Summary of India

It's accidentally been 10 days since my last post. I'm not going to make excuses.

How are you? Text me. I have a telephone.

No really though, I've been trying to organize my thoughts. I've been running around because I've chosen to be homeless for the rest of the summer... so I've not been comfortable enough to write a serious post. HOWEVER- now I am alone in Athens on my futon lonely, sad, and semi-scared... so I'm now about to get down and dirty serious for this post.

This is gonna be more 'stream of consciousness' than 'sophisticated analysis'.

(Ya'll have made me nervous since returning. A lot of you have complemented me on my writing since I've been home and,, i don't know... I'm scared to write.)

We had an end-of-the-year-party on the last day of class. All the monks were there seated on the floor. All of us faculty were seated in front of them. Carol, the head-honcho, spoke. She said a few words, then presented us each with presents from the program. I got a khata and bag with "Save Tibet" on the front of it; oh I love it. Then we did a few more things... at the end,,,Carol asked us if we had anything to say to everyone. The teachers mentioned meaningful things about what they'd learned and experienced. I was about in tears when it was finally my turn. I'll never forget how it felt trying to muster up the perfect words, while simultaneously struggling to hold my tears back... All those people played a part in changing my life. I panicked. I looked around, making eye-contact with as many monks as I could and said, "I'm just happy to have made so many new friends." I fought the tears.
We had cake. I ran around to take pictures with everyone, including the Tibetan translator I'm convinced is an angel in disguise. Pictures, Pictures. We said goodbye to everyone. Dad and I left to pack. We had dinner. I felt so strange... I hardly spoke to anyone at dinner.
I kinda figured out I don't like saying goodbye on this trip. I made sure to say a serious goodbye to every taxi driver the WHOLE TRIP. It really bothered me to think that I LITERALLY wouldn't see any of those people again. In many cases, I avoided saying goodbye.

ANYWAY. We drove for 12 hours. I was very comfortable. Not scared. I even slept. I slept in the car. Two days ago I used google on my iPhone without WiFi to look up "the most dangerous country to drive in". Guess.

We made it to the airport. Toilet paperrrrr, yessss.
Plane to Paris. I just smiled thinking of those cute accents.
Dad and I waited for 5 hours for the next flight. We talked about things that I don't need to write down because I won't forget.
Finally- Hartsfield-Jackson. I was. So. Exhausted. Friends came to meet me like I was coming home from war. <3


This trip taught me more about existence than anything else has ever taught me about anything. I just kept thinking, "everything that is happening is way bigger than me." I would think that thought over and over.
(I'm struggling to write this part.)
Would I go back? Hmm... Tough question. I would go back for business. I would go back to do something involving Tibet. I would go to Dharamsala to experience winter. I'd go back to help something. I'd need a mission.
The conversations with the monks were monumental for me. I had no clue what I was getting into before I'd left America. ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE. These people walked through the Himalayas (I struggled to scale ONE FOOTHILL). One of the Emory monks explained to me how he manages to truly cope with the stresses of finals while his American classmates had panic attacks and ODed on caffeine. I mean, some of the things I heard from these people are beyond invaluable. I just hope my memory holds up. I'm already worried about forgetting.

Something that really moved me about India was it's stance on religion at the federal level. The religious tolerance throughout my travels was blatant. I've been religiousless for the majority of my life, but anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with religion. I've always been obsessed. India is also obsessed with religion. Statues of gods and flags and temples and banners and posters, tattoos, knickknacks, clothing, accessories, and just overall spiritual auras were scattered everywhere and all over. However... all of these things were personal. Nothing seemed to be put in place to convert me. I never ONCE was pestered or yelled at in a public place to convert or 'repent'. < The thought of that just made me LOL. There was NOT ONE TIME that someone asked for an explanation of my beliefs. And as far as I could tell, there was no propaganda promoting one belief over another. I of course, do not speak Hindi or Tibetan, so don't trust me wholeheartedly. But I truly believe those people are not concerned about who believes in what. Let me tell you why: In Hinduism, as well as in Buddhism, one has many chances to do what's right. If you steal from people on the daily, you'll just end up as a toad in your next life. Sucks to suck. You'll learn to be nice eventually. It's no religious person's responsibility to "save you". You have many chances to correct your lifestyle. It makes since that the majority of the people in India don't care about your devotion. If you believe in a lick of Hinduism you better be nice to people! For your own sake! In contrast- YOU'd better risk your life, as a Christian, to save me from the depths of hell because I only have this ONE LIFE to live for Jesus. It's YOUR responsibility as a follower of Mohammad to teach me that your way is the right way because if you don't- I'M GOING TO BURN... and you don't want THAT on your conscious, do you?. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's just a different way of thinking. So, with these monotheastic/atheastic religions being dominant in India for yeeaarrss- the government has emphasized the importance of religious diversity and acceptance in the national constitution. The Dalai Lama points out in his book that this idea has "ancient roots". Inscribed on pillars dating from 3rd century India is the quote, "honor another's religion, for doing so strengthens both one's own and that of the other." Lemme tell you, this was a breath of fresh air for me. I could go on and on about how the basic principles of India's dominant religions have shaped a more accepting/pleasant living space for them. But that's boring. I've gotta keep my ratings up or I'm never gonna make it on TMZ.

The animals in India are adapting to pollution like every other animal on the planet has ever adapted to anything- So I'm not worried about that. I don't wanna get too Portland on you and talk about air pollution... but India and China better get their acts together or else they're gonna reincarnate into an ocean trench next time.
No one has stared at me since I reached Paris, I don't think. Do you wanna know how that's made me feel as a remarkable human being?!!? HUH?! WHAT?!- AM I AVERAGE OR SOMETHING!??!
Look, I just don't really like walking on mountains. It's like how I don't like eating fish. I understand that others could have a great time doing both of those things. With that being said- Mt. Kilimanjaro looks like a tasty challenge. < And I can fully attribute that statement to the feeling of completing the hike in India.

There are a lot of people in this world with less money than me. Are all of them hopeless and sad over that? No, I don't think so. Should we assume that every migrant worker living with no air conditioning in a broken down, half-building in Delhi is more unhappy than us? I'm convinced we shouldn't. India is not one big frowny face. That's ridiculous. People without air conditioning and hot water are dancing and smiling all over the world. I did not come back from this trip more thankful for any material things that I have. Yepp. I said it. Even after all that poverty I saw. Except... for maybe my iPhone.
SHUTUP- lemme tell you why. When I need to know something about the world, no matter where I am in my daily life- I can look it up on my phone. When I'm about to pee myself if I don't know how big a blue whale heart is, I can google it (1,300 pounds). Humans need to know things. That's a characteristic that has made us so smart and successful as animals. We feel good when we know things- so we want more. And we progress. I felt happy when I googled the whale heart. I shared it with friends. We all learned something and felt happy. Wanna make people feel happy? Teach them something. Wanna naturally feel happy yourself? Teach something. Learn and teach. Everyone likes understanding things. Wanna make the people of the world more happy? Wanna progress as a species? Give everyone an iPhone.
No, but on a serious note- a certain someone hammered the importance of education into my head as a toddler. For money, of course. But we know it's deeper than that. I'm just saying. That homeless boy I talked to told me he didn't go to school. I heard stories about how Tibetans in Tibet weren't able to learn after the Chinese take-over because everything was in Chinese. The monks were so interested in everything the teachers said. I saw many, MANY children working throughout the day, instead of learning in school. I think I'm going off on a tangent right now... A lot of people in India have iPhones. School is mandatory for Indians (I asked). I dunno. I'm just sayingggg. I thought about this while I was there... So I oughta write about it.


I think this all is starting to get too abstract. I'm sad I won't have anything to blog about anymore. It was kinda fun!

I recommend ya'll go see India for yourself. I'm panicky about how I KNOW I have given the wrong impression. I'm just waiting for the correction comments.

:-) And this concludes all this junk.