Okay, I have been in Kashmir for a friend's sister's wedding, and this is a photo of me playing drums for the girl party. The women all had a dance party in a tent, but they didn't dance. They mostly looked at me and my friend Celine and said, "DISCO!!!" meaning they wanted to watch us dance. heehee. Fun.

This is a traditional wedding feast. We sit 4 people to a plate. That's my friend Celine on the left. It was her husband's younger sis who got married. Anyway, they started out with huge plate of rice. Then, these men would come and add the dishes one by one. About 7 different styles of mutton (lamb), some chicken, cheese, and vegetables. In all, there were 11 dishes. I was about to burst at the end. And note that we ate with our hands. Oh, also they give a doggie bag for everyone to put their extra meat. Trust me, there is no way that anyone could finish off all of their food. So, there's two racks of ribs on the plate. I decide to try to share mine with the woman sitting across from me. I hold it up so she can help me pull it in two because we have no knives. She misinterprets that I was giving it all to her. So, she takes it, and puts it in the doggy bag. Rats. hehe. I am not a huge fan of mutton anyway.

This is me being silly on the way to Kashmir.

 This is my latest class. I have been volunteering at LHA. I love this class. I took off for a month of travel. Anyway, in this photo, there are students form Tibet, Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, Korea, and India. Pretty fun class.

Two of my favorites...Hsun (Taiwan) and Yui(Thailand). They are super sweet.

That's, "I am American" in Hindi.

So, I started Hindi lessons this week with a couple of friends. I never actually studied the language with anyone, so I thought it was about time to start. I know a lot of words, but I don't know how to build sentences, etc. So, should be interesting.

The protests are still going strong. Every day there are Tibetans marching around the main square. At night, they have candlelight vigils.

Thankfully, some of the shops are starting to open again. It's been strange...like a ghost town sometimes.

I went to the Church of St. John in the Wilderness on Friday and Sunday. It was nice to be with the other Christians and it was a beautiful day.

Holi was also on Friday, so that was interesting. Amazingly, I got away without any damage. Holi is a Hindu festival in which people throw color at each other. Around here, it was orange, purple, yellow, green, red. It reminds me of that paint you have to mix with water at school. Tempura paint or something. Anyway, a few people tried to get me and I just said, "Please, Rang Nahin (color no)." with my hands in a "namaste" position. I was surprised that it worked.

I start teaching again tomorrow. In the last 3 weeks since I volunteered, I have only taught for 2 days. hmm.....

I miss my family. I miss you friends. But, I am doing well here.

Lots of love!

Hello. I know I have been gone a while. Just don't feel like posting. But, see...I am alive.

It snowed a lot. In the end, it was about 2 feet. I stayed inside most of the time.

This is Dal Lake. I live about 5 minutes' walk from here. It's so beautiful. 

The roads were closed for a few days.

This is me with Sonam and Yeshi on the Tibetan New Year. They are wearing chupas (Traditional Tibetan dress). Yeshi was my Tibetan teacher and is now a very good friend.

 So, hopefully that will do it for my bi-annual post. hehe. Just kidding. There's just not much that I want to say on blogworld lately.

Love,

Amanda