It’s proving to be a summer of firsts. My first time traveling alone, first time in India, first time being in the mountains, first time experiencing Buddhist culture, first time teaching, first time doing research of any kind. Just as I questioned my ability to teach, I wondered why I was ever selected to perform research. I have no qualifications and I’ve never done an interview in my life. Okay I interviewed a 90 year old war veteran for my…
It’s proving to be a summer of firsts. My first time traveling alone, first time in India, first time being in the mountains, first time experiencing Buddhist culture, first time teaching, first time doing research of any kind. Just as I questioned my ability to teach, I wondered why I was ever selected to perform research. I have no qualifications and I’ve never done an interview in my life. Okay I interviewed a 90 year old war veteran for my…
1. Patience is the mother of all virtues. It is a lesson I keep on learning. In Zanskar, things happen on their own time, at their own pace. Need to send an important email? Well first you have to wait a few weeks for tourist season to actually begin. When it finally begins, then you have to wait full weeks at a time before getting to use twenty expensive minutes of slow WiFi. Then you have to wait in Padum all…
1. Patience is the mother of all virtues. It is a lesson I keep on learning. In Zanskar, things happen on their own time, at their own pace. Need to send an important email? Well first you have to wait a few weeks for tourist season to actually begin. When it finally begins, then you have to wait full weeks at a time before getting to use twenty expensive minutes of slow WiFi. Then you have to wait in Padum all…
I am a musician, and I always will be, no matter where I am in the world. This week was loaded with musical opportunities left and right, and my musician self could not have asked for any better. This week, I started one of the most exciting parts of my internship: taking lessons in Indian classical music. In my first two lessons, I became a little bit more comfortable with Sargam, or Indian solfège. Learning to sing using syllables Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa…
I am a musician, and I always will be, no matter where I am in the world. This week was loaded with musical opportunities left and right, and my musician self could not have asked for any better. This week, I started one of the most exciting parts of my internship: taking lessons in Indian classical music. In my first two lessons, I became a little bit more comfortable with Sargam, or Indian solfège. Learning to sing using syllables Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa…
After a wonderful 10 days with my first hosts, Charchit and Bikram, I decided that I was pushing the envelope for couch surfing so I looked for a new home. I arrived as Mr. Singh’s house late at night on a Thursday. This was what I had imagined. The decorative vases, table cloths, and functional air conditioning units of Charchit and Bikram’s were replaced with cramped living spaces, spotty electrical work, and harsh lighting, what remained, monolithic, was the Indian…
After a wonderful 10 days with my first hosts, Charchit and Bikram, I decided that I was pushing the envelope for couch surfing so I looked for a new home. I arrived as Mr. Singh’s house late at night on a Thursday. This was what I had imagined. The decorative vases, table cloths, and functional air conditioning units of Charchit and Bikram’s were replaced with cramped living spaces, spotty electrical work, and harsh lighting, what remained, monolithic, was the Indian…
June 27, Monday A new leaf Awaking amidst the roaches and rats that plague most train stations I have visited I boarded a train around the stroke of midnight and rode in a small cabin with 5 men as we tried to sleep. Around 5 hours later we pulled into the New Delhi train station and I squinted through bleary eyes as dawn lit up India’s biggest city in front of me. I was soon picked up by a taxi…
June 27, Monday A new leaf Awaking amidst the roaches and rats that plague most train stations I have visited I boarded a train around the stroke of midnight and rode in a small cabin with 5 men as we tried to sleep. Around 5 hours later we pulled into the New Delhi train station and I squinted through bleary eyes as dawn lit up India’s biggest city in front of me. I was soon picked up by a taxi…
