One Day's Notice

We were evicted from our apartment. Although the details are not necessarily important or interesting really, our moving day was an adventure. May 1 at 6am we were awake, sweeping, packing our clothes and blankets into hobo bundles, attempting to fix the curtains that “inexplicably" fell down. At 8am we made our escape, first carrying everything and our propane tank up the hill then loading it into an Indian Jones jeep. The five of us climbed on top and we were off, laughing and joking about the curtain that certainly fell down as soon as we closed the door.

We drove up the hill in our rickety jeep the boys hopped out half a dozen times to put rocks behind the back wheel so the driver could shift gears without rolling backward. Ridding on top of the propane tank through the morning air I was surprised when a European man took a picture of us, then I looked around at my roommates, our jeep full of blankets, prayer flags, pots, and our rice cooker, and I understood his perspective, we are an unlikely—if not motley crew.

Our new house is wonderful, very homey, and I am happy to live in town and not have the ever present danger of falling down the stairs/hill while carrying the groceries. Last night when Rikden and I were cooking dinner the monks at the monastery next door were debating I the courtyard clapping their hands as they made their points. In the morning and the afternoon they chant prayers in the room just outside our window. HHDL’s residence is 500m from our front door and we can see his windows from our courtyard. Daily there are moments, like the European snapping our photo, or the monks chanting that wakes me up in the morning, when I am reminded how special it is to live in D/shala.

love from the Himalayas
rah