eager for lunch. 

We had lunch at a beautiful hotel with an amazing view of the mountains. Some of us explored the grounds before lunch, others waited anxiously for their food, and some massaged. 

We were served buffet: mushroom soup, mushroom rice (are we noticing a trend?), noodles, mac and cheese (the most traditional Nepalese food), potatoes, steamed vegetables, and chicken (the non-vegetarians were very pleased with meat for a change). After lunch, we got more time to soak in the scenery and walk around. Some choose to go on a hike and others stayed back to nap or give each other massages. The hike had a part of the group see a water tower like structure in the process of being built and they were very determined to climb this 12 ft structure amidst the very large spiders (The Nepali equivalent to daddy-long-legs). 

They accomplished this tremendous endeavor and enjoyed the well-deserved view.  It was a very refreshing and relaxing day filled with smiles, laughs, and snores. 

January 25

Our course got real today, after meditation, as our projects and our critical reflection essay were assigned. We talked about the assignment then had the chance to free write and discuss our ideas. We got out early so that we could all grab lunch before heading to talk with the Ripoche and do our community.

We then went on to the school, we had visited a few days prior, to join some of the classrooms and interact with the kids. So in groups of three, we were scattered among different grades ranging from 5-10. The students were so excited to see us but soon they were quite nervous when they realized they would have to answer all of our annoying questions. I'm sure they felt just as we do when our parents ask us a million question. Once the common interests aka Justin Bieber, were found everyone was having a good time singing along to the teen sensation.  Futbol was another topic the children loved to share all about.  On a more serious note though when we all shared our inspirations we had some surprising results (I certainly never had dreams this ambitious at 13 yrs old) they wanted to be engineers and computer scientists and all sorts of other outstanding aspirations. 

An amazing experience we were so fortunate to see, the Boudha Stupa lit up for the Nepali New year! Even though today is not the actual day, allegedly people pay for the Stupa to be lit in preparation for the new year!

There has been a trend amongst our group for getting tattoos and two more decided to join the group. We all have gotten tattoos that symbolize Buddhism, some even the same, but all have personal meanings that go way beyond the Buddhist meaning. It was amazing to share this specific type of bond with all of our classmates and I will always remember. How many Jan term classes can say that they got the chance to tattoos together?

We also ended the day with great news that one of the dogs at the monastery gave birth!

Signing off from your tremendous tattooed twins ;)