Dharamsala!

Hello all,
I have been back in Jaipur since Saturday but we have all been busy writing our research papers and preparing for our presentations. From the mountains I spent more than 30 hours traveling by jeep, train, bus and taxi to reach Dharamsala. I met up with my friend Brian, who is doing an SIT: Tibetan Studies program. We both had a lot of our research stipend left, so we ate some great food and talked about home at every long, multi-course meal. I tried to order fruit and some form of chocolate at every meal. It was nice to have a relaxing place to work on this paper, as both of us had to do that. I saw the Dalai Lama's residence, but otherwise I didn't have much energy for sightseeing. From Dharamsala I took the bus to Amritsar, where I saw the beautiful Golden Temple. The Temple sits in the middle of a square body of water with wide marble lining all sides. The walkway to the Temple was really crowded, but we waited for our turn to walk through the Temple itself, where God's name is sung or chanted 24 hours a day. The music is broadcast over speakers and it peacefully rings out across the waters. Outside of the Temple, my transition back to the city was pretty rough. All the noise, pollution, people heckling me, and craziness was too much to handle after such serenity in the mountains. I am tired of being seen mostly as a dollar sign in the city. I crashed on the train and thankfully made it back to Jaipur in one piece. I reunited with Mami Ji and Papa Ji in their peaceful home, then travelled back to the guesthouse to meet up with the rest of the students. It has been INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL to be back together again. We have laughed so much even though it has been a hard week, and these last few days will be a lot of fun.

Anyways, I can't believe I will be leaving Jaipur on Sunday...but I can't wait to see my mom! I will be home so soon. Love and miss you all.