Tibetan Settlement

We are now inland in Madakeri. Today we went to a Tibetan settlement, which was really amazing. There are 2 main monastaries and about 5000 monks in total. It was so peaceful and inspiring. We talked to a monk (only our age) and he said a lot of families send their children to India from Tibet (through this dangerous mountain pass) so they can be trained at the Buddhist monastaries. There are mostly men and boys, but a few women too. We saw the little boys (so cute in their little robes) practicing their chanting and drumming. We also read that a lot of Tibetan monks are frustrated with the Dalai Lama because they want him to be more of a political leader for Tibet versus just a Buddhist leader. For example, they critize him in comparison to Gandhi, who fought alongside his people (protesting, jail time etc.) whereas the Dalai Lama is more involved in the religious side of Buddhism. I thought it was very interesting. Tomorrow we are going further down to Kerala to a wildlife sanctuary where there are elephants!! We are super excited!!

I don't know if you can read this or not, but it says how the new Dalai Lama was taken with his family admittedly by the Chinese government and they still have no idea where he is.

Few more pics....

Here's a few of the rural areas, where we were staying in Om Beach and the last of the beach pics.

Practicing the Wobble...

The last few days we've traveled through Panjii, Gokarna and are now in Om Beach (thanks to Jon, it's gorgous!) and are now waiting a few hours before we're taking a night train to Mangalore. Though it feels like a lot longer, we've only been here for two weeks...here are some observations:

The Indian head wobble: The wobble is nothing like the simple yes or no nod. Initially, it just seems like a no nod, but then you realize that there are various nods used for different responses/situations. While we don't fully understand the wobble, here are the different wobbles we've noticed:
The acknowledgement wobble: this is just a mild wobble used to say "I understand" or in reply to saying "thank-you."
The unsure wobble: this wobble is the hardest to understand as it could be interpreted as a yes, maybe or "who knows."
The yes wobble: we easily recognize this common wobble, it is more confident then the unsure wobble.
The "what the hell are you talking about" wobble: this is a more aggressive wobble and has only been seen a few times, usually accompanied by a dirty look.

I love Cows!! While I've always liked cows, Indian cows are much cooler. They are everywhere, just minding their own business and taking it all in. I'm not sure who owns them (if they are owned) as they are free to go wherever. But in the city, old women look after them and bring them grass. People walking by also give them their left overs. They are also always on the beach, enjoying the sun like everyone else. I know I have put up a lot of photos of them, but I just love them! Especially the babies! As in I sometimes aimlessly follow them around the beach trying to get them to swim with me. haha, just joking.

The men here are not really rude or intimidating. There is no cat calling, construction worker whistles or "dog calling" hissing. Only staring, constantly. I also can't really take them seriously because they usually holding hands with their friends..and only come up to my shoulder. Though I was told on the beach today "while you may think we are small boys, we are powerful in many hour romantics." And then I said "oh I see" (along with my own version of "get away from me" wobble) and then quickly ran away and went swimming. haha.

For some reason I can't upload my photos..of all my cow friends. :)

Roadtrip!!

Yesterday we went to the Anjuna market, which is really huge (about 2000+ vendors) which was really cool. Today we went for an ayurvedic massage, but it wasn't actually that great-as he was either tickling or hurting me and they use sooo much oil (I felt like an greasy samosa :)). Then we rented a scooter and drove all the way to Arambol (30min), which is our new favorite beach. I drove, besides the 5 minutes that Janice succeeded in crossing an intersection diagonally and then almost crashing into a fence (that was the end of her turn!). But driving was fine, we were only on small roads. Though you have to be careful of the cows! We're off to Panjii tomorrow...

Beaching it in Anguna

We are now in a little rural beach town-Anguna!! (Goa). Some of already know, but this was/is a big hippie town so there are a lot of older burnt out 60's hippies and then also next generation hippies who seem to live here long-term. We have just been relaxing on the beach and exploring. We took a motor bike cab to Vagator, which is another gorgous beach town! Like Mumbai, everything is a few sizes smaller then Canada--the cars, stuff at the store and people. I feel like a big giant Canadian (oh, Janice was told she wasn't Canadian, she was "Hispanic"). For example, when we went to a Bollywood movie people kept asking us to slouch down because we were blocking their view. We went to two Bollywood movies, which were fun. Though of course we couldn't understand anything, but we took turns making up our own commentary. There is a lot of nationalism here, before the movie they play the Indian anthem and at the end one person yells something and then everyone cheers!! We're not sure how long we're going to stay, as we both love it here! but we will probably head down to Panjii in a few days...

More Mumbai Pics...

Here's a few more pics of Mumbai, Gandhi's house, dhoba's (where they clean clothes), a shrine on the steet (they're everywhere) and a few others....and Janice excited on the train.

Here's a few more of Mumbai, Gandhi's house, dhoba's (where they clean clothes), a shrine on the steet (they're everywhere) and a few others....and Janice excited on the train.

Today was India's Independance day and so a big holiday!! Janice and I went down to the "Gateway of India" on the waterfront which is where the British departed in '47. There were huge crowds and all these people wanted pictures taken with us!! This girl came up to us and asked if we would be in a picture, we said uhh ok, and then she screams and calls over her huge family and then they all start screaming and then we take the pictures. It was kind of embaressing as a huge crowd was all watching...and this kept happening. I must be in so many pictures today....with mothers, kids etc. haha. It was quite crazy..especially since this is the city. Though it's interesting to be a minority for once! Oh, and this holy man came and painted bindi's on us! There aren't many tourists here, though we met this girl the first day from Germany and some guys at the train station from Nigeria. The train station is insane. I have never everrrr seen so many people, there are 20 train platforms plus ticket booths etc. The crowds seem to work like a weather forecast, there are various "people currents" and if you're not in the current you are screwed. Janice and were very proud that we actually bought tickets to Goa and got out in one piece. haha. I actually couldn't stop laughing, as it's just so crazy. The crowds on the street are also crazy. First of all, everyone walks on the road because the sidewalks are filled with street vendors, cows/goats and various other things. Then when the traffic comes you just run to the side, or between cars if you need to cross. While there is a lot of povery, there really aren't many beggars (we've only been asked 2-3 times)--instead there are just lots of people selling nuts/flags/whatever else. People are really friendly, always saying "hello friend" and "namaste" and always helping if we're lost. This old man we were talking to asked us where we were from and then asked "Canada kicks ass??", it was so funny. All the men seem to wear western clothes and then all the women wear bright beautiful saris. We haven't really bought anything, but I did buy a shirt and my bartering actually worked!! The market is a very serious business it seems-everything is said really quietly so no one else can hear how low they will go..but yeah I got my shirt for 100 rupees ($2.50). Some other prices: our hotel is 13/night, water .20, nice dinner 3-4, 14 hr. train ticket 13.
Because this was a holiday weekend, we couldnt' get a ticket out of the city until the 28th, so I'll probably just write again in Anjuna--a beach town in Goa. :) -Sarah