hello

You probably already know this, but while I am here, we are all safe and sound and not near the recent terrorism in Mumbai.

Angel wings,
Noa

Rajgir

I wrote this to Carol, and thought you might like to hear too.

yesterday i walked up a mountain, and then climbed off the path onto the high peak, whose wildness hadn't even been touched by all the human thoughts and words that were offered to it. rocky crags just the right size for sitting on. the air tasted clean and good. it was quiet, for the first time, except for birds. I mean no crazy bollywood music ... and drumming and honking horns blaring. quiet and big green valley. the peak was naked with prayer flags, faded, offered throughout the years. it was the mountain where the buddha gave the Heart Sutra, which we chanted on the other outlook about an hour later when the rest of my group came (most of them had gone on a chairlift to a different peak and temple first; Aine and I skipped that and hiked up to this one).

Languages of mountain and waves
More on languages later.

a blessing. Blessings are special when they are just for you. After though, things only grow when they are shared, right? So this is okay. For you too:

open expansive air and easy rock you can rest on up here
right inside

Snapshots of a New Obsession, Bodh Gaya: 3 Lists

I have a new obsession: list-making. It is enabled by the perfect travel-sized notebook Ellen Bodin gave me as a parting gift, which has become my "Book of Lists," vol. 1. For all of you who lose your "to dos" on little scraps of paper, I'm telling you, this will change your life. Anyway, on my lists everyday is this repeated item, "blog." I'm constantly convinced that somehow tomorrow or this coming weekend will give me a few hours where I can finally sit down at this blog to write a comprehensive reflection of what I've been up to for the past two months. Well, I'm working on it, but as I don't have a few hours (maybe during Independent Study), I wanted to share a few of my lists.

Top Indian Phrases Used Popularly with Us
(Note: in this context, the object the speaker thinks you want, (i.e. rickshaw) or something they want (biscuit) is used like your name in a direct address with no comma

Hello rickshaw

Yes please

Please come

No problem

Why not

Hello Madam

Which country?

Hello biscuit?

Hello Obama!

Favorite Restaurants in Town
(and why they make the list)

1) Om Cafe-the chocolate balls! Tibetan crafts
2) Mohammed's-the salads are safe to eat!
3) Thai-coconut lemongrass soup, spring rolls
4) Gautam's-nicest tent restaurant right across the street from the Vihar; let us set up a TV during the election; all the staff has become our friends, and the little boy that works in the kitchen is an amazing pancake chef

Foods I've Dreamed About/Daydreamed About the Most from Home

-All pizza, good and bad
-Chocolate ice cream, and Ben and Jerry's
-Salads, fresh, with dark greens, blue cheese, nuts; homemade dressing
-Summer fruits, freshly picked berries
-Apple crisp, the smell of it and the taste and crumbly texture
-Halloween candy-all kinds-someone's Mom mailed M&Ms and Skittles that showed up at our Halloween party and you can't imagine these treats to be such delicacies as they here seem
-Fresh apple cider, hot and cold
-Those cinnamony donuts they make at Clyde's cider mill, as enjoyed last fall with Britt and Kate
-Earth House veggie concoctions!
-Paolo's pancakes
-Pasta and lasagna made by Mom and Grandma
-Homemade bread
-Eggplant parm made by Grandma or Ellen
-Cold milk, safe to drink
-BROWN RICE

body rhythms

Like a chick tapping at, tapping through that eggshell when we know it's time
We'll hammer in the morning
We'll hammer in the evening
All over this land
We'll hammer out danger
Hammer out a warning
We'll hammer out love between the brothers and the sisters, all
over this land.

Today

My mom commented that my poetry seemed a bit delirious. I forgot to mention, I wrote those when I was in bed with a 103 degree fever. The doctor here called it an "infection in the gut," Robert (our program director) called it probably bacterial dysentery. But that's done with.

I'm going to the Dharamsala area for my independent study period, in less than two weeks. I think I'll be looking into the conversation regarding nonviolence as a political and/or spiritual-political method in the struggle for Tibetan autonomy/independence, among the Tibetan community-in-exile in Mcleod Ganj. What are the different voices in dialogue, how do they relate to non-violence (what are the ways in which it is essential, or wise, or frustrating but necessary, or useless)? What are the respective priorities and goals of these voices? How do they relate to and see each other?

So, the polls are open. Good morning.
I'm sending love to the USA express post straight through the ground. So much. And if reading foreign newspapers is any indication, there's a lot coming from every angle.

(Go ahead--push your luck. Find out how much love the world can hold.)

Let's let our prayers for good merge with those of all the doctors who would prescribe a different medicine than us, too, okay?