October 25-27-More Dharamkot and Diwali at Kailwood and Insights
Journal entry #50!! WOW!....Monday, October 27th...should have been here for another month but 2 weeks is OK also....
Just backtracking for a minute to an entry I had completely overlooked in all the hassle of the past week...this is from Thursday when I was still in Dharamakot, (about a week ago) before all the adventure began...but want to get it down here anyway!
I was sitting at the Llasa restaurant when I saw the Sukkah downstairs just as it was 2 years ago...then I did not have my camera with me to take pictures and this time I was up on the second story and thought if I went outside I would miss it altogether...so decided to photograph it from the restaurant balconey but doubt anything worthwhile came out. The Rabbi put together a portable sukkah on the back of an open jeep and he drives it down into the main bus stand of McLeod, completely stops traffic from coming and going for about 15 minutes, and smilingly gets as many Israelis, girls and guys, to make a blessing on the lulav and etrog and come "in" to the sukkah for cake....and the blessing of sitting in the sukkah...it was really nice to watch him doing his thing...and the smiles on the kids faces downstairs...it wasn't until the whole town was backed up in all directions that he agreed to leave.
I had walked down into town today (from Paul House in Dharamkot) to get a quick meal when I bumped into Lauren and then Abdellah but finally got back to the room about 3 and still had another 1 1/2 hours of great sun and reading, but forgot to change glasses and wound up with really bad eye-strain. After the sun went down I snacked on my brownie and read some more...then another fabulous shower - believe me...if I'm writing about it again it really is special. Then some yoga and now playing solitaire. bought some gouda cheese in town for a special treat so I won't have to go out for dinner and some fruit and have nuts and hope it will be enough. Want to get another early nite and tomorrow planned to meet Lauren here at the tea shop if she can come and we'll go for Pizza-If not, will still have plenty of time to eat and go up the mountain again before it gets cold and dark.. BTW...my hiking boots...which I was really not sure about the wisdom of buying them, have proven themselves over and over again. Although they really are not as comfortable as regular low sneakers, they are wonderful for all this walking and I have seen the difference. One day I went walking with my sneakers on and felt the difference very strongly in my ankles, which always twisted, the souls of my feet which hurt and my knees. So I am quite pleased that I have them and have even gotten used to them actually.... OK..that's the end of the fun in Dharamkot...
never got to write about friday but I DID have pizza and a very pleasant afternoon with Lauren and spent friday evening with the Israeli artist lady I think I wrote about...if not, will perhaps write about her one day...she is so eccentric that I won't forget her anyway...name of Tzip Dagan and she is supposed to be known in Israel...just as I WRITE about my experiences, she DRAWS and PAINTS them as she goes along....anyway...it was a lovely 3 days and then you all know what happened when I got back on Saturday.
Anyway....it is now Monday the 27th but will go back to yesterday....
Sunday 9 AM or there abouts...
Last nite was Diwali and there were lights all over...little oil lamps with wicks were placed all around the guesthouse (in addition to the electric Xmas type lites) and I couldn't help but think of Chanukah. both festivlas are called "festival of Lights" in English. Everyone had gone to parties etc., and after getting back from arranging my hotel room in Bhagsu (don't remember if I wrote yesterday...
I walked up to Dharamkot to arrange with Anil a days trek up in the mountains for today to see the mountain range without going all the way up to Triund. He said he had a good hike for me...
then went down the mountain to Bhagsu and arranged a great hotel (Sun adn Sea) room-corner room with sun all day + TV for only 240 rupees...I deserve the pampering and it is only 20 rupees more than the simple room I have now!...and I get 24 hour a day hot water.)
Came back to the guesthouse and only Daniel and I were there with all the firecrackers, rockets etc. and it was REALLY noisy but absolutely nothing compared to Indian towns...here is 90% Tibetan!. But is was fun I guess. Ahsish prepared me a Thali before he left for a party. I think I was the only one not partying but no one invited me and I guess I was just as happy. Read and went to sleep (with my earplugs in) and woke up early.
It has gotten really cold...unseasonably they tell me and I am all layered up for my walk...guess I will get warm later. Yesterday there was even a drop of rain first time since Sept. 20th but it helped settle some of the dust. I am now eating breakfast at Dharamkot and Anil should be here at 9:30 and we will head out. Hope he is not taking me on a difficult hike.
I am feeling so ambivilent about everything. I said awhile ago, when speaking to Elisheva before Rosh Hashana, that what I would really like is for THIS place and THAT place to be really near each other. I really wish there was some way to be in 2 places at once. I know how much I will miss this PLACE but not really any specific people. I am perfectly happy to be alone here...and at home it is the opposite...there is no place I miss, but all my PEOPLE are there!. Not an easy situation and I fell really pulled in both directions.. I know when the plane lands in Tel Aviv I will cry and run into the arms of my favorite people-whoever decides to come-and for the first few days all will be fine. But I also know that very soon my yearnings for the mountains and my solitary walks will begin again.
I want to also write about my walk with Anil and another funny story but perhaps tomorrow...the walk itself was wonderful and discovered many new paths and got to see the whole wonderful ranges of mountains but will write the whole thing tomorrow.
Remember I wrote that one of the things I was truly upset about loosing in my bag was the necklace Shlomit gave me? Well, it is not lost!....I found it at the bottom of a bag while making the present for Gil as described below!
Yesterday I had decided to make a present for the nice guy here in the Internet place who has helped me so much the past week, Gil, but knew it had to be something simple and special ....so I bought one of the recycled paper little diary type books at the Green Shop and decided to fill it with quotations that I always have ...I only had a few here with me in India but will send him more by e-mail once I get home. So I wrote at the beginning of the book "lovely thoughts for a lovely person"...write him a nice note...and then pasted in quotations I had on my yahoo mailbox which I use for signature lines...I had about 8 of them....and decorated tha pages with drawings and stickers I bought etc....he was REALLY touched and gave me a big hug and kiss and we sat and had a very interesting discussion just now (today is Monday)...he is single, was married once to a girl in Africa..has a 6 year old son there but they separated years ago...he has a PhD. in social science and administration and is the only one of his brothers who is not a professor or high ranking army officer, but he loves his internet place and all the people he meets...he is 38...is a non-practicing sikh and a really cool guy....also speaks quite alot of hebrew...anyway...that brings us to this moment and I will end here...on my way up for another walk this time alone....
Just a few more notes here...Woke up yesterday with an eye infection (bought some ayurveda drops which have already almost compeltely cleaned it up) but realized that my immune system was probabaly compromised by all the stress of the past week so have started a regimen of Vit. c and echinacea for a week or so...would hate to come home sick.
Just backtracking for a minute to an entry I had completely overlooked in all the hassle of the past week...this is from Thursday when I was still in Dharamakot, (about a week ago) before all the adventure began...but want to get it down here anyway!
I was sitting at the Llasa restaurant when I saw the Sukkah downstairs just as it was 2 years ago...then I did not have my camera with me to take pictures and this time I was up on the second story and thought if I went outside I would miss it altogether...so decided to photograph it from the restaurant balconey but doubt anything worthwhile came out. The Rabbi put together a portable sukkah on the back of an open jeep and he drives it down into the main bus stand of McLeod, completely stops traffic from coming and going for about 15 minutes, and smilingly gets as many Israelis, girls and guys, to make a blessing on the lulav and etrog and come "in" to the sukkah for cake....and the blessing of sitting in the sukkah...it was really nice to watch him doing his thing...and the smiles on the kids faces downstairs...it wasn't until the whole town was backed up in all directions that he agreed to leave.
I had walked down into town today (from Paul House in Dharamkot) to get a quick meal when I bumped into Lauren and then Abdellah but finally got back to the room about 3 and still had another 1 1/2 hours of great sun and reading, but forgot to change glasses and wound up with really bad eye-strain. After the sun went down I snacked on my brownie and read some more...then another fabulous shower - believe me...if I'm writing about it again it really is special. Then some yoga and now playing solitaire. bought some gouda cheese in town for a special treat so I won't have to go out for dinner and some fruit and have nuts and hope it will be enough. Want to get another early nite and tomorrow planned to meet Lauren here at the tea shop if she can come and we'll go for Pizza-If not, will still have plenty of time to eat and go up the mountain again before it gets cold and dark.. BTW...my hiking boots...which I was really not sure about the wisdom of buying them, have proven themselves over and over again. Although they really are not as comfortable as regular low sneakers, they are wonderful for all this walking and I have seen the difference. One day I went walking with my sneakers on and felt the difference very strongly in my ankles, which always twisted, the souls of my feet which hurt and my knees. So I am quite pleased that I have them and have even gotten used to them actually.... OK..that's the end of the fun in Dharamkot...
never got to write about friday but I DID have pizza and a very pleasant afternoon with Lauren and spent friday evening with the Israeli artist lady I think I wrote about...if not, will perhaps write about her one day...she is so eccentric that I won't forget her anyway...name of Tzip Dagan and she is supposed to be known in Israel...just as I WRITE about my experiences, she DRAWS and PAINTS them as she goes along....anyway...it was a lovely 3 days and then you all know what happened when I got back on Saturday.
Anyway....it is now Monday the 27th but will go back to yesterday....
Sunday 9 AM or there abouts...
Last nite was Diwali and there were lights all over...little oil lamps with wicks were placed all around the guesthouse (in addition to the electric Xmas type lites) and I couldn't help but think of Chanukah. both festivlas are called "festival of Lights" in English. Everyone had gone to parties etc., and after getting back from arranging my hotel room in Bhagsu (don't remember if I wrote yesterday...
I walked up to Dharamkot to arrange with Anil a days trek up in the mountains for today to see the mountain range without going all the way up to Triund. He said he had a good hike for me...
then went down the mountain to Bhagsu and arranged a great hotel (Sun adn Sea) room-corner room with sun all day + TV for only 240 rupees...I deserve the pampering and it is only 20 rupees more than the simple room I have now!...and I get 24 hour a day hot water.)
Came back to the guesthouse and only Daniel and I were there with all the firecrackers, rockets etc. and it was REALLY noisy but absolutely nothing compared to Indian towns...here is 90% Tibetan!. But is was fun I guess. Ahsish prepared me a Thali before he left for a party. I think I was the only one not partying but no one invited me and I guess I was just as happy. Read and went to sleep (with my earplugs in) and woke up early.
It has gotten really cold...unseasonably they tell me and I am all layered up for my walk...guess I will get warm later. Yesterday there was even a drop of rain first time since Sept. 20th but it helped settle some of the dust. I am now eating breakfast at Dharamkot and Anil should be here at 9:30 and we will head out. Hope he is not taking me on a difficult hike.
I am feeling so ambivilent about everything. I said awhile ago, when speaking to Elisheva before Rosh Hashana, that what I would really like is for THIS place and THAT place to be really near each other. I really wish there was some way to be in 2 places at once. I know how much I will miss this PLACE but not really any specific people. I am perfectly happy to be alone here...and at home it is the opposite...there is no place I miss, but all my PEOPLE are there!. Not an easy situation and I fell really pulled in both directions.. I know when the plane lands in Tel Aviv I will cry and run into the arms of my favorite people-whoever decides to come-and for the first few days all will be fine. But I also know that very soon my yearnings for the mountains and my solitary walks will begin again.
I want to also write about my walk with Anil and another funny story but perhaps tomorrow...the walk itself was wonderful and discovered many new paths and got to see the whole wonderful ranges of mountains but will write the whole thing tomorrow.
Remember I wrote that one of the things I was truly upset about loosing in my bag was the necklace Shlomit gave me? Well, it is not lost!....I found it at the bottom of a bag while making the present for Gil as described below!
Yesterday I had decided to make a present for the nice guy here in the Internet place who has helped me so much the past week, Gil, but knew it had to be something simple and special ....so I bought one of the recycled paper little diary type books at the Green Shop and decided to fill it with quotations that I always have ...I only had a few here with me in India but will send him more by e-mail once I get home. So I wrote at the beginning of the book "lovely thoughts for a lovely person"...write him a nice note...and then pasted in quotations I had on my yahoo mailbox which I use for signature lines...I had about 8 of them....and decorated tha pages with drawings and stickers I bought etc....he was REALLY touched and gave me a big hug and kiss and we sat and had a very interesting discussion just now (today is Monday)...he is single, was married once to a girl in Africa..has a 6 year old son there but they separated years ago...he has a PhD. in social science and administration and is the only one of his brothers who is not a professor or high ranking army officer, but he loves his internet place and all the people he meets...he is 38...is a non-practicing sikh and a really cool guy....also speaks quite alot of hebrew...anyway...that brings us to this moment and I will end here...on my way up for another walk this time alone....
Just a few more notes here...Woke up yesterday with an eye infection (bought some ayurveda drops which have already almost compeltely cleaned it up) but realized that my immune system was probabaly compromised by all the stress of the past week so have started a regimen of Vit. c and echinacea for a week or so...would hate to come home sick.
posted by Jane @ 8:17 PM
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