Day 4 17th Feb
At last Sonam has found my sleeping bag & I sleep warm all night … bliss!
Spend the morning discussing the different options for the school, we are hoping the landlord will give them another years lease as Yangchen Dolker already has enough pressure for the moment & to move the school in May would be very difficult for her.
Meet Ani Wangmo on the street, she babbles endlessly in Tibetan gesticulating wildly & crying. Eventually someone comes past who can translate for me and tells me Tulku Choying Rangdrol has been rushed to hospital in Delhi. I do a Kora with her & hold her hand while she continues to weep & babble.
The Health & Caring project that provides cleaning & general care for 15 old people here has bought the old monks a washing machine. They love it & find it quite exciting to use! Also found room for Jamphel in an old peoples home at Dharamsala. Many thanks to the health sponsors for their support & kindness.
Day 5 18th Feb
Meet Ngakpa Karma Lhundup & we enjoy tea & a chat. He & his children are all looking well & his son has grown quite tall now. Rigzin (son) reminds me when he came to Byron Bay & saw the ocean for the first time, he gets excited again just thinking of it.
Ani Bumchung comes down from the caves to visit me … she too is looking great & I think this might be a happier day. She brings me fresh milk, bread, butter, honey, cheese & fruit. The table in my room is now piled high with fruits, juices, biscuits etc from all the people popping in to say hello. I keep giving things away but the pile just seems to grow.
Sonam & I head up the hill to Ani Tenzin’s for lunch. There are houses built over the path to her house so we wind up & around & through them … the house next door to hers is about a foot away so the view from her window is now a brick wall. She is happy as always, continually muttering prayers. We eat piles of veg momos with chillies, but not enough to keep them happy, “ you not like our food” “you eat like bird” Tell them I’m not an elephant just a small human but they still tut tut me.
On our way back through town we notice all the Tibetan shops are closed again ??? Ngawang Phagpa passes by & tells us Tenpa died this morning & they are preparing for his ceremonies & cremation in an hour. Tenpa taught English to the monks at one of the monasteries.
Day 6 19th Feb
All three transfers have arrived at the bank so we make arrangements for the $s to be collected from Mandi. Next time we will write cheques … should be interesting trying to spell everyones names!
Play with Dr Dorjee’s son showing him all the photos on my computer & give his mum a small break from the endless harassing. The children all go back to their boarding schools next week.
Sonam buys me a heater, I plug it in with much hope .... nothing happens.
Dr Dorjee's widow & son
No comments:
Post a Comment