FAQ: My First Week in McLeod Ganj

Hi everyone!

I’ve decided to play around with a FAQ format to tackle some of the basic questions about what life is like here for me in Dharamsala.  

Q:  Where are you staying?

A:  I am living with a Tibetan host family.  Five kids ranging from six to twenty six, a dad, uncle, and grandmother.  The mom just died a little over a month ago, which I imagine has seriously impacted the family dynamics, and I sense it especially in my host dad.  They are very kind to me though, and I really enjoy spending time with them, especially my oldest sister who has really taken me under her wing.

Q: What is your living situation like?

A: Back in the states I had been warned that my host family would likely share one room, and it is a good bonding experience if you are also in that room.  This is the case for my family, except I have my own small room, which I’ll admit was a little disappointing at first, although it is probably better for my course work, project, and personality in general because I do value alone time.  I’m just trying to make sure that I do not hide away in my room by going out and sitting on the porch with the family, watching Hindi soap operas I do not pretend to understand, and doing the kora with them, the walk around the Dalai Lama’s temple which is supposed to bring good karma. 

The house is cute.  I cannot think of a better adjective.  It consists of the second level of what we might call an apartment building, but the parts of the house are facing a large balcony that connects everything together.  All of the rooms are painted a chalky blue and the main part of the house is the bedroom/living room/dining room.  There are five beds against the walls that are used as chairs and couches when people are not sleeping.  A small TV is in the right corner of the room that is usually showing soap operas, cricket matches, or news events that often involve the Tibetan government or President Obama.  On the walls there are many bright decorations and pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as maps and calendars from Tibet.  Photographs with the family, including the mom, are also adorning the walls.

If you pass a curtain you enter a different part of the house that I have yet to feel comfortable in.  There is a second small TV on the floor that the kids like to watch.  Off to the right there is the kitchen entry, which I am also not often allowed in.  I was raised to always help with the dishes, but that is a no go in my host family.  The most I have been able to push this rule has been taking my own dishes back or putting the condiments back into the refrigerator.  Even this is walking the line though.  

There are two other rooms that are not connected to the main part of the house.  One is the prayer room, which I’ve only been in once.   This is where they do their morning prayers.  I don’t remember much about it other than it was elaborate and beautiful.  There are also two beds in there where two of my sisters stay.

The other room is mine.  It is small but cozy.  Below the one small window there is a tiny nightstand that I use for a desk and shelf, and my bed is on the opposite wall.  I thought I would be sleeping on the floor here in India, but I do indeed have a bed.  It does, however, not have a mattress.  Just a lot of blankets for padding, which I’ve grown used to.  

My favorite part about my room is the one decoration on the wall above my bed.  It is a big poster that says “Enjoy the present.”   There is no doing it justice to describe it, so I’ve posted the picture instead.

The other section of the house is right next to my bedroom.  The bathroom.  It has a shower and a squatter.  I’m proud to say that I have finally figured out how that whole situation works.

Q: What are you eating?

A: A good question.  I eat breakfast and dinner with my host family every day, and then I am on my own for lunch.  There is not a lot of variety in my diet, but I am certainly full by the end of each meal.  I’m pretty sure my family thinks I can eat a whole elephant—always ensuring I have seconds before I am even half way done with my first round.

 For dinner I always have tupa, which is a traditional Tibetan dish.  It is essentially chicken noodle soup with mutton instead of chicken (goat meat still clinging to the bones and fat) with long tape worm looking noodles.  I know that is a terrible image because tupa is actually quite good, but it is the best picture I can give you. 

Breakfast always consists of a fried egg and pancakes.  Always.  And way more than any one person can gobble at that.  Seriously, sometimes they give me seven plate sized pancakes.  I do have some choice in this though.  Each morning four condiments are brought out—peanut butter, jam, honey, and a mysterious white creamy topping.  I decided to be brave yesterday and tried the mystery flavor.  It was mayonnaise.  

Lunch, as I said, is a wild card.  I’ve been having a blast trying out all of the many different restaurants here in McLeod.  Some are much better than others, but for now I’m still trying to go to a new one each day and get a sampling.  

Q: What are you doing?

A: I’m doing a field study with BYU, and details on that can be found in my project proposal.  Essentially what I am doing is staying in this Tibetan refugee community gathering stories from the many people who make up this diverse location.  My final project will be a collection of nonfiction essays from both my personal experience and the lived experiences from the people found here. 

Q: Have you seen the Dalai Lama yet?

A: No.  Almost.  I waited for an hour in the blazing heat to watch his car drive by, but had a wave of sickness come over me and spent the next half hour hunting down the public squatter trying to figure out what you do without toilet paper.

Q: How is field facilitating going?

A: Really well now.  I was a stressed out grumpy girl in Delhi trying to get everyone together and up to Dharamsala, but things have cooled down a lot.  We’ve had two successful group meetings and my facilitator duties are not as intense now that we are all settled.  I’m trying to figure out how to not worry too much about the students and focus on my own project and concerns, but I’m hopeful that will come in time.  

Q: How is the boy situation?

A: Oh gaul.  Don’t even get me started.  Stay tuned for a whole blog post about this one, but if anyone knows how to balance a field study with an amazing serious boyfriend back home, please share.  

Q: What does it look like there?

A: McLeod Ganj is gorgeous.  It is a compact little city (if you can even call it a city) stacked on top of the Himalayan mountain side.  There are a lot of ups and downs and the roads are extremely narrow.  Really, one bad trip and you could fall off a main street and off the mountain.  One of my favorite parts about the location is how bright everything is.

One thing I was a little surprised with when I first got here was just how touristy it is.  Yes, I knew it was a tourist location, but I don’t think that could have prepared me for the extent of that.  There are little shops lining every street trying to cater to the hundreds of western travelers that come through here.  Really, there are so many hippies.  It makes me laugh.  There are also a lot of Indian tourists as well though, escaping from the heat of South India.  

While the tourism was initially disappointing, I think that it is an important part of my project.  There is also a thriving authentic Tibetan culture under this façade that I’m just waiting to tap into.  

Q: What is the weather like?

A: Up here in the Himalayas things are much cooler than the melt your face of humidity and temperatures we experienced in Delhi, though it can still get pretty hot.  Sometimes it gets really stormy.  I don’t like the wind, so that scares me sometimes.  I love it when the power goes off though.  I’ll be getting some warmer clothes while I am here to match the diverse climate.  Really though, this place is pretty perfect as far as weather goes.  

Q: Are you going to take any pictures?

A: Yes.  Definitely.  I’m going to be taking my camera out for an entire day sometime this week to experiment with photo essays.  It will be much easier to take pictures here in Dharamsala than it was in Ghana.  Because it is such a touristy location, people are used to having cameras in their face.  Of course, I still want to be mindful of the ethics of photography that haunted me all last year, but I already feel much more comfortable with my camera in hand than I did in Ghana. 

Stay tuned for more updates!  They will be much more frequent now.

Adela