First lemme say this because I'm freaking out. I'm on a roof type area at the place where I'm staying. There is a monkey running in the tree next to me. When I look at the monkey, but shift my eyes a little to the left- I can see a snow-capped Himalayan mountain.
So that's what it happening in my life right now. What did I do in a past life to get me here?
To introduce this new section of blogging I need to lay down a few basic things. There are four main character groups that I need to define for you.
The teachers: This is the group I am involved in. This is devised of 5 teachers from Emory who have been invited to teach the monks here.
The Monks: These are Buddhist monks from all over the world, as far as I know. They are varied in age. Some are very old! They are here to learn about science! As I said before- China and Tibet have serious conflicts right now. Buddhism is not allowed under strict Chinese law, so some monks have escaped Tibet, but some have come from Nepal and other random places.
Study abroad students: These are students from mainly Emory who are here taking classes and doing other various activities. They are all my age and nice.
Tibetan Students: These are Tibetan students who are in college at this university. Sarah University. They are just like us :-). And extremely cute. This one guy shook my hand as we introduced each other and winked. SO charming!! These students and their families are living without a homeland. Their culture is being flushed out by the Chinese. Tibetans today are trying their best to preserve their heritage. It's really a sad situation... and I can feel myself becoming obsessed.
Ok, so we woke up this morning. I woke up 2 hours early on accident. But I waited, and at 6:30 (or something) we went to the main temple on the campus (the campus is VERY small). In the temple we all sat down on mats. The study abroad students in the middle of the room, the Tibetan students and monks all around us. In front of us, leading the situation, were 3 head monks. After we were all seated and ready the monks started chanting. A lot. Chant, chant, chant. Just like in the documentaries. We all began to meditate (or try). I was much more worried that I wasn't doing something right. Shut up! It was an intense situation! Then, the monks beed ('to be' in the past tense) quiet. Then we meditated some more. For only like, 15 minutes. We are beginners.
After this meditation we had a staff meeting. I shoulda read more about all the plans and stuff before arriving. Nonetheless, I worked today! I worked just fine and I feel like I was super helpful.
We began work with an introduction class period. In this class all of us were introduced to the monks. The monks sat on the floor smiling at us the whole time. I felt under-qualified, but I smiled right back; I couldn't stop! I stood up and introduced myself. The translator translated. And we were on our way. Next, I began assisting teachers. I spent the majority of my time with a lesbian, Korean?, GA Tech professor, smart, powerful, woman- AKA, my freakin' IDOL. We were setting up and testing heart rate monitors. This was embarrassing, I think... because when we were testing out the machines my resting heart rate was very high as I sat in front of her... and much lower when she left the room.
We worked on those, then did a lot of other stuff, crap, and junk. Then we did another class with the older students. These students are going to be conducting their own experiments this year! For the next two weeks they will be listening to lectures, but also working out their projects outside of class. The teachers explained the project, then it was over.
Next, we had tea. After tea I was invited to listen in to the study abroad's class lecture. The people in the class are nice, like I had said. Their class was about Buddhism, which I thought I had a good understanding of. lol. So many things were happening. :-) I'm looking forward to learning more.
Miss ya'll. I'm having a blast. I forgot to be funny.
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