News Archive
Kristen: Live from the Himalayas, Part 3
AHF recently bid farewell to our awesome project coordinator, Kristen Parrinello. Before heading to grad school, Kristen set off on an adventure to see many of AHF's projects in the Himalayas. Here is her final dispatch from the field:
We pick up with Kristen in Gyantse, Tibet…
The monasteries are a beautiful place to visit where I believe the true Tibet shines. From the beginning through that afternoon in Gyantse, whenever I would make eye contact with a Tibetan and say "Tashi Delek" to them, I would receive a warm smile with eye contact and a greeting back, 99% of the time. Maybe in those areas that we visited, those people were used to foreigners so they were used to it, but it seemed genuine to me every time. From listening to the lamas chant to having children who were ahead of me in a chapel clockwise circle path or Kora show me how to pay respect to the Buddha, I felt a kinship with the values of Buddhism.
The next morning we left for Lhasa, the place I had been waiting to visit since viewing a picture of the Potala for the first time in January of 2006. Tashi took us on the road and as usual, we left everyone in the dust to take a short cut through very rural land. Off-roading ensued as we trudged over a roadless area to find interesting landscape view points, fields of wild flowers, a man with a cart attached to a pony, and girls playing in the mud with shovels. We were able to observe rural Tibetans first hand who were ushering their sheep as we went through their small towns and made our way through the herds.
That afternoon we went to Jokhang Monastery in the heart of Barkhor, the Tibetan quarter. When we entered, there was some chanting through a sound system over a floor seated crowd that listened and chanted while they fingered prayer beads and spun prayer wheels. Tibetan monasteries are entrenched with beautiful art, craftsmanship and architecture, especially when considering that many were built over 500 years ago.
After Jokhang, our guide took us shopping in the market, where we ended up splitting into smaller groups. Doug, Candace, Loes, and I walked around as we battled prices over souvenir t-shirts, bead bracelets and khata (traditional Tibetan scarves that are used by lamas in monasteries to bless people). As we walked around, I found two solar panel sellers. I wish solar panels were sold on the street in the US or at least made more readily available for purchase and installation.
After making our way through stalls with a TV showing Tibetan music videos, we sat in front of Jokhang and watched people prostrating in front of the monastery. They said prayers and looked at the sky with hope and intention. Many pilgrims do that motion day in and day out for hundreds of days until they arrive at Mount Kailash, the holiest of all mountains. Once they arrive at their destination, they complete a Kora around the mountain which may take a few weeks or months longer. That's a workout of devotion.
While a few of us wanted to see Sera Monastery, our tour guide pushed the Tibetan museum on us. Our Potala entrance time for that afternoon was set in stone and Sera took too long to navigate through for us to ensure our Potala arrival. Although at first I was disappointed that we didn't go to Sera, I now am happy that we went to the museum.
We were given a tour by a guide who did a great job of answering our questions and regurgitating the museum tour guide manual in English. As we moved from history to cultural dress, we came upon Sherpa traditional dress. Unbeknownst to many, including most of retail product ventures in the US that use the word Sherpa in the title of their travel products, Sherpas are an ethnic group who migrated East from Tibet to the foothills of the southern part of the Himalaya. Just because they are acclimated to high altitude and many are porters (hired help who carry luggage, trekking gear, camping gear, climbing gear) which means that the word Sherpa should not be used when meaning porter.
That afternoon, we made it to the Potala. We walked briskly through the security station, got our passports checked and then climbed many flights of stairs to the top to make it at our appointed time. Even though it was our third day in Lhasa many of us were out of breath from the altitude and took it a little slow to get to the top. Out of 999 rooms, we were only allowed to enter around 18 or 20 and had only one hour to get through the Potala.
HHDL's current picture is forbidden in Tibet, so it was a little weird talking about the past Dalai Lamas with little mention of the current one. It was as if Tibetan Buddhism was a religion of the past; a thought that made me sad at first, but knowing how dedicated Tibetans are to their religion, I wouldn't be surprised if it survived in a metamorphosed form beyond the Dalai Lama.
That evening was our last night together as a group, as many were leaving to depart back to Kathmandu the next day. We went out for a delicious dinner in the Barkhor area (Tibetan quarter) and exchanged e-mails. It was a great farewell but a little sad to say goodbye as we were lucky to have such a wonderful group of people.
Leaving Tibet after seeing the best and worst of it made the trip incredibly rewarding and disappointing. Many people I talked to during the previous ten days had said that we are lucky to have seen Tibet now, as things will only get worse there in the future. After confirming with several young Tibetans in Lhasa that only Mandarin and English are taught in government schools, knowing that AHF supports many schools where Tibetan is taught made me proud.
Although children should be taught Mandarin so they can compete for jobs, I believe the language is an important part of what will keep the Tibetan culture alive. AHF works hard to preserve the culture of Tibet that is slowly dying. Supporting medical clinics, building bridges to make a five hour trip to the store one hour, and building schools in remote areas are some of the ways AHF helps people in Tibet. Those who have escaped that are in exile are also supported though projects such as elderly homes, settlements and schools in Nepal and India.
Thanks Kristen!
AHF brings hope to Nepalis, Sherpas, and Tibetans, but we can only do it with your help. Find out how you can improve lives in the Himalayas by clicking here.
We pick up with Kristen in Gyantse, Tibet…
The monasteries are a beautiful place to visit where I believe the true Tibet shines. From the beginning through that afternoon in Gyantse, whenever I would make eye contact with a Tibetan and say "Tashi Delek" to them, I would receive a warm smile with eye contact and a greeting back, 99% of the time. Maybe in those areas that we visited, those people were used to foreigners so they were used to it, but it seemed genuine to me every time. From listening to the lamas chant to having children who were ahead of me in a chapel clockwise circle path or Kora show me how to pay respect to the Buddha, I felt a kinship with the values of Buddhism.
The next morning we left for Lhasa, the place I had been waiting to visit since viewing a picture of the Potala for the first time in January of 2006. Tashi took us on the road and as usual, we left everyone in the dust to take a short cut through very rural land. Off-roading ensued as we trudged over a roadless area to find interesting landscape view points, fields of wild flowers, a man with a cart attached to a pony, and girls playing in the mud with shovels. We were able to observe rural Tibetans first hand who were ushering their sheep as we went through their small towns and made our way through the herds.
That afternoon we went to Jokhang Monastery in the heart of Barkhor, the Tibetan quarter. When we entered, there was some chanting through a sound system over a floor seated crowd that listened and chanted while they fingered prayer beads and spun prayer wheels. Tibetan monasteries are entrenched with beautiful art, craftsmanship and architecture, especially when considering that many were built over 500 years ago.
After Jokhang, our guide took us shopping in the market, where we ended up splitting into smaller groups. Doug, Candace, Loes, and I walked around as we battled prices over souvenir t-shirts, bead bracelets and khata (traditional Tibetan scarves that are used by lamas in monasteries to bless people). As we walked around, I found two solar panel sellers. I wish solar panels were sold on the street in the US or at least made more readily available for purchase and installation.
After making our way through stalls with a TV showing Tibetan music videos, we sat in front of Jokhang and watched people prostrating in front of the monastery. They said prayers and looked at the sky with hope and intention. Many pilgrims do that motion day in and day out for hundreds of days until they arrive at Mount Kailash, the holiest of all mountains. Once they arrive at their destination, they complete a Kora around the mountain which may take a few weeks or months longer. That's a workout of devotion.
While a few of us wanted to see Sera Monastery, our tour guide pushed the Tibetan museum on us. Our Potala entrance time for that afternoon was set in stone and Sera took too long to navigate through for us to ensure our Potala arrival. Although at first I was disappointed that we didn't go to Sera, I now am happy that we went to the museum.
We were given a tour by a guide who did a great job of answering our questions and regurgitating the museum tour guide manual in English. As we moved from history to cultural dress, we came upon Sherpa traditional dress. Unbeknownst to many, including most of retail product ventures in the US that use the word Sherpa in the title of their travel products, Sherpas are an ethnic group who migrated East from Tibet to the foothills of the southern part of the Himalaya. Just because they are acclimated to high altitude and many are porters (hired help who carry luggage, trekking gear, camping gear, climbing gear) which means that the word Sherpa should not be used when meaning porter.
That afternoon, we made it to the Potala. We walked briskly through the security station, got our passports checked and then climbed many flights of stairs to the top to make it at our appointed time. Even though it was our third day in Lhasa many of us were out of breath from the altitude and took it a little slow to get to the top. Out of 999 rooms, we were only allowed to enter around 18 or 20 and had only one hour to get through the Potala.
HHDL's current picture is forbidden in Tibet, so it was a little weird talking about the past Dalai Lamas with little mention of the current one. It was as if Tibetan Buddhism was a religion of the past; a thought that made me sad at first, but knowing how dedicated Tibetans are to their religion, I wouldn't be surprised if it survived in a metamorphosed form beyond the Dalai Lama.
That evening was our last night together as a group, as many were leaving to depart back to Kathmandu the next day. We went out for a delicious dinner in the Barkhor area (Tibetan quarter) and exchanged e-mails. It was a great farewell but a little sad to say goodbye as we were lucky to have such a wonderful group of people.
Leaving Tibet after seeing the best and worst of it made the trip incredibly rewarding and disappointing. Many people I talked to during the previous ten days had said that we are lucky to have seen Tibet now, as things will only get worse there in the future. After confirming with several young Tibetans in Lhasa that only Mandarin and English are taught in government schools, knowing that AHF supports many schools where Tibetan is taught made me proud.
Although children should be taught Mandarin so they can compete for jobs, I believe the language is an important part of what will keep the Tibetan culture alive. AHF works hard to preserve the culture of Tibet that is slowly dying. Supporting medical clinics, building bridges to make a five hour trip to the store one hour, and building schools in remote areas are some of the ways AHF helps people in Tibet. Those who have escaped that are in exile are also supported though projects such as elderly homes, settlements and schools in Nepal and India.
Thanks Kristen!
AHF brings hope to Nepalis, Sherpas, and Tibetans, but we can only do it with your help. Find out how you can improve lives in the Himalayas by clicking here.