this is where we buy our fruit. at least half of the construction workers are women.
14 June, 2005
on top of the dorm
the sky may be the greatest treat about lhasa. the tibetan word for weather is "the sky's mood". to say it is sunny is to say that the sky is happy.
xizang daxue
tibet university - our little home. at lunch time we can be found picknicing on tibetan carpets under the trees. in the mornings at 7:45, the loudspeaker system of the entire campus plays jolly strange music. the other morning we heard jingle bells in chinese. most of the time the loudspeakers are echoing against each other and nothing can be heard rationally.
playing soldier
one of the nice things about a digital camera is that you can show people their picture after you take it. these boys' fathers came out and beamed at the pictures of their sons playing. now we only need a portable printer...
the big market
sarah was warned that her last fresh vegetable dinner would be in new york. this market happily proved that wrong. it was a welcome language lesson in the names of greens, roots, and mushrooms we'd never seen before. of course, very little of it grows near lhasa, and is imported from mainland china.
tea in the lukhang park
this is the site of the near abduction of timon by lusty tibetan ladies. i am so not kidding. after much giggling and teasing of timon, one woman beckoned him to follow her. when he laughed and declined, she said rather fiercely (in tibetan) "come WITH ME". luckily i pinched his butt in time to regain his attention...
sarah - what are you drinking?
beware the delicious tequila and green tea mixture. you should not try this at home, but only in a far away place where no one can document your actions...
lukhang temple
sarah and i in front of a small temple in the middle of the lake at the foot of the potala. inside, we meditated in the meditation hall of many dalai lamas.
potala 1
no picture will do this architecture justice. it sits up on a hill in the middle of the valley of lhasa, like a sleeping giant in the center of town.
walking around the jokhang
pilgrims say prayers while they stand, kneel, lay down and then stand again. they then step to wear their head lay and begin again. this is how they make a pilgrimage across tibet.
inside the jokhang temple
we went inside on the last day of a holy month. in spain i have seen people lined up for over 2 hours to see a picasso exhibit; here we saw people lined up for 2 hours to get a glimpse of the most important religious artwork in tibet; in the US i have seen people lined up for 2 hours to get on a ride a disney world.
jokhang temple
the jokhang is the most important temple in tibetan buddhism (at least that's what i'm told). pilgrims prostrate across all of tibet to get here.
butter candles
this is a little building in front of the jokhang where people light butter lamps for prayers. the entire floor and entrance is greasy. while walking in, i almost slipped and fell on my ass in yak butter. pretty funny for someone who dislikes butter as much as i do.
barkhor square
it has snowed only once since we arrived, and my tibetan teachers probably thought i'd never seen snow before, the way i jumped around the classroom looking out of every window.
hard to believe
hard to know if they are real or not. we are going to return to investigate further.
proud
a beautiful fake leopard skin. it likely sells for $40. he is probably smiling at the dumb lao-wai's who think it is real.
brother
this the the brother of the chakang owner, he seemed to come in and drink a lot of beer at his sister's place. he had one year of schooling, but he knew a lot of english words, and was very proud to show his sister how much he knows by talking with the foreigners. i can't believe that english is such a priority, even if you only attend school for one year out of your life.
sister
this woman is the owner of a chakang (teahouse) that we stopped in one afternoon. we drank cha ngarmo (sweet tea) which is black tea with milk and sugar and probably some butter, since its always a bit greasy, but delicious.
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