First Encounter with a Leech, a Date at a Monastery and Other Tales from Day Two in Sikkim

Warning:This blog is really long! Also, this came from the adventures of day 2 here in Sikkim. I know I should have started with Day 1, or how about with my travels to India...but this day was just sooo interesting! So bear with me and I'll flash back to the beginning of the trip another time:)

Well today started out like any other day in Gangtok...I awoke to the sounds of roosters crowing, cars honking and children and people starting their day. By the way, when people honk here in India, they are not honking to say hello or pick you up. They are purely honking to say MOVE, get out of the way! Oh and they also honk when they are driving around blind mountain corners. "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes, HONK, HONK!" Back to the story...

I got up and had breakfast with everyone. Pema, (our cook), served us cornflakes and toast with dabs of peanut butter, jelly and just plain butter. I should have taken a picture of it, it looked like an artists palate. We also had tea of course:) Then Aka arrived with a driver from the monastery to take us to see the school, the reason for being here!

This is a photo of Rekah, a school administrator who took us on our very own tour of the school. She is blowing the bubbles that Aka brought from the America, Aka LOVES bubbles.

The very first thing we saw was the soccer field and where the volleyball court will be. I am so looking forward to setting everything up and coaching volleyball to the students here. Rekah got the keys for all the rooms and took us to see everything. The school is absolutely beautiful. She took us to the library first and the view is amazing. We are looking forward to being there early in the morning before the clouds roll in. Aka says when the clouds break the view of the Himalayas is incredible! Here is a picture from the library.

The library and Sao taking a picture is above and this is the view out the window:

The school is so inspiring and I fell immediately in love with the place and the mission from the moment I stepped out of the jeep. The people that work here are so warm, welcoming and committed to making this an incredible school. As soon as we walked into the school Sao and I were just so excited and had so many ideas about things that we want to do for the kids and the school. We sat on the floor in a third grade classroom and read the books. In a second grade classroom we read the poems on the wall out loud and laughed at Jack Prelutsky's hilarious poems. Rekah also took us the the dormitories where the students who are from places like Thailand stay. It made me think that this place is the Hogwarts of the Himalayas, what do you think?

Rekah had tea prepared for us and while we were waiting for tea, Karma, the PE teacher, took me back out to the fields to see where they play throw ball and see if that area will work for volleyball. As I walked with Karma, I told him about the net, and the 15 balls I brought with me. My volleyball team at Evergreen high school and the booster's club for our program helped me raise money through a volleyball camp to take equipment with me here to teach the students how to play. For everyone that helped me pull that fundraiser off, thank you! I wish I could have video taped Karma's reaction when I told him about the equipment. That smile, that pure joy and excitement made it all worth it and then some. This is why I am here. When I started teaching and coaching, I wanted to change the world. Now I truly feel like I am, because I am impacting the other side of the world.

Here is an exciting tale from the day...Let me set the scene for you, picture Aka, Sao, Nancy, Rekah, Karma and I sitting the parents room having tea. All of the sudden, I feel a strange sensation on my ankle. I reach down and swipe something out of my shoe. Being from Colorado I thought it was one of those little poky things that get everywhere. But this thing was not poky, it was slimy and quite squishy. A moment later, Aka pointed in between my feet and said, "ohh a leech!" I tried to maintain my composure in front of my new friends at the school. However, Sao read the look of terror and horror on my face! I am so proud that I didn't scream as I noticed my sock turning red as Aka carried the leech outside to freedom. We left the school right after that, and after our thirty minute ride home, Sao, who is luckily a nurse, treated my wound. Here are the pictures of my first leech bite and the treatment:) What a first time event to have here in the Himalayas.

After we finished trying to stop the bleeding, we had lunch. Miles, who is from a prep school in Massachusetts, had planned a trip for himself to Rumtek to visit the monastery there. He graciously invited us along for the trip. Hind sight is 20/20 and after all the adventures we had, I am not sure he was glad after all he invited us:) Aka arranged for our ride and off we went to Rumtek.

The drive to Rumtek was beautiful! Waterfalls, the mountains, the signs, the prayer flags, the scenery, it was just gorgeous. When we arrived we were surprised to find out that there were Indian Army guys with guns at the entrance of the monastery. They asked for our passports to go into the monastery. No one had brought their passports....except for me. Oh and it is important to note that Miles had arranged to have a teacher from the school meet us there, Ms. Yangchen. We were supposed to meet her at 3pm. Due to delays that would make this story even longer it was now 4pm. I have never met Ms. Yangchen but since I was the only one allowed, I went up the hill to see if I could find her and if she could help us all get in. Here starts my solo adventure to the largest monastery in Sikkim.

I started walking up the hill away from my friends and I was laughing to myself about the craziness of the situation and not knowing what adventures awaited me. I did the prayer wheels knowing that I needed all the good karma I could get to find a woman I had never met, whom Miles described as, "well she looks like everyone else". I kept asking people if they knew Ms. Yangchen and they just kept pointing me to the entrance of the monastery. I had no idea where to find her or what to do, so I just followed peoples directions, it seemed to make them happy.

Meanwhile, my three friends are back at the gate with the guards...

I walked in the entrance and was utterly confused from the very start, I thought the guy was handing me a brochure, he was definitely handing me a ticket and I had to pay him 10 rupees to go in. I didn't mind paying, and 10 rupees is very cheap but I was just so confused by the entire process. Then I had to walk through security, I beeped and tried to let the guys with guns look through my purse but they like everyone else pointed me in the direction of the shrines. I had learned from my earlier trip to a monastery with Aka and his Aunt that you have to walk in a clockwise direction around the monastery. So I started my walk and asked people if they knew Ms. Yangchen. No one had any idea what I was talking about. I read the signs and it looked like if I took my shoes off I could go in this building:

The monk pointed me through the correct door and in I, a 5'10'' white woman, walked smack into the middle of a prayer session with monks. I really wish someone could have video taped this event. A quick thinking monk directed me to a seat and I sat down full of embarrassment and awe. I was embarrassed that I had distracted the monks from their praying just solely by my arrival and by my "foreignness". I was in awe because I was surrounded by beauty. It was absolutely gorgeous inside. The monks were all sitting and facing away from me luckily. They were praying in unison and the sound was beautiful. I didn't know when and if I could leave because of course...meanwhile, my friends were at the gate waiting for me.........

Then the music started and the gongs were being struck. It was beautiful and after letting it all sink in for a few days, it was an experience I was so blessed with. I waited while two monks made their rounds between the rows of the monks sitting and once one came near me, I stood up and he graciously pointed me out the correct door.

I put on my shoes, still wondering if I was even allowed to do what I had just done...and decided to leave and head back to the gate with my mission of finding Ms. Yangchen unaccomplished. I walked back to the gate I had came in and the guards stared and pointed at me and then stopped me and pointed with their guns to the opposite corner of the monastery and said, exit, exit. Nothing in the direction they were pointing looked like and exit. I started walking that way, because the gun pointed that way....but then the people there were giving me strange looks for walking in the wrong direction. Just then, a guy approached me and asked if I was alone, I told him no, I was looking for Ms. Yangchen. He said yes, and your friends are waiting at the gate! He told me he was with the army and I asked if he had been sent to find me, and he said yes. To his credit he may not have understood my question but he played along. I asked if he could show me where the exit was and he did.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

Not only did this guide army gentleman show me where the gate was, he took me on an entire tour of the place. Next thing I knew I was taking off my shoes again and going to see the golden statue and the portrait of the 17th Karmapa. He explained to me some special things about the 16th Karmapa and I stood in awe of the golden statue. After we left that room and put our shoes back on he offered to take me to another room. I told him that I needed to get back to my friends who were waiting.

We walked down another set of stairs and he showed me where the army men stayed. He also showed me the zoo. For most of the time he was telling me about it I thought he was saying, "Would you like to see a jew?" Not until I saw the white rabbit, did I realize that it was a zoo.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

I just kept following him hoping he would take me the road so I could get back to the gate and out of the monastery. We had to walk through the courtyard where the monks were practicing. He told me I could take these pictures, I am not so sure this was allowed but here they are....

Finally, we get to the road! During this time I was learning all sorts of interesting things about my new friend, he told me his name but it was so many syllables I couldn't pronounce it and hence I can't remember it today. I did learn that he was born in Nepal, went to school in West Bengal and has been in the army for 2 years. He asked me "How long is your years?" I told him I was 28 and found out he was 21 and in the army for 18 more years! He was shocked to find that the typical enlistment in America is 4 years. Before I knew what was happening I accidentally agreed to go into a roadside store/shack with him for food. He had me sit down on a bench and blew the flies off of a makeshift table and ordered vege momo's for us.

Meanwhile, my friends are back at the gate still waiting....

I sat and watched a man use not the cleanest of utensils and make the momo's for us. I had no idea I was going to be waiting in a hot shack for some hot food while my friends had been waiting for about 45 minutes! I was starting to get worried about them but was still worried about being rude when this guy had been so kind and led me out of the monastery. So I did what I knew I wasn't supposed to do and ate one of the six momo's in my plate. I can tell you 2 days after this event that I thankfully did not get sick from the food. My new army friend and I also split a Fanta, orange soda for those of you that have never had one. I didn't want to get sick so I told him how great they were but that I wanted to save them for my friends back at the gate. I asked how much I owed and he insisted on paying for my meal. Did I mention that by this time he has already asked if I was married? When I said no, he laughed and said "Bachelor, just like me."

Finally we were walking down the hill and back to my friends who had been guarding my passport and waiting all this time for me to find Ms. Yangchen. I never found her but I did find a new friend, who Sao is convinced I may have accidentally arranged to marry, and some vege momos.

Lucky for us, our driver took us to a different monastery on the way home where passports were not required :) It was also very beautiful and I stayed out of trouble for the most part :)

That is the tale of my exciting solo adventure date at the monastery. That evening when we got back I had to pleasure of meeting Sonam, Aka's father, Pinso, Aka's brother and Principal of the school, as well as two board members. We had a great dinner in the garden with candles and a fire. Everyone here is so amazing and I am so lucky to be here.