LINK India Trip: Days 8,9,19

Welcome to our next update. In our last chapter we had lost a day (day 8) on the train, cutting into our Dharamsala time. But on day 9 we visited with His Holiness the Karmapa in the morning. Unfortunately a dozen or so independent travelers were also added to our group and our “private audience” ended up as more of a drive through blessing. But the students appreciated being seen by him and we invited him to Crestone after his scheduled visit to Boulder this summer.
In the afternoon we went to the Tibetan Children’s Village, the school set up for Tibetan refugee children. We visited several classrooms and did some reading with kids in the library. Unfortunately the formal service project set up to do language tutoring with high school students did not work out. Instead we got to do a short walk with spectacular views of the Himalaya bordering China. The rest of the day was spent hiking to a wonderful waterfall near our hotel, then going out for a fine pizza dinner.
On day 9 we shopped for a variety of Tibetan crafts and a visited His Holiness Dali Lama’s residence, museum, and Gompa Temple. Part of what was so nice about this section of the trip was the relative mellow atmosphere; there were not the throngs of people, beggars and hawkers we experienced elsewhere in India. Also the air was refreshingly cooler and cleaner. After a quick lunch we hopped a bus for a LONG ride to Amritsar.
We arrived at our hotel at 11:00 PM and then got up at 2 AM on day 10 to perform Seva / Karma Yoga: washing the floors of the Golden Temple. And while it is hard to hold God in your heart while you have sleep in your eyes, the students got into it and we finished in record time. This left us with a chance for the kids to reconnect with Jessica and Ariel. They took us through the Golden Temple and we watched the procession of the Guru Granth Sahid book before returning to the hotel for catching up on sleep. We went to Miri Piri Academy for lunch, video, tour, and Kundalini with Jessica. Students got to hang out in the dorms, play soccer, and eat dinner before heading back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will again get up for Seva, then a short rest before boarding a train to Delhi, ending the second leg of our trip.
Sorry that this blog is so much about what we are doing and not what it is like, how we feel, etc. We have the best intentions of having more student comments and entries but we hardly have time for me to hammer out these as they are. Perhaps tomorrow on the train we can get some student voice and I will be able to upload before we head to Haidikhan. Basically we are all doing well and are mostly in good health, except for a few colds going around. We are tired and are looking forward to the slower pace at the Ashram. It has been an incredible trip thus far and has provided a great taste of India for the students. Thanks for your comments!