Email home #13

Hey everybody!

Happy Thanksgiving! Well, I am in Amritsar and I love it here. It is beautiful, cool, peaceful and there is so much to see and do. Our 26 hour train arrived at around noon yesterday. I suppose I'll try to catch y'all up on my happenings past, present and future, and I'll start with the past week.

Last week was spent in Varanasi. It was big, busy, exciting, and somehow almost magical. The most common mode of transportation that I opted for was a bicycle rickshaw (a wooden, tin-covered, brightly-decorated, padded, carosel-esque chariot drawn by bicycle). It loved riding to the ganga (the River Ganges) and taking in all the sights and sounds. There were people everywhere, shops lined the streets. When walking we were sure to be approached by beggars, salesman and con artists trying to pusuade us to part with our rupees.

There were many incredible sights and experiences in Varanasi. On Tuesday morning the group wen on a tour that involved a morning boatride on the ganga, visiting 4 significant Hindu temples and then touring a silk shop and ending up in a silk showroom and being presented we offers we couldn't refuse. I have some regrets abou Varanasi. I feel as though I spent far too much time either in the hotel room or shopping and doing touristy things. So my goals for Amritsar are to be out more and having more culturally oriented experiences.

My favorie experience of Varanasi was when Melanie and I visted the burning ghats and talked with a man who answered our questions. We stood atop a balcony overlooking the ghat and saw the stacks of wood, burning embers, workers, and male family members watching, with the magestic ganga behind them. In Hinduism, and most Eastern religions, it is believed that after death the soul is reborn again and again until a person can escape this rebirth cycle. One way to do so is to have your ashes spread on the ganga. So people from all over India will bring their dying family members to Varanasi to spend their last days and for them to be cremated on the ghats. After our conversation with the man, he led us to a little old woman whom he introduced as a nurse who had worked with Mother Teresa and had us sit before her, give our name and recieve a blessing. And give a donation. I gave and I received and I enjoyed the experience.

The ganga is very beautiful and peaceful, and so is he devotion of those whoe come to bathe and worship there. The ganga isn't the cleanest place. Several sewage lines empty there, dead are buried there (we saw a bloated dog corpse in the water on our boat ride), and hundreds bathe there daily. I saw some brush their teeth in the water, others drink it, others do their laundry in its waters. In the words of one man Melanie and I talked to, "to you it is dirty; to me it is very clean". To me, that is faith. I like it. Another great quote from the same man is, "burning is learning; cremation is education".

We spent our last day in Varanasi...not in Varanasi. We visited Sarnoth, a nearby city that is a significant pilgramage site to Buddhists. It is the site of Deer Park, where the Enlightened Buddha first presented his teachings. We were guided by Shanghi, a friend of the Bylakkupe group. We visited Deer Park, Tibetan Temple, the Sri Lankan Temple, the Thai Temple, and one other temple as well. Because it is the place of the Buddha's first teachings, Sarnoth is considered one of the 5 most holy places in Buddhism, so, it is a pilgrimage site for Buddhist from all over the world. It was interesteing to see the differences between the various temples.

The highlight of the visit was being able to be in the presence of one of the a Llama who was visiting. Shanghi led us to purchase kadas, white sashes that are presented to show respect, to go to the room where the Llama was, and to wait in the line of Tibetans in their chupas (traditional clothes) and kadas so that we too could bow in the presence of his Tibetan Buddhist dignitary are recieve his blessing (and a red string symbolic of it). It was a neat experience, even though I felt very rushed, confused and out of place.

The train ride to Amritsar was long, but pleasant. I enjoy the companionship of my travelling partners and was able to do a lot of reading. The weather is turing quite cold though, and I spend the night in and out of sleep, curled up in a little ball atop my bunk. But all is well.

And I love Amritsar. It is in the Punjab, is the home of the Golden Temple, and is home to many Sikhs. Last night I visited the temple complex and ate at their free kitchen. This morning I visited the complex again and spoke with a man who was kind enough to explain many things. I will likely return again soon and visit a museum there today. It is a very beautiful and peaceful place. I look forward to doing dishes in the free kitchen, writing up notes in the nearby park, walking the grounds and finding people who will teach me, and learning all that I can.

I hope that all of you are well this Thanksgiving week. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Take care and know that you are loved.

Love,
Allison