A proper send-off

Class Friday closed with a speech from one of my students, Phaivong, a Thai monk. He is heading back to Thailand and asked if he could say a few words before he went; in his speech he thanked, me, his classmates, and HH the Dalai Lama for his time in India and in English class. He has a tough time with listening (which I appreciate more now that I've got people speaking to me in Hindi and expecting answers), but when he reads he does pretty well. It was really sweet.

Gusti and me with my Elementary class.

Good luck, Phaivong! We'll miss you!

Before that happened, though -- before I left my room in the morning -- I noticed some bumps on my forearms. It wasn't so bad at first, just annoying, so I figured I'd keep an eye on it and go from there. By lunchtime it had spread a bit and I noticed some spots on the tops of my feet.

Wth?

I went down to the clinic at Tibet Charity where one of the nurses wiped me down with iodine and applied some Tibetan medicine; it itches a little but it's not so terrible. It looks worse than it feels. Today I think I'll hit up a clinic or one of the local hospitals and see if they can tell me what's going on. The theories I've gotten from my friends so far include: poison ivy, chickenpox, smallpox, cowpox, ringworm, allergic reaction, bed bugs, mosquito bites, spider bites, leprosy, fungal infection, and that flesh eating virus. It's definitely not mosquito bites or spider bites. All I had for breakfast yesterday was an orange and a cup of coffee (Starbucks Via > Nescafe... thanks, Mom and Dad!), so I thought maybe the acidity was messing with me... My other thought is maybe that Tibetan medicine isn't agreeing with me. I avoided accidents etc, but I didn't drink the saffron concoction... maybe this is what I get for not following directions?

Tibet Charity hosted a dinner for the volunteers yesterday evening at which we said goodbye to Gill and Verity, as they are both heading back to their respective homes this week. We also welcomed a couple of veterinarian volunteers and a couple of doctors from Denmark who will help out in the clinic. These dinners are a little more upscale than the average lunch we get at TC; we usually get rice, boiled potatoes with mutton (I don't eat that part) and herbs, cauliflower in garlic or something similar, and yogurt. Yummm... I do love potatoes. They're so simple but so delicious.

Dinner complete, a bunch of us headed up to McLeod Ganj to play table tennis. We wound up staying two hours and ordering some beers (I did not have any... it's not my thing), playing a whole lot of ping pong -- including a 4-person version that involved running laps around the table -- and afterward Brij, Verity, Kalden, Van, and I hit up one of the local Tibetan clubs. A few more drinks, some really hilarious photos I can't post here, a couple plates of French fries, and a bunch of dance music and sweet moves later (once we all started dancing everyone else joined us), we finally headed home, concluding what was easily my latest night out since I've been here (most places here close by 10). Brij and I rounded out the night with some sitting on the balcony eating sunflower seeds as we have taken to doing. In another few days we'll be on our way to Rajasthan and after that he's heading off to visit family and then out of India, so our nights on the balcony are limited; gotta enjoy it while we can.

The rest of today will consist of spending our last few hours we can with Verity before we see her off to the bus station this evening. After that I'll go study some Hindi, maybe get in an impromptu lesson with Kuldeep, and just chill. I've also been working on my end of a collaborative art project with my good friend Brandi, so I may do some brainstorming for that as well.

Adventure!