Monday 17th May 2010
10.40pm
My bed, Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj
India
I still haven't really looked around this temple complex fully or taken a good look in the library. I must change that.
I don't mind squat toilets in the slightest, however western ones are great for thinking on and reading on. At least squat style toilets stop you wasting any time.
As usual today I walked up the steps, got the paper, a different guy was there, bought some bread and drank a cheap tea while reading the headlines. Then I spent the morning down at the Tibetan Government library which felt very productive.
At lunch I drank a Tibetan tea, that seemed to come with some kind of cream on top and I swear the water used was a little oily, not good. In future I'll stick to the Milk Tea.
Who should magically appear after lunch but Tensing who came to the reading room to read. He had overslept and missed out meeting. Around 3.30pm we went to a cafe, next to his extended family's home and went through all his poems.
He gave me a book on meditation.
His voice seemed strained and he said he had done a lot of talking the night before, but I wondered if he was being open or not. Perhaps he'd had an argument with his relations. Perhaps hiding things is something we both have in common.
I felt a little comfortable as we sat on his porch drinking tea, his family inside the house staying out of the way.
I tried to help him out as best I could. His grammar needs work, but it wont improve while his focus is on his own poetry where the grammar rules can go out the window.
Sure I could give him lots of examples, but I think he needs to focus on some essay writing to step things up or get study books, especially as he has aspirations of getting a scholarship that may require and IELTS score.
Sure I could give him lots of examples, but I think he needs to focus on some essay writing to step things up or get study books, especially as he has aspirations of getting a scholarship that may require and IELTS score.
Will see him again Wednesday. He was going to walk back up the hill with me, but revealed he had to spend some time with his relatives.
After coming back to the town I got 8 momos, a diet Pepsi, a handful of eclairs, and a small packet of mango biscuits.
Completed the sudoku again, though the paper rated today's sudoku challenge as easy. Initially made a shoddy attempt at the crossword but went back to it later and got 50% of it done.
England won the Twenty20 world cup. I look forward to reading about it in the newspapers.
Last night, after midnight, it seemed a large cat was prowling around outside within the temple premises or at least very near. One of the guys in another room twice called out to his friends startled as he heard the same deep growl outside that I did. The first growl didn't seem conclusive to me, it couldn't possibly have really been what it sounded like, but the second growl cleared things up. From my window I saw nothing, Surely not a tiger? Who knows, but it was definitely no dog.
To get to Delhi from here takes 12 to 13 hours by bus.